Wisdom Literature Essay

Benjamin Kaufman, 2020 "Wise men should exchange sayings" the light of this quotation, discuss the functions and transmission of ‘wisdom’ in Old English verse and to what extent is it helpful to talk of a distinct genre of 'wisdom poetry' in Old English? Old English 'wisdom literature' is a “a large and somewhat vague category” 1; arising more from its relation to other literary traditions, than from internal sense. This is not to say that 'wisdom literature' wasn't a “large and successful”2 genre in its day, but that our assumptions about the genre largely rely on external comparisons. The term 'wisdom literature' is itself an example of this, “a rubric used since the late nineteenth century to designate a group of Old Testament writings”3. In the Old English tradition, it has also been described as “sententious verse”, and “for centuries the term 'gnomic" has been tardily applied to … poetry in Anglo-Saxon" 4. All these terms can seem overly general, after all "If you go looking for wisdom in Old English literature, you find altogether too much of it" 5, and “if everything is wisdom, nothing is”6. The state of 'wisdom literature' in the Old English appears much as Maxims II did to B. C. Williams “a literary fabric [woven] from odds and ends of sententious material”7. It is an obvious irony that we are attempting to succinctly define a genre whose material has commonly been noted to 1 Morton w Bloomfield , 'Understanding Old English Poetry', 1968 T.A. Shippey, ‘Old English Verse’, 1972 E.T. Hansen, “The Solomon Complex”, 1988 4 B.C. Williams, “Gnomic Poetry in Anglo-Saxon", 1914 5 E.T. Hansen, “The Solomon Complex”, 1988 6 ibid 7 Lynn L. Remly, "The Anglo-Saxon Gnomes as Sacred Poetry", 1971 2 3 Benjamin Kaufman be "over-general" 8. For We shall avoid this "total loss of objectivity" 9 by focusing on common devices and effects of 'wisdom'; allowing us to practically talk of 'wisdom literature' as a genre. The most general observation one can make of 'gnomes' within the literature, is their generality. Indeed, "[they] never deal with individuals but are throughout totally generic" 10. This universality is appropriate, as gnomes are never concerned with incidents, but with what “logicians would term 'universal statements'” 11. This is a feature of ’wisdom literature’ was described by Gerhard Von Rad as a “searching for rules”12. This abstract nature of the gnomes often leaves them feeling isolated from the rest of the poem. This has been commented upon in both Maxims and Beowulf, with the prior being disregarded as "metrical exercises"13, and the latter's gnomic sections being viewed as digressions into the “doldrums of didacticism”14. Rather than criticise this, we might choose to view it as an effective poetic technique. If gnomes are to be 'jewels of wisdom', it is appropriate for them to be self-contained units. Each gnome is its own truth, and must be approached in its own right. We could read into this discretion a desire to separate the universal from the mundane. Both the uncoupling from the standard flow 8 T.A Shippey, “Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, 9 ibid Nigel F Barley, "Structure in the cotton Gnomes", 1977 1977 10 11 ibid E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 13 R MacGregor Dawson, "The Structure of the Old English gnomic poems”, 1962 12 14 W.W. Lawrence , 'The Song of Deor', 1911 Benjamin Kaufman of a poem, and the ambiguity of the gnome creates a contemplative gap the audience seeks to fill with their own insight. One might also see this attitude in the Anglo-Saxon riddles. A riddle's purpose is to suggest “something that is not expressed”15. likewise, the gnome suggests a universal truth which is not specifically applied. As with the answer to the riddle, we come to the gnome's truth indirectly. The ambiguity and 'distance' of the gnome is fitting for a device that describes the ”hidden order“16 of the world. We see that the riddle and the gnome are both instruments of 'wisdom literature' that serve similar function, the circumlocution of truth. "The Old English poet no less than Hamlet worked by indirections" 17, and it is the wise man's duty to seek “out the hidden meanings”18 of these devices. Alternatively, the obscureness of the gnome may be a fault of the modern reader who sees them as “linguistic phenomena devoid of social content”19. It has been suggested that their "builtin ambiguity made them useful, tactful, a part of courtesy"20. An example of this is the gnome on the importance of analysing speech carefully, found in precepts, that is used in context within Beowulf. If we take Precepts as,” the raw material of poetry rather than poetry itself “ 21, a collection Frederick Tupper , ’The Riddles Of The Exeter Book’, 1910 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 17 Roberta Frank, ”Germanic Legend In Old English Literature”, 2013 18 Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 39:3 15 16 E.T. Hansen,”Hrothgar's 'sermon' in Beowulf as parental wisdom",1982 T.A Shippey,” Maxims in Old English Narrative: Literary Art or. Traditional Wisdom?”, 1977 21 Derek Pearsall, ”Old English and Middle English Poetry”, 1977 19 20 Benjamin Kaufman of popular sentiments, then we can use similar expressions in Beowulf as an example of how the device might be applied. 'AÉghwæþres sceal scearp scyldwiga gescád witan worda ond worca' (287-289; Beowulf) “He will --every sharp shield-warrior-- know the distinction between words and works” Ongiet georne hwæt sy god oþþe yfel, toscead simle scearpe mode in sefan þinum,(45-47; Precepts) “Distinguish clearly what is good or evil, and always separate them with acute discernment in your understanding, and at all times choose the better for yourself! " In the scene with the coastguard, we see the gnome is applied to defuse tension. Having questioned Beowulf, the coastguard does not apologise or withdraw his suspicions, but allows Beowulf to pass quoting the gnome above. This allows Beowulf and the coastguard to conclude the encounter with neither of the two losing face. Here we see the gnome acting as a touchstone of Benjamin Kaufman social interaction, binding the two "together in common assumptions"22. The ambiguity of the gnome facilitates its use in social etiquette; blunting pointedness of an encounter within a maxim. The use of a gnome in a ”polite but critical fashion“23 is an interesting example of how the ”high tolerance for enigma"24 in Anglo-Saxon work is often a ”deliberate expressive strategy”25. AngloSaxon 'wisdom literature' endorses giedda wis (41b; Precepts) and worda hyrda(42b; Precepts), and similar sentiments are expressed in the literature of parallel traditions. In this we see the gnomes are not only stores, but also tools of wisdom, that can be applied by 'wise men' to facilitate what Robert Burlin describes as "societal interdependence"26 The utility of the gnome pairs with its ambiguity, perhaps, as an instrument in oralformulaic composition. It has been noted that “maxims are often put in positions of significance at the beginning or end of a speech, a fitt or verse section, or poem”27. Similarly, we can note a change in rhythm accompanying the gnomic sections of works like Beowulf - “certain passages in Beowulf are marked by a high presence of C-type lines”28. This might be an aid for the oral poet seeking to recite the poem from memory, using the gnomes as markers to organise his recitation. 22 T.A. Shippey,” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, 1977 23 ibid E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 (quoting T.A. Shippey) 25 ibid 26 Robert B. Burlin, ”Gnomic indirection of Beowulf”, 1975 24 27 28 Paul Cavill, ”Maxims In Old English Poetry”, 1996 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”,1988 Benjamin Kaufman “The heavy use of punctuation in the gnomes”29 , also suggests its function as a milestone within the poem. The effect of this transition could only be fully appreciated if Beowulf was read aloud, “adjacent stresses gives an impression of stability to these lines” 30, as well as a pause. The gnome's change of pace allows the poet to draw his “audience more deeply into the significance of his narrative”31 and “demand its active participation”32 - the bardic equivalent of a tap on the shoulder, for someone whose attention is flagging. It also allows new listeners to engage with the narrative without necessarily having heard the previous sections. We can note the gnomic sections of Beowulf often are accompanied with historical digressions - they are tedious to the modern audience - but “the heavy use of punctuation in the gnomes and historical episodes of Beowulf is both deliberate and meaningful” 33. It suggests the importance of these segments; and the poet, perhaps, relies upon an audience familiar with these tales. To invoke them allows those with this knowledge to quickly acquaint themselves with the poem through relation to this larger tradition. “The nature of oral culture is such that all deeds can only be evaluated by comparing them with the legacy of stories about past deeds” 34 , and in the use of gnomes in Beowulf we see its functionality as a tool in both the memorisation and performance of 'wisdom literature'. This see the gnome's form not only stores ‘wisdom’, but also transmits it. 29 Catherine Karkov and Robert Farrell, ”The Gnomic Passages of Beowulf”, 1990 30 E.T. Hanson, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 (referring to Barbara Raw’s analysis of Beowulf) 31 1977 T.A. Shippey,” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, E.T. Hanson, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 Catherine Karkov and Robert Farrell, ”The Gnomic Passages of Beowulf”, 1990 34 Robert W. Hanning, ”The individual in Twelfth Century Romance”, 1978 32 33 Benjamin Kaufman This appropriate use of the gnomes in Beowulf causes us to question its appearance elsewhere. Critics lament the “apparent lack of unity”35 within the Exeter book’s maxims, with some dismissing them as being the product of a “stilted copybook”36, and others seeing them as “essentially extraliterary...'linguistic play' at best"37. The unity and purpose of such cryptic pieces has been pursued by some, with "accusations of faddishness"38 being their reward. Let us sidestep the specific analysis of this and reflect on an incident that T.A. Shippey draws attention to. He notes a gnome being applied with a “total loss of objectivity” 39 in Genesis (B 623-5), where the poet apparently approves of the advise of the devil through a “compulsive” 40 interpolation of a gnomic passage. Swa hire eaforan sculon æfter lybban: þonne hie lað gedoð, hie sculon lufe wyrcean, betan heora hearran hearmcwyde ond habban his hyldo forð. Genesis (B 623-5), 35 Nigel F Barley, "Structure in the cotton Gnomes", 1977 36 37 Lynn L. Remly, "The Anglo-Saxon Gnomes as Sacred Poetry", 1971 Morton w Bloomfield, ”Understanding Old English Poetry”, 1958 38 E.T. Hanson, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 39 T.A. Shippey,” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, 40 ibid 1977 Benjamin Kaufman "That is how her children must live ever after: whenever they do wrong, they must do right, find a remedy for their lord's reproaches and have his favour from then on." “One scarcely expects the poet to derive wisdom from the words of Satan”41 , and the most apparent solution to this problem is a "clumsiness reflective of a rich literary tradition”42. Meaning, the practice in composition of Old English poetry was to ground the composition in common gnomic refrains. The purpose of this we have speculated above, but drawing attention to the ”flatfootedness of the gnomic formula” 43 when done badly lets us appreciate it better as a part of the craft of Old English composition. That this technique seems to have been almost a compulsive part of so much poetry, hinders our ability to talk of the gnome as a descriptive feature of the 'wisdom literature' genre. Alternatively, we might reflect that all such literature was ideally an expression of eloquence, and therefore the gnomes, with their “perception of their utility common among wise-men"44, are as rudimentary to the Anglo-Saxon poet as alliteration is. This respect for wise speech is common in all 'wisdom literature'. Maxims I and II's implementation gnomes is more than clumsy, it entirely “unpalatable to modern taste”45. However, this is only if we assume that the gnome is employed to the same way 41 ibid ibid 43 ibid (quoting R.B. Burling "Gnomic indirection in Beowulf") 42 44 ibid Betty S. Cox, ”Cruces of Beowulf”, 1971 (Here she refers to the gnomes in Beowulf but the observation is common to a modern reader encountering the gnomes in the Exeter book) 45 Benjamin Kaufman in these poems as they are in Beowulf. Perhaps, in looking at how these poems apply gnomes differently to Beowulf, we might see a function for them more than simple ”metrical exercises” 46. Earlier we described how gnomes deal with what we might call “fundamental logical relationships”47 in a universal form. This includes not only what they are, but what they are not. This is appropriate for a device that seeks to solve ”recurrent social conflicts“ 48 - the contrast of opposites ”projects the conflict and resolves it“49. This is visible in Beowulf with its ”bipolar view of the moral universe” 50 being expressed at different levels. So far, we have highlighted the gnome's internal logic, seeing it as a discrete unit. We see this in Beowulf, where opposites are arrayed within a clause - æþeling aérgod unblíðe sæt (130; Beowulf). However, at another level we see opposition between clauses - Wá bið þaém ðe sceal (183; Beowulf) with wél bið þaém þe mót (186 ; Beowulf). This explicit contrast in Beowulf is implicit in the Cotton Gnomes where there is a transition from geweorc(3a) to wind (3b) that only makes sense if we accept that “significant contrast is as much a bridge as similarity” 51 . These ”relationships of opposition and similarity between the parts of that total order“ 52 are sometimes the only unifying stylistic choice in the more rudimentary Cotton Gnomes. Perhaps this allows us to suggest it as a fundamental technique of this style of poetry. Even more generally, we see an opposition in the overall poem. As Theodore Andersson has observed, "No sooner is one mood established than it is superseded by its opposite. Hope gives way to disappointment, joy to B. C. Williams, ”Gnomic Poetry In Anglo-Saxon", 1914 Paul Cavill , "Maxims in Old English Poetry", 1996 (quoting Nigel Barley) 48 ibid 49 ibid 50 E.T. Hansen, ”Hrothgar’s ’sermon’ as Parental wisdom”, 1982 51 Nigel F Barley, "Structure in the cotton Gnomes", 1977 52 ibid 46 47 Benjamin Kaufman grief and vice versa. It is not just a question of occasional tonalities, the main lines of the poem as a whole can be analyzed according to this alternation" 53. “Underlying the gnomic world view in Beowulf is the centrality of difference” 54 . The progression of opposites in Beowulf illustrates the same pattern that makes sense of the enigmatic gnomes of the Exeter book. Maxims I and II employs similar structural techniques ”to establish relations"55 within the poem creating works of ”considerable internal unity“ 56. We can observe the significance of the ”inherently structural” 57 arrangement of the Cotton Gnomes by comparing it with Beowulf's employment of gnomes. With the Beowulf's "single line of thought, a clear progression in time, treatment of a single subject throughout" 58 , we more easily make sense of their function. With the lack thereof with the Cotton Gnomes we observe the ”richness of its structure” 59 that we could otherwise not appreciate. This is an inference through absence that reminds us of the ambiguity of the gnome itself, and the riddle. If wisdom is the ”rational clearing up and ordering of the phenomena of the world“ 60 then being able to unify the apparently disparate gnomes is itself an intellectual exercise befitting a literary culture that presupposed a hidden order. 53 Catherine Karkov and Robert Farrell, ”The Gnomic Passages of Beowulf”, 1990 (quoting Theodore Andersson) 54 55 56 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 Nigel F Barley, "Structure in the cotton Gnomes", 1977 ibid ibid 58 ibid 59 ibid 60 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 57 Benjamin Kaufman We can infer that gnomes are part of a ‘wisdom genre’ also from their context. We have noted the significance of structural relations above; no less important are the social relations utilised in conveying the sententious verse we have analysed so far. Indeed, we should look at a “wider tradition to which the gnomic mode itself belongs...parental instruction” 61. We see Old English poetry often parallels the instruction literature of other wisdom traditions. In such poetry we often find a straightforward presentation of a traditional wisdom that describes the wisdom literature genre. "the literary type of those works which contain an instruction of a teacher to a pupil (often in the form of an instruction of a father to his son) or the fiction of such an instruction." 62 A good example of this is Precepts which “clearly exhibits the principal formal and thematic characteristics of the genre”63. The gnomic advise in the poem is framed ten times as that of a father to his son. We the same generic convention used in Beowulf where, while giving a speech of ”gnomic character“ 64 , ”Hrothgar is specifically characterized as the wise father of Beowulf”65 . That invoking the parental wisdom genre is the poet's intent is confirmed by the observation that ”three times before the 'sermon' itself Hrothgar is identified as Beowulf's surrogate father”66. Within the sermon, Hrothgrar mentions “his wide experience, his age and his memory”67; to similarly frame him as a 'wise father figure'. The framing of the gnomes, in this ”set piece [ of ] 61 E.T. Hansen, ”Hrothgar’s ’sermon’ as Parental wisdom”, 1982 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 P.L. Henry, ”The Early English And Celtic Lyric”, 1966 64 Catherine Karkov and Robert Farrell, ”The Gnomic Passages of Beowulf”, 1990 65 E.T. Hansen, ”Hrothgar’s ’sermon’ in Beowulf as parental wisdom”, 1982 66 ibid 67 ibid 62 63 Benjamin Kaufman the fathers advise poem” 68 , fixes the ”preliminary generic conception” 69 within a genre the audience would "familiar with ... and at least sympathetic to" 70 . If the gnomic sayings "comfortably evoke the ideal norms of their society and their world“ 71 , then utilising the assumed relationship between a father and son serves the same purpose. The impositions of the father-son convention presupposes a ”moral nexus between story and audience” 72 . The device binds the ”audience together in common assumptions too precious to be threatened” 73 establishing a "societal interdependence" 74 . This function of the gnome is suggested by the second “most common [gnome] being the one that defines the social role of a man“ 75. Mediating maxims that prescribe social relations through the selfsame relations seems circular, but it is entirely appropriate for a culture that presupposed truth. That such relationships are often invoked in tandem with gnomes, and have parallel purposes to the gnomes they accompany, suggests it to us as descriptive quality of the wisdom genre of Old English literature. Hrothgar's sermon is framed not only as him being a father-figure, but also as a king. Indeed, Betty S. Cox claims that above the section is a “natural outgrowth of patristic and biblical instruction … an expected speech by a king” 76. As above, the figure of the king E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 E.D. Hirsch, ”Validity in interpretation” , 1967 70 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 (Here Hansen is quoting Krapp in the opinion that the audience of wisdom literature had common expectations from the genre) 71 R.B. Burlin, ”Gnomic Indirection”, 1975 72 ibid 73 ibid 74 ibid 75 T.A. Shippey, ” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, 68 69 1977 76 E.T. Hansen, ”Hrothgar's 'sermon' in Beowulf as parental wisdom”, 1982 Benjamin Kaufman facilitates "societal interdependence" and is perhaps more significant to the Anglo-Saxon audience, as ”the ruler was himself a centre of the societal cult” 77. Kingship was universal in Germanic cultures and perhaps the 'kingly wisdom' of Hrothgar is a more appropriate expression of the parental instruction genre in the Anglo-Saxon context. That ”twenty six synonyms for 'king' are used by the Beowulf poet alone”78 demonstrates this concern. P. B. Taylor observes that ”much of an epithet's force in context derives from the manner in which ... characters ... draw attention to latent meanings”79. Epithets, like gnomes, can often only be realized in context, and placing gnomes in the mouth of a wise king has an appositive effect. This is not unique to Old English literature. We see in the biblical tradition, the deference towards the king as a wise man in the figure of Solomon. Appropriately, Solomon appears within the Old English poems 'Solomon and Saturn', suggesting the Anglo-Saxon poets might be familiar with this literary convention. We can't know if Hrothgar is imitating Solomon, or if Anglo-Saxon conceptions of Kingship were complementary to the biblical tradition of the 'wise king'; regardless, we can place it within the genre of 'wisdom literature' and see it play a parallel role to the 'parental wisdom' conventions we outlined above. The poet's intent is not always so direct as to put words in their appropriate place. Often the context of characters add meaning to words that we grasp only through their jarring effect. In the scene directly following the slaying of Grendal, the ”appellations for the king seem curiously W.A. Chaney, ”The Cult Of Anglo-Saxon Kingship”, 1970 ibid 79 P.B. Taylor, ”The Epithetical Style Of Beowulf”, 1990 77 78 Benjamin Kaufman out of place”80. Having just described Beowulf's fierce combat in the hall of the king, the poet describes the king's movement back to reclaim his hall. swylce self cyning of brýdbúre béahhorda weard tryddode tírfæst getrume micle cystum gecýþed ond his cwén mid him medostigge mæt mægþa hóse. (Beowulf; 920b-24) the king himself too from his wife's bower, stepped out splendid the ward of the ring-hoard, with his great troop, famed for his excellence, and his queen with him, passed down the meadhall path, accompanied by maidens. “The poet needs to move the king to Heorot, but why should he dwell on the details of the retinue?”81. The apparently "insignificant detail“82 is embedded with kennings for kingship. The conventional béahhorda weard83 and tírfæst84 king is flanked by his wife and her maidens; and the procession begins at his wife's bedchamber. This juxtaposition could be dismissed as clumsiness, if we didn't already appreciate the Anglo-Saxon taste for circumlocution. The 80 ibid ibid 82 ibid 83 ”ward of the ring-hoard" 84 ”glory assured” 81 Benjamin Kaufman inappropriateness of the scene matches the that of the king relying on Beowulf to defend his seat of power. Indeed ” 'tirfaest' is more appropriate for Beowulf than for Hrothgar“ 85, who has been in his wife's bedchamber with a retinue of women. This confirms the importance of context in framing such devices. Epithets, like gnomes, are not discrete islands of meaning and they are often transformed by how they are employed. Likewise, the predilection of Old English literature for 'indirection' is again demonstrated. As with riddles, the solution to the kenning must be known before the ”fine literary experience”86 can be appreciated. The enigmatic nature of many aspects of the poetry is proper for a medium was the domain of 'wise-men'. The literate man, in a period where literacy was uncommon, would always have a gnomic bent that ensured all of what they wrote had at least one foot in the door of the ’wisdom genre’. Therefore, 'wisdom', rather than being a discrete genre of Old English poetry, might be viewed more properly as a prevailing temperament of the Anglo-Saxon poet. That the poet can use these epithets in such an indirect way would rely upon a rich literary tradition of good kingship. We see this tradition invoked in the beginning of Beowulf where the positive example of Scyld Scéfing is lauded as þæt wæs gód cyning (Beowulf;11b). This theme is continued throughout the poem, and often these digressions are about various problems that might befall a king's rule. This relies upon other poems being known by the audience about these figures (who are often kings), and suggests a rich genre of poetry with which we would find many parallels in Scandinavian Skaldic poetry. Hints at a poetic genre that 85 86 ibid A.H. Stewart, ”The Solution To The Old English Riddle”, 1981 Benjamin Kaufman was concerned with the proper behaviour of kings is in Maxims I and II which contain gnomes describing the proper behaviour of Kings; with similar epithets as those outlined in Hrothgar's procession. We can compare béahhorda weard with beagas dælan(29a ; Maxims II) , and tryddode tírfæst with tirfæstra getrum87 ( 32a; Maxims II) . This concern with good kingship is reflected in the northern-european tradition of specula principium or furstenspiegel ; notably in the Carolingian dynasty. Likewise, we see in Tecosca Cormaic, “collections of gnomic sayings and instructions given by kings or foster-fathers to their sons and heirs”88. The topic of good kingship can be found throughout the Old English corpus, and can be viewed as a subgenre of ’wisdom’ poetry. It is naturally paired with 'parental advise' , but had a more specific and developed role within the Anglo-Saxon court. The 'good king' is not just another face of the 'instructional wisdom poem' (like a teacher or a father); he embodies the fate of his people. 'Good kingship' must be a interest of all 'wise men'; as it concerns all men. "The king is above all the intermediary between his people and the gods"89, and, in the 'wisdom poetry' genre, this allows the poet to relate the individual's behaviour to their larger consequences. The king is the ”linchpin of social structure”90 , and the material on the behaviour and qualities of an ideal king reflects the ”need for order and authority” 91 that underlies the larger 'wisdom genre' it is appositional to. 87 88 ”gloryfirm troop” E.T. Hansen, ”Hrothgar's 'sermon' in "Beowulf" as parental wisdom”, 1982 W.A. Chaney, ”The Cult Of Anglo-Saxon Kingship”, 1970 Nigel Barley, ”Structure In The Cotton Gnomes”, 1977 91 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 89 90 Benjamin Kaufman A catalogue of qualities and skills of men are, presented in various Old English poetry. However, the apparent lack of an “internal order” 92 to such lists and their ”haphazard lists of endowments“93 has puzzled Anglo-Saxon scholars. Some have dismissed the desire for an organising principle as ”neither to be expected nor to be considered adequate“ 94; with the genre alone of list-poetry being enough to describe these poems. The Anglo-Saxonist is able to see in these poems ”the more list-like quality of the Irish prose works"95 such as Tecosca Cormaic ; and, to the extent that they seem "Shockingly disorganised"96, they are dismissed as frivolous or ”linguistic play”97. Scholars have despaired at the "failure to derive a principle of order from its subject" 98 in the Gifts of Men and have found it "distinctly inferior"99 to other catalogues, whose organising principle is more apparent (such as the Fortunes of Men). What does versecraft (vv. 49-50, 52) have to do with skill in combat (vv. 39-40), and generalship (vv.76-77). However, much of this attitude comes from a modern assumption of what virtues a noble man might have. Following from the prior paragraph, which shows a concern with kingship expressed in gnomes, we see the poetic form of 'catalogues' employed in enumerating ”aristocratic virtues“ 100. This is done by drawing upon parallels in skaldic verse which show ”how seemingly trivial skills could figure in the reputation of an important man”101. For example a list of Olaf Tryggvason's skills by Snorri N. Howe, ”The Old English catalogue poems”, 1989 G.R. Russom, ” Germanic Concept of Nobility in the gifts of men and Beowulf”, 1978 94 N. Howe, ”The Old English catalogue poems”, 1989 95 E.T. Hansen, ” Hrothgar's 'sermon' in "Beowulf" as parental wisdom”, 1982 92 93 G.R. Russom, ” Germanic Concept of Nobility in the gifts of men and Beowulf”, 1978 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 98 N. Howe, ”The Old English catalogue poems”, 1989 99 ibid 100 G.R. Russom, ” Germanic Concept of Nobility in the gifts of men and Beowulf”, 1978 101 ibid 96 97 Benjamin Kaufman Sturlison ”observes with evident admiration that Olaf could juggle three daggers at once, always catching them by the hilts, and that he was able to walk from oar to oar outside the railing of his longship while the men were rowing”. 102 Geoffrey R. Russom's paper on this goes on to convincingly contextualise the supposed ”Anglo-Saxon frivolities”103 as ”gentlemanly accomplishments”104 (iþrottir105). The parallels in Irish ’wisdom literature’ of catalogues contianing búaid106 and geis107 that ”kings are most often subject to”108, can also be noted. In this we see the concern of 'wisdom literature' in Old English to prescribe the proper behaviour of high-status men; with catalogues being a common form across various northern European traditions with the same intent. We have seen so far that 'wisdom poetry' often utilises techniques that rely upon the audience's active participation. The passive reader gets little from the more obscure writings of Anglo-Saxon literature. Consequently, if we view sapiential verse as "a continual negotiation between the individual and the group"109 , then dialogue must be the most obvious tool of the poet. Unfortunately, the traditional form doesn't seem to have been particularly popular, with the ”only one extant example”110 being Solomon and Saturn II. One might stop here and decide dialogue isn't a part of the wisdom literature of Old English. However, opinions vary on what is technically considered a dialogue. If we look beyond the templates of platonic dialogues, we see 102 ibid ibid 104 ibid 105 noble skills 106 ’unlucky practices’ 107 ’lucky practices’ 108 Rees and Rees, ” Celtic Heritage”, 1961 109 E.V. Thornbury, ”Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England”, 2014 110 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 103 Benjamin Kaufman other examples of the form in “The Old English Adrian and Ritheus and the Prose Solomon and Saturn”111. Despite being seen as ”not terribly convincing as a dialogue” 112, these poems ”have been (and may still be) called dialogues”113; but they also overlap with other literary forms we have discussed already. We see in Prose Solomon and Saturn an example of catalogues, lists of gnomic lines, which we have seen often identify 'wisdom literature'. In the list of questions, we see the "riddling quality"114 and an overall "lack a distinguishing logical sequence" 115 we have grown to expect from Old English literature. Also, we see in the dialogue between the questioner and answerer a presupposition of hidden truth and a demand for authority and order, which we have noted as a common mood of all ’wisdom literature’. However, unlike the gnomes and digressions above, we cannot say this poetry is part of a proverbial wisdom tradition, as often the questions ”are based on scripture or writings arising from scripture” 116. This pairs with the observation that the dialogue form is not common in Old English, and perhaps only arises from a cloistered environment familiar with more classical forms, exampled in Ælfric's latin colloquies. The monastic bent of the poem might be observed in its ”fantastic superstition and childish literalism”117. Indeed, the weirdness of the poems sets it apart from the Medieval Latin sapiential tradition which is “for the most part, more conventional and 'sensible' than these Old English poem”118. One can see in this peculiar extravagance the same tendency that characterises the 111 112 J.E. Cross, ”The Prose Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Ritheus”, 1982 K. Powell, ”Orientalist fantasy in the poetic dialogues of ’Solomon and Saturn’”, 2005 E. Merill, ”The Dialogue in English Literature”, 1911 J.E. Cross, ”The Prose Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Ritheus”, 1982 115 ibid 116 ibid 117 R.J. Menner, "The poetical dialogues of solomon and saturn", 1944 118 J.E. Cross, ”The Prose Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Ritheus”, 1982 113 114 Benjamin Kaufman hermeneutic writings of monks like Aldhelm 119 . Some scholars go further saying that the author of these poems “may have been St. Dunstan; if not he almost certainly knew their authors personally, and was probably taught by them. These texts would have found a receptive audience at Glastonbury”120 Others have read into the nature of the poem a different influence; while noting that much of the “esoteric lore in the dialogues was transmitted through Irish sources” 121, they go onto suggest that the poem's style intentionally, ”parodies of the Irish wisdom tradition“ 122. With all of this confusion about the poem, we can draw some conclusions about its place within the Old English ’wisdom genre’. The poem seems very experimental, pulling influences from everywhere. While it does indeed share many features of ’wisdom literature’, their presence is only significant to the extent they occur outside of these poems. Those features being the gnomic quality of the lines, riddles, authoritative tone, and the catalogue form. Following this, the 119 M. Lapidge, ” The hermeneutic style in tenth-century Anglo-Latin literature”, 1975 120 Daniel Anlezark, ” The Old English Dialogues of Solomon and Saturn”, 2009 121 C.D. Wright, ” The Old English Dialogues of Solomon and Saturn by Daniel Anlezark Review by: Charles D. Wright”, 2012 122 ibid Benjamin Kaufman dialogue form seems to be a latin influence, and itself cannot be extrapolated to be descriptive of the Old English ’wisdom genre’. Solomon and Saturn is ’wisdom literature’, but it seems too much like the personal project of a zealous monk burning too much midnight oil to be useful as a representative of any greater generic convention in Old English. 123 We brushed upon the "riddling quality" 124 of Solomon and Saturn, and suggested it to be evidence of it belonging to the 'wisdom genre'. Likewise, we have explained the more enigmatic qualities of the poems through analogy to riddles, suggesting that confusion and indirection are often intentional. 'Wisdom poetry' shares with riddles this common observation, "[it is] after we decide to look beyond the content...these poems also become most interesting" 125. Scholars have more fruitfully explored the ”theory of riddling”126 than have attempted to definitively solve them. Similarly, the process of transmitting wisdom seems to be more useful than trying to analyse the particular wisdom. The riddle is the epitome of the Old English 'wisdom literature' genre, which is characterised by a desire to play with ”symbolic systems generally“127. In elements such as kennings we see it shares in common with the riddle the reliance on the audience to bridge the gap of meaning, and even to spot where the obvious meaning might be inappropriate. In gnomes, we see a detached generality that can only be understood when applied in context, and even then the meaning is not explicit. These elements all have a sense of testing I want to retract this a bit, because this prompts the question, ”to what extent can you meaningfully distinguish between the Monastic tradition and the vernacular”, which is something I have not the capacity to fully explore here. I would underline that ’Solomon and Saturn’ is very Anglo-Saxon in its peculiarity, but feels more like a wayward branch, cultivated in a monastic environ, than representative of the general poetry. 124 J.E. Cross, ”The Prose Solomon and Saturn and Adrian and Ritheus”, 1982 123 E.T. Hansen, ”The Solomon Complex”, 1988 ibid 127 N. Barley, 'Structural Aspects of the Anglo-Saxon riddle', 1974 125 126 Benjamin Kaufman from a position of authority, they serve as a “thieves‘ argot” 128 that demand reciprocation to be appreciated; this might be why the poems have been poorly received by modern audiences who are used to literature which "spoon-feeds us"129. Perhaps 'wisdom literature' doesn't fully describe what we are seeing here; it implies a series of tenets, a code of behaviour that isn't essential to what we are observing. Like the riddle's answer, the specific wisdom is often not relevant to the encounter. What is more apparent is the common desire of the Anglo-Saxon poet to promote ”societal interdependence”130. In using the term 'wisdom poetry' we often describe a mode of poetry, whose identity was realised in the community, who read and recognised it. Consequently, if we use 'wisdom' to describe the features we see; relying on parallels external to Old English to define the genre - without understanding the ”games the Anglo-Saxons loved to play”131 - we find the poems ”incomprehensible”132 and without artistic merit. Old English ’wisdom’ is its own genre, whose defining quality is its playful ambiguity; often not dictating ’wisdom’ but only partially circumscribing. It is for the ’wise-men’ in the audience to ’join the dots’. E.V. Thornbury, ” Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England”, 2014 N.F. Barley, ”Structure in the Cotton Gnomes”, 1977 130T.A Shippey, ” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”, 128 129 1977 1977 131 N. Barley, 'Structural Aspects of the Anglo-Saxon riddle', 1974 132 T.A Shippey, ” Maxims in Old English narrative: literary art or traditional wisdom?”,