Date of Award
Fall 12-22-2015
Document Type
Undergraduate Honors Thesis
Department
English
Advisor
Dr. Joseph McGowan
Abstract
This project, devoted to the Old English epic fragment Judith, argues that the title character arises from the complex multicultural forces that shaped Anglo-Saxon society, positing that she exists between the mythological, the heroic and the Christian. Simultaneously Christian saint, Germanic warrior and pagan demi-goddess or supernatural figure, Judith arbitrates amongst the seemingly incompatible forces that shaped the poet’s world, allowing the poem to serve as an important site for the making of a new Anglo-Saxon mythos, one which incorporates these disparate yet co-existing elements. Judith becomes a single figure who is able to reconcile these opposing forces within herself, doing important cultural and spiritual work for the world for which the poem was written. In addition, the project involved a full, original translation of the 350 line text of Judith from Old English to Modern English.
Digital USD Citation
Caywood, Judith, "Rædende Iudithðe: The Heroic, Mythological and Christian Elements in the Old English Poem Judith" (2015). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 15.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/honors_theses/15