Maxims I and Maxims II, which comprise a seemingly haphazard assortment of Old English poetic gnomes (sayings put into verse to aid memory), are intriguing yet mysterious compositions. While they are interesting in that they might represent various facets of the values and worldview that were prevalent in early medieval England, they are puzzling, lacking both thematic or aesthetic coherence and identifiable goals. Nevertheless, these works must have had significance, as reflected in the fact that they are recorded among other significant works in two highly esteemed manuscripts: the Exeter Book and the C-manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This volume investigates how these works function both independently and within the context of these manuscripts by analysing the works themselves and their places within these codices. This volume also addresses the following long-standing issues: linguistic features and dates and places of origin of these works; the use of ljóšahįttr- and galdralag-like constructions in Maxims I; the gnome on soš in Maxims II; and the use of gnomic biš and sceal. A new critical edition of Maxims I and II, complete with English translations, full commentary and glossary, is also included in the volume.
Introduction
Part 1: Maxims I and Maxims II Reconsidered
Chapter 1: Maxims I in the Context of the Exeter Bookc
Chapter 2: Contents, Theme and Structure of Maxims I
Chapter 3: Linguistic Features, Date, and Provenance of Maxims I
Chapter 4: Ljóšahįttr- and Galdralag-like Constructions in Maxims I
Chapter 5: Maxims II in the Context of Cotton Tiberius B.i
Chapter 6: Contents, Theme, and Structure of Maxims II
Chapter 7: Linguistic Features, Date, and Provenance of Maxims II
Chapter 8: Is Soš Swicolost or Switolost?
Chapter 9: Varieties of Gnomes in Maxims I and Maxims II
Part 2: Texts and Translations
Maxims I: Text and Translation
Maxims II Text and Translation
Commentary on Maxims I
Commentary on Maxims II
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Kazutomo Karasawa is Professor at Rikkyo University, Tokyo. He is the editor of The Old English Metrical Calendar (Menologium) (D. S. Brewer, 2015), and a co-editor of Ideas of the World in Early Medieval English Literature (Brepols, 2022).
