 First page of Beowulf, contained in the damaged Nowell Codex. Cotton Vitellius A. xv is one of the four major Anglo-Saxon poetical codices. It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem Beowulf; in addition to this it contains the poem Judith and several prose works. Image File history File links Beowulf. ...
Image File history File links Beowulf. ...
The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...
first page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for book; plural codices) is a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. ...
A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ...
The first page of Beowulf This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. ...
Judith is an Old English poem retelling the legend of the beheading of Holofernes, an Assyrian military leader, by the eponymous heroine, as recorded in the apocryphal book of Judith. ...
It is held by the British Library with the rest of the Cotton collection. British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ...
Name and date
The current codex is a composite of at least two manuscripts. The main division is into two totally distinct books which were apparently not bound together until the 17th century. The first of these dates from the 12th century and contains four works of prose. It is the second, older manuscript that is famous.
This second MS is popularly known as the Nowell codex, after Laurence Nowell, whose name is inscribed on its first page; he was apparently its owner in the mid-16th century. It was then acquired by Sir Robert Cotton, from whom its current designation comes. Due to the fame of Beowulf, it is also sometimes known simply as the Beowulf manuscript. Laurence Nowell (died 1576), dean of Lichfield, antiquary; an early scholar of Old English. ...
Portrait of Robert Cotton, commissioned 1626 and attributed to Cornelius Johnson (or Janssen), (1593-1661). ...
The first page of Beowulf This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. ...
The Nowell codex is generally dated around the turn of the first millennium; it has usually been assigned to the late 10th century, though some recent editions have preferred the very early 11th century instead.
Damage Vitellius A. xv was heavily damaged in 1731 when a fire partially destroyed the Cotton library. While the volume itself survived, the edges of the pages were badly scorched; no serious attempt at restoration was made until the 19th century, by which time the margins had crumbled irreparably, and the edges of many pages are now illegible. Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ...
The Lindisfarne Gospels is but one of the treasures collected by Sir Robert Cotton. ...
Contents
First codex The first codex contains four works of Old English prose: a copy of Alfred's translation of Augustine's Soliloquies, a translation of the Gospel of Nicodemus, the prose Solomon and Saturn, and a fragment of a life of Saint Quentin. Alfred (849? – 26 October 899) or Ælfred was king of the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. ...
St. ...
The Acts of Pilate, also known as the Gospel of Nicodemus, is a book of the New Testament apocrypha. ...
Solomon and Saturn is a work in the corpus of Anglo-Saxon literature. ...
Saint-Quentin is a commune of northern France. ...
Second codex The second codex begins with three prose works: a life of Saint Christopher, Marvels of the East (a description of various far-off lands and their fantastic inhabitants), and a translation of a letter of Alexander to Aristotle. This article is about the Christian saint known as Christopher. ...
These are followed by Beowulf, which takes up the bulk of the volume, and Judith, a poetic retelling of part of the book of Judith; this latter work appears to be a later addition to the manuscript. The first page of Beowulf This article describes Beowulf, the epic poem. ...
Judith is an Old English poem retelling the legend of the beheading of Holofernes, an Assyrian military leader, by the eponymous heroine, as recorded in the apocryphal book of Judith. ...
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. ...
The somewhat eclectic contents of this codex have led to much critical debate over why these particular works were chosen for inclusion. One theory which has gained considerable currency is that the compiler(s) saw a thematic link: all five works deal to some extent with monsters or monstrous behaviour.
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