Thomas D Hill

Cornell University, English, Faculty Member

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Papers by Thomas D Hill

The Exeter DVD. The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry (review)

Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2009

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Jonah’s Clear Voice: A Jewish/Christian Exegetical Motif in Patience

Notes and Queries

A Choice of Two: Structure and Literary Form in “Auðunar þáttr vestfirska”

Neophilologus, Jul 11, 2024

Beowulf as seldguma: Beowulf, lines 247–51

Neophilologus, Oct 1, 1990

The Rod of Protection and the Witches' Ride: Christian and Germanic Syncretism in Two Old English Metrical Charms

Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Apr 1, 2012

Scholars concerned with editing and interpreting the Old English Metrical Charms would all readil... more Scholars concerned with editing and interpreting the Old English Metrical Charms would all readily agree on two points. The first is that these are some of the most enigmatic texts in the corpus of Old English and indeed in the whole of the medieval English literary corpus. The second is that the charms reflect a curious kind of syncretism in which Christian formulas and prayers and what seem to be older “pagan” elements are conjoined in a deliberate synthesis. This is, in fact, one of the most fascinating aspects of these texts; in this respect they are comparable to such artistic monuments as the Gosferth Cross or the Franks (Auzon) Casket in which native (pagan) iconography is juxtaposed with Christian scenes.1 In the present paper I would like to offer solutions to some problems in two of the most enigmatic of these texts, the “Journey Charm” and “Against a Sudden Stitch / Wið Faerstice.” The logic of conjoining these two studies is that the first draws upon Biblical exegesis and no less an authority than Augustine to resolve certain problems in the “Journey Charm,” while the second calls attention to a hitherto unnoted parallel to the “Faerstice” charm in an Old Norse Icelandic þattr about the pagan past, providing a “Germanic” analogue to elucidate an Old English Christian text. As I hope to show, however, these categories of Christian and “pagan” are so thoroughly conflated in the metrical charms that it is hard to sort them out. We are dealing with deeply syncretic texts which transcend these simple catagories of literary and cultural history, and that is at least part of their fascination. The terms “Germanic,” “Christian,” “pagan,” and “syncretic” are all charged and to some degree controversial in the context of Old English studies—even when sanitized to some degree by scare quotes. In broad outline it can be said that previous generations of Old English scholars, fol-

God's “Inquits” and Exegetical Speech Theory in the Middle English Patience

Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2017

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Perchta the Belly Slitter and Án hrísmagi: Laxdœla saga cap. 48-49

Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Oct 1, 2007

The Conversion of Sibilla in the History of the Holy Rood Tree

Studies in Philology, 2008

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The foreseen wolf and the path of wisdom: Proverbial and beast lore inAtlakvi?A

Neophilologus, Oct 1, 1993

The cross as symbolic body: An Anglo-Latin liturgical analogue tothe dream of the rood

Neophilologus, Apr 1, 1993

The process of searching out and defining even quite remote analogues for such secular texts as T... more The process of searching out and defining even quite remote analogues for such secular texts as The Canterbury Tales or Beowulf is a well established and a very useful mode of literary scholarship. The results of this scholarly process have been codified in such handbooks as W.F. Bryan and Germaine Dempster's Sources and Analogues of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or G. N. Garmonsway's Beowulf and its Analogues. In the study of Old and Middle English religious literature, however, it is less customary for critics or scholars to bother to cite analogues for religious texts unless the correspondence is very close indeed. Old and Middle English religious literature is so much better preserved than the secular material and medieval Christian Latin literature is so abundant that it is generally not necessary to cite anything except either sources or very close analogues. Indeed, medieval Christian literature is so well preserved that if one cannot find sources and analogues for a medieval religious text, it may reasonably be argued that in this specific instance a given author was being original and had broken with convention and precedent. Some years ago Rosemary Woolf argued for a symbolic interpretation of The Dream of the Rood. 1 It had longbeen noted that in that famous Old English poem, Christ is depicted as a fearless young warrior who hastens to the crucifixion and "ascends" the Cross without hesitation. It is the "reordberend .... voice-bearing" Cross at the center of the poet's vision who speaks of wounds, suffering, and anguish. Woolfpointed out that in terms of the Christian understanding of Christ as the Deus-Homo, Jesus as man, as the son of Mary, suffers and dies upon the Cross, but the divine Son is impassible and immortal. The Passion narratives in the gospels thus reflect a deeply paradoxical event. The suffering and death of Jesus is an apparent defeat, and yet His passion is the ultimate goal of His incarnation and ministry and it culminates in His triumph over Satan and death. Woolf argued that the poet who composed The Dream of the Rood as it is preserved in The Vercelli Book solved the narrative problem of how to present an event which is simultaneously a passion and a triumph by depicting Christ in the poem as a heroic, fearless, and willing young warrior choosing his death, and by depicting the speaking Cross as suffering and grieving. The character "Christ" in the poem thus represents the divine aspect of the incarnate Deus-Homo, whereas the Cross represents the human, particularly the corporeal aspect of His being. The "reordberend," "speaking" Cross in this poem thus represents the "body" of Christ. This interpretation of the poem has been frequently cited and widely accepted and is in my judgment a persuasive one. A question which Woolf did not discuss, however, concerns the literary history of this way of

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History and heroic ethic in Maldon

Neophilologus, 1970

The literature on the fragmentary Old English poem Maldon has in the last few years become rather... more

The Old World, the Levelling of the Earth, and the Burning of the Sea: Three Eschatological Images in the Old English “Christ III”

Notes and Queries, 1972

THE HYPOCRITICAL BEE IN THE OLD ENGLISH “HOMILETIC FRAGMENT I”, lines 18–30

Notes and Queries, 1968

9. Guthlac as Potential Brigand: Guthlac A lines 114–40

The Wisdom of Exeter, 2020

The “Fyrst Ferhðbana”: Old English “Exodus”, 399

Notes and Queries, 1974

Alban Gautier, Beowulf au paradis: Figures de bons païens dans l’Europe du Nord au haut Moyen Âge. (Histoire ancienne et médiévale 149.) Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2017. Paper. Pp. 784; 6 color plates, 4 maps, and 2 genealogical charts. €28. ISBN: 979-10-351-0041-4

Speculum, 2020

Medieval Christian believers faced a number of substantive intellectual problems that theologians... more Medieval Christian believers faced a number of substantive intellectual problems that theologians then and now have been unable to resolve. Perhaps the greatest is the issue of theodicy, of how and why a good and merciful God would allow so many and in particular so many innocents to suffer. But there are also such questions as the logic of the fall of the angels, the issue of how original sin is transmitted from one generation to the next, and the numerous logical and exegetical problems entailed in the definition of Jesus Christ as true God and true man. One such conundrum concerns the problem of the reception of Christianity. According to one schematization of history, Jesus was born and preached at the beginning of the sixth age of history. But it took approximately three hundred years for Christianity to be disseminated and widely accepted in the Mediterranean world, and the Christian faith was not preached in northern Europe until much later. And, of course, it is generally true that Christianity was not widely preached in the East beyond the Mediterranean lands until relatively recent times. One of the axioms of Christian thought is that the preaching, passion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are central events in human history. The fate of an individual's soul is thus determined by their acceptance or rejection of Christ. But what happens if a given individual has never heard the Christian faith preached? To condemn him or her, as Dante imagines in the Inferno, in his depiction the fate of the great poets and philosophers of classical antiquity, seems both harsh and unjust. But if souls can be saved solely on the basis of their individual merits, then the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross seems superfluous. This problem is central to this very substantial study which surveys a very broad range of theological and secular literature from the late patristic through the medieval period. Twelve chapters outline the topics with which the author engages: "L'héritage tardo-antique," "Cormac, Conchobar, Cú Chulainn et Caí," "Au nord du monde Franc: Les bons païens en mode mineur," "Ancêtres et héros des Anglo-Saxons," "Trajan chez les Northumbriens," "Bède, ou l'art de la typologie," "Les Anglais face aux 'païens': Entre rejet et fascination," "Païens et géants dans le monde brittonique," "Avant les sagas: Se souvenir des bon païens dans les mondes scandinaves aux Xe et XIe siècles," "Monuments pour des défunts païens," "Princes laboureurs et origines païennes au début du XIIe siècle," and finally, "Soð-faestra dom: Beowulf dans la gloire des justes." Perhaps the first thing to say is that this book is a massive and massively informed study of an extraordinarily broad range of material. And while the essential problem was similar for the various newly Christian peoples of northern and western Europe, the responses to it differed widely between the various national and cultural traditions, and indeed within those specific traditions. I can think of no comparable survey that deals comparatively with such a range of topics. Given the limits of space for this review, I propose to focus on the author's discussion of Beowulf, but not before saying that one of the strengths of this book is the breadth of the author's discussion, which covers nearly a millennium in time and virtually all of northern and western Europe in space. I greatly appreciate the author's learning and the way in which he situates his argument in the context of the larger European discussion of Christianity and its predecessors; however, I find myself in respectful disagreement with his discussion of Beowulf. The author accepts as authentic Beowulf lines 175-88, which 190572.proof.3d 1 05/08/20 20:29 Achorn International Speculum 95/3 (July 2020).

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The Evisceration of Bródir in ‘Brennu-Njáls Saga’

Traditio, 1981

One of the most memorable and hideous scenes in Njáls saga is the death of the apostate viking ch... more One of the most memorable and hideous scenes in Njáls saga is the death of the apostate viking chief Bróðir. According to the account of the battle of Clontarf in the saga, after the Irish forces had won the victory most of Brian Boru's bodyguard left the king in order to pursue the survivors. Bróðir, who had been hiding in the woods near the battlefield, saw that the king was relatively unprotected, and took the opportunity to break through the line of men who were protecting King Brian and kill him.

Hebrews, Israelites, and Wicked Jews: An Onomastic Crux in ‘Andreas’ 161-67

Traditio, 1976

In the Old English poem Andreas, the narrative begins with the imprisonment and suffering of Matt... more In the Old English poem Andreas, the narrative begins with the imprisonment and suffering of Matthew, who is blinded and forced to drink a magic potion which is intended to reduce him to bestiality. This drink, which literarily is directly descended from Circe's potion, fails to be effective in this case, and Matthew prays to God for help in his affliction. God responds directly and tells Matthew that He will bring help. God's help is mediated by the apostle Andrew, and immediately before God summons Andrew He is apostrophized in the following passage: þa w æs gemyndig, se Ðe middangeard gestaÐelode strangum mihtum. hu he in ellþeodigum yrmÐum wunode belocen leoÐubendum, þe oft his lufan adreg for Ebreum ond Israhelum, swylce he Iudea galdorcræftum wiÐstod stranglice.1

Invocation of the Trinity and the Tradition of the Lorica in Old English Poetry

Speculum, Apr 1, 1981

I n the Old English poem Judith, when the heroine faces the necessity of slaying the evil and ind... more I n the Old English poem Judith, when the heroine faces the necessity of slaying the evil and indeed monstrous figure, Holofernes, she prays for God to help her: Ic Se, frymSa god ond frofre gaest, beam alwaldan, biddan wylle miltse binre me pearfendre, 5rynesse 5rym. pearle ys me nu 3a heorte onhaeted ond hige geomor, swySe mid sorgum gedrefed. Forgif me, swegles ealdor, sigor ond soSne geleafan, paet ic mid J>ys sweorde mote geheawan pysne morSres bryttan.. .. (83-90) 1 I wish to pray to Thee, God of the beginnings, and the Spirit of comfort, Son of the Ruler of all, for Thy mercy upon me, a needy one, oh Majesty of the Trinity. Grievously now is my heart burning and my mind sad, harshly troubled with sorrows. Give me, Ruler of radiance, victory and true faith so that I might with this sword strike down this giver of murder.. . .

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New Norse Studies : essays on the literature and culture of medieval Scandinavia

Thomas D Hill

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