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The Battle of Maldon recounts the victory
Of the Danes, possibly under the famous Olaf Tryggvason (956–1000), an
Illustrious leader of the Vikings and later king of Norway. The events of the
poem took place in 991 and the author of the poem apparently did not know the
Identity of the enemy leader. // Moreover, it is thought that the leader of
The East Saxon levy was Byrhtnoth, the veteran Ealdorman of Essex and that the
Viking host had sailed up from Ipswich and beached their long ships on an
Island in the estuary of the River Blackwater. This island, Northey, is linked
To the shore by a causeway, which nowadays is still covered at high tide as it
Was at the time of the battle and the Vikings had to use this ford to cross
This river, since they could not use their ships because the water is very
Shallow. // The Battle of Maldon relates how the
English easily prevented the Vikings’ attempt to cross, and how Byrhtnoth,
Magnanimous and over-confident, allowed them passage. The poet comments that
Byrhtnoth “yielded too much land to the
Hateful people” (90) because of his ofermod
(89; great pride, over-confidence). In the poet’s opinion Byrhtnoth was
Deceived by the Vikings and took the wrong course of action; he lacked sapientia . Byrhtnoth is in
Error because he forgot his responsibility to his men, whom he commits to death
Because he thought only of his own glory.
// Composition and art of the
Poem. If we
Focus on the poem, it was composed soon after the battle: memory of all that
Happened was still fresh and it gives the impression of being the work of a man
Well acquainted with the topography of the battlefield, the character of the
English leaders, and all the events of the battle. Also, it is the most
Trustworthy account of the battle. // Now,
Focusing on the poet we can affirm that was occupied with the fate of the
English heroes who were his friends; their manner of dying was what mattered,
And the Vikings were merely the agent of destruction. Their names might
Interest a writer taking a general historical view, but were inessential to the
Poet of the heroic defeat. Also, the poet was probably not present at the
Battle. An example could be: “I heard” he says of Eadweard’s killing
A Viking. Besides, the poet was well versed in the old heroic and aristocratic
Traditions of poetry, and an aristocratic poet in Essex would be certain to
Know Byrhtnoth. // The aristocratic quality of Maldon
Is evident both in the glorification of the military ideals of the comitatus and in the closeness
In art with other Old English court poetry. Maldon is indeed the only
Purely heroic poem extant in OE, since Beowulf is usually accounted
Heroic and epic with ultimately elegiac aims. // Additionally, There is no other poem that
Shows a truer understanding of the spirit and code that demanded resistance
Even when all hope of success was gone and retreat would be wiser. In the
Heroes themselves the source of heroism was the instinctive sense of honour: to
Live without honour was felt to be worse than death; that was the true defeat. The
Heroic faith was that all was well with the man whose spirit remained
Unyielding, however painfully the body might be sacrificed./// We are not told how the Vikings
Advanced, but we are told in full of Byrhtnoth’s exhortations, his skill in the
Front of battle, and his heroic death. The poet was less interested in the
Spectacle and movements of battle than in the heroic problem/// /// The manuscript and the text. The manuscript of Maldon, produced in the late
11th century, had passed to the Cotton Library early in the seventeenth century
And was almost completely destroyed by the fire of 1731. Only a few charred
Fragments survive, still kept in the British Library under the old Cottonian
Pressmark, Otho A xii. /// Some
Years before the destruction of the Cotton manuscript, a transcript of the poem
Was made by John Elphiston for the antiquary Richard Graves (1677–1729) and it was
Printed in an appendix to a Chronicle in 1723. The actual transcript has been
Preserved and is now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. /// Besides,
We should add the fact that the beginning and ending of the poem are lost,
Apparently, through loss of whole leaves from the Cotton manuscript at some
Point before 1696. Though we should expect the poem to be composed in Essex, the
Language of the text is mainly late West Saxon