Anonymous, Saint Erkenwald

Johannes Wolf (University of Oxford)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error
St. Erkenwald

is a 350-line religious Middle English poem written in alliterative verse. Whilst it is usually dated to the late fourteenth century on the basis of both external and stylistic evidence, it is preserved in a single manuscript (British Library MS Harley 2250) which dates from the last quarter of the fifteenth century. Harley 2250 is a compilation of mostly religious texts, including excerpts from the

Stanzaic Life of Christ

, the

South English Legendary

, the

Speculum Christiani

and Mirk’s

Festial

, copied in a Northwest Midlands dialect that these poems share with the poems of British Library MS. Cotton Nero a.x which include

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

and

Pearl

. Saint Erkenwald, who is first mentioned in the Venerable Bede’s

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

, was…

2570 words

Citation: Wolf, Johannes. "Saint Erkenwald". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 January 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38768, accessed 05 May 2024.]

38768 Saint Erkenwald 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.