The Alfred Jewel, thought to have been made for King Alfred the Great (871-99)
by the inscription around the gold metalwork "Alfred ordered me to be made".
Copyright 'Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford'.

Course Information

Textbooks

Baker, Peter, An Introduction to Old English, 2^nd ed. (Blackwell) [Baker]

Bradley, S. A. J., Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Everyman) [ASP]

* library reserve articles and essays

Suggested: Clark-Hall, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (MRTS)

Campbell, The Anglo-Saxons (Penguin)

O’Brien O’Keeffe, Reading Old English Texts

Course Requirements

This is a small class that relies on everyone’s participation for success. Attendance and preparation (especially translation!) are essential. Your course grade will reflect that in the following distribution: quizzes (20%), final examination (25%), participation (25%), essay/presentation (30%). If you are not in class, you cannot participate, and for each absence after the first two, your participation grade will drop (unless you have discussed the situation with me).

Students with special needs are encouraged to meet with me outside of class to arrange any needed accommodations and should contact the Academic Assistance Center if this has not already been done.

Various sorts of help

I will be glad to meet with you individually for help in translation or with any of the course material; there are also online helps available. Two of the most useful sites are Cathy Ball's Old English Pages (which offer, among lots of other things, downloadable Old English fonts for printing OE and for reading OE online) and the Labyrinth Old English and Resources pages. Both will direct you to a host of other sites. See also the resources.

If you have comments or suggestions, email me at ericksja@morris.umn.edu