Maxims (Old English)

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Paul Cavill (University of Nottingham)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Date of occurrence c.1000

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Genres and Modes

Aphorisms/ Maxims/ Proverbs

Maxims are sententious generalisations: that is, they aim at being true in relation to the concepts and categories about which they are expressed. We recognise Wiglaf’s maxim in the Old English Beowulf, “death is better for every nobleman than a life of shame”, as an expression of the Anglo-Saxon heroic code of honour. It is “true” despite the fact that a number of warriors in the narrative context have run away from supporting Beowulf and fighting a dragon. And interestingly, the dragon of Beowulf makes “true” the maxim that appears in the poem Maxims II, that “a dragon belongs in a burial mound, old and proud of its treasures”. While the two expressions deal with very different spheres of life t…

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830 words

Citation: Cavill, Paul. "Maxims (Old English)". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1247, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Maxims (Old English)

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

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