Sodfae stra Sawla: A Study of Guthlac A, Juliana, and Guthlac B.

Abstract

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the Old English poets' imaginative shaping of the raw material of three saints' legends in the eighth century. Whereas Chapter One broadly defines the scope and importance of saints' lives in Old English literature, Chapters Two to Four individually evaluate the poems. Although consideration is given to, the patristic, scriptural, and legendary sources, the emphasis falls upon the hagiographers' poetic transmutation of various source material into enduring accounts of otherwordly aspiration during a heroic age.</p>