The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Elene of Cynewulf, by Cynewulf

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Title: The Elene of Cynewulf

Author: Cynewulf

Release Date: January 24, 2005 [EBook #14781]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH

ALBERT S. COOK, EDITOR

XXI

THE

ELENE OF CYNEWULF

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE

BY

LUCIUS HUDSON HOLT

PORTER FELLOW IN ENGLISH IN YALE UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY

1904

[FACSIMILE]

PREFACE

This translation was made from the edition of the _Elene_ issued by
Charles W. Kent in 1889 (Ginn & Co., Boston). His text is 'that of
Zupitza's second edition, carefully compared with Wuelker's edition and
Zupitza's third edition, in which the results of Napier's collation are
contained.'

The aim of this translation is to give an accurate and readable modern
English prose rendering of the Old English poetry. The translation of
Richard Francis Weymouth, entitled _A Literal Translation of Cynewulf's
Elene_, has been at hand, but I owe it practically nothing in this work.
While I trust that my rendering has not departed so far from the text
that it will be valueless to the student, yet at places it will be found
that I have to some extent expanded or contracted the literal
translation in the hope of benefiting the modern English version.

My thanks are due to Dr. Robert K. Root and Dr. Chauncey B. Tinker of
Yale University, and to Dr. Charles H. Whitman of Lehigh University, for
examining part of the work in manuscript, and to Dr. Albert S. Cook of
Yale University for a careful reading of the proof.

LUCIUS HUDSON HOLT.

NEW HAVEN,
January 1, 1904.

ELENE

1. THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE.

There had passed in the turn of years, as men
mark the tale of time, two hundred and thirty and
three winters over the world since the Lord God,
the Glory of kings and Light of the faithful, was
born on earth in human guise; and it was the sixth 5
year of the reign of Constantine since