SELIM. Journal of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature

An Overlooked Old English Verse Composition by Edward Thwaites (1671–1711) in Cædmonian Style

Peter Lucas — 2026-07-16

Edward Thwaites, who published an edition of the Old English Heptateuch in 1698 and was an important contributor/editor behind the scenes to George Hickes’s Antiquæ Literaturæ Septentrionalis [Thesaurus] Libri Duo (1703–5), is well known as one of the Oxford Saxonists, some of whom contributed their own attempts at Old English verse composition to commemorative exercises published by the University in support of the monarchy. Such collections of poetry, produced in considerable numbers by both Oxford and Cambridge universities from the middle of the sixteenth to the middle of the eighteenth centuries, comprised contributions mainly in Latin, but also in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and Old English. One such neo-Old English contribution by Edward Thwaites has been overlooked, and the present essay reproduces it, with a translation, and considers its faults and merits as an attempt at Old English verse. In style it accords with the usage of the later poems in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle rather than that of the so-called Cædmonian poems.

Anlezark, Daniel. 2025. Constructing the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Anglo-Saxon Studies 52. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. x + 297. ISBN 9781843847489.

Courtnay Konshuh — 2026-07-16

Review of Anlezark, Daniel. 2025. Constructing the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. Anglo-Saxon Studies 52. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. x + 297. ISBN 9781843847489.

Atkinson, Laurie. 2024. Ideas of Authorship in the English and Scottish Dream Vision: Skelton, Dunbar, Hawes, Douglas. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. v + 225. ISBN 9781843846925.

Curtis Runstedler — 2026-07-16

Review of Atkinson, Laurie. 2024. Ideas of Authorship in the English and Scottish Dream Vision: Skelton, Dunbar, Hawes, Douglas. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. v + 225. ISBN 9781843846925.

Bonsall, Jane. 2025. Women and Magic in Medieval Romance: Genre, Intertextuality and Power. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. 246. ISBN 9781843846659.

Kirsty Bolton — 2026-07-16

Review of Bonsall, Jane. 2025. Women and Magic in Medieval Romance: Genre, Intertextuality and Power. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. 246. ISBN 9781843846659.

Bowers, John M., and Peter Steffensen. 2024. Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913–1959. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xii + 368. ISBN 9780192848888.

Giuliano Marmora — 2026-07-16

Review of Bowers, John M., and Peter Steffensen. 2024. Tolkien on Chaucer, 1913–1959. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xii + 368. ISBN 9780192848888.

Elias, Marcel. 2024. English Literature and the Crusades: Anxieties of Holy War, 1291–1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. x + 231. ISBN 9781108832212.

Omar Khalaf — 2026-07-16

Review of Elias, Marcel. 2024. English Literature and the Crusades: Anxieties of Holy War, 1291–1453. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. x + 231. ISBN 9781108832212.

Faulkner, Amy, and Francis Leneghan, eds. 2024. The Age of Alfred: Rethinking English Literary Culture c. 850–950. Studies in Old English Literature 3. Turnhout: Brepols. Pp. 598. ISBN 9782503606651.

Richard Dance — 2026-07-16

Review of Faulkner, Amy, and Francis Leneghan, eds. 2024. The Age of Alfred: Rethinking English Literary Culture c. 850–950. Studies in Old English Literature 3. Turnhout: Brepols. Pp. 598. ISBN 9782503606651.

Hary. 2023. La gesta de sir Guillermo Wallace. Traducción, introducción y notas de Fernando Toda Iglesia. Biblioteca Contemporánea 1. Málaga: UMA Editorial. Pp. 445. ISBN 9788413352633. / Barbour, John. 2024. La gesta de Roberto de Bruce. Traducción, introducción y notas de Fernando Toda Iglesia. Biblioteca Contemporánea 2. Málaga: UMA Editorial. Pp. 417. ISBN 9788413353821.

Trinidad Guzmán González — 2026-07-16

Reviews of Hary. 2023. La gesta de sir Guillermo Wallace. Traducción, introducción y notas de Fernando Toda Iglesia. Biblioteca Contemporánea 1. Málaga: UMA Editorial. Pp. 445. ISBN 9788413352633.

Barbour, John. 2024. La gesta de Roberto de Bruce. Traducción, introducción y notas de Fernando Toda Iglesia. Biblioteca Contemporánea 2. Málaga: UMA Editorial. Pp. 417. ISBN 9788413353821.

Helbert, Daniel G. 2026. Arthur Between England and Wales: The Borderland, the Marches, and the Medieval Matter of Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Pp. x + 262. ISBN 9781836245148.

Andrew Breeze — 2026-07-16

Review of Helbert, Daniel G. 2026. Arthur Between England and Wales: The Borderland, the Marches, and the Medieval Matter of Britain. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Pp. x + 262. ISBN 9781836245148.

Hyer, Maren Clegg. 2025. Textiles and Textile Imagery in Early Medieval English Literature: Traditions and Contexts. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. x + 246. ISBN 9781843847441.

Alexandra Makin — 2026-07-16

Review of Hyer, Maren Clegg. 2025. Textiles and Textile Imagery in Early Medieval English Literature: Traditions and Contexts. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. x + 246. ISBN 9781843847441.

Lorden, Jennifer A. 2025. Literary Form in Early Medieval England. Cambridge Elements: England in the Early Medieval World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 69. ISBN 9781009328616.

Tom Revell — 2026-07-16

Review of Lorden, Jennifer A. 2025. Literary Form in Early Medieval England. Cambridge Elements: England in the Early Medieval World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 69. ISBN 9781009328616.

Milne, Krista A. 2025. The Destruction of Medieval Manuscripts in England: Institutional Collections. Oxford Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 311. ISBN 978019892022.

Carlotta Barranu — 2026-07-16

Review of Milne, Krista A. 2025. The Destruction of Medieval Manuscripts in England: Institutional Collections. Oxford Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 311. ISBN 978019892022.

Moghaddassi, Fanny. 2025. Space in Medieval Romance. Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. xv + 304. ISBN 9783031809521.

Anne Laskaya — 2026-07-16

Review of Moghaddassi, Fanny. 2025. Space in Medieval Romance: Constructing Narrative Space in the Middle English Breton Lays. Geocriticism and Spatial Literary Studies. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. xv + 304. ISBN 9783031809521.

Oliver, José María. 2026. A History of English. Perspectives and Case Studies. La Plata: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Pp. 105. ISBN 9786316568816.

Sara Ennis — 2026-07-16

Review of Oliver, José María. 2026. A History of English. Perspectives and Case Studies. La Plata: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Pp. 105. ISBN 9786316568816.

Percillier, Michael, Yela Schauwecker, Achim Stein, and Carola Trips. 2024. Carrying Verbs Across the Channel: Modelling Change in Bilingual Medieval England. New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. xxv + 305. ISBN 9783031508059.

Anthony Grant — 2026-07-16

Review of Percillier, Michael, Yela Schauwecker, Achim Stein, and Carola Trips. 2024. Carrying Verbs Across the Channel: Modelling Change in Bilingual Medieval England. New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. xxv + 305. ISBN 9783031508059.

Porck, Thijs, Kees Dekker, and László Sándor Chardonnens, eds. 2025. Cultural Connections between the Continent and Early Medieval England: Philological Studies in Honour of Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. xiii + 311. ISBN 9781843847526.

Rafael J. Pascual — 2026-07-16

Review of Porck, Thijs, Kees Dekker, and László Sándor Chardonnens, eds. 2025. Cultural Connections between the Continent and Early Medieval England: Philological Studies in Honour of Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. Pp. xiii + 311. ISBN 9781843847526.

Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. 2024. The History of the Physiologus in Early Medieval England. Turnhout: Brepols. Pp. 453. ISBN 9782503598406.

Megan Cavell — 2026-07-16

Review of Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. 2024. The History of the Physiologus in Early Medieval England. Turnhout: Brepols. Pp. 453. ISBN 9782503598406.

Windeatt, Barry. 2023. Oxford Guides to Chaucer. Troilus and Criseyde. 2nd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 480. ISBN 9780198878810.

Ana Sáez-Hidalgo — 2026-07-16

Review of Windeatt, Barry. 2023. Oxford Guides to Chaucer. Troilus and Criseyde. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 480. ISBN 9780198878810.

Worcester, William. 2023. The Boke of Noblesse and the English Texts from its Codicil. Edited by Catherine Nall and Daniel Wakelin. Early English Text Society O.S. 362. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 350. ISBN 9780198894513.

Laura Poggesi — 2026-07-16

Review of Worcester, William. 2023. The Boke of Noblesse and the English Texts from its Codicil. Edited by Catherine Nall and Daniel Wakelin. Early English Text Society O.S. 362. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 350. ISBN 9780198894513.

Dobbie’s Attitude toward Metrical Evidence in the ASPR Edition of Beowulf

Geoffrey Russom — 2026-07-16

In their influential editions of Old English poetry (Krapp and Dobbie 1931–53), the editors promulgate a negative attitude toward the metrical system proposed by Sievers (1893). Today editors are reluctant to emend Old English poems for metrical reasons alone. Here I focus on the distribution of manuscript verses, which provides much stronger metrical evidence than is generally realized. A metrical rule with one or two exceptions in the manuscript is now often regarded as invalid, but when the number of exceptions is compared with the number of instances in which the rule holds true, some verse patterns rejected by Sievers are identifiable as gross statistical anomalies. Distributions of manuscript verses are facts, not theories. Conceptually simple emendations for gross anomalies include removal or restoration of optional prefixes and restoration of archaic word orders. Sievers’s constraints on metrical form often converge with predictions of a generative theory that explains why the frequencies of manuscript verse patterns are as they are. Judgments of neo-Sieversians are also shown to converge with this theory.

A Note on Beowulf 748b–49a

Jun Terasawa — 2026-07-16

In the passage that depicts the conflict between Beowulf and Grendel, the hero’s determination to fight with the monster is described in terms of the compound inwitþancum (749a). The term inwit is generally understood to imply “malice, deceit.” However, its application to Beowulf has been the subject of considerable debate, with various interpretations of the compound being proposed. Many editors and translators of the epic have sought to provide the compound inwitþancum with neutral or positive interpretations that diverge to some extent from its original meaning. Others avoid the negative image of Beowulf by associating inwitþancum with Grendel’s malicious intentions or with Grendel himself. In the present paper, I shall revisit one of the Beowulfian cruxes and attempt to present a new alternative reading with reference to multiple perspectives of the Beowulf poet.

The Phoenix and the Rebirth of Old English Verse

Andy Orchard — 2026-07-16

Patterns of shared diction link several of the longer poems that open the Exeter Book. This paper suggests that The Phoenix, long associated with the signed poems of Cynewulf, also has important links with the Guthlac-poems that appear before The Phoenix in the same manuscript. In particular, the second part of The Phoenix, when it departs from its primary Latin poetic source, seems mainly to rely on echoes from Guthlac B, while the first part of the poem, drawn primarily from Latin verse, supplements that material with shared phrasing mainly from Guthlac A, and, in its opening lines, also from Guthlac B. The association of Guthlac with Christ on the one hand and The Phoenix on the other has implications for other poems in the Exeter Book, not least Cynewulf’s Juliana and The Wanderer, both of which immediately follow The Phoenix in that manuscript.

Metrical Revisions in the Ormulum Manuscript

Andrew Cooper — 2026-07-16

The Ormulum is a long and complex early Middle English text extant in a single medieval manuscript. The majority of the text comprises verse homilies, making for a total of around twenty thousand regular lines. In addition, the manuscript is the author’s working draft and includes intervention showing development of the text over what may have been several decades. The thousands of revisions, some individual, some systematic, have never been fully catalogued. The present article highlights systematic changes in the manuscript which have an influence on metrical features and proposes typological categories into which they may be divided according to scope, exemplified by reference to the most salient revisions. It is concluded that changes below the level of a morpheme (type 1) rarely have a metrical effect, although there are some minor examples. Grammatical revisions which remove or replace affixes (type 2), typically the result of language change, are compensated for with various rewriting strategies to keep the meter regular. Similarly, it is unusual for revisions of individual lexical items with synonyms (type 3) to cause metrical changes, but that changes to whole verses (type 4) can have metrical causes, including as strategies for reducing the repetition of formulae.

An Enduring Enigma: Shedding Light on the Text of the Leiden Riddle, 1845–2025

Thijs Porck — 2026-07-16

What riddle can be solved, but cannot be read? The Leiden Riddle, which survives on the last folio of Leiden, Leiden University Libraries, VLQ 106, stands out among the Old English riddles for having virtually no discussion about its solution. Instead, it is the Leiden Riddle’s exact reading that has continued to puzzle philologists for the past 180 years, owing to the damaged state of the manuscript. Following a brief introduction to the Leiden Riddle, this article traces the editorial history of the text, showing how the application of novel techniques over the years has gradually shed more light on the Leiden Riddle, while never quite stifling continued speculation on parts of the text. Appendices to this article provide an overview of suggested readings for the Old English text and a comprehensive bibliography of publications on the Leiden Riddle.