About the Poem

Andreas is the first poetic text in the Vercelli Book (fol. 29b-52b), a late tenth-century compendium, which consists of mostly prose homilies with six poems mixed in throughout: Andreas, "The Fate of the Apostles," Elene (both believed to be written by Cynewulf), "The Dream of the Rood," "Soul and Body I" and one other poetic fragment. The volume is located in Vercelli, Italy, and so far been a matter of speculation about how or why this volume arrived at that place.

Andreas is the story of St. Andrew's mission to save St. Matthew from being eaten by the cannibalistic Mermedonians, who dwell on an island far away from Achaia (Greece). The Mermedonians make elaborate preparations to consume their victims: blinding them, forcing them to drink a potion that deprives their victims of reason, and locking them in a prison for thirty days. St. Matthew is captured as soon as he arrives in Mermedonia, but is delivered from blindness and insanity through divine intervention. God promises Matthew will be delivered from his bonds and Andrew is sent from Greece.

Poetically, Andreas is a remarkable text, notable both for what seems to be a widespread practice of quotation from earlier poems, as well as (and perhaps paradoxically) a powerfully unique poetic vocabulary and frequently hair-raising moments of descriptive and narrative power.

For more information on the poetic problems of Andreas, and what I wanted to communicate in the translation, please consult this post from the ASNPP main page.

This translation, as well as the Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry Project and its affiliated works, are copyrighted by Aaron Hostetter, and may not be published or reproduced on any other website without my express permission. Citation for scholarly review or critique, or other uses covered by the idea of fair use, are allowed, but since this work is in progress, you should ask me first for the most up-to-date version.

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