Editing Cynewulf (section)

==Life==
===Dialect===
Some basic statements can be made by examining such aspects as the spellings of his name and his verse.<ref name="See Stokes 2006">Stokes 2006</ref> Although the [[Vercelli Book|''Vercelli'']] and [[Exeter Book|''Exeter'']] manuscripts were primarily late [[Kingdom of the West Saxons|West Saxon]] in their scribal translations, it is most probable that Cynewulf wrote in the [[Anglian dialects|Anglian dialect]] and it follows that he resided either in the province of [[Northumbria]] or [[Mercia]].

This is shown through linguistic and metrical analysis of his poems (e.g., ''Elene''), where in the poem's epilogue (beginning l.1236) the imperfect rhymes become corrected when Anglian forms of the words are substituted for the West Saxon forms. For instance, the manuscript presents the {{lang|ang|miht:peaht}} false rhyme which can be corrected when the middle vowel sounds of both words are replaced with an {{IPA|[æ]}} sound.<ref>Gradon 1958, pp. 13–14</ref> The new {{lang|ang|maeht:paeht}} rhyme shows a typical [[Anglian smoothing]] of the {{angbr|ea}}. Numerous other "Anglianisms" in ''Elene'' and ''Juliana'' have been taken to be indicative of an original Anglian dialect underlying the West Saxon translation of the texts.<ref>Gradon 1958, pp. 9–14 and Woolf 1955, pp. 2–4</ref> Any definite conclusion to Cynewulf being either Northumbrian or Mercian has been hard to come by, but linguistic evidence suggests that the medial {{angbr|e}} in the signed Cynewulf would have, during the broad window period of Cynewulf's existence, been characteristic of a Mercian dialect.<ref>Woolf 1955, p. 6</ref>

===Date===
All the evidence considered, no exact deduction of Cynewulf's date is accepted, but it is likely he flourished in the [[9th century in poetry|ninth century]].

A firm ''[[terminus ante quem]]'' that can be put on the date of Cynewulf are the dates of the Vercelli and Exeter manuscripts, which are approximately in the second half of the tenth century.
Other than that, no certain date can be put on the author, leaving open the full range of Old English literature between the 7th and the early 10th centuries. Any attempt to link the man with a documented historical figure has met failure or resulted in an improbable connection.{{Clarify|date=February 2012}} However, the presence of early West Saxon forms in both manuscripts means that it is possible an [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]]ian scribe initially translated Cynewulf's verse, placing him no later than the turn of the tenth century.<ref name="See Stokes 2006"/>

A tentative ''[[terminus post quem]]'' is based on the two textual variations of Cynewulf's name, Cynewulf and Cynwulf. The older spelling of the name was ''Cyniwulf'', and Sisam points out that the {{angbr|i}} tends to change to an {{angbr|e}} about the middle of the eighth century, and the general use of the {{angbr|i}} phases itself out by the end of the century, suggesting Cynewulf cannot be dated much before the year 800.<ref>Gradon 1958, p. 14</ref> Moreover, it has been argued that the "cult of the cross", which can find ground in Cynewulf's ''Elene'', achieved its cultural apex in the eighth century.<ref name="Gradon 1958, p. 23">Gradon 1958, p. 23</ref>
Also deserving consideration is the argument that the [[acrostic]] was most fashionable in ninth century poetry and Cynewulf's own acrostic signature would have followed the trend during this time.<ref name="Gradon 1958, p. 23"/>

===Identity===
Cynewulf was without question a literate and educated man, since there is no other way we can "account for the ripeness which he displays in his poetry".<ref>Cook 1900, lxxxii</ref> Given the subject matter of his poetry he was likely a man in [[holy orders]], and the deep Christian knowledge conveyed through his verse implies that he was well learned in [[ecclesiology|ecclesiastical]] and [[hagiography|hagiographical]] literature, as well as the [[Catholic dogma|dogma]] and [[Catholic theology|doctrine]] of the Catholic Church.<ref>Bradley 1982, p. 217</ref> His apparent reliance on Latin sources for inspiration means he knew the Latin language, and this of course would correlate with him being a man of the Church.

[[Cynewulf of Lindisfarne]] (d. c. 780) is a plausible candidate for Cynewulf the poet, based on the argument that the poet's elaborate religious pieces must lend themselves to "the scholarship and faith of the professional ecclesiastic speaking with authority",<ref>Kennedy, p. 20</ref> but this conclusion is not universally accepted.<ref>Gradon 1958</ref> Alternative suggestions for the poet's identity include Cynwulf, a [[Dunwich]] priest (fl. 803), and Cenwulf, Abbot of [[Peterborough]] (d. 1006).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=George K. |year=2015 |orig-year=1949 |title=The Literature of the Anglo-Saxons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVHWCgAAQBAJ&q=%22poet+was+not+Cenwulf%22&pg=PA125 |location=Princeton |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=125 |isbn=9781400879618 |access-date=26 October 2017 }}</ref>

===Views on poetry===
In his ''Christ II'', Cynewulf wrote:

{{blockquote|Then he who created this world&nbsp;... honoured us and gave us gifts&nbsp;... and also sowed and set in the mind of men many kinds of wisdom of heart. One he allows to remember wise poems, sends him a noble understanding, through the spirit of his mouth. The man whose mind has been given the art of wisdom can say and sing all kinds of things.}}

Likewise, Cynewulf's autobiographical reflection in the epilogue of ''Elene'' claims that his own skill in poetry comes directly from [[God]], who "unlocked the art of poesy" within him.<ref>See Bradley 1982, p. 195, ll.1248–1249.</ref> Cynewulf seems to have justified his poetic endeavours through a philosophy in which poetry was "associated with [[wisdom]]".<ref>See Raw 1978, pp. 24–25.</ref>