BATTLE OF MALDON, The. This fragment, consisting of 325 lines of Anglo Saxon verse, celebrates an historical occurrence of the year 991. A Viking expedition of con siderable size, including, among other leaders, the celebrated Olaf Tryggveson, descended up on the east coast of England, and, as the
There is much probability that it was designed not only to record a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds, but also to call the Eng lish to a spirited resistance. The piece was probably composed not long after the battle.
Although some three centuries later dun (Beowulf,' it preserves the technique and the vigor of the older alliterative poetry. The manuscript is no longer extant, but the lines were copied by Hearne, and published at Ox ford in 1726. There is a convenient translation into modern English verse by H. W. Lumsden, printed by C,00k and Tinker in (Translations from Old English Poetry,' but it should be observed that the verse-form does not repro duce that of the original.