Elene Introduction

Elene is one of four poems attributed with some confidence to Cynewulf, a poet whose name is only deduced through a runic signature embedded in the concluding lines of the poem. Nothing more specific is known about him, and there is much disagreement about what evidence does exist. He is thought to have been composing in the early 9th century.

Elene is the fifth poetic text in the Vercelli Book (found on fol. 121a-133b), a mid- to late tenth-century religious miscellany currently located in Vercelli Cathedral in northern Italy. The story is a dramatic retelling of the legend of St. Helena, the British mother of Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, who is reputed to have found the True Cross.

The poem is a eclectic combination of battles, miracles and legal procedure, rife with the virulent anti-Semitism that often accompanied medieval stories of the Crucifixion. Elene is nonetheless a compelling story of the power of religious women and provides an important picture of the relations between the Christian, Jewish and pagan worlds, as well as an image of Old English ideals of empire and the passage of history. It also provides an unsettling glance at the use of force and torture in pursuit of ideological truth that is all-too relevant in our time.

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well as the Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry Project and its affiliated works, are copyrighted by Aaron Hostetter, and may not be published or reproduced on any other website without my express permission.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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