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Cambridge Archaeological and Ethnological Series
THE HEROIC AGE
MAP OF CENTRAL EUROPE
illustrating the Heroic Age of the Teutonic Peoples
Where the same name occurs both in capitals and italics the former denote aposition occupied in the early part of the Heroic Age, while the lattermark a change or extension of territories.
THE HEROIC AGE
BY
H. MUNRO CHADWICK
Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge
Cambridge:
at the University Press
1912
Reprinted
1967
Published by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press
Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London, N.W. 1
American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Cambridge University Press Library Editions are reissues ofout-of-print standard works from the Cambridge catalogue. Thetexts are unrevised and, apart from minor corrections, reproducethe latest published edition.
First published 1912
Reprinted 1967
First printed in Great Britain at the University Printing House, Cambridge
Reprinted in the United States of America
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 13-13081
PREFACE
The type of poetry commonly known as heroic is onewhich makes its appearance in various nations and invarious periods of history. No one can fail to observe thatcertain similar features are to be found in poems of this typewhich are widely separated from one another both in dateand place of origin. In view of this fact it has seemed worthwhile to attempt a comparative study of two groups of suchpoems with the object of determining the nature of the resemblancesbetween them and the causes to which they are due.Occasional illustrations have been taken from other groups ofpoems belonging to the same type.
The first part of the book deals with the early heroicpoetry and traditions of the Teutonic peoples, more especiallywith those stories which were the common property of variousTeutonic peoples. It is pointed out that these stories all relateto a period with definite limits—a period for which a considerableamount of information is available from external sources.The subjects discussed include the distribution of the storiesand the relationship between the various versions of them, theantiquity of the earliest poems and the conditions under whichthey were produced. Lastly, an attempt has been made toestimate the significance of the various elements, historical,mythical and fictitious, of which the stories are composed.
The second part deals with Greek heroic poetry andtraditions. These relate to a period for which little or noexternal evidence is available; and consequently they presentmany problems, the bearings of wh