The Battle of Maldon
The Old English poem of the 991 battle against Viking raiders and the loyalty of Byrhtnoth's men. Its poet is unknown.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- Date not recorded
- Form
- Poems
- Authorship
- Still unknown
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
The Battle of Maldon commemorates the defeat of the Essex levy under ealdorman Byrhtnoth by Viking raiders in 991, turning military disaster into the classic statement of the Germanic loyalty ethic: courage must harden as strength fails. The poem survived in a single manuscript burned in the Cotton fire of 1731, and we read it from an earlier transcript, itself incomplete. No poet is named anywhere in the tradition, and nothing is known of who composed it or when, beyond its evident closeness to the event. One of English poetry's founding statements of heroism is anonymous.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote The Battle of Maldon?
Nobody knows. No author for The Battle of Maldon has been identified in the documented record.
Can I read The Battle of Maldon for free?
Yes. The Battle of Maldon is in the public domain and the full text is free to read at the Internet Archive.
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