ABSTRACT
The four ‘signed’ Old English poems attributed to ‘Cynewulf’ are one of the perenially fascinating curiosities of Old English literature, both because of the rarity of any kind of ‘signature’ at all in Old English texts, and because of the problems involved in interpreting them. This chapter clears something of a path through interpretive jungle, and dispose of some of the worst interpretations. The Cynewulfian epilogues represent what Derolez calls an ‘autonomous tradition’ of runic writing: MS as opposed to epigraphic runes. Sisam writes that the poet ‘might miss his purpose, which was nothing less than his own salvation, if he puzzled the simplest mind about his name. If very acute modern critics are baffled by his signatures, it is likely that the puzzle is of their own making.’ For what it’s worth, the author own idea is that one of reasons for puzzle-like quality of signatures has to do with the quality of the prayer he wanted to elicit.
