Abstract
The Gifts of Men is among poems of the Exeter Book that have been less highly regarded than they deserve. This paper is an edition with translation, presented in several parts. The poem includes a long sum-catalogue, often found less attractive than the ‘elegies’ in the same manuscript; its intellectual distinction, often neglected in critical appraisal, is considered. Lines 18–29 express in a single sentence God’s generosity to mankind. In this part, as elsewhere in the poem, some significant words are polysemous and an attempt is made to explain them. The poet uses a strikingly large number of nominal compounds, and his art of expression is revealed when his usage is compared with other Old English poems. The sum-catalogue of lines 30–96 teaches the variousness of human endowments, including some endowments rarely praised in religious verse, and including some failings treated with empathetic understanding. Several unusual words in the catalogue require elucidation, and that is attempted in this study. The conclusion of the poem may be a reflection on the poet’s own talents, as of value in the religious community in which he probably lived. The very end of the poem is designed to teach humility. Of course, the poem is religious, not heroic, not even secular; its ideas are subtly expressed, with potent touches of humanity, perhaps even of thought applicable to the poet’s self.
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