The Heliand: The Saxon Gospel [Paperback]

G. Ronald Murphy (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195073762 | ISBN-13: 978-0195073768 | Publication Date: August 27, 1992

A spirited retelling of the Gospel story in a Germanic setting, the ninth-century A.D. Old Saxon epic poem The Heliand is at last available in English in Ronald Murphy's graceful new translation. Representing the first full integration and poetic reworking of the Gospel story into Northern European warrior imagery and culture, the poem finds a place for many Old Northern religious concepts and images while remaining faithful to the orthodox Christian teaching of the Gospel of St. Mark. Accessible to students of medieval and comparative literature, Murphy's introduction and notes provide valuable insight and a cultural context for this unique masterpiece.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of my own teachers, Father Murphy gives us a look at how the Gospel was spread into Central Europe. What he shows us is a different kind of warrior epic, and a look at how civilization began in a savage place."--Tom Clancy

"The specialists will appreciate Murphy's fine and very readable version, in view of the difficulties he had to overcome in creating an adequate modern text that can be used in the classroom. Students will value it as an exciting text for the modern interest in crosscultural studies."--Theological Studies

"A great translation. I recommend it highly."--S.L. Clark, Rice University

"An excellent translation which captures the spirit of the times and the people who listened to this unique blend of the traditional gospel message with the trappings of the heroic sagas which formed the other part of their literature. The text is readable and understandable and yet representative of the original. The notes on the translation were invaluable as is the material in the appendices."--Charles W. Nelson, Michigan Technological University

"Very useful for demonstrating the pagan and heroic influence on religious work."--G.N. Berqquist, Creighton University

"Fascinating addition to medieval literature in translation. Notes and introduction very helpful in considering cultural influences on translation of the Gospel into Saxon. The English version itself is clear, yet captures the Saxon style well."--Elizabeth L. Rambo, Biola University

"A valuable resource for the history of Christian piety and for the study of how Christianity was affected by transplantation to Northern Europe. Having such works available in translation is a real boon to teaching and to scholarship."--Richard Kieckhefer, Northwestern University

"Richly annotated. A provocative companion for students working with the original text."--Ray Wakefield, University of Minnesota

"A vivid retelling of the Gospel story from an early Saxon perspective. Ideal reading as a component of a culture and civilization course in translation....Also for the general reader who is interested in Germanic history of the dissemination of Christianity."--David J. Parent, Illinois State University

"An interesting and remarkable text, full of possibilities for defining epic machinery, and a welcome addition to the Old English canon."--R.E. Stratton, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (August 27, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195073762
• ISBN-13: 978-0195073768
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gospels in a mirror, February 4, 2011

By 

Margaret Tassey (A beach in Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Heliand: The Saxon Gospel (Paperback)

My husband is an artist and to check his painting, he looks at it in a mirror because he can see problems that are invisible when you look at it the regular way. I found the Heliand to be like that.

My original aim was to see how distorted the message was to the Saxons. It is distorted, but I found it to be extremely powerful for that very reason. It makes you think. When Mary wraps the infant in clothes and precious jewels, it makes you stop short. It couldn't have been like that. But it should have been; Jesus was that precious. I loved the poetic images like the meadows of heaven. And there is great joy and feeling in the telling that are pretty well missing from the traditional gospels. This is a story told by a master storyteller.

We are almost as far removed from the warrior society of the Saxons as we are from the even more distant world of Jesus. Reading the story transposed from one culture to another makes you look at the changes and think about what is important and what is just details. Like looking at your painting through a mirror.

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding glimpse of religion in a specific culture, January 11, 2011

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Hearth (Darnestown, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Heliand: The Saxon Gospel (Paperback)

I loved this book. As an Saxon history buff, this book opened a wonderful new portal into their lives and cultures. The author's notes are not intrusive, in the way that some academic footnotes can be. They enlighten and enliven the text. The translation is clean, clear, whimsical and readable.

Highly recommended for historical reference, as well as for church groups or bible study. I plan to use it with my high school classes.

Well done, Father Murphy!

7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Fossil in the Evolution of Christianity, February 8, 2008

By 

Giordano Bruno (Wherever I am, I am.) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Heliand: The Saxon Gospel (Paperback)

Christianity has not been as uniform and unchanging as many American evangelicals want to believe. People have notions of "primitive" Christianity before the transformation of the Church under the Roman Emperor Constantine, and protestants of all demoninations are well aware that their religion underwent drastic changes in the era of the so-called Reformation. These days, many are also aware of the Gnostic alternative that competed with orthodox Christianity for centuries. Likewise, most American Christians have a vague awareness that Coptic, Armenian, Greek, and Russian Orthodoxy all maintain uncomfortably different doctrines. But, unless I'm terribly mistaken, rather few devout fundamentalists are aware of the scope of alternatives in the history of Christianity, of the widespread and long-lasting "heresies" like Arianism, Donatism, the Albigensians, or the Bogomils. Then there are more recent alternatives, some of them quite drastic in their difference: Shakers, Quakers, the Kingdom of Matthias, the Latter Day Saints, the followers of Hauge in Scandinavia, the Swedenborgians, not to mention syncretic variants combining Judeo-Christian material with indigenous religious ideas in almost every country where missionaries have be active. Christianity is not a constant.

The earliest translation of the Gospel stories into a northern European language was made by a Goth named Ulfilas; the Goths were strenuous adherents to the Arian heresy. Then, in approximately 835, an anonymous East Saxon "scop", or bard, synthesized the four Gospel narratives into a single text, large portions of which have survived. Given the name "Heliand" (Savior) by later scholars, this gospel narrates the life of Jesus in the alliterative epic style familiar from Beowolf, written at least 100 years later. In the Heliand, Jesus is portrayed as a warrior chieftain, and his disciples as warrior thanes. Much of the imagery used to depict Jesus comes directly from the images of Odin, who also sacrificed himself to himself to achieve "wisdom", or magical power. But Jesus is more powerful than Odin, as portrayed by the anonymous Saxon, because while Odin will perish in Ragnarok (the End of Time), Jesus will survive. Throughout the Heliand, not only the scenery and social structure of the New Testament but also the moral standards and expectations of Christianity are carefully modified to appeal to the Germanic tribesmen. Such accomodations were ultimately effective in conversion, particularly when backed up by the logistically superior military of Charlemagne.

So what, you ask! It seems to me that a recognition of the diversity of "spiritual truths" in the history of Christianity should give the intolerant politicized fundamentalists of the USA today something to think about.