33 pages • 1 hour read
AnonymousA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Lines 1-10
The first line of “The Battle of Maldon” is a broken fragment, the beginning of the text lost to history. At the beginning of the available text, Byrhtnoth appears. Byrhtnoth, an earl, tells his soldiers to let their horses go, chase them away, and then proceed courageously and mindfully. Where the soldiers are moving to is left unstated as yet—but the implication is that they are heading into danger, and thus must protect their mounts. In a moving scene, the kinsman of one of Byrhtnoth’s vassals lets his beloved hawk fly away to the woods. The text makes it clear that freeing his hawk is a preparatory sacrifice: "a gesture one could recognize: / the young warrior did not wish to waver at war" (Lines 8-9)—the man is literally putting aside the pleasures of peace, like hawking, to show that he was ready to pick up his weapons and fight.
Lines 11-24
Readers then meet another Anglo-Saxon warrior: Eadric, who carries his spear and marches forth. The author asserts Eadric’s loyalty and good intentions to fulfill his vow of fighting for his lord, Byrhtnoth. As Eadric, Offa, and the other soldiers are preparing for battle and marching, we get a sense of why they feel such deep-seated loyalty to their lord.
By Anonymous
Arabian Nights
Anonymous
Arden of Faversham
Anonymous
A Woman in Berlin
Anonymous
Bible (New Testament): English Standard Version
Anonymous
Bible: Old Testament: English Standard Version
Anonymous
Deuteronomy
Anonymous
Diary of an Oxygen Thief
Anonymous
Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep
Anonymous
Everyman
Anonymous
Hebrew Bible
Anonymous
Holy Bible
Anonymous
Homeric Hymns
Anonymous
Judith
Anonymous
Laxdaela Saga
Anonymous
Lazarillo De Tormes
Anonymous
Mahabharata
Anonymous
Nibelungenlied
Anonymous
Njals Saga
Anonymous
One Thousand and One Nights
Anonymous
Popol Vuh
Anonymous
9th-12th Grade Historical Fiction
View Collection
Books About Leadership
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
British Literature
View Collection
European History
View Collection
Loyalty & Betrayal
View Collection
Medieval Literature / Middle Ages
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Nation & Nationalism
View Collection
Poems of Conflict
View Collection
Poetry: Perseverance
View Collection
Pride & Shame
View Collection
Revenge
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
Short Poems
View Collection
War
View Collection