Battle of Brunanburh (poem)

He married his daughter to Amlaíb mac Gofraid (also called Olaf Guthfrithsson, and Anlaf in the poem), the Norse-Gael King of Dublin.

The 73-line long poem is written in "indeterminate Saxon," that is, the regular West-Saxon dialect in which most surviving Old English poetry is copied.

"[9] Donald Fry compares passages from Beowulf and Brunanburh (concerning the boarding of ships) and remarks on the "similar diction and imagery".

[12] That the poem should not be treated as a historical text, and that panegyric was the appropriate genre, was argued by Alistair Campbell: "The poet's subjects are the praise of heroes and the glory of victory.

But while the poet claims veracity, Michael Swanton notes, "it is ironic in view of his primarily historic concerns that he is in fact more successful than the Maldon-poet in transmitting the traditional poetic style.

"[16] Peter Clemoes argues in Interactions of Thought and Language in Old English Poetry that Brunanburh, as opposed to Maldon, relies on "uncomplicated patriotic triumphalism".

"[19] This poet from the 10th century is recalling the Germanic conquest of England which occurred in the 5th century; he connects his memory of this present victory, which must have been very moving for the Saxons — for it was more common for the Norse to defeat them, and rare for them to be the victors — he linked it to the often secular victories enjoyed by the first Germanic peoples who arrived in England.Accompanying the combatants are the usual "beasts of battle" found in other Old English poems—the wolf, the raven, and the eagle.

However, editors and scholars of the poem have suggested that graedigne guþhafoc, "greedy war-hawk", is actually a kenning for the hasu-padan, / earn æftan hwit, the "dusky coated, white-tailed eagle" of lines 62b-63a.

[23] "The Battle of Brunanburh" is edited by Martin Foys, with annotations and links to digital images of all five of its manuscript witnesses, with modern translation, in the Old English Poetry in Facsimile Project: https://oepoetryfacsimile.org/?document=8412 The poem is included in the Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records.

"[29] The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote a short poem, "Brunanburh 937 AD," a translation of which was published in The New Yorker.