Tu beoð gemæccan: The Key Concept of Maxims I Representing One of the Fundamental Principles of the World Order

Abstract

The Old English poem Maxims I has generally been regarded as a wisdom/catalogue poem listing miscellaneous gnomes without any major structural or thematic unity. It has also been suggested that it actually consists of three separate works, as it is divided into three in the manuscript. Against these views, this article will argue that the poet has a design and purpose in mind, and intends to produce a unified work. In listing gnomes, the poet focusses on good matches of beings or concepts, since well-matched pairs represent one of the fundamental principles in the order of the world in Biblical tradition as well as in the ‘scientific’ tradition of the time that ultimately went back to the ancient Greek theory of quaternity. Near the beginning of the work, the poet actually refers to the principle by the gnome tu beoð gemæccan ‘two are companions’ (l. 23b), with several clear-cut examples of well-matched pairs of beings or concepts. Various pairings of this type are dealt with throughout the work, and in order to remind the readers of this key concept, the poet inserts multiple series of short and simple gnomes listing good matches in all three parts. By this cumulative process, the poet presents truths, norms, and patterns in the Anglo-Saxon world and locates them in a wider context of the world order established by God the Creator. The thematic unity, as well as lexical, dialectal, and metrical affinities demonstrated in all three parts suggest that Maxims I is intended as a unified work. In fact, the three parts seem to have circulated together for a long time even before they were copied into the Exeter Book in the latter half of the tenth century.