The first English Studies research seminar of the autumn semester
Dr Alpo Honkapohja, Lecturer of English at Tallinn University’s School of Humanities, will give a talk entitled “When Swords Sang: Translating Old English Poetry into Finnish for the First Time.”
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Abstract:
Dr Alpo Honkapohja, Lecturer of English, recently completed a decade-long (2015-2026) editorial and non-fiction project: a collection of Old English
texts translated into Finnish. Edited by Honkapohja together with Aleksi Mäkilähde and Sara Norja, the volume also includes translations and background chapters by as many as sixteen contributors.
The Anglo-Saxons ruled Britain from the 5th to the 11th centuries, between the collapse of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest of 1066. They were the only culture in northern Europe to leave behind a major body of literature in a vernacular language before the year 1000, including homesick elegies, religious texts, medicinal recipes, spells, and heroic poems.
The talk will provide an overview of the project and the period it covers, followed by a more detailed discussion of the three texts translated by Honkapohja: The Battle of Maldon, and two medical texts, Bald's Leechbook: Eyesalve and the Nine Herbs Charm. It will also focus on texts thought to be of particular interest, such as the poem Widsith, which possibly contains the oldest attestation of the name Kalev (Cælic), as well as the historicity of King Arthur, and later influence of Old English works, including in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and even in a recent film such as Hamnet (2025).
Read more about the book here
Everyone is warmly welcome. Please register by 18 September so that we can plan the refreshments accordingly.
Register HERE
See you at the seminar!