Judith's Femininity In Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Anglo-Saxon literature often offers a dichotomic view of the world. The mixture of old Germanic traditions with Christian ideology colours most pieces and frequently the analysis of said pieces as a result. James Doubleday writes that their culture is one that “thought of the universe and human experience in dichotomies” (Doubleday, p.8). Said dichotomies include the portrayal and interpretation of gender. For most scholars, the Judith of the Old English poem is often either praised as a feminist hero, a woman acting as a warrior and therefore a man, or she is denied heroism and claimed to be merely a wise woman whose violent deeds are no match for actual Anglo-Saxon male heroes. This train of thought follows the Old English dichotomic pattern …show more content…
First of all, Judith is portrayed as a leader to her people. When she returns triumphantly after killing Holofernus, Judith is warmly welcomed back in the camp. There, she relays what happened to the elation of her people and leads, as well as inspires, the army into battle. She is described as giving orders to men as an army leader would. At line 144, it is said that “Iūdith bebēad” which translates as “Judith commanded”. Again at lines 147b and 148a, Judith commands; “ond ðā lungre hēt/ glēawhydiġ wīf” which translates as “and then the courageous lady commanded” (Aelfric, p.269). Judith gives order to the soldiers specifically and her people in general. A while later, at lines 191b to 193, Judith says: “Berað linde forð/ bord for brēostum/ ond byrnhomas/ scīre helmas/ in sceaðena ġemong” which translates as “bear your shields forwards, shields before breasts and corslets, shining helmets into the assembly of enemies” (Aelfric, p.270). She leads them into battle and encourages them to fight as any good leader