Daniel A - Contents

Contents

The Old English Daniel is based only loosely on the Biblical Book of Daniel from which it draws its inspiration. Daniel ignores the majority of the apocalyptic and prophetic writing found towards the end of the Biblical source, and focuses instead on the first five chapters of the narrative. The poem also leaves out Daniel being thrown into the lions’ den.

The primary focus of the Old English author was that of The Three Youths, Daniel and their encounters with the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (OE Nabuchodnossor). The three men and Daniel were about 14 when they were taken away. The three youths are named Ananias, Misael, and Azarias. Daniel is called aethele cnithas, meaning that he was to be trained a servant for the king. Daniel was put into servitude and him and the youths were also probably made eunuchs, the speculation comes because the master of the eunuchs trained the youths in divination, magic, and astrology.

The poem’s first lines speak of the glory of Israel but then the poem quickly speaks of how prideful the Israelites had become. Then the poem mentions that Israel was conquered for worshiping idols and putting too much faith in man instead of God. Daniel is briefly mentioned in the first hundred lines of the poem but he shows up to interpret God’s signs, warnings, to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was given a new name, Baltassar, when he was made a servant and the other three youths were given new names as well, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago. At the end of their three year training, the king found that they excelled at everything that they were trained in, so he placed them in high places in his court. Daniel soon got to show off his great wisdom because he succeeded when all the other magicians in the kingdom failed. Daniel was able to recite and interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams.

Daniel is able to interoperate the king’s dream and show him that his pride is becoming out of control, but King Nebuchadnezzar is quick to forget what Daniel told him. The poem then talks about the three youths being thrown into the “fiery furnace” for not bowing down and worshiping the Babylonian gods. This was a pretty common form of execution for the Babylonians. The furnace is supposed to represent the end for the youths and the youths represent faith in God. The furnace was so hot that the men who threw them in perished. An angle of God protected the youths from the flames of the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar was told that the men were alive and when he looked into the furnace he saw four men in the furnace and the three youth were unbound. Nebuchadnezzar then told the men to come out of the furnace; he then saw the power of God and gave the men promotions in his court.

The poem says that Nebuchadnezzar is the most arrogant of men (Daniel, i 614). So God punishes him for his wickedness and castes him into exile for a while, but when he comes back he hasn’t changed his ways. So God eventually causes his kingdom to fall to another king, Cyrus the Mede. King Nebuchadnezzar has another dream the night before his kingdom falls. He is really flustered and scared because of what the dream showed him. Like before no one in the country could tell the king the dreams meaning, then Daniel recites and interprets the king’s dream for him. Daniel is quick to point out his pride and Nebuchadnezzar changes his ways quickly, but he is too late. The poem points out that Daniel knows what the dream means but he is almost too afraid to tell his king.

Daniel 523-55

Then the earthly king awoke from his sleep, the dream was at an end. He stood in fright, terrified from the sprit that God sent him. The ill-tempered leader then summoned the whole land. The prideful king then asked all the good men what the dream meant, they knew not how to interpret the dream but they knew an alternative. Daniel heated, God’s prophet, had the holy spirit give his soul support. Deep within his heart the guardian helped him craft wise words. Again he showed them many wonders, mighty works of God, for men to behold. Then he, the proud and pagan leader, spoke certain words, beginning with the dream, spoke of the horror shown to him. He asked what the dream had to offer, hiding in his heart, he asked Daniel to speak truthful words on what the dream had meant. He ask the wise man to answer his fate. He then was silent; however Daniel understood the truth and understood that his lord was guilty with God. Though hesitant the guide spoke:

Many scholars divide Daniel into two parts, Daniel A and Daniel B. Daniel A is a retelling of the beginning of the Book of Daniel. Daniel B is read by some scholars to be a version of the Old English poem Azarias in the Exeter Book, which is almost identical in lines 1-71, but less similar in the lines following. Although Daniel B comes later in the poem, it is read as a prayer for deliverance although deliverance is already granted in the first half of the poem (Daniel A). This fact has led many Old English scholars to view Daniel B as an interpolation. There are many other factors supporting this claim, including differences in vocabulary and metrical usage. Yet another piece of evidence that Daniel B seems to be an addition to the original poem lies in the general content of early Old English Christian poetry. Daniel B seems to emphasize the allegorical meaning of the Book of Daniel, which is drastically different from the majority of Old English Christian Poetry written around the approximated date of Daniel.