Forgotten Ground Regained
ISSN 2996-6353
New Series Issue 3, Summer, 2024
INTRODUCTION
In the last issue, I highlighted my discovery of a small magazine called Wiðowinde, published by “Ða Engliscan Gesiðas” (The English Companions), a society devoted to everything Old English, and the role that Dr. O.D. (Duncan) Macrae-Gibson, an Old English scholar, played in the founding of the Cædmon Prize – a competition for the best poetry in the Old English style, with separate award categories for Old English and modern English submissions.
This issue is a retrospective on the Cædmon Prize and other alliterative verse published in Wiðowinde. I have been able to obtain permission from authors (where possible) and from next of kin (when necessary) to reprint almost all of the alliterative poetry published in Wiðowinde, including all nine modern English Cædmon Prize winners.
From 1984 to 1996, the Cædmon Prize competition was judged by a committee. Through most of that period, the committee included Dr. Macrae-Gibson, and the prize competition was publicized in the Old English Newsletter and various other outlets. As a result, Cædmon Prize winners during this period included noted scholars like Charles R. Sleeth and Chris McCully, non-members with an interest in Old English, and active members like Pat Masson and Ian Greenwood.In 1996, the prize committee was unable to select a winner, due to a paucity of submissions, and the prize lapsed. It was not awarded again until 2012 (after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at revival.) In the 2012 competition, submissions appear to have come primarily from members of the Gesithas. They were published in Wiðowinde, with the authors’ names attached, and society members then voted to determine the final winner. From 2015 on, a slightly different procedure has been followed: poems are submitted and published anonymously in Wiðowinde. After the winner has been determined, the winning poem is reprinted in the next issue with the author’s name attached. Recent submissions appear to have come primarily from society members. In some years the winning entry has been composed in Old English.
Over the years, Wiðowinde has published modern English alliterative verse regularly – not just for the Cædmon Prize competition. This issue includes a selection of the best alliterative verse published in its pages. Most of the remaining poems have been published on the Forgotten Ground Regained website. Links to them are included in this issue, on the Publications Noted page.
Wiðowinde provides a rich selection of themes and styles. Much of it is traditional alliterative verse on historical, English themes, but by no means all. There are some stunning poems in here. Read, and enjoy!