The Cup of Death

I have just found some old notes (inadequate at best) made years ago, on a very jolly topic. The Cup of Death. It’s from a publication ‘Germania: Comparative Studies in the Old Germanic Languages and Literature‘, edited by D G Calder, T Craig Christy et al, 1988Chapter 12: The Drink of Death in Old English and Germanic Literature’, by G Russom The writer cites Old English as well as Latin writing, that is Pre-Christian and Christian.‘Maxims’ 1 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxims_(Old_English_poems) gives us – I do not have the orthographic O/E keyboard keys, so bear with me – Deop deada waeg Deop gives the meaning of deepDeada death Waeg cup or drink The deep, the dead wave(?), or the solemn way of the dead.This points to the pre-christian context of undying glory, and preparation of the funeral pyre.St Guthlac is a help here. He wrote of death as the ‘bitter drink’ served by Eve to Adam. He also used the meaning of deop as terrible,…