Widsith

Widsith, Old English poem, probably from the 7th century, that is preserved in the Exeter Book, a 10th-century collection of Old English poetry. “Widsith” is an idealized self-portrait of a scop (minstrel) of the Germanic heroic age who wandered widely and was welcomed in many mead halls, where he entertained the great of many kingdoms. Because the heroic figures the minstrel claims to have visited range from the 4th to the 6th century, the poem is obviously a fictitious account; nevertheless, it is an ingenious compendium of the important figures in Germanic hero legend and a remarkable record of the scop’s role in early Germanic society. See also Exeter Book.