An Edition and Study of the Old English Seasons for Fasting

University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange

Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School

8-1983

Chadwick Buford Hilton Jr. University of Tennessee - Knoxville

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Recommended Citation Hilton, Chadwick Buford Jr., "An Edition and Study of the Old English Seasons for Fasting. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1983. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2955

This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council:

I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Chadwick Buford Hilton Jr. entitled "An Edition and Study of the Old English Seasons for Fasting." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English.

Mary P. Richards, Major Professor

We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance:

Joseph Trahern, John H. Fisher, Paul Barrette

Accepted for the Council:

Carolyn R. Hodges

Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School

(Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council:

I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Chadwick Buford Hilton, Jr. entitled 11An Edition and Study of the Old English Seasons for Fasting.11 I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English.

i.· . ' - ) • , '·;· • I r ( \ ." ,-/ r 1 , : \ , _ � 'Y 'i· . .· Aj:> / _,/ J{�({.Lj '"" 1 t : u__,'[.Rfl"<' ( .� h Mary .p. · chards, Major Professor

We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance:

Accepted for the Council:

Vice Chance11 or Graduate Studies and Research AN EDITION AND STUDY OF THE OLD ENGLISH

SEASONS FOR FASTING

A D i s s e r ta t i o n

Presented for the

Doctor of Philosophy

Degree

The University of Tennessee , Knoxville

Chadwick Bufo rd Hi lton, Jr .

August 1983 AC KNOWL EOG Er� ENTS

I wish to thank the Engl ish Depa rtrnent of The Universi ty of

Tennessee for gra nti ng me The Tha l er Fe 11 owshi p 1vhi ch enabled me to examine the ma nuscript of Seasons for Fa sti ng . I a·l so owe a debt of thanks to the members of my committee , Dr . Jo seph Trahern, Dr. John

H. Fisher, and Dr. Pa ul Barrette . But, two peopl e deserve special thanks : Dr. Mary P. Richards , my director, whose learni ng, energy , good cheer , and curiosity have been an inspi ration throughout this project and B. Ja ne Sta nfi el d, my wi fe , without whose constant encouragement and assistance this dissertation wo uld not have been possible.

i i ABSTRACT

This dissertation is an edition and study of the Ol d Engl ish

Seasons for Fa sti ng . Seasons is interesti ng to the student of Ol d

Engl ish for several reasons : it is the longest regularly stanzaic

poem in OE; its Engl ish stand on the Ember fa st controversy and its attack on lax priests are atypical of OE verse as is the poem' s

intended lay audience. The dissertation is in three sections : Chapter I introduces and describes the extant text ( ff. 257r-260v , British Li brary MS . Add . 43703 ) , discusses the school of composition, and provides new support for Wul fstan 's infl uence on the poem, de

scribes the language of the poem, provides analyses of the styl e and

the historical and poetic contexts of the poem , and offers some

suggestions concerning the sources of the poem. Chapter II consists of the text of Seasons for Fasting ( based on Bri tish Li brary MS. Add. 43703 ) , textual notes indicating the readings of all other editors , and a translation ( the first in Engl ish ) . Chapter III is a commentary keyed to the lines of the poem . The commentary notes rel evant criti cism on difficul t or interesting sections of the poem and offe rs several new readings .

i i i TAB LE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. INTRODUCTION. 1

The r�a nuscri pt. . . . . 1 Description of the Text 2 Condition of the Text . 3 Date and Provenance . . 3 School of Composition . 4 The Copyist: Laurence Nowell 6 Language ... 10 Style . . . . 12 Structure . . 16

Contexts. . . 26 Hi storical. 26 Poetic. . . 37 So urce .... 43

II. TEXT AND TRANSLATION. 45

III. COMMENTARY . 70

BIBLIOGRAPHY . 81

VITA. • . • . 86

iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ASE Anglo Saxon Engl and

ASPR The Anglo-Saxon Poeti c Records

Bri tish Museum Quarterly

Bosworth- Toller An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Pres s, 1972.

EETS Early Engl ish Text Society

R Engl ish Hi stori cal Review

ELN �i sh Language Notes

JEGP Journal of Engl ish and Germanic Phi lol ogy

MP Modern Ph ilology

MS Mediaeval Studies

Notes and Qu eries

PMLA Publi cati ons of the Modern Language Association

Proc. of Bri t. Acad. Proceedings of the British .tkademy

RES Review of Engl ish Studies

v CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Manuscript

The Old English poem, Seasons for Fasting, was originally preserved in London, British Library, MS. Cotton Otho Bxi, a codex which included the Old English translation of Bede's .;__::_;;_;:.....__..=.

Ecclesiastica, the West Saxon Genealogy (a direct copy of that in the Parker Chronicle and Laws, MS. CCCC 173), the Anglo-Saxon

Chronicle to 1001, a list of Popes, the Anglo-Saxon laws (portions of II andy Athelstan, Iudex, Alfred and Ine , penalties for adultery, a Burghal Hidage, another statement on hides and defence, the Seasons for Fasting, and herbal recipes (which would not be known 1 but for Nowell's transcription). MS. Cotton Otho Bxi was severely damaged in the Cotton Library fire of 1731, and Seasons for Fasting was completely destroyed. The poem survives today in a copy of MS.

Cotton Otho Bxi made by Laurence Nowell in 1562 (now British Library 2 MS. Add. 43703). This copy was unknown until discovered by

1 N. R. Ker, Catalogue of MSS Containing Anglo-Saxon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957), pp. 230-34. 2 Humfrey Wanley in his Catalogus Historico Criticus (Oxford, 1705), p. 219 described Seasons for Fasting and printed an incipit: Abraham Wheloc, too, printed eight lines, 11. 87-94, in his Historire Ecclesiasticre Gentis Anglorum Libri V (Cambridge, 1643-44), p. 96. There is a probability that the transcriptions by both Wanley and Wheloc are more accurate than that by Nowell. For arguments concern ing this issue, see P. L. Heyworth, "The Old English 'Seasons of Fasting,11' MS, 26 (1964), 358-59 and R. J. S. Grant, "A Note on 'The Seasons ofFasting,'" RES, 23 (1972), 302-304.

1 2

Professor Robi n Flower among eight Nowel l transcripts donated to the 3 Briti sh Museum by Lord Howard de Walden in 1934 .

Oescriotion of the Text

The text of Seasons for Fasting, preserved on ff. 257r-260v

of MS . Add. 43703 , is divided into twenty-nine stanzas each of which

has eight lines except for stanza 4 which has 6 lines , stanza 15 which has 9 lines , and stanza 29 which breaks off after 6- l/2 lines .

Large capital s begin each stanza, and one occurs within line lOOa .

A small � is wri tten within the capital � which begins stanza l.

Punctuation (points ) closes all stanzas except 14, 15, 17, and 24. Poi nts are used without evident system withi n the stanzas. In addi-

tion to poi nts ,"':'\:,is used irregul arly to mark the end of a stanza;

= indicates word di vision. F. 257r has 20 lines; ff. 257v through

259v have 25 lines each ; F. 260r has 26 lines and 260v has 19 lines .

Nowel l made corrections by stri ke-through, superscription, and/or

insertion in lines 18, 51 , 57, 66 , 72, 76, 82, lll, 114, 119, 161 ,

163, 164, 170, 175, 180, 191 , 199, 203, 223, and 227. Marks indicating inversion � . . � are written above line 220b. Catch-words occur at the bottom of ff. 257r,v; 258v; 259v, and the catchword

for 258r is wri tten as the final word of the last line of 258r.

Likewise, on 260v the last li ne of the poem contains the underl ined

catchwords to wynsealf 7 to wy nbyl u for the leechdoms which fol low

Seasons in the MS .

3 Robin Flm-1er, "Laurence Nowel l and a Recovered Anglo-Saxon Poem,11 BMQ, 8 (1934), 130-32. 3

Condition of the Text

It is impossible now to ascertain the condi ti on of the ori g- inal MS of the Seasons for Fastino which Nm·Jell transcribed. That the poem was a fragment even in the undamaged MS. Cotton Otho Bxi is attested by Humfrey Wanley's 1705 descri ption of the poem as 4 "truncatum etiam in fine."

Though Nowel l's transcription of Seasons is not damaged , the metrics reveal lacunae at lines 23a, 44b , 70b, and 173b. Previous editors have concl uded, on the basis of the stanzaic form, that two lines are missing in stanza 4 and that an extra line occurs in stanza

15; and, of course, stanza 29 is incomplete . Cri tical opinion generally fol lows Kenneth Sisam in ascribing these problems to cor- ruptions already present in MS . Otho Bxi rather than to errors by 5 Nowell .

Date and Provenance

Accordi ng to N. R. Ker, MS . Cotton Otho Bxi is a Winchester

MS. written partly in the mi d tenth and partly in the second quarter 6 of the el eventh century. Seasons for Fasting appears to have been copied with the later portion of the MS . And , on the basis of the language ( West Saxon wi th some late West Saxon features ) ,

4 Humfrey Wanley, Catal ogus Historico Cri ticus ( Oxford , 1705) , p. 21 9. 5 Kenneth Sisam, Studies in the His tory of Old Engl ish Litera ture ( Oxford , 1953) , pp. 59- 50 and R. J. S. Grant, "A Note," p. 304. 6 Ker, Catalogue, p. 234. 4 the theme of the controversy over the dating of Ember, and the poem's hortatory closing, critics and editors all agree with dating the poem 7 in the late tenth or early eleventh century.

School of Composition

Aside from the probability that he was a clergyman, possibly even a bishop or an archbishop, as indicated by the command in Stanza

XXIII, II we bebeodac purh beorn godes," nothing is known about the author of Seasons for Fasting. However, in support of his conten tion for a late tenth or early eleventh-century date for Seasons,

Kenneth Sisam compares The Creed and Seasons and concludes that these two poems are probably "by the same author: certainly they belong to the same school."8 This is the school of Archbishop Wulfstan (fl. 996-

1023). Though Sisam's argument for a common author of The Creed and

Seasons is conjectural, Wulfstan's influence on Seasons for Fasting is readily apparent. There are striking echoes of Wulfstan's sermons

in lines 83- 85, 164, and 223.

In explaining the proper observance of fasts, the Seasons poet writes:

7 E. V. K. Dobbie, The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems (ASPR 6) (New York: Columbia Univ. Press� 1942), p. xciv; Ferdinand Holthausen, "Ein Altenglisches Gedicht Uber Die Fastenzeiten, Anglia, 71 (1953), 191; Maria Grimaldi, "The Seasons for Fasting," Filologica Germanica, Annali XXIV (Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale, 1981), 73; Sisam, Studies, p. 50; Stanley B. Greenfield, A Critical History of Old English Literature (New York: New York Univ. Press, 1972), p. 177; C. L. Wrenn, A Study of Old English Literature (New York: W. W. Norton, 1967), p. 160. 8 sisam, Studies, p. 48. 5

embpa nigopan tyd nan is on eorban, butan hi ne unha:l an gepreatige, pe mot, a:t oppe v1a::t a:rurpicgen. (ll. 83-85)

Similarly, Wulfstan in his Senno_j�L_ says:

pa:: t a: fre a: nig cristen man a: nige dee ge a:: r nontide naoor ne abyrige ne a::tes ne �va::tes buton hit for unha: le sy. 9

Although the Seasons passage is not a direct quotation from Wulfstan, the similarity in vocabulary and phrasing is noteworthy.

In lines l64-165a, Seasons notes that Satan in tempting Christ hoped "pa:: t he stra: la his stellan mihte I on pam lichoman. " The image of Satan as an archer is common in OE literature, but he usually shoots his arrows into his victims. Consequently, the verb stellan,

"to attach to, to place on" seems inappropriate in this description.

However, the idea that the devil might place or fasten his arrows rather than pierce with them has precedent in Wulfstan1S Sermo de

10 1 Baptismate, VIlle, 11. 65-66: 1 ••pcet deofol ne cenig his attrenra waepna him on afaestni an. 11 In this context afee stnian and stellan have similar meanings, and the poet may have chosen stellan because it fit his alliterative scheme. 11

Similarly, the poet of Seasons appears to echo Wulfstan when he says that the bad priest is mceoa bedceled (1. 223)--"lacking all continence. " These two words otherwise appear in conjunction

9oorothy Bethurum, ed .• The Homilies of Wulfstan (Oxford, 1957), p. 233. 10 Ibid., p. 179. 11 See commentary to 1. 164. 6

pri esthood: " Go de s peowas s i ndon mCE.� e munde gewe 1 hwCE r bedCE 1 ed."

These echoes poi nt to an author fa�i liar with Wu l fstan's works

and capable of adapting the prelate's prose to his own po etic needs.

Such borrowing from Wul tan is not without precedent. Professor

Doro thy Whitelock has shown that the author of the OE homi ly Of Se i nte

Neate borrowed from at least two of Wul fstan's sermons, and Pro fessor

��a ry P. Richards has gone on to show that this homilist's style is 13 al so indebted to Wul fstan. Like the homi ly Of Seinte Neate, then,

Seasons for Fasting is the product of an author working out of a

tradition influenced by Wul fstan,as reflected in his use of certai n specific ve rbal col l ocations and themes, especial ly those which are topical and critical of society.

The Copyi st: Laurence Nowel l (fl. 1520- 1576)

Laure nce Nowel l,Dean of Lichfield, was an antiquari an whose

"importance as a pioneer in Ang lo- Saxon studies is second only to 14 that of Jo scel in." He made important transcriptions,and he compi led

12 Bethurum , Homi lies of Wul fstan,p. 262. 13 oo ro thy Wh itelock, Sermo Lupi Ad Anglos, 3rd ed. (New York , 1966), pp. 35- 36 and Mary P. Ri chards , "The Medieval Hagiography of St. Neat," Analecta Bo llandiana, 99 (1981), 263. 14 R. J. S. Grant, "Laurence Nowell's Transcript of BM Cotton Otho B. xi ," ASE, 3 (1974), 113. For detailed discussions of Nowel l, see the introduction to A. H. Marc kwardt's edition of Laurence Nowell's Vocabul arium Saxonicum (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1952) and Ro bin Flowe r's "Laurence Nowell and the Discove ry 7

que nt Ol d Engl ish die onari es. In fact. were it not for Nowel l's transcription of MS. Cotton Otho Bxi , the modern student of Ol d

Engl ish woul d not know that the herbal recipes which follow Seasons 16 fo r Fasting ever exi sted, and of course, Nowell's transcription of

Seasons is the only extant compl ete copy of the poem. Un fo rtunately, however, Nowel l was not as accurate a copyist as woul d be ideal .

In fact, any concl usions re ached about the language of MS . Cotton

Otho Bxi based on Nowel l's copy are questionabl e because of hi s numerous grammati cal and orthog raphic erro rs. This is not a serious problem regardi ng items in MS . Add. 43 703 which can be compared wi th extant original vers ions of these texts ( such as The Parker Chronicle and Bede's History ) , but it severely limits any hope for definite concl usions about the state of the language of Seasons for Fasting.

In Seasons Profes sor Sisam finds Nowel l guilty of 11l etter confusion; or false grammatical forms ...su ch as 207 lare for and 111 sy lfe dryhten for syl fa dryhten; or ...

of England in Tudo r Ti mes , 11 Proc. of the Bri t. Acad. , 21 ( 1935) , 47- 73. Also, see R. M. Warnicke, "A Note on a Court Requests Case of 1571 , 11 ELN, 11 ( 1974) , 250- 257 for an argument that Laurence Nowell the antiquarian was not the Dean of Li chfield. 15 Al bert H. Marckwardt, Laurence Nowel l's Vocabul arium Saxonicum ( Ann Arbor: Univers ity of Michigan Press, 1952) .

16By the time that Wheloc was preparing his Histori� Eccles iasti c� Gentis Anglo rum Li bri V ( Camb ridge, 1643-44) and Wanley his Catalogus Histori co Cri ticus ( Oxford , 1705) the herbal recipes whi ch Nowell copied fo llowi ng Seasons had been arated from MS . Cotton Otho Bxi. Nowel l's is the only extant copy of the herbal s, and the origi nal is pres ume d lost. 8 bad spellin gs like 3 gel ared for ��re.s!_, 195 p_rea� for prcel e, 17 and 80 9eti ng� fo r _get_e�. " Si sam further notes confusion of i wi th �-' � viith �- and�, and j_ 1vith y__, leading hi m to the conclusion that the language of Seasons is so confused that "close considera tion of its abnormal forms and spel lings"18 is unprofitabl e.

R. J. S. Grant has fol lowed Sisam' s observations wi th two important studies of Nowel l's accuracy in his transcription of MS.

Cotton Otho Bxi . In 1973 Grant compared ll. 87-94 of Seasons as copied by Wheloc in his Historia Ecclesiasticae Gentis Anglorum Libri 19 V w1. th N owe ll I s copy o f th e same l 1n . es. Grant shows "that the general sense indi cated by Sisam is probably correct" but that "the text of the poem as preserved in MS . Cotton Otho Bxi was al ready cor rupt. " 20 Grant fol l owed up this brief examination of Seasons wi th an exhaustive comparison of MS . Cotton Otho Bxi ff. l-36 (a portion of Bede's History and the most continuously legible remnant of the 21 MS .) wi th the corresponding pages of MS . Add. 43703. Here Grant de termines that "Nowel l either did not know or did not care about the val ue of �· whi ch he often confuses wi th �· �· and �� ; that he confused the inflectional endings of -�, -�, and -� causing

"distinctions between indicative and subjunctive, infinite and

1 7 S1. sam, Studies, p. 59 and n. l. 1 8 Ibi d. , p. 59, n. l. 19 Grant, "A Note," 302-304.

20Ibid. , 304.

21"Nowel l's Transcript," lll-124. 9 preteri te plural" to be "undermined" ; that he at times changed OE spel lings to accord with Renai ssance convention; that he is guilty of correcti ng or standardi zing the forn�s he is copying . In bri ef,

Grant finds r�s. Add. 43703 to be "of no use to the student of spell ings , phonology or inflections and no di alect indications can 22 be drawn from it. "

The work of Sisam and of Grant leads to the frus trating con clusion that Seasons for Fasting is a text doubly cursed. Given the apparent lacunae at 11. 23, 44, 70, and 173, the crux at 1. 57, the irregular stanzas 4 and 15, it appears that MS . Cotton Otho Bxi was already corrupt before Nowell copied it. The probabl e imperfections of the origi nal were further compounded by Nowel l's inaccuracies.

The rub is that without other copies of Seasons it is final ly impossible to make a defi nitive statement about whether any problem in the poem stems from Nowel l or from his exemplar.

With these limi tations in mind, I present the fol lowi ng tenta- tive description of the language of Seasons for Fasting. follow 23 Al istair Campbel l's Old Engl ish Grammar throughout unless otherwise noted.

22Ibid. , 121, 124.

23Al i stair Campbel l, Old Engl ish Grammar ( Oxford, 1959). 10

Language

A. West Saxon Forms

Vowels of Accented Syllables

1. Prim. Gmc. a: remains ii: in: rncerne (2), rcede (6), asi:ede (7),liEran (8)--:-

2. Breaking: a::> ea before h--leahtras (16), a::> ea before r+ consonant or 1 +-consonant--hearrn (13), mearce (43), bearnum (64), wearp (131), pearf (192), etc.; ealldagum (1), ealdor (31), geald (92); beside a::1 da (68)

3. Diphthongization after palatal consonants: a::>�- scealt (102)

4. Development of a glide between sc or£ and a back vowel: gescead (6), sceacan (38}, sceold (8), gearum (62) , geond ( 21 5) , etc.

5. Breaking of e >eo before r + consonant, 1 + consonant: weorce (12),-deorne (40), beorn (45), weorpian (54), weorcum (74), leordun (101), weord (153), etc. ; heold (18), heoldon (27), heolp (153), etc.

6. i- mutation of Prim. OE a>�: unhce1 (84), bedceled (223), beside sace (209).

7. i- mutation of io / lWS _1 (z.eWs ie): onlyht (3), gewyrJan (16), hyrde (93), styrcl29), etc.

8. i- mutation of ea to eWS ie, lWS _1": gehyrdon (25), nyhta (109), etC:.

9. Vowels between� and I show none of the lWS falling together as in wur:

a. forms with weor: weorce (12), weorpian (54), weorcum (74�eord (153), weorces (190)

b. forms with wyr: gewyrpan (16), wyrd (38), gewyrpe

( 91) .

c. forms with wor: woruld (30), wordum (74), worulde ( 222).

Consonants

Loss of palatal £before Q or�. with probable compensatory 1engtheni ng: a seed ( 7). ll

B. Late West Saxon Forms

l. lWS smoothing of �a'�- before a vel ar consonant or after a palatal : nehstan ( 152) , egum ( 172)' \tJege ( 207 ).

2. sel > lWS 22'_]_, 2__t_l: syl fes (5), syl fne (21 , 193, 200), sylf (95) , syl fa (99) , syl fe (101 , lll), syll an (218) , syl lao (225).

3. lWS O>a>ce- in low stressed words such as ponne, hwonne, pone (see Campbell �- 380) : mce nige (25) , mce nium (192) , hwce nne (223)

4. Change of unaccented j_g_ to _i (see Campbel l ·1 267): mce nium (192) beside mce nige (25) ; hal i (127) beside halig (134). Spel lings in j_g_ predominate.

5. lWS unrounding of Y> I befo re �. g_, _b_: rihtne (36), higefaeste (44) , higesynnig (168) , dihte (51 , 65, 123) , emnihtes (68) , rihte (128) , mi hta (129) , gestigen (142) , hicganne (144), wi cgum (147) , fulwi htes (155) , nihta (157) , mihte (164), picgen (228); beside hyht (35), dryhtnes (9 times), dyhte (95), styge (107), nyhta (109), dryhten (134, 185, 210) , pycgen (138). Forms in -i pre- domi nate .

6. lWS x_< eOE i in low stres s: gyf (35, 168), byd (67), tyd (83, lOlT , gyt (97); beside gif (172, 175) , tid (134, 182) , bid (72) , hit (106), his (113, 164, 196), him (121, 131), sint (132), hine (200). Wo rds in -i predominate.

7. l WS y___ < eOE _i, rounding of _i to y___ in the vici nity of labials and/or befo re r (see Campbel l 318) : fyl igan (36) , gefyl led (37), gefyllan (43) , fyra (64) , ylcan (75) , gehwyl ces (76) , gehwylce (118) , symbel (131), fyrna (183, 187, 202) , fy rene (140) , fyrena (150) , gyl tig (157), myrcels (172), fyl gest (175), dymnissa (189) , fyl ian (21 2) ; beside micel (192) , fi lian (102). C. Non-West Saxon Fo rms

- l. Absence of WS i-mutation of iQ >�: freond (186). 2. Kentis h/Anglian unrounding of the second element of eo : fea l a ( 17).

3. Instead of WS i-umlaut of.!:!_, Kentish e: emb (83). 12

This analysis of the language of Seasons for FasJin� provides no indication of a dialectal origin for the poem other than West

Saxon. The quantity and sort of vJS and 1/JS features in the poem over ride the potential cloudi ng of this di alect that Nowel l's inaccuracies might cause. The contenti on of previous edi tors that the poem is

West Saxon and a late composition is supported.

Style

The styl e of Seasons for Fasting is in accord wi th the poem' s overtly didacti c intent. The poet of Seasons teaches by bei ng clear and predi ctable, by avoiding ornate syntax, strained compounds , and stri ki ng alliterative combinations . To say the prosody is not out standi ng , however, is not to say that it lacks skill. The poem' s organization, use of figurative language , and stanzaic form al l mark it as the product of a concerned craftsman.

Variation. Variation in Seasons for Fasting is relati vely perfunctory. As to be expected in a rel igious poem, it serves chiefly to reveal the multi-faceted natures of God and Chri st and to emphasize the important qual i ties of their servants and the ir enemy . God is referred to as lifes frea (3b), heofona heahcyning (4a, lOa, 53a), sigora god (14a), lifes frean (19a), wlance (54a), wul dres bryttan

(54b), wul dres cyning (74b), peodne (76a), frean (78a), eal dre lifes

(8lb). Christ is dryhten (2lb), leofum (29b), ri ces ealdor (3lb), deorne deEd- fruman (40a), nergend (152b) , hal ig heofe nes weord (153a), ealdor (167b), werede wulderfrean (l?Oa). Moses is refe rred to as mCE rne lCEreow (2b) , froda (42b) , eorl se goda (l06a), while Elijah 13 is eorl�iCra (l20b) , mcera pegen (l29a), eaLda (l43a); and Pope

Gregory I is beorn on Rome (45a) , _g_u mena papa (46b, 94b), rices hyrde

(93b). Satan is cal led Cris tes gevJin_tl� (l60b) and susla we ard (l68b) .

Nations of peopl e are leodum (6a) , herescype (l8a), and leodscipe

(8b) , whi le the horses that draw El ijah's flami ng chariot are mce rum

(l 46b) and wlangum wicgum (l47a) .

Of all these terms one alone , wl ance, draws attention to itself as somehow striking or unexpected. Only in Seasons for Fasting and

The Creed is wl ance used in OE poetry to refer to the Chri stian God. 24

Perhaps the poet chose wlance to agree with his alliterative needs , or perhaps his use of bryttan, a word so often associ ated in the poetry with the proud treasure giver , brought wlance to the poet's mi nd.

Compounding. One of the Anglo-Saxon poet's most important tool s was compounding. It gave him great latitude wi thin the limits of alliteration, and, if he were skillful , it aided the writer in 25 precisely shading the emotion and associational content of a poem.

In 229-l/2 lines the author of the Seasons for Fasting uses twenty two compounds : ealddaggum (la) , heahcyning (4a, lOa, 53a), leodscipe (Sa, lla) , herescype (l8a), bocstafum (26a) , dce dfruman

(40a), celmesdce dum (4la, l9la) , higefaeste (44a) , sunnandce ge (59a),

24 s 1s· am, s tu d 1e· s, p. 48. 25 T. A. Shippey , Old Engl ish Verse (London: Hutchinson Uni v. Library , 1972) , Chapter 4. 14

peodl areow (96b) , fcestendtida (97a), lengtentid (l05a), symbel bread

(l22a) , eorcburgendum (l36b) , andl i fene (l38a) , vtangstede (145a),

higesynnig (l68a), 1vulderfrean (l70a) , d::eg hv:aml ice (185a, l99a ,

210a), ry hthicgennde (205a) , and morgentyd (220a). The approach to

compoundi ng in this poem is enti rely mechanical as evidenced by two

observations. First, none of these words is strikingly original , in

cluding the hapax herescype (l8a) (no doubt created through analogy wi th words like leodscipe). Second , of the twenty-seven times these

compounds appear in the poem , twenty-five of them are in the a-verse,

and al l of them al literate. This indicates that the poet , in compos

ing a line, first determined the head-stave and thus the al literati ve requirement for a line and then compounded in the a-verse to meet

this requirement.

Figurative language. Seasons for Fasting is devoid of the

classic OE figure , the kenning. And, in fact, this poem makes use of only one kind of figurative language , the analogy. Stanza 21 makes the common compari son between Satan and an archer when, in describing the temptation of Christ, the poet re marks that Christ's enemy began to think "pce t he strce la his //

stellan mi hte/ on pam lichoman" (1. 165). This image is pursued in

Stanza 22 where the "higesynnig man" is told that Satan "ne mceg he pee s i nne I I ahwcet scotian/ gi f he myrce l s neefp I I manes a: t

egum" (171-2). The compari son in Stanza 22 is expanded to incl ude

the man's sins as a target. 15 Stanza 25 compares a bad priest's rel ationship to God with an insubordinate thrall 's re l ationship to his over-l ord. As a part of

Season�' castigati on of lax priests , this analogy se rves three distinct functions. It expresses the complex spiri tual relationship between priest and God in common social terms accessible to any reader or audi tor. It emphasizes both God's majesty and power and the rightly servi le status of the priest. Further, the priest/thral l's willful subversion of his proper rel ationship to his master is accentuated when we are told that he " . pa: s bote ne deo ,/ ac pa a: byl i gpe I I ealdere wrohte I dceghwaml ice // dcedum niwao" (l97b-99). That the pri est could remedy this situation but chooses not to and is, therefore , the more contemptible is implicit in these lines.

Stanza 26 conti nues the consideration of bad priests by tel l- ing the "folces mann" to ignore the priest's sinful deeds but to attend zealously to his good teaching. This stanza ends with two di ffi cult lines which have accounted fo r as much critical commentary as any part of the poem (see textual note ll. 206-207):

drince he him pcet drofe duge hlutter pe weeter of wege , pa:t is wul dres lare .

(Though he should drink dirty water let the pure water which is divine doctrine do you good) . Despite the obscuri ty of l. 206b , the comparison is rel atively clear; the priest's evil ways are dirty water while that which he teaches is pure water.

In discussing the lax pries t' s behavior, stanza 28 notes that in the morning after mass , he eats oysters and drinks wine. These 16

actions are judged implicitly when the poet states "paet hund and

wulf II heal da pa ilc an I wi san on woru l de II and ne wigl iaci I hw�nne

hie to rno se fa n,// rn�} a bed�l ed" (11. 221-23). In his incon-

tinence the pri est has stooped to the leve l of the beasts. The

sinful pries t's unnatural behaviour and degradation are made point- edly apparent in th is anal ogy .

Structure

Although Seasons for Fasting_ is not great Old Engl ish ve rse,

its structure does show skill,at tention,and innovation. Innovation

is evi dent in the choi ce of the stanza as the basic unit of structure . 26 There is no other poem in OE as regularl y stanzaic as Seasons, and

it is clear that the stanzas are distinct rhetori cal units,each modify i ng an ol d point or developi ng a new one. Both ski ll and attention are apparent in the conscious use of mechanical and logical transi tions and in the homi letic pattern of exampl e and response/ appl icati on which serve to turn twenty- nine stanzas into a coherent,

linear ve rse expl ication. Even though a fragment,Seasons is an in-

tentional ly artisti c const ruct as revealed by its structure.

An overvi ew of the stanzai c arrangement of the poem will assist analys is of the structure.

26 sisam,Stu dies,p. 46 ; Dobbie,AS PR 6,p. xc11; Robi n Flower, "Laurence Nowell and a Recovered Anglo- Saxon Poem," BMQ, 8 (1934), 131; Leslie Whi tbread,"N otes on the 'Seasons fo r Fasti ng,' " @_, 191 (1946),250 ; C. L. Wrenn,A Study of Old Engl ish Li terature (New York: W. W. Norton,19 67),p. 160. 17 Stanza( s): l-3 form a unit which recounts �loses' reception of God's

law (1), the proper rel ationship of the Israel ites

to God under this law (2), the ri se and fal l of the

Israelites , culminating in the Crucifixion and Resur rection ( 3). 4-6 are both transiti onal and prescriptional . They shift

to first person nomi native We to draw the reader/

auditor into recogniti on that Chri st was honored by

the ancient Chri stians through fasti ng (4), that after

the Resurrection, Christ went to heaven, and the

Christian who fol lows His counsel may also go to

heaven, but no sinful man may enter therein (5) : that man should, therefore, praise Christ throug h almsgiving

and fasting as prescribed by Pope Gregory for the

Engl ish (6).

7- ll enumerate and describe the four Ember fasts . Number

one takes place in the first week of Lent in March ( 7 ) . Number two occurs duri ng the week afte r Pente cost Sunday in June (8). Number three takes place in

the week which is compl ete before the Equinox in

September (9). Number four occurs in the week which

is compl ete before Chri stmas day in December (10).

Stanza ll notes that these fasts should not be broken

before noon unless a person is too ill to properly

observe the fast. 18

12-13 rei terate that a specific schedule of fasts was pre

scribed by Pope Gregory and should be fol lm·1ed by

the Engl ish. The Franki sh and Breton dati ng of th e

Ember fasts is expl icitly rejected (1 2). The rejec

tion of continenta l practice is legi timated by con

tinued appeal to the authority of Pope Gregory (1 3).

14-22 are concerned wi th the forty-day Lenten fast. Bib

lical precedent for such a fast is given through

the exempl a of Moses (1 4, 15), El ijah (16-1 9), and

Christ (20-22).

23 notes the termi nation of the exempl a,com mands (we

bebeodao) al l men to observe the forty-day Lenten

fast,and threatens outlawry for those who break

this injunction.

24 discusses the mutual responsibility of the pa rish

ioner and the pri est,pa rticularly during fast

times. Emphasized is the pri est's importance as

an intermediary between God and the Christian.

25- 29 continue the exami nation of priests,taki ng up the

questions of the actions and effects of lax priests.

The need fo r pure priests is expressed (25). The

layman is told to follow the Christian teaching of

the lax priest rather than his sinful exampl e (26).

The bad priest angers God and leads hi s flock astray,

provi ding a bad example by going to the tavern 19

immediately after morni ng mass (27). A spiri ted

description of the bad pries t's lying and cajol ing

the taps ter to obtain wine and oys ters is concl uded

wi th a compari son of the inconti nent priest and the

hungry hound and wol f (28) and a view of his swearing.

ironical ly blessing his wi ne, and making excuses for

his behavior (29).

One indication that Seasons was conceived as a unifi ed, co-

herent whol e is the effective use of transiti ons in the poem. Some

of these transitions are impl icit or logi cal , stemmi ng directly from

the narrati ve, while others are expl icit and mechanical . Dobbie

fa i ls to recognize the poem's transitional scheme when he remarks 27 that stanzas l-5 are " somewhat disorganized," and Whitbread agrees

that stanza 4 is disorganized though he rejects Dobbie's view of the

rest of the introduction.28 In real ity, however, no apol ogy need be made for the coherence of stanzas l-5. The narrative of stanzas l-3

is continuous. These stanzas cover Moses' reception of, and order to , dissemi nate God's law, the Jews ' relationship to God under the law, their initial prosperity under this law, their final fal ling away from God which leads to Christ's Crucifixion , and Christ's

Resurrection. Whi tbread's observation that stanza 4 is a "slight break in conti nuity, because it mentions seasons for fasting before

2 l Do b b i e , AS P R , 6 , p . x c i i . 28 Whi tbread, "Notes on the 'Seasons for Fasting,'" 251-52. 20 the histori cal preface is qui te compl eted" and that the "reference back in line 31 to the res urrection and the firs t word I bu t, I give the impres sion of someone try i to get k to his sequence 29 of thought after a fa lse conti nuation" are no t on the mark. The his torical preface is actually compl ete wi th the cruci fixion and resurrection in line 24. What begins in stanza 4 with the narrator's shift to the nom. pl . is a pattern,use d throug hout the po em , of commentary on and expl ication/appl ication of the bibl ical exempla.

The transitions from stanza 3 to 4 and 4 to 5 are thus logical .

Stanzas 4 and 5 form a unit of commentary and reaction which are precipitated by Chri st's sacri fi ce and miracu lous re turn from the grave in stanza 3. The feasts and sacri fices of 4 are thus the logical honori fi c re sponses of the ancient Chri stians to Christ's actions which are variational ly re introduced,amp l ified,and explai ned in stanza 5. The interdependence of stanzas 4 and 5 is both stri ki ng and no teworthy. In stanza 4,lin e 30, we are tol d that Christ was "womma bedcele d. " And,of course,it is this fact which allows Hi m to " ...ar i san // ri ces ealdor/ byrgenne" and to seek "eard mid englum" (ll. 31 -34,St. 5). Stanza

5 goes on to say that Chri st promises a heavenly home to al l who desire his "rce dum fyligan" (1. 36b). But, this stanza ends wi th the warning that no one may enter heaven who is 11Womme gewesed"

29 . Ib1d., 252. 21

(1 . 34), a collocati on which is a negati ve echo of the "womrna

bedee 1 ed" of the last line of stanza Ll In short, the last line

of stanza 5 recal ls and responds to e last line of stanza 4. This

is particul arly interesting since stanza 4 lacks two lines. Tw o

theories have been posited to account for this irregul arity,both 30 of them assumi ng that stanza 4 once had 8 lines . Rather, the in

tentional echoing of the last lines in these stanzas tends to support

the view that irregul ar as stanza 4 may be, it is as compl ete as it 1 ever was . 3

Th us , Seasons' effective us e of impl icit transitions insures

that there is no disconti nui ty in stanzas 1-5. Simi l arly for the

remain der of the poem, .the use of mechanical transitions 1 . 31 a,

Nu we 1.39a , 1. 120a) in combination with more subtl e devi ces

enables the poem to blend both its pedagogic and narrative material

into a smoothly fl owi ng , logical exposition

Another indicator that Seasons for Fast� is a consciously

literary production is the pa ttern of exempl um and response with which

the three major sections of the poem are developed and un ited.

Stanzas 1-11 develop the theme of the Ember fasts. Stanzas 12 and

1 3 provide transitions to stanzas 14-22 which di scuss the forty-day

Lenten fas t. Stanza 2 3 leads to the fi nal secti on, stanzas 24-29,

0 3 si sam, Studi es , p. 47; Whi tbread, "Notes," 252. 1 3 rt is likely that the same sort of "echoing" is present in " stanzas XIV and XV. The last line of stanza XIV reads: ce r he pa de oran a: 11 dryhtnes anfenge ," and the last line of stanza XV reads "gif us pa: re dugupe hwa:t II dryhten syl leo. '' If so , this echo woul d also indi cate that the irregularity of stanza XV is intentional. 22

which examine bad priests. The presentation of each of these sections

is based on this pattern of um followed by response or explana-

tion.

Section one, concerning the Ember fasts, is the most compli cated of the three because its development is not strictly linear.

Rather, its structure is that of a fulcrum balancing the history of the Jews, which culminates in Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection, against the enumeration and explanation of the Ember fasts. The balance point in this section is stanzas 4-6 which simultaneously respond to stanzas 1-3 and provide transitions to stanzas 7-11.

Stanza 4 responds to the example of Christ by explaining that early

Christians honored him with fasts and sacrifices. Stanza 5 then re iterates and responds to the resurrection by explaining that the

Christian too may ascend to heaven if he follows Christ's counsel and that no sinful man may come into heaven. Stanza 6, likewise, responds to Christ's example by explaining that the Christian should honor Him with fasts and almsgiving as "Moyses mce lde." Having thus established the necessity for fasting and having sanctioned the practice by appeal to the biblical authority of Moses and the eccle siastical authority of Gregory (11. 436-46), the poem naturally moves forward to a consideration of current English practice in observing the Ember fasts. Stanzas 7-10 list and date the four Ember fasts, and stanza 11 notes the three fast days (Wednesday, Friday, and

Saturday), describes their purpose, and warns all healthy men not to break the fast. 23

Stan zas 12 and 13 serve to link ion one (the Ember fasts)

wi th section 2 (the Lenten st). Stanza 11 cl oses with an admoni-

tion inst breaking the fast, and stanza 12 continues in this

admonitory ve in, 1varning the Englishman not to heed the practice of

the Franks or Bretons. Rather, the auditor/lector is told to heed

the practice "pe supan com/ from Roma na I I rices hyrde/ Gregoria: , I I gumena papa" (1 1. 92b-94) . This evocation of Gregory prompts a con

tinued explanation in stanza 13 of how Gregory established the only

fast schedule the Englis h should foll ow. Having thus moved from

the speci fic topic of the Ember fas to the more gene ral subject of

the authority establishing and governing fasts , the poem, with the

help of the transition Eac (1 . 103a), moves into the discussion of

the forty-day Lenten fast.

The structure of section 2, thoug h chronological in develop ment, res emb les that of section 1 in that it too depends on a pattern

of exempl um and response. Stanza 14 notes that Moses began the prac

tice of fasting forty days when he purified himself prior to ascend

ing Mt. Si nai to re ceive God•s law. Stanza 15 recounts God•s delivery of the law but then responds to the exemplum by drawing the conclu

sion that through fasting the Christian may "freode gewinnan/ and pa

deopan dryhtnes gerynu'• (11. 116-117). The next three stanzas

(16, 17, 18) are concerned wi th Elijah•s forty-day fast in the desert

before his asce nsion of Mt. Horeb. Stanza 16 succinctly presents

the story of Elijah•s fast in the desert and his being nourished by an angel before going up on Mt. Hore b. The entirety of stanza 17 is a response to this exemplum. First, the poet explicitly asks us to 24 consider Elijah's story: "uton pee t ge rin� II ri hte gehicgan"

(l . 128). �lext, he compares the conten:porary Chri sti an ' s state to that of Elijah in the �t1ilderness: "l

Fi nal ly, stanza 17 ends with a question which stems from Elijah's ascent of Horeb : "hu we munt pinne II mCE rne gestygan" (l. 135).

Stanza 18 responds to 17 by answering this question. In stanza 18 the Christian is told to fast "p<=E t we peE s muntes mCE gen II mCE rpa gestigenl swa se ealda dyde II El ias iu" (142-143).

Stanza 19 continues the story of El ijah, describing his apotheosis, but does so principal ly as a means of moving into the story of Christ's forty-day fast. Nonetheless, even this transi tional stanza is based on the exempl um and response pattern. Here we are told that El ijah ascended into his heavenly home and that

Christ too promises us such a home "gif we pCEt fee sten her I I fyrena gel CEstao I and pone upl ican II eepel secao (ll. 150-51 ).

The example of Christ's temptation and fast is accordingly presented and responded to in stanzas 20-22. Stanza 20 notes that

Chri st fasted forty days "leo dum to l are , I I � hie on lengten sceolan I efen feowertig daga II faesten hewan" (158-59). Stanza 21 presents Satan's ineffective temptation of Christ; and stanza 22 appl ies the lesson of Chri st's defeat of his temptor to the common

Chri stian, noting that the devil will not be able to tempt the

"higesynnig man" if he " dryhtnes her II daedum fyl gest" (1 .

175).

Stanza 23 marks the termination of the exempla supporting the

Lenten fas t. It enjoins all men to observe this fast properly lest 25

they be outlawed. And , by introducing the subject of the appropriate observance of the fast , makes it a transition to section 3 ( stanzas

24-29) which is principally concerned with the effects of bad priests

who do not fol low these injunctions .

Stanza 24 is purely expository, expl aining the relationship of parishioner and priest, and emphasizing the priest's role as inter mediary between worshipper and God. But stanza 25 again picks up the exempl um/response pattern which is then carried on to the end of the poem. The noteworthy aspect of stanzas 25-29 is that they present only one extended exempl um--the lax priest. The effects of his evi l ways are variously responded to in each of the final stanzas. Stanza

25 compares the bad priest to a rebel lious thral l who wrongly refuses to placate his angry master; stanza 26 tells the "falces mann" to attend to the priest's teaching, not his evil ways , and likens the lax priest to a man who drinks dirty water; stanza 27 notes that the bad priest dai ly angers God and by wi cked exampl e leads his flock astray; stanza 28 likens the inconti nent pri est to the ravenous hound and wol f; stanza 29 breaks off but not befo re it has twice noted the priest's blasphemous behavior.

The structure of Seasons for Fasting is not haphazard or even casual. It is, rather, a carefully manipulated construct which clearly delivers its intended message. The poet was no literary artist, though he does achi eve a rough eloquence and force in the description of the bad priest; but his handl ing of the structure of

 proves him to be an accompli shed craftsman. 26

Co n texts

i to rical. An understanding of the historical milieu or the social fo rces which nerate a poem is often invaluable in inin g a thorough understanding of that poem. Fortunately, the historical context of Seasons for Fasting is quite clear. The poem is essen tially an occasional piece whic h is concerned v1ith two contemporary issues: the con troversy over the dating of the Ember fasts and the evils of corrupt pries ts.

Seasons for Fasting places the four Ember fasts in the first week of Lent in March (stanza 7), the \veek after t�hitsunday in June

(stanza 8)' the week before the autumnal equinox in Se ptember

(stanza 9) ' and the week before Christmas day in December (stanza

10). This arrangement fo r the first two fasts is dependent on the date of Easter. After establishing this schedule for the Embe r fasts , stanza 12 informs the worshipper that he should reject Breton or

Frankish usage, anciently establis hed by Mos es , and observe only that schedule established by Gregory the Great. Stanza 13 continues the discussion of Gregory I as the authority who established the fast schedule for the English. Conce rning these stanzas of Seasons,

Dobbie writes in the in troduction to his edition that

our poem ... attributes the establis hment of these dates for the Embe r fasts to St. Gregory the Great. A different, and presumably older, usage places the Ember days in the first week of March, the second week of June , the third week of September , and the week before Christmas . The somewhat obscu re protest against 11Frankis h 11 usage in 11. 87-94 of our poem 27

may well refer to this other dating of the Ember days . 32

In consi dering the same section of �eason_s_ Sisafil notes that an

Englishman who crossed the channel at the beginning of the tenth century would fi nd that in France, or at Rome itself, it was usual to keep the spring and summer Ember fasts at fixed dates , in the fi rst week of March and the second week of June . . . . The di f ference of usage was expl ai ned in late Anglo-Saxon times by an ordinance attributed to Gregory the Great. 33

Si sam goes on to suggest that this "ordinance" vJas spurious; to pro- pose that the inroads of continental usage in Engl and were the result of the Benedictine Reform ; to suggest at least some indi cation of a spl it observance of Ember, the continental for cleri cs and the

Gregorian for the Engl ish layman; and, fi nal ly, to note that the law code � thel red VI attempted to settle this controversy by ordering eve ryone to fol low the Gregori an schedule even thoug h other countries might do otherwise. 34 From the foregoing , the speculative state of OE scholars ' unders tanding of the Ember question is apparent. Fortu nately, recent

liturgical scholarship makes it possible to clear up some questions regardi ng this issue and to draw some concl usions as we l l. G. G.

Willis' extensive 1964 arti cle on Ember35 is parti cularly hel pful in

32 AS PR 6' p. XC i i i. 33 sisam, Studies , p. 49.

34rbid., pp. 49-50. 35 Essays in Early Roman Liturgy , Al cuin Cl ub Collections, XLVI : ( London: SPCK, 1964) , pp . 51-97. 28 analyzing Seasons for Fasting. vlillis' research makes it apparent that this controversy was not obscure and that the Franks , not the

Engl ish, were neglecting standard Roman usage concerning Embe r. The important points of Wi llis' arti cle, re lative to Seasons , are as follows:

l. Original Roman usage establis hed the spring Ember fast in March with no connection to Lent.

2. Under Gregory the Great the spri ng Ember week was fixed in the first week of Lent.

3. The Frankish empi re , however, often fol l owed the older pre-Gregorian Ember observance, pl aci ng the fast in the fi rst week of March with no connection to Lent.

4. In 1078 Gregory VII attacked Frankish rule as an in novation and affi rmed Gregorian observance as did Urban II in 1095.

5. However, as late as 1222 the Council of Oxford sup ported Frankish rule, but the Gregorian ��timately "triumphed and has since been observed."

6. Regarding the summer Ember fast, Roman usage placed the fast in the week of Pentecost.

7. Frankish tradi tion pl aced the summer Ember fast in some later week after Pentecost.

8. As in the con troversy over the Lent Ember week, Gregory VII and Urban II officially establ ished Roman rul e, branding the Gal lican observance an innovation. And even though as late as 1222 this innovation was sup ported by the Council of Oxford, Roman rule prevailed. This overview of the Ember controversy makes pos sible the clarification of a number of points in Seasons for Fasting. First, though no specific document from Gregory I to the English is extant,

36 I b i d . , p . 6 7 . 29 the poet is evidently correct in attributing the English fast sched- 37 ule to Greg o ry . Also, it is England that is in accord wi th stan-

rd n usage, not F r'arc>::. ThL

century both Gregory VI I and Urban I I attacked Ga1li can usage as innovative makes it apparent that the English poet is tak ing a

traditional , conservative , and orthodox stance in Seasons. The

poet's great concern with authority, and his great reverence for 38 written support are not only typi cal of any medieval writer but al so natural in a conservative wri ter who is fighting unsanctioned change. Recognition of the poet's emphasis on the importance of

\vritten authority and his own real ization that he is in conformity wi th the practice of Rome may also help in interpreting the one acknowledged crux in Seasons.

Stanza 8, line 57b, reads ''pe gelesen hafad , " and numerous attempts have been made to make sense of gelesen (see textual notes

to 1. 57). Stanza 8 is concerned wi th the summer Ember fast, one of those for which Frankish observance was different from the

English/Roman. This stanza makes the point that this fast "ys to bremenne leodum Brytena" (1. 56b). It then goes on to modify

"leodum Brytena" with "pe gelesen hafao" (1. 57b). Inflectional endings in MS. Add. 43703 are demonstrably confused, and it is my

contention that gelesen is an improperly inflected form of geles--

7 3 Ibid. , pp. 66-69.

38see stanzas 4, 6, 11, and 15. 30

''reading , study, learning.�� Thus these lines should be translated

''for the people of Britai n/ // those v1ho have the learning .''

In the context of stanza 8, �� makes good sense because it emphasi zes the poet's poi nt that those of the British people who unders tand--who have read, studied , learned--the proper Roman observance of this fast will know to keep it in the week fol lowi ng

Whitsunday rather than at a later date according to some foreign innovation in practice.

Seasons for Fasting, then, is the only extant OE poem which raises a partisan voice in a specifi c, historical ly veri fiable religious controversy. And, this voice is conservative , orthodox, 39 and that of the majority. It is possible to interpret the poet's insistence on the Engli shness of his stance as another poetic indicator, along with poems like the Battle of Brunanburh, of Anglo-

Saxon national consciousness. This consciousness is, interesti ngly, expressed in Seasons as an antipathy specifi cal ly toward the Franks , no doubt precipitated, as sugges ted by Sisam, by the infl ux of foreign 40 clergy during the Benedictine Reform .

Less historically fixed than its comment on Ember but equal ly a response to a contemporary problem is Seasons for Fasting's casti- gation of lax priests . Sisam remarks that the last part of Seasons

39 sisam, Studies, p. 49. I draw this conclusion from the fact that MSS indicati ng conti nental usage are the minority and that Engl ish/Roman usage ul timately prevailed. 40 Ibid. 31

11 o n p r i e s t s who keep fa s t s l ax l y , g i v e s a l i v e l y pi c t u re t h a t m i g h t l be drawn at any per·iod. ,,4 And, it is tr ue that so111e OE prose exami nes the duties of priests and rebukes those who are wayward,

but, in fact, no other extant poetry or prose in OE draws the lively

picture of the lax priest that Seasons does . The priest in the final section of Seasons would be much more at home with Langland's Sloth or Chaucer's Pardoner than with his OE counterparts .

Ol d English prose provides the only contempora ry literary precedent for Seaso�' depi ction of pri ests. And, generally, the prose of the OE period is mo re concerned wi th strengthening the church and protecting it against secular abuse than wi th exposing 42 and lashing out against clerical mis creants. But the problem of wayward priests is not completely neglected and is discussed by both homi lists and legal wri ters.

The Anglo- Saxon church's ongoing struggle to protect its own interests makes it no surprise that the vernacular homilies concerned with bad pri ests are both few and very general in their treatment of the theme . Ty pical of the homi letic treatment of this issue are the 43 Bl ickling Homily Domi ni ca Tertia in Quadragesima and Wulfstan 's

41 Ibid. , p. 48. 42 see Doro thy Whitelock, Engl ish Historical Documents , 500- 1042 , 2nd ed. (London: Eyre Methuen, 1979), pp. 71-99 for an excellent, brief overview of the church in Anglo- Saxon England. For a more detailed view, see Margaret Deanesly, The Pre-Con uest Church in Engl and , 2nd ed. (London: Adam & Charles Black, 19631 . 43 R. Morri s, The Bl ickl in Homilies of the Tenth Centur , Part l· EETS , 58, 63, 73 Tiondon, 1874 , 39-53. 32 44 Sermon XVIb. The Bl ickl ing Homi ly fo r Quadragesima says of the duties of the mass priest that

�a maesse-preostas �e Godes cy ricena lareowas beo�, �a sceolan heora scri ftbec mid rihte teEcan & leEran , swa swa hie ure fa: deras a: r demdon. �Je wandige na se ma:ss e preos t no for ri ces mannes ege, ne for feo, ne for nanes mannes lufon, pa: t him syml e rihte deme , gif he wille sylf Godes domas gedegan. 45

The homilist goes on to note that the Bishop must compel the priest 46 mid l ufe � mid � to observe God's law properly, and the homi list further notes that both priest and layman must be punished for neglecting thei r duties . 47 By implication rather than by direct attack this homi ly makes the point that cleri cal abuses are possible and shoul d be punished. But this is hardly the "lively picture" of

Seasons for Fasting.

Of more immedi ate rel evance to Seasons than this Bl ickling

Homi ly is Wulfstan's Sermon XVIb, a vernacu lar reworking of his Latin

XVIa, Verba Ezechiel is Prophete De Pastori bus Non Recte Agentibus.

Thi s sermon is concerned wi th wayward priests and thei r effects on their fl ocks and addresses many of the issues raised in Seasons.

Wul fstan starts by warning the priests to g uard wid Godes yrre (ll.

5-6) lest they ul timately lose their souls (l. ll). He then hits hard at the pri ests ' living in luxury while their flocks have nothing

(ll. ll-17) and warns the pri ests against al lowing their greed

44Bethurum, Homilies , pp . 240-41 . 45 ��o rris , Bl ickling Homilies, p. 43. 46 47 Ibid. , p. 45 Ibid. , p. 49. 33 (_g.:L:f!an) to keep them from properly teaching by example (g_isniao) or preaching as often as they should (1. 21 ). This line of attack leads Wul fstan into a corrparison bet\'leen priests v1 ho cannot carry out their duties because of their worl dly encumbrance and mute or leashed dogs who are unable to warn the flock they guard about the devi l-- se wodfr� ca werewulf. This sermon is mo re vivid in its depiction of lax priests than most OE treatments of this subject, but it is still a long way from Seasons. Nonethel ess, certain qual ities of

Wul fstan1 s sermon XVIb raise the possibility that the poet of Seasons knew this sermon or one very much like it. Four points lead to this co ncl usion:

l. That the Seasons poet was influenced by and probably borrowed from Wul fs tan has al ready been demonstrated.

2. Bad priests--the general theme of Sermon XVIb is al so the general theme of stanzas 25-29 of Seasons, and whi le literary discus sion of priest1S duties is rel atively common in OE, the theme of bad priests is rel atively rare .

3. The specific problem Wul fstan1S sermon attacks is that of the priest1S luxury and worl dl iness destroying his effectiveness as the spiritual leader of his flock. Th is is also the specific theme of stanzas 25-29 of Seasons for Fasting . The principal difference between the sermon and the poem in treating this problem is the re sult of a different audience . The sermon, intended for a relatively sophisti cated clerical audience , is appropri ately general , learned, and al l usive, while Seasons , directed toward folces mann, is therefore appropriately vivid, specific, and detailed. 34

4. Wul fstan's use of the hound and werewulf in a sermon about bad priests may have been modified and used by Seasons' author.

Wul fs tan likens the priest to an ineffective guard dog and compares Satan to a werewulf ( the lupum of XVIa) . The poet of Seasons compares the incontinent priest to both a hound and a wolf (1. 220). In the sermon, directed to a cl erical audience, the priest is appropriately depicted as the guard dog , al beit an ineffective one, who should warn his flock agai nst the wol f Satan. But the poem, very interestingly, makes the point that the wayward priest is leading his fl ock astray , in essence doing the work of Satan , and the poet therefore combines both hound and wol f in the priest. An Anglo-Saxon audience wou ld not have mi ssed the irony of the wol f/shepherd .

The correspondence of general theme and specifi c figures in

Sermon XVIb and Seasons for Fasti ng reinforces the possibility that, again, the Seasons poet has borrowed from Wulfstan. But, perhaps more importantly, these two works provi de the modern reader two views of a single issue, one cool , sophisticated, and learned; the other impassioned and emotional . Mul tiple perspectives on any issue of histori cal importance are wel come, and the modern student is partie- ularly lucky concerning the problem of lax priests in Anglo-Saxon

England; for, in addi tion to the poem and Sermon, legal writers provide yet another view of this problem.

As would be expected, most laws of this period regarding the church were di rected toward protecti ng , strengthening, and supporting the ecclesiastical system. But, ecclesiastical codes wri tten at about the same time as Seasons for Fasting (975-1025) attest to 35 the currency and historical val idity of the poem1 s depiction of bad priests . him as a tavern carouser who has the eating habits of a hound or wol f, who swears and blasphemously blesses the wi ne he guzzles , who is a liar tempti ng God's wrath and leading his flock astray through bad example. Two legal codes which rebuke pri ests specifical ly for the offenses descri bed in Seasons are Wulfstan's The Cano�� of Edgar48

(A.D. 1005-1 008) and The Northumbrian Priest's Law49 (c.l020-23, also the product of Wulfstan's episcopate according to Whitelock50).

The Canons of Edoar items 58, 59, 60, and 66 are specifical ly rele-

Item 58 orders the priest to guard agai nst oferdruncen and to dissuade (belean) others from dri nking. Item

59 forbids the priest's becoming an eal uscop (singer in an al ehouse) and in general enjoins against his carousing (gl iwige)� most likely in the tavern. Item 60 warns the priest to guard against oath taking, and 66 warns any consecrated man who deliberately over drinks either to stop or to forfeit his office . The Northumbrian Priest's Law , item 41 , likewise forbids priests ' overdrinking and becoming tavern singers . These law codes , then, give official verification of

Seasons' picture of the bad priest. Once again it is particularly

48 Roger Fowl er, Wul fstan's Canons of Edgar, EETS , 266 (London, 1972).

49councils and Synods with Other Documents Relating to the Engl ish Church , AD 871-1204� V.I , eds. , Whi telock and Brett (Oxford , 1981) , pp. 449-68. 50 whitelock, Histori cal Documents , p. 471 . 36 interesting that the two codes which charge pries wi th specifically

51 :..=-=c..:=-:_c_:...:::._...:_V-=-I and I-II Cnu which have statutes governing the observance of Ember. The dates of these codes al so hel p us to narrow the date of composition of Seasons fo r Fasti�. Al l of these laws were wri tten between 1000 and 1023 , and all of them ma nifest a concern

earl ier or later wo rks. It wo ul d seem that the probl ems of the da ting of Ember and of the behavior of bad pri ests were in the air between 1000 and 1023. Consequent ly, it seems p robable that Seasons wa s composed during the same period.

Seasons fo r Fasting, thus, has several interesti ng aspects.

It is a testament to Engl ish national consciousness; it is a rare vernacul ar poetic statement on an historically documented rel igious controve rsy ; it is a cri tical poem on a theme usual ly reserved for homi lies and laws ; it is a learned adaptation of a complex subject for an unsophisticated audience. For the perceptive modern reader, the histori cal specificity of Seasons for Fasting provides a weal th of insights into early eleventh-century England which many better but more abstract poems cannot provide.

51 A. G. Kennedy , in "Cnut's Law Code of 1018," ASE, 11 {198 3), 57-70, argues convincingly in support of Dorothy Whitelock' s conten tion, in "Wulfstan and the Laws of Cnut ," EHR, 63 {1948) , 433-52, that I-II Cnut were composed earl ier than the 1027 date assigned them by Liebermann. Kennedy shows that I-II Cnut were probably written by Wul fstan in 1018. This is one more instance of Wul fstan 's con cern for issues impo rtant to Seasons fo r Fasting and another indica tion of his probable influence on the poem . 37

Poetic. Technical ly �easons for Fastino is fi rmly rooted in

Germanic al literati ve verse tradi tion. The poet's conscious use of the stanza as a structural unit, his borrowing from both the Bible and from Wulfstan , and his perfuncto ry use of compounding and variation al l argue agai nst Seas ons being an oral composition and are typical weaknesses of late OE verse. That Seasons for Fasting is a late composition within the al literative tradition is al so confirmed by the poem's metrics . The combined percentage of type C, 0, and E verses in Seasons is roughly 27.6. This percentage indicates a composition date not earl ier than the second hal f of the tenth century. 52 Al so, the poet uses the traditional OE poetic devices of compounding, variation , and fo rmula but in a singularly mechanical fashion. While these defects may simply be the result of the poet's ineptness, they seem as likely to be another indication that Seasons is a late composition reflecting the growing freedom of the al literative tradi tion. From one point of view, then, Seasons for Fasting is a traditional but late OE al l iterative poem of "no high poetical 53 qual ity. " But, this is not an adequate view of the piece, for it ignores the fact that one feature of Seasons for Fasting's verse is thoroughly untraditional . This is the stanzaic form which sets it apart from traditional OE verse. Stanzaic structure is not unknown

52 To reach this concl usion, I have applied the techniques used by Thomas Cable in "Metrical Style as Evi dence fo r the Date of Beowulf," in The Oatin of Beowul f, ed. Col in Chase ( Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1981 , pp. 77-83. 3 J 5 sisam, Studies, p. 45. 38 in OE literature. Deor, Wulf and Ead�

Poem are basical ly stanzaic. But none of these poems is as long, as re gularly stanzaic, or as self- consciously artfu l in its use of the stanza as a prosodi c unit as Seasons (see my discussion of structure pp. 16-25).

As wi th its fo rm , the themes of Seasons for Fasti ng are both tradi tional and innovative. The poem is overtly didactic, and its central themes are exhortations to fol low God1s rule and prosper, to observe the fasts of Ember and Lent as establ i shed for the Engl ish by the Bible and Gregory the Great, and to beware the luxuriant and wayward priest. Such overt mo ral instruction is offensive to modern readers nurtured on the "heresy of the didactic." 54 However, to appreciate Seasons for Fasting, one must real ize that didacticism was expected and enjoyed by medieval audiences and that Seasons for

Fasting is unde rpinned, ultimately motivated, by one of the key 55 themes in all Christian literature--The Fal l of Man .

The theme of the Fal l provi des a backdrop against which al l the other themes of Seasons are acted out. The poet1s primary intent

54 Edgar Al lan Poe, "The Poetic Principle," in Anthology of Ameri can Literature , Vol . I, ed. George McMichael et al . (New York, Ma em i l l an , l 9 7 4) , p . 841 . 55 The associ ati on between fasting and the Fal l is made expl ic itly in Sermon V, Dominica in Quadragesima, A. 0 . Bel four, Twelfth Century Homi lies in MS Bodl ey 343 , EETS , 137 (London, 1909) , p. 46 , when the homilist says , "Hieronimus cwce o swa longe swa Adam hine forhcefde o he pee s appl a:: s ne onburi·J de he wunode on neorcxnaewonges ifean; sone swa he dee s ofetes onbyri}de , swa wees he utdrifen." 39 is to explai n to the Engl ish people when and why they sho uld observe the Ember and Lenten fasts . To accompl ish this end, he opens his verse sermon with a recounti ng of the story of the Israel i tes--God's chosen people who prosper as long as they fol low God's law and decl ine disastrously when they turn away from God. The poet chose perhaps to show the rise and fal l of a nation rather than of the individual s,

Adam and Eve, because he wished to emphasize to the Engl ish nation as a whole the importance of fol lowing God's rule. Interestingly, this national emphasis, particularly the implication that the whole country suffers when it shuns God, was al so one of Wul fstan's favorite themes. The story of the Israel ites, then, is a reworking on a national scale of the Fal l of Man. This story ends with Christ's

Crucifixion--the atonement for man 's fal l.

The Fal l and the Atonement story control the rest of the poem.

The middl e portion deal ing solely wi th fasts (stanzas 7-23) presents the fas t as both a celebration of Christ's sacri fice and a ri tual attempt by Chris tians to make themselves worthy , through puri fication, of that sacrifice. In this way Cl eanness , one of the favorite themes of medieval Christian writers , is also brought into Seasons for Fast

�· Moses purifies himsel f through fasting before recei ving the

Law , and El ijah does the same before his apotheosis. Even Christ fas ts before his confrontation wi th Satan . Through these exempla the Christian is to ld that in order to be worthy of Christ, to suc cessful ly confront Satan , and to enter heaven, he must be pure; and one way to be pure is to fas t. 40

The themes of the Fal l and Cleanness are united in the final section of the poem . In the wayward priest, the reader is given a con temporary equivalent to the Israel ites . Where they were the chosen people of God, the priest is the avowed servant of God. The priest should be the purest of men , and above al l, he should fol low

God 's law, thereby leading his flock to spiri tual prosperity. But too often he too is an impure sinner who becomes no more than an animal and leads his people astray through his bad examp le. The extent of the effect of the Fal l is thus dramatized through the examp le of the descent of God 's own servant.

This introduction of the example of the bad priest is the important innovation in the poem's treatment of the themes of the

Fal l and Cleanness. The poet of Seasons for Fasting breaks away from traditional OE treatment of corrupt clergy in two ways : the expl icit and vituperative picture of the priest and the lay audience- falces mann. The poem' s depiction of the bad priest as a blasphemous tavern carouser, a hound or wolf, a willful slave who defies his master, as one who courts God 's anger, engages in strife with God , and mal iciously leads his flock astray is unprecedented in OE. The presentation of this caricature to a lay audience , as a warning to them to beware such priests , is doubly surprising. The discussion of the bad priest marks Seasons for Fasting as a rare poetic expres sion in the vernacular of criticism of the clergy. Perhaps Seasons can be seen as a transitional poem wh ich expresses the movement from doctrinaire support of the Church and its servants to the satiric 41 cyn icism and dis trust so brilliantl y expressed by later medieval

poets .

C. L. Wrenn mai ntai ns that Seasons for Fasting ''is evidently 56 intended fo r mi nor clergy." Certai nly his contention is possible,

but it seems more likely from the evidence of the text itsel f that

the audience was non-clerical . Throughout, the poem distinctly

labels priests and servants of God as preostas (1 . 60) , peodlareow

(1 . 96) , beorn godes (1 . 178) , and various forms of sacerd (1 . 200).

But the priests are al ways impl icitly "other" than the We or � that

the poem is directed to . The tripartite distinction between the author, the priests , and the men to whom Seasons is directed is made explicit when the author of the poem ass umes the fi rst person plural and says :

and we bebeodao purh beorn godes peet manna gehwi 1 c pe for mo l dan wuna5

efen feowertig data fee s ten hewe ( 11. 178-1 81 ).

That the manna oehwi lc of line 179 is the audience of Seasons is

further made evident when the poet directly addresses his audience as fal ces mann(a) in 11. 202 and 212. It is, thus, the man of the

people--the common man--who is the audience of Seasons for Fasting.

Such a reading of falces manna is consistent wi th al l other uses of

the term in Old Engl ish. Pelfric uses varying forms of fol ces manna mo re than any other Angl o-Saxon wri ter. The phrase appears at least

56wrenn, A Study, p. 160. 42 57 seven times in his works , and in each case it is clear that he uses

it to refer to the laity. Typ ical of A: lfric's use of fo lces manna

is his discussion of the resurrection of Lazarus where he wri tes

that after Chri st ra ised Lazarus "manega oa= s fo lces menn gelyfdon

on pone Ha= lend." 58 J'elfric also clearly marks the diffe rence be-

tween priests and the laity when he wri tes that there "wee ron hal ige

sacerdas Gode peonde , pa mi d sodre lare and mid hal gum gebysnung um

fo lces menn to Gode symle gebigdon."59 Fol ces manna is further used

to refe r to the laity in the Confessionale Pseudo-Egberti , the 60 Poenitentiale Pseudo-Egberti , Levi ticus, the Regulari s Concordia, 61 and the Laws of Wihtred. The law code 's use of fol cesmannes is

parti cul arly noteworthy since it provides an official use of the term

to distinguish between layman and cleri c. The code states:

57 For A: lfric's use of this term see R. W. Skeat, A: lfric' s Lives of Saints , V, II, EETS, 94, 114 (London , 1900) , p. 240, l. 343; J. C. Pope, Homi lies of �ri c: A Su lementar Col l ection, V, I, EETS, 259 (London, 1967 , p. 379, l. 21 ; Benj ami n Thorpe , Homi lies DTA:: lfri c, V. I (1894; rpt. London: Johnson Repri nt Corp. , 1971 ), pp. 206, 544 , 576; M. Godden , A:lfric's Cathol ic Homi lies: The Second Seri es , EETS , Supplementary Series , 5 ( London, 1979) , p. 81 , l. 17 and p. l�ll. 245-46. 58 Thorpe, Homi lies, p. 206.

59 Ibid. , p. 544.

60R. L. Venezky and Antonette DiPaolo Healey, A Microfi che Concordance to Old Engl ish (Newark, Del aware : Univ. of Del aware , 1980) , pp. 153, 154, 142, 153.

61 F. L. Attenborough, The Laws of the Earl iest Engl ish Kings (1922; rpt. New York: AMS Press, 1974) , p. 28, item 24. 43

Gif fol cesmannes esne ti hte c1 r1 canmannes esne , o��e ci ricanma�nes esne ti hte fol cesmannes esne, his dryhten hine ane his ape geclensige.62

The evidence of these sources indicates a lay audience to be the referent of fal ces manna in Seasons fo r Fasting. This common, unsophisticated audience in addi tion to the poet1s limitations may largely account for the clear, uncomplicated, unal lusive qual ity of the didactic portions of the poem as wel l as for the sensational depiction of the wayward priest.

Briefly, then, Seasons for Fasting is an Old Engl ish poem whose alliterative stanzaic form places it both wi thin and wi thout the OE alliterative tradition. It is a conventionally didactic poem whi ch achieves its ends by tapping into the most fundamental of

Christian themes but is fi nal ly unconventional in its 11Engl ish11 stance on the dating of Ember and in its del i very of an attack on corrupt priests to a lay audience. And, it is a poem whose very tone and expres sion are determi ned by that unsophisticated audience.

Seasons for Fasting is not great literature , but it is good preaching , simul taneously clearly didactic and effectively lurid.

Source

Little definite can be said concern ing a source for Seasons for Fasti ng. Sisam remarks that the stanzaic form of the poem indi cates late composition and Latin influence. 63 It is tempting to

62 Ibid. 63 Sisam , Studi es , p. 46. 44 imagine a single Latin or vernacular source for this poem. However, cons idering the poet's debt to the Bi bl e and to Wul fstan fo r specific lines , themes , and perhaps , even tone , Se�sons for Fasting is likely a Qastiche of borrowi ngs from and adaptations of both Latin and vernacul ar writings . It may also be argued that the sources fo r

Seasons for Fasting are likely prose. The poem owes much to the

Anglo-Saxon sermon tradition as evidenced by its hortatory tone and its inheritance from Wulfstan and klfri c (for folces manna). CHAPTER II

TEXT AND TRANSLAT ION

Note

Variant readings are indi cated in the textual notes at the foot of each page. My emendations are indicated by an asteri sk *.

MS = MS. Add. 43703; D = Dobbie; H = Holthausen. Separate references to the edition of Maria Grimaldi have been omi tted since she fol l ows Dobbie exactly.

MS abbreviations are silently expanded: 7 = and; � = p�t; J = ge; o = om; i = im; u = um; m = mm; u = un. MS spel ling is retained unless it causes defi nite confusion or gives an unintel ligible word .

45 46

Seasons for Fasting

Wees on ealddagum Israhela fo lc

purh Moysen, mce rne lareow ,

onlyht and gel a= red, swa hine lifes frea ,

heofona heahcynin g, her on life

purh his sy1 fes word sette for leodum, 5

rincum to rre de , and him runa gescead

syl fum asrede , hu he pone sop an weg

1eofum leodscipe leeran sceo1de.

I I

�a se 1eoda fruma 1 a rum fy1 i gde

heofena heahcyninges , and pa hce1ep samod , 10

swa hie on 1eodscipe 1rerede wre ron;

gyf hie wancu1e weorce ongunnan,

heom paes of heofonum hearm to leane

asende sigora god, and hie sana to him

frypa wi 1 nodan and pcer fundo n rape, 15

gif hie 1eahtras heora letan gewyrpan.

1 Israhel a-H] Israhea1a-MS , 0 3 on1yht-*] an1yht-MS, 0, H ge1 ce red-H] ge1ared-MS , 0 4 heofona-*] heofna-MS , 0, H 5 purh-0, H] pur·h purh-MS 8 sceol de-0, H] sceold-MS 11 1cerede] lcerde-H 12 gyf] gif-H weorce] weorc- 0, H ongunnan] ongunnon-0, H 14 sigora-0, H] sigona-MS 15 frypa] fripa-H wil nodon] wi l nodan-D 16 leahtras] 1eohtras-D 1etan] leton-H gewyrpan] gewyrpan-0, H. 47

III

Feala is meegena pe sio mee re peod

on pam herescype heol d and wo rhte ,

pen dan hie l ifes frean lufian wel don ;

ac him se ende wearo earm and dreori g 20

pa hie besyredon sylfne dryhten,

on beam setton and to byrgenne

* * * gedemdon; he pee r bedi gl ed wees,

and py pryddan deege peodum ee tywed.

We pee t gehydron hce lepa mee nige 25

on bocstafum breman and writan,

peet hie fee s tenu feower heo l don

and ponne offredan unmee ne neat,

peet is lamb oppe styrc, leofum to tacne

pe for worul d wees womma be dee led. 30

18 herescype] herescipe-H 19 pendan] penden- H 20 dreorig-H] preoring-MS ] preal ic-D] 23 * * *] [deadne]-H 24 pryddan] priddan-H 27 fee stenu] -n[n] u-H 28 offredan] offredon-H woruld] worulde-D, H. 48

Ac arisan ongan ri ces eal dor

of by rgenne , bl ce da gefyl led,

and mid heofenwarum ham gesohte ,

eard mid engl um, and us eallum pone

hyht and hate o, gyf we his willap 35

purh ri htne sefan reedu m fy l i gan.

Na pee r in cumeo atele gefyl led,

womo gewesed, ac seal on wyrd sceacan.

Nu we herian sceol an her for life

deorne deedf ruman , and him dogeara gerim 40

a: lmes da: dum ure gefyllan,

and on fee s tenum, swa se froda iu

Moyses meel de , and we pa mearce sceolan

heoldan higefaeste * * * mid Anglum,

swa hie gebrefde us beorn on Rome 45 Gregori us, gumena papa.

35 hyht and hate d-*] hyht hated-MS] hygp and gehated-H gyf] gif-H 37 na] na [n]-H 38 womo] womme-0, H gewesed] gewered-H seal ] sce[a] 1-H 39 fon] for- D, H 40 do eara] geara-D] dogra-H 42 fa: stenum] - en [n] um-H 43 sceol an] sceolon-H 44 heoldan] heal dan-H higefaeste] hygefaeste-H * * *] [her] -H 46 Gregorius] Gregarious-H. 49

VII

vie piEt forme sceol an feEs ten heowan

on piEre ee res tan wucan l engtenes ,

on pam monpe pe man Martius

geond Romwara rice nemnacS, 50

and pee r twelfe sceol an torhtum dihte

runa gereedan in pee s rican hofe ,

heofona heahcyninges , herian mi d sange ,

wl ancne weorpian wul dres bryttan.

VIII

Ofer pa Eastertid oper feest en 55

ys to bremenne Brytena leodum

mi d gel i cum lofe, pe gelesen hafad

on peer wucan pe ee fter cumaa

pam s unnandeege pe geond s i dne wang

Pentecostenes deeg preostas nemnao, 60

on pam monpe, pee s pe me pi need ,

pe man Iunius gearum nemde.

47 sceol an] sceolon-H heowan] hegan-H 48 wucan-D, H] wi rcan-MS 50 nemnao] nemneo -D, H 51 sceolan] sceolon-H dihte-i over r-MS 56 ys] is-H 57 gelesen] geleafan-H 58 pee r] peere -D] anr [ej-H cumad] cumeo -D, H 61 pam monpe] pee m [il can] -H pinced] pyncep-H. 50

Donne is peEt prydde pinga geh1ve lces

feE s ten on fo 1 dan fyra bearnum

dihte gel i cum on pam deoran hofe 65

to brymenne beorhtum sange

on peere wucan pe CE rur byd

emnihtes dee ge ee lda bearnum ,

on pam monpe, mine gefreege ,

pe man Sep tember * * * genemneo.� 70

We pee t feorpe sceo 1 en feEst e gelce sten

on peere wucan pe bid ee rur full

dryhtnes gebyrde , and we mid deornum scyl an

wordum and weorcum wuldres cyninge

in pa ylcan tid eal le gernynde 75

peodne dernan pinga gehwylces ,

efne swa swa ee rran , and pone an..-esan

leofne leoda frean lifes biddan.

63 prydde] pridde-H 64 on-D, H] an-MS fyra] fira-H 65 dihte] dihte [d]-H 66 brymenne] bremenne-H 67 pCE re wucan] pce re [il can] - H byo] bio-H 68 bearnum] beornum-H 70 * * *] [side] -H 71 sceol en] sceolon-H feest e] feest en-0, H geleest en] geleest an-D, H 72 peere- D, H] peer-MS [ilcan] -H 73 deornum] deorum-H scylan] sculon-H 75 ylcan] ilcan-H. 51

0 n pis sum f ce s ten um is se feorpa dee g

and sixta samod seofopa tinge 80

to ge1eestanne 1ifes eal dre

and to bremenne boca gerynum;

emb pa nigopan tyd nan is on eorpan,

bu tan hi ne unhee1 an gepreat i ge,

pe mot, ee t oppe wee t, ee rur pi egan, 85

pees pe us boca dam peodl ic deme6

XII

Gi f pe ponne secgan supan cymene

bryttan oppe Franca, paet pu gebann sceole

her on eorpan ee nig heal dan,

pee s pe Moyses iu mee 1 de to leodum , 90

na pu pee s andfeng ee fre gewy rpe ,

ac pu peet syl f hea 1 d peet pe supan com

from Romana rices hyrde ,

Gregori ae, gumena papa.

79 fee stenum] -en [n] um- H 80 seofopa-D] feorpa-MS] seo fopa [n] -H geti nge] getenge-H 82 gerynum] y over i- MS 83 tyd] tid-H 84 butan] butan butan-end of 258r/repeated head of 258v-MS 85 ee t oppe wee t] hee t oppe weet- MS pi egan] pi ngan-MS , D 86 peodl ic] beorhtl ic-H deme o] demep-H 87 supan] supene- D 88 bryttan oppe Franca] b ry tt Franca-MS] bryttan-D, H 90 i u] i n-MS 91 andfeng] andfenge-H 92 sy lf] syl fe-0, H 93 rices] rice-MS 94 Gregoria:]Gr egorie-H papa] papa[n]-H. 52

XIII

f)us he gesette sylf ond dyhte 95

pa penunga, peod l a remv ,

fa= stendtida; we pam forp nu gyt

geond Engl a land estum fil i ad.

Sancte Petres preostas syppan 100

lange lifes tyd leordun pa=t syl fe ,

pa=t pu oprum ne scea l t a= f re f il i a n .

XIV

Eac we feowertig daga fa=st en heal dan

a= r pa=m a= riste ures dryhtnes ,

pa= t nu lengtentid leoda nemnao , 105

and hit a= rest ongan eorl se goda ,

ma= re Moys es , a= r he on munt styge;

he pa=t fa= sten heo l d feowert i g daga

and nyhta samod, swa he nahtes anbate

a= r he pa deoran ae dryhtnes anfenge. 110

95 dyhte] dihte-H 97 fa= stendtida] fa= stentida-H 98 fi liao] fy liad-H 100 syppan] sippan- H 101 tyd] tid-H leordun] la=rdon-H 102 filian] fyl ian-H 103 healdan] heal den-D, H 105 leoda] leode-H nemnao] nenao-MS 107 styge] stige-H 109 nyhta] nihta-H anbate] anbat- D] onbat-H 110 anfenge] onfenge-H. 53

Him p� r gesealde syl fe dryhten

b remne boca craeft, bee l e beh l a: ned ,

of his haligan handa gescrifene ,

het hine leodum pone leo ra n and teecan

elda orpancum eal lum to tacne , 115

peet �t�e mid fre stene magon freode ge�t�i nnan

and pa deopan dryhtnes gerynu,

pa pe leoran sceolan leoda geh�t�ylce,

gif us p� re dugupe hweet dryhten syl l eo.

XVI

Eft Hel ias, earl se mce ra , 120

him on westene �t�iste gepigede,

prer him symbelbread somod mid waete re

dryhtnes engla sum dihte togeanes,

and se gestrangud wearo stypum gyfl e

to gef.:e stenne feowertig daga 125

and nihta samod , swa he nahtes anbat

eerhe on Horeb dun hal i ferde.

lll gesealde] scealde-MS sylfe] syl fa-H 113 his] his [pee re] -H hal igan] hal gan-H 114 leoran] leeran-H 115 orpancum] onpancum-MS 118 leoran] leo ra-�1S] leeran-H sceolan] sceolon-H 120 Helias] El ias-H 121 westene] westen [n] e-H 124 se gestrangud] ge se strangud-MS stypum gyfle] stipum gifle-H 126 anbat] onbat-H 127 hal i] hal i [g] -H . 54

XVII

Uton �� t gerine rihte gehi cgan,

�� t se m.r ra pegen mi hta ne h� fde

to astigenne sta:ppon on ypp 1 en 130

a: r him pa:t symbel wearp seald fram engle.

We sint on westene wuldres bl isse

on pa:m � nete eal ra gefeana ;

nu is helpes tid, hal ig dryhten,

hu we munt pinne ma:rne gestygan. 135

XVII I

Sint fo r englas geteald eor�burgendum

pa �e dryhtnes word da:dum 1 a: raCl.

We pa andl ifene ofstum py cgen

and pone deoran wist, dryhtnes lare ;

uton fa: stan swa fy rene da: dum 140

on forha:fe nesse her for 1 ife,

�a:t we pa:s muntes ma:gen ma:rpa gestigen

swa se eal da dy da El ias iu.

128 geri ne] geryne- H gehicgan] gehycgan-H 129 pegen] hegen-MS 130 sta: ppon] st� ppan- H 132 westene] westen [n] e-H 133 a: nete] �nette-H 135 gestygan] gestigen- H 136 eorpburgendum] eorpbugendum- 0, H 138 pycgen] picgen- H 140 fa: stan] sa: stan-MS fyrene ] firene-H 141 forha: fenesse] forha:fednes se-H dyda] dyde-0, H. 55

XIX

Is to hicganne hu se ha1ga gewat

of pissum wangstede �tJ U 1dres neosian; 145

hine fy ren scryd feower mee rum

w1 angum wicgum on weg ferede

on neorxnawong, paer us nergend Crist

gehaten hafao ham mid bl isse,

gi f we peet fee s ten her fy rena ge 1 ee sta o 150

and pone upli can ee pe1 secao.

Nu wees ee t nehstan peet us nergend Crist,

ha1ig heofenes weord , heolp and leerde .

He hine dyppan let deorum pwea le,

fu1wihtes baa , fy rena be dee1 ed, 155

and he feowertig daga fi rsude metta ,

eac nihta swa feala nanuht gyl tig,

1eodum to 1are , pee t hie on lengten sceo1an

efen feowertig daga feest en hewan.

144 hicganne] hycganne-H 145 neosian] neosan-H 146 scryd] scrid-H 147 w1angum] w1ancum-H 150 fyrena] firena-H 151 eepe1 ] epel-H 153 weord] weard-H heolp] hea1p-H 155 bao]bee oe-0, H fyrena] firena-H 156 firsude] firude-MS metta] mettas-0, H 158 sceo1an] sceo1on- H 159 hewan] hegan-H. 56

XXI

Hine cos tude peer Cristes gewinna 160

on pa:m ce nete eald and fra:: te ,

geseah meerne frean mannum ge1 icne

and pa wenan ongann, wommes gemyndig,

paet he stree 1a his ste1 1an mi hte

on pam 1ichoman; nees pee s 1eahtra nan, 165

ac on hinder gewat hearmes brytta ,

and pee r eng1 as hyra ea1dor sohtan.

XXII

Higesynnig man gyf pe sus1a weard

costian durre , ponne he Crist dyde,

werede wu1derfrean, womma 1easne , 170

ne mee g he pee s inne ahweet scotian

gif he my rce1s neefp manes ee t egum,

ac he on hinder scrip, and he ha1 ig * * *

eng1 as ee rfees te ee ghweer he1 pad,

gif pu dryhtnes her dee dum fy1 ges t. 175

161 ee nete] ee net [ t] e-H 163 gemyndi g] -dig shows i over y- MS 164 stellan] ste1an-H 165 1ichoman] 1ichoman an-MS pee s] pee r-H 167 hyra] hira-H sohtan] sohton-H 168 Higesynnig] Synnig-H man] manna-H gyf] gif-H 170 wu1 derfrean] wu1 dorfrean-H 172 my rce1 s] myrc1rs-MS 173 he ha1 ig] pe ha1 ig-D * * *] [preat]-H 174 eerfee ste] arfee ste-H. 57

XXI II

Hce bbe we nu gemearcod hu pa rn a:; ran i u

biEt fem1ert i g daga fee s ten he�'1 don

and we bebeodao purh beorn godes

piEt manna gehwil c pe for mo 1 dan wunao

ce r pam ce res te ures dryhtnes 180

efen feowerti g daga feeste n hewe

op pa ni gopan tid, and he na bruce

fleese es oppe fyrna, pee lee s pe he fah wese.

XXIV

Sceolan sacerdas s i ngan rna: ssan,

deeghwam1 ice dryhten biddan 185

on pam fee stenne peet he freond wese

folce gynd fo1dan and pa fyrna sceo1an

pam sacerdan secgan gehwi1ce

and pa dymnissa dee dum betan

wordes and weorces, wuldres ealdor 190

purh a: lmesdce de ea11 gegladi an .

177 paet feowertig] feowertig-0, H hewdon ] hegdon-H 178 beorn] bearn-H 179 pe for] [o ] fer-H 180 aereste] aerist e-H 181 hewe] hege-H 183 fyrna] fisca-H pae laes pe] pe 1aes pe-H wese] were-MS 187 gynd] gind-H and] and [hi e]-H fyrna] fi rna-H sceolan ] sceo1on-H sacerdan] sacerdum-H 189 dymnissa ] dynisca-MS. 58

XXV

Donne is pearf mi cel peode maenium

pa:t pa sacerdos syl fne ne gyl tan,

no on l eahtrum hi ora l i gegen to fee ste .

Hwa mee g pyngi an preale hwilcum 195

wip his arwesan, gyf he him ee rur ha:f o

bitere onbol gen, and pee s bote ne ded,

ac pa eebyl igpe eal dere wrohte ,

deegh waml ice dee dum niwad?

XXVI

Gyf se sacerd hine sylfne ne cunne 200

purh dryhtnes ege dugepum heal dan

nu pa, fa lces mann, fy rna ni gyme

pe gehalgode mann her gefremme ,

ac pu l are see a lt l us tum fremman

ryhth i cgennde pe he to reedi teech d , 205

dri nee he him peEt drofe duge hl utter pe weete r of wege, pee t is wul dres lare .

192 mee nium] manigum-H 193 sacerdos] sacerdas-H syl fne] sylfe-D, H 194 ligegen] licgen-H 195 pyngian] pingian-H preale] pree le-H 196 gyf] gif-H 198 eebyl igpe] eebylgpe-H ealdere] eal dre-H 199 dee ghwaml ice] da-, lf3haml ice-MS 200 Gyf] Gif-H syl fne] syl ne-MS 202' fyrna] fi rna-H n l] ne-D, H 203 gehalgode] gehalgod-D, H 204 fremman] frennan- MS 205 rhyt ...] riht-H rCE di] reE de-D, H tee cho] tee cp-H 206 duge hl utter] [oppe peet] dee ghl uttre-D, H 207 wege] wege [si dan]-H lare ] lar-H. 59

XXVII

Ac i c secgan mee g, sorgum hremig,

hu pa sacerdas sace niwi ao,

deegh waml ice dryhten gremi ad 210

and mid ee leste ee lcne fo rleeda d

pe him fy l ian wyle fal ces manna;

sona hie on mergan meess an syngao

and forpegide, purs te gebeeded ,

ee fter teepper e teop geond s trceta . 21 5

XXVI II

Hwee t� Hi leaslice leogan ongynnao

and pone tee ppere tyhtap ge 1 orne ,

secgap pee t he synleas sy llan mote

ostran to eete and ee pele wyn

emb mo rgentyd, pces pe me pi ngao 220

peet hund and wul f heal dad pa ilcan

wisan on worulde and ne wigliao

hwee nne hie to mose fon, mce oa bedee 1 ed.

209 sace] seece- H 21 1 a: leste] a: fe ste-0, H 21 2 wyl e] wi l e-H 21 3 me rgan] mergen-H syngad] singad-H 214 forpegide] forpiwede-H 21 5 eefter] ceft-MS 216 Hi] Hi [e]-H ongynnad ] onginnad-H 220 pee s pe me pingad] pae pe¢ pingao P me-MS ] pinceo-H 222 wigl iad ] wicl iap-H 223 hwee nne] hwee ne-0, H. 60

XXIX

< Hi ponne sittende sadian ag1• nnao,

vii n seni syl l ad ge 1 ome , 225

cvve6a6 goddl ife gumena gehwi lcum

piEt wi nes dreng wel hwa mote,

sippan he mcessa n hafad, mepig picgen,

etan ostran eac and operre 230

fisc of flode

224 Hi ] Hi[e]-H 225 win] sinne-D] synne-H seniad] semad-o, H syl lad] syl lad [hie]-H 226 goddl i fe] godli ce-H dreng] drenc-H welhwa] wel wel-MS 228 mepig-H 229 operre] operne-0, H. 61

Translation

The tribe of Israel was in ancient days by means of Moses , great teacher, enl i ghtened and taught, as the Lord of life, high king of the heavens , through His own word here in life establ ished him before the people, as a benefit to men, and to him [God] Himself related unders tanding of mysteries , how he ought to teach the beloved nati on the true way.

Then the leader of the people, and the warriors likewise, followed the teachings of the high king of the heavens just as they in the nation were taught; if they began unsteady deeds , the God of victories consequently sent to them from the heavens affl iction as reward, and they immediately entreated peace from him and there quickly found [it] if they abandoned their sins.

Great is the power which the glori ous nati on accompli shed and maintai ned among the war troop, as long as they desired to love the Lord of life; but for them the end came to be wretched and sad , when they ens nared the Lord Himself, placed [Him] on the tree and into the grave * * * condemned; He was concealed there , and the thi rd day appeared to the people. 62

We learned that many men celebrate and wri te in books that they held fo ur fa sts and at that time offered a pure beast, that is a lamb or cal f,as a sign for the Dear One who was spotl ess before the world.

But the Lord of power proceeded to arise from the grave, fi lled with glories , and with heaven dwel lers sought home , home among the angel s, and He promi ses that joy fo r us all , if we desire through true heart to fol low his plans. By no means therei n wi ll come [one] cast down with wretchedness, drenched with sin, but that one must hasten to doom.

Now we ought to praise here while we live the dear Deeddoer, and for him fi ll our count of days wi th almsdeeds and in fasts, just as the wise Moses formerly taught, and resolutely we ought to hold the schedules ***with the Engl ish; as the man in Rome , Gregory,

Pope of men, wrote them briefly for us.

We ought to hold that first fast in the first week of Lent in that month which one calls March throughout the kingdom of the

Romans , and there ought to read of the my steries of the twel ve lessons brightly appointed in the house of the Rul er, of the 63

Highking of heavens, to exal t with song, to honor the proud giver

of glory.

During the Eastertide is the second fa st for the people of

Britain, those who have learning , to cel ebrate with equal praise,

in the week wh ich comes after the Sunday wh ich throughout the wide

land pri ests call the day of Pentecost, in the month, so it seems

to me , which one certainly cal led June .

Then is that thi rd fast likewise appoi nted of each of things

on earth for the children of men in the dear house, fo r cel ebrating with bright song in the week which is before the day of equinox fo r

the children of men , in the month, as I have heard , which one names

* * * September.

1 0

We ought to observe that fo urth fast in the week which is

complete before the birth of the Lord , and at the same time we ought with all our mind with excell ent words and works deem the Ki ng of Glory the Prince of each of thi ngs , even just as before , and ask

the honoured bel oved Lord of people for life. 64

Duri ng these fasts is the fourth day and sixth together wi th the seventh immediately fo l lov-l i ng to serve and to glorify v1i th my steries of books the Lord of life; concerni ng the none hour [there] is no one on earth, only unless sickness affl icts him, who may earl ier ta ste food or drink, as the judgement of books deems proper fo r us .

If then, Bretons or Franks coming from the south say to you, that you must observe any ordinance here on earth , which Moses fo rmerly taught to the people, you [should] never ever be an asse nter to it, but [on the contrary] you [should] observe that same rule which came from the south from the guardian of the kingdom of the

Romans , Gregory, Pope of men .

Thus , he himself establ ished and ordered times of fasting for the ministry, the priests ; we novJ still willingly fo llow them forth throughout England. Just as he himself ordained at the throne,

Saint Peter' s priests throughout long time of life taught the same , that you ought not ever fo l low others .

Al so , we ho ld fast fo rty of days before the resurrection of our Lord , that people now cal l Lent, and the good leader first began 65 it, glorious Mo ses , befo re he ascended the mountai n; he held that fast forty days and nights together, so he tasted of nothing before he recei ved the beloved law of the Lord .

l 5

The Lord Himself, surrounded with fire , gave to him in that pl ace glorious skill of books , appo i nted from His holy hands , com manded him to teach and to declare to the peopl e the wisdom of ages as a sign to all that with fasting we may gain peace and the profound my steries of the Lord , those which teach each of peopl es, if the Lord is to give to us there somethi ng of benefi t.

Afterwa rds , El i jah himsel f, the famous man, recei ved food in the desert , where for him one of the angels of the Lord set out feast bread along with water, and he came to be strengthened wi th support ing food to fa st forty days and nights together; thus he ate nothing before he, holy, ascended Mount Horeb.

Let us rightly cons ider that my stery that the glorious thane had not the power to ascend , to proceed , onto the summit before that feast came to be given to him by the angel . We are in the desert wi th respect to the bliss of glory in the sol itude [away from] al l joys; now is the time of help, holy Lord , how [ought] we to ascend your glori ous mountain? 66

Those wh o while dwelling on earth teach the word of God wi th deeds are numbered befo re the angel s. We that nourishment speedi ly accept and the beloved food , the teaching of the lord; so let us fast for deeds of sin, in abstinence fo r li here , that we may ascend this mountain of glories as the ol d one Elijah formerly did.

It is [for us] to cons ider how the saint departed from this place to seek glory; a fiery chariot with four splendi d, proud steeds carri ed him on the way into paradise, where Christ Saviour has promi sed us home with joy, if we perfo rm that fast for sins here and seek the heavenly home .

Now at last [it] was that Chri st Saviour, holy guardian of heaven, helped and taught us. He allowed himself to be baptized in the precious bath , immers ion of baptism, freed of sins, and he forty days put foods far away , likewise so many nights nowhit guilty, as instruction to the people, that they during lent ought to fu lfi ll the fast exactly forty of days .

The old and proud foe of Christ tempted him there in that sol i tude, saw the glorious Lord in likeness to men and began to think, mi ndful of sin, that he might place his arrows in the body ; 67 there was not with respec t to that [attempt] any of si ns , but the giver of affli ction depa rted behind and in that pl ace angels sou ght th eir Lord.

Mindsinful man , if the guardian of torments dare to tempt you , just as he did Christ, glorious Lord of hosts , without sin , he may not therein shoot any thing whatever if he has not before [his] eyes a target of guilt, but he goes on behind, and He holy * * * merci ful angels everywhere help, if you here follow the deeds of the Lord.

Now we have marked how the glorious ones formerly held that fast forty of days, and we command , through the pries t, that each of men who dwells over the earth, before the resurrection of our Lord , ho ld fas t fully forty days until the nin th hour , and he should not enj oy flesh or sins lest he be outlawed.

Priests ought to sing mass daily , to ask the Lord in that fasting that he be a friend to people throughout the earth, and

[they] ought to tell the priests each of sins and to amend the dark ness with deeds of word and of work , through charity all to gladden the Lord of Glory . 68

Then is great need for many of people that the priests them sel ves not sin, nor in thei r sins lie too rm. Who may intercede fo r any thrall with his lord if he has before sharply angered him, and the remedy performs not, but performs the offence against the master, dai ly renews [it] with deeds .

If the priest knows not to conduct himself with vi rtue through fear of the Lord , now then, man of the people, heed not sins the ordai ned man performs here , but you ought righteously to perform wi th zeal the teaching which he fo r good counsel teaches; though he should drink [the] di rty , let the pure water which is div ine doc tri ne do you good.

But I may say, lamenting with sorrows , how the pri ests renew strife , daily enrage the Lord and wi th enmity lead astray each of men of the people who desire to fol low them; as soon as they sing mass in the morning [they are] consumed [with thirst], urged by thirst, and after the tapster roam through the streets .

Lo� They falsely begin to lie and often draw out the tapster, say that he might wi thout sin give oysters fo r food and noble wine 69 duri ng the morningtide ; it seems to me that the hound and wol f hold the same •11ay in the v1orld and hesitate not when they seize food ,

lacking all continence.

Sitting, they then begin to sate [themselves], bless the wine , pour repeatedly, say "goodlife" to each of men, [say] that anyone exhausted after he has mass might partake of drink of wine, also eat oysters and other fish from the water .... CHAPTER II I

COMt�ENT!'l. RY

Israhela] 3 onlyht, gel CE red] 4 heofona] M. S. readings are Israheala, anlyht, gelared, heofna and are emended in concurrence wi th Sisam (Studies in the History of Old Engl ish Literature (Oxford,

1953) , pp. 59-60 ) and Heyworth 's ("The Old English 'Seasons of Fast ing,"' Medieval Studies , 26 (1964), 358- 59) compari son of Wanley's

1705 copy of the incipi t of Seasons fo r Fasting and Nowel l's copy of the same lines . Wanley's copy of the incipit in his Catalogus

Historico-Criticus (Oxford , 1705) , p. 21 9 reads :

WCE son eal l ddaggum Israhela folc purh Moysen, mCE rne l areow, onlyht and gelCEred , swa hine lifes frea, heofona heahcyning her on life.

Sisam notes that "in every case Wanley's is the spelling one wou ld expect," but more important, Heyworth argues con vinci ngly fo r Wanl ey ' s superiority to Nowell as a copyist. In this edition substantial emendations will only be made when there is evidence of a better copy of the same lines. 4 her on life] Sisam notes (Studies (1953) , pp. 47-48) that

Seasons and The Creed (a roughly stanzaic poem--ASPR 6, pp. 78- 80) have two lines in common "that are not found elsewhere in Anglo- Saxon verse." Where Seasons l. 4 reads

heofona heahcyning, her on life

Creed 51 = heofona heahcyning her for life ;

70 71

Likewise Seasons 151 reads

and pone uplican cepe l secaol

and Creed 37 = pone upl ican �l secan.

Sisam goes on to say that Seasons and Creed share unmaene, "pure,"

a word not elsewhere found in the OE poetic corpus and both poets

"apply the adjective wlanc to the divi nity." Considering these shar-

ings and other mutual but "less distinctive tricks of style,'' Sisam

concludes that it is " reasonably certain that Fasting and Creed are by the same author; certainly they belong to the same school ."

6 runa gescead] "understanding of mysteries .'' It is, per-

haps noteworthy that this poet consistently thinks of religious prac-

tice in terms of "mystery. " See 11. 53, 83, ll7, 128.

12 ongunnan] for ongunnon. Vowel confusion in weakly stressed

fi nal syll ables is common in Seasons. Most notably -an is often, but

not universally, confused for -on in pret. pl . -an for -on occurs at

lines 15, 16, 41 , 47, 51 , 64 , 118, 158, 167, and 187 while the cor-

rect -on ending is used in lines 19, 21 , 23, 25, 27, and 177. This confusion is, perhaps, the result of the decay of inflections since the poem is of late date , but it is just as likely that Nowell is

respons ible for this confusion. See R. J. S. Grant, "Laurence

Nowell's Transcript of BM Cotton Otho Bxi ," ASE, 3 (1974) , 118-21 .

15 frypa] Dobbie wonders if this is "for frypu, 'peace, ' the

indecl inable femi nine noun" and thus ei ther gen. sg. or ace. sg.;

" Hol thausen says ("Ein Altengl i sches Gediht Uber Die Fastenzeiten,"

Angl ia, 71 (1953) , 199) that frypa is a "gen. Sg. nach der u-Kl asse." 72

Dobbie is probably correct here . Throughout Nowel l's transcri pt, errors and confus ion of uns sed vowels in final syl lables are abundant.

16 leahtras] Both Dobbie and Holthausen incorrectly read the

MS as ..c....:;;_leah:..:..:...c::..;_:: :;;:.. and emend to leahtras. gewyrpan] Dobbie emends to gewyrpan, "to recover, get better," and Hol thausen agrees. Sisam, however, keeps gewrypan, transl ating it 11 abandon. " Hi s argument al lows the MS reading to be retai ned and is fol l owed here .

18 herescype ] As Hol thausen rightly notes , this is 11ein neues Wort."

20 dreorig] MS reads preoring. Al l commentators agree that preoring is uni ntel ligible. Dobb ie opts for emending to preal ic while Meroney (MP, 41 (1943-44) , 199), Hol thausen and Si sam all pre- fer dreorig. Dreorig is preferable because it makes good sense and is closer to the MS.

23a For th is lacuna Dobbie suggests an adverb or adjecti ve alliterating in �- -perhaps deadne , deopne , or dierne . Hol thausen agrees with deadne as does Sisam while Whi tbread ("Notes on the

Seasons for Fasting ," liQ, 191 (1946), 250 ) suggests a noun--dome or

lc, dryhtne, and Meroney offers to deaae. It is possible that any of these suggestions is correct; however, considering the fact , as

Sisam remarks , that in this poem the "proportion of single words omitted ...is unusual ly high" and that "none of them is essenti al for the sense ," the lacunae in Seasons are likely the product of an inept poet who simply could not find an appro priate word to fi ll out his meter. 73

25-30] Stanza 4 has only 6 lines and is thus short two lines of conforming to the regul ar eight line stanza form of thi s poem.

Sisam thi nks that since of the 29 stanzas have 8 lines , the irregular ones , 4 and 15 (which has 9 lines), also probably once had the regul ar 8 lines . He further contends that in stanza 4 "to expl ain the symbol ism of the sacri fi ce of lamb or heifer, a reference to the crucifixion is needed" and offers two lines "with the content

'yet was crucified by the Jews and buried for dead '" as having "been omitted by a kind of homoeoteleuton. '' Actual ly, though meager, the sense of this stanza is complete , and while Professor Sisam's s ugges tion is reasonable, it is possible that the poet simply had no more to say, and he stopped.

hyht] Dobbie tentatively posits this as a decayed form of hyhted, "hopes ," while Hol thausen disagrees , maintaini ng that the sho rtened word should be hygec from hycgan. Sisam sugges ts that and should be deleted from 35a , and hyht should be translated "joy."

I would suggest that 35a sho uld read hyht and hate6. Nowel l abbrev- iates both = 7and ge(ha ted ) j (hateo). Nowel l forms the ampersand and the yogh very similarly in this line , and it seems likely that he simply repeated the initial stroke of the ampersand but meaningless prefix ] . 38 gewesed] Holthausen emends to gewered. The change is un necessary since 1'soaked" or 11drenched" with sin makes good sense contextually. on wy rd] Sisam objects to on wyrd as 11Unparalleled11 and sugges ts forwyrd, citing Andreas l549b as precedent. This 74 change is unnecessary since , unparal leled or not, 9��q is intel ligible.

40 dogeara] Dobbie: "It seems necessary omit the MS do_" ;

As Whi tbread notes , "This change seems clearly \'irong" (p. 250). In el iminating do , Dobbie eliminates the head stave al literation in 1.

40 . Subsequent commentators are correct in seeing dogeara as some fo rm of dogra , "days "; Hol thausen pri nts dogra ; Meroney suggests dogeara ; Leslie C'Textual Notes on the Seasons fo r Fasting ," JEGP,

52 (1953), 555) offers dogera . Meroney is right in keeping the MS dogeara even though as Leslie says , he provides no "account for the form. " The e/ea confusion evident in the spelling dogeara is in acco rd with the general vowel confus ion in the MS.

43 mearce] Translate "schedu l e11 in accordance with the expressed idea that Moses of old, and more recently, Gregory I had provided the Engl ish with a specific schedule of observance for fasts. Two other attracti ve possibil ities are that mearce is used here in a technical sense as in Byrtferth's Manual (Ed. Crawford,

V, 177, p. 152) , the "mark" of the final day or terminus of the Paschal cycle, indicating here the true limit of any of the subject fast peri ods . And it is possible that refers to literal observation of the appropriate fast days as marked out on the calendars of the period (see Engl ish Kalendars Befo re A. D.

1100, ed. Francis Wormald (London: Harrison & Sons, 1934) ).

47 heowaJl] Dobbie notes there is no other recordi ng of this verb in OE. Nonetheless, it is a favorite of this poet, occurring at 11. 159 (hewan) , 177 (he\'idon), and 181 (hewe ) where it consistently 75 means the same thing as �� (which Hol thau sen emends to ). Dobbie argues that "The al te rnation of inte rvocalic _g_ and '!I_ is not unparal leled; see hiv1an, hiaan, 'companions , members of a household.'" No emendation is requi red.

51-52 twelfe ...ru na] fol lowing Dobbie, this refers to the sabbatum duodecim lectionem, the Ember week lessons for Saturday .

51 torhtum dihte] "brightly appointed" indicating, perhaps, an illuminated or rubricated copy of the twelfe runa.

52 rican hofe] the church building.

57 pe gel esen hafad] Dobbie sees this as meaningless, and

Sisam marks it a crux. Leslie suggests gel esnis, "redemption" ;

Mero ney offers � [his] gel a:s[t]en hafad. I retain the MS reading gelesen as a corrupt fo rm of geles--"learning, study, readi ng," and 57b as modifying 56b.

73 deornum] fol low Sisam and Hol thausen who read deorum,

"good, pleasing to God , excel lent. "

80 seofopa] Dobbie is correct in emending since MS feorpa nei ther al literates nor makes sense. getinge] Sisam is right in considering Dobbie' s getinge, "eloquent," a strai ned reading.

Rather, as Sisam suggests , getinge = getenge , "immediately fol lowing."

85 a:t] Emendation is correct here . Variations of the a:t oppe wa: t formula are common (see Bosworth-Toller, waet, p. 1159), and the meani ng "food or drink" fi ts the context. pi egan] likewise

Whitbread and Hol thausen are correct in emending. In conjunction 76 with CE t oppe wa:t, .2iQJ_9_!! makes sense. Translate 85 "who may , sooner taste food or drink. "

83-85] The me aning of these lines is made clear if they are comp ared to the stri kingly similar ll. 16-18 of Wul fstan's Sermo in XL (The Homi lies of Wulfstan , ed. Bethurum (Oxford: Clarendon

Press, 1957) , p. 233) : "p<:E t CEfre cenig cristen man <=Enige d<=E ge

CE r nontide naOor ne abyrige ne CE tes ne WCEte s buton hit for unhCEle sy . II

88 brytt Franca] Sisam' s suggestion that this line should read Bryttan oppe Francan is correct as borne out by R. J. S.

Grant (11A Note on 'The Seasons for Fasting,"' RES, 23 (1972),

303- 304 ). Grant, however, disagrees wi th emending brytt to bryttan because 11the usual strong fo rm of the noun would be quite acceptable.11

Grant's essay is important because in it he compares Whelock's 1643-

44 transcription of ll. 87-94 of Seasons as he found it in MS Otho

Bxi with Nowel l's copy of the same lines . Whelock's transcription of l. 88 reads Brytt. oppe Franca II p<=E t pu gebann sceole. Wanley's

1705 copy of the incipi t (ll. l-7) and Whelock's copy of 11. 87-94 are the only cross-checks we have on Nowel l's copy of Seasons . These cross-checks lead to two concl usi ons: Nowell was not as careful a copyist as Wanley and Whelock, and MS . Otho Bxi was al ready corrupt when Nowell copied it.

91 na pu gewyrpe] Fol lowing Sisam translate : "You never ever be an assenter to it, 11 reading anfeng as anfenga.

109 anbate] Holthausen is correct in reading this onbat pret. sg. of onbitan. MS spel ling is retained here because vowel 77

confusion befo re a nasal is common in the MS (also , see Bosworth

To l ler, onbitan , p. 747 for �12j_te ), and the final e is typical of

Nowel l's careless approach to vowels in unstressed syl lables , especi

ally final �. perhaps a reflection of the grammatical meaninglessness

of final e in Renaissance spel ling .

112 bce le behlce ned] "surrounded with fi re" refers to dryhten;

see Exod. XIX, 18.

115 orpancum] MS onpancum is uni ntelligible. Orpancum is obviously the intended word .

118 Jeoran] leora makes no sense and should be leoran as in

l. 114.

l24ff. ] See I Kings XIX, 4- 8.

129 ��] MS hegen , as Dobbie notes, is meaningless here , and pegen, indicating the messenger of God, makes good sense.

1 33 cenete] Dobbie is ri ght in reading this anaede, a dat.

sg. of anad, "desert . II

140 fee stan . fyrene] Dobbie and Hol thausen translate

''abstain from deeds of sin" as in Daniel V, 591 .

150 fce sten . fyrena] see 1. 140 and note.

156 fi rsude] MS firude is unintel lig ible. Dobbie is correct

in emending to firsude, pret. of fyrsian, "to remove to a distance."

164 stel lan] Hol thausen is wrong in saying "stel lan ist

sinnlos" and suggesti ng "stel an 'stahlen, harten .'" Stel lan, "to give a pl ace to , set, place," is cl umsy, but it makes sense. For expression of the same idea, see Wul fstan's Sermo de Baptismate , 78

VIIIc, 11,65- 66 (The Homi lies of \� u lfstan, ed. Bethurum (Oxford,

1957) , p. 179).

175 gif ...fJ'lg_c s!_] The MS is accurate here . Fol lm,Jing Sisam and r�eroney , translate "if you here fol low the deeds of the Lord. "

Dobbie's preference for dat. sg. dryhtne would miss the point of the stanza that the Christi an should fol low the example of Christ.

179 pe fo r] Both Sisam and Holthausen emend to pe ofer which ma kes better sense than the MS re ading. Translate : "Who dwell throughout the earth ."

l87-l 90a] Dobbie translates "And they (the fol c l. l87a) should tell to the priests each of sins ( ... ) and remedy with

[their] deeds the darkness of word and of wo rk," and Hol thausen agrees : "wordes and weorces gehort zu dimnissa. '' A reading more consonant with the CE lmesda: de of l. l9la and with the exhortation of stanza 22, to fol low the deeds of Christ, would be "and [they] ought to tel l the priests each of sins and to amend the darkness with deeds of word and of work.''

198- 199] Dobbie's reading is unclear, and Sisam translates "but daily renews by his actions the inj ury of the old offence

(ealdere wrohte) ." Rather, wi th Hol thausen read ealdere as Prince

(the arwesan of l. l96a) and translate "but performs the offe nce against the Prince, daily renews [it] with deeds."

200-201 hine ...he al dan] see Bosworth-Tol ler, p. 518, healdan, IV.

206-207] Fol lowing Sisam and Lesl ie, retain the MS reading.

Translate with Sisam, "thoug h he should drink dirty [water] , let 79

the pure water which is di vine doctrine do you good.'' �1e roney keeps

the MS reading with the exception of offeri ng tv10 mi nor changes : �

sv:e (1. 206) and as an al ternative to � ��- ' he suggests � dugepe

(l . 206). Hol thausen sees an all usion to Psalm 109 (110) in l. 206;

Schabram (11The Seasons for Fasti ng 206f. Mit einem Beitrag zur ae.

Metri k, 11 Bri tannica Festschrift fur Hermann M. Flasdieck,11 ed. W. Iser

& H. Schabram (Heidel berg : Carl Winter, 1960) , 221-240) disagrees wi th Hol thausen .

21 1 CEleste] Dobbie and Hol thausen emend to cefest, 11enmi ty .11

This emendation is fol lowed here despite the attracti veness of Sisam's

suggestion that MS cele st = 11neglect of rel igious law. 11 This sugges tion is rejected on two counts : it requires the acceptance of a hypothetical paradigm- - ��. celeas , CEliest,11 and Sisam' s objection to 11enmi ty11 as contextually inappropriate is not val id. Considering

the description of lax priests both here and in ll. 192-99 , 11enmi ty11

is appropriate.

214 forpegide, purste] Follow Sisam who translates this as

11 ' consumed with thirs t, "' citing Hine pegep purs t (Leechdoms , Ed.

Cockayne, ii (1895) , p. 60/7) ; purste gepegede (Christ III, 1510) ; and ecgum ofpegde ( Genesis, 2002) as support for this readi ng.

222- 223 and ...bedCE le d] ne wigl iaa has caused much dif ficulty. Do bbie tentatively offers 11divine , foresee11 from wigl ian.

Sisam suggests ne bewitiao, 11take no heed.11 But the most attractive and contextual ly sensible reading is that of Meroney who sees wigl iad 11as the earl iest occurrence of English 'wigg le,' here 80 meaning 'zoqern , �wei f��· (cf. Hol thausen, Al ten��y m.

Worterbuch_, s. v. vJ i cl ian). Hol thausen likewi se reads wioliac: as a variation of �,1icl ia6 , 'schwanken, _z_g_s�r__ll.'" F;;l 1o\d ng Meroney and

Hol thausen, translate : "and hesi tate not when they seize food , lacking continence."

223 maeoa bedaeled] See Wul fstan , Homi ly 157, 1. 19 (Napier ed. ).

225 win seniao] Sisam and Leslie are correct in rejecting

Dobbie's sinne semao. The troublesome word here is seniaa, which

Dobbie reads as semao . As Leslie notes , this sort of "Confusion is caused in a number of pl aces in the text because Nowel l in his trans scription uses a hoo ked variety of 1, which he often joins to the preceding letter if this ends in a mi nim" ; cf. heahcyning (1. 4a, as if heahcymng), nihta (1. 157a, as if mhta), hi (1. 40, as if m) , mine ( 1 . 69 , as if mne).

226 cwedad goddl ife] "say good 1 ife . . " a drinking toast. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. MANUSCRIPT

Bri tish Library MS. Add . 43703 , ff. 257r-260v.

B. EDITIONS

Dobbie, E. V. K. The Anglo Saxon Minor Poems . The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records . V. 6. New York: Co l umb1 a Oniv. Press, 1942.

Grimaldi , Maria. "The Seasons fo r Fasti ng. " Fi lologica Germani ca . Anna li XXIV. Napol i: Isti tuto Universitari o Ori entale, 1981 , 71 -85.

Hol thausen, Ferdinand. "Ein Al tengl i sches Gedicht Uber Die Fastenzei ten ." Angl ia, 71 (1953) , 191-201 .

C. PRIMARY AN D SECONDARY �A TERIALS RELEVANT TO

SEASONS FOR FASTING

Attenborough, F. L. The Laws of the Earl iest Engl ish Ki ngs. 1922; rpt. New York: AMS Press, 1974.

Belfour, A. 0. Twel fth Century Homi lies in MS Bodley 343. EETS, 137. London, 1909 , pp. 40-49.

Bethurum, Dorothy . The Homi lies of Wul fstan. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957.

By rhtferth' s Manual , y. ed. S. J. Crawfo rd. London : Oxfo rd Uni v. Press, 1929.

Cable, Thomas. "Metrical Style as Evidence for the Date of Beowulf. 11 in The Dating of Beowulf. ed. Col in Chase. Toronto : Univ. of Toronto Press, 1981 , pp . 77-83.

Camp bel l, Al i stair. Old Engl ish Gramma r. Oxfo rd : Cl arendon Press, 1959.

Councils and Synods wi th Other Documents Relating to the Engl ish Church, AD 871-1204. V. I. ed . Whitelock and Brett, Oxford , 1981 .

82 83

Deanesly, t�argaret. The Pre-Con_guest Church in__l!l_g_l and_. 2nd ed. London: Adam and Charl es Black, 1963.

�lli h Kalenda_c��fo_re _A___D_.__j_l_Q_Q_. ed. Francis �Jormal d. London : Harrison & Sons, 1934 .

Flower, Robin. "Laurence Nowel l and the Discovery of England in Tudor Times ." Proc. of Bri t. Acad ., 21 (1935) , 47-73.

Flower, Robin. "Laurence Nowel l and a Recovered Anglo-Saxon Poem. 11 llli.Q_, 8 (1934), 130- 32.

Fowl er, Roger. Wul fstan1 s Canons of Edgar. EETS, 226. London, 1972.

Godden, M. Ael fric1s Cathol ic Homilies: The Second Series . EETS . Supplementary Series , 5. London, 1979.

Grant, R. J. S. "A Note on 1The Seasons fo r Fasting. 111 RES, 23 (1972), 302-4 .

. "Laurence Nowel l1s Transcript of BM Cotton Otho Bxi .11 ---::--:::-:=-- ASE, 3 (1974), 111-24.

Greenfiel d, Stanl ey B. A Critical History of Ol d Engl ish Literature. New York: New York Univ. Press, 1972.

Henel , Heinrich. Studium Zum Al tengl ischen Computus. Leipzig: Bern hard Tarchnitz, 1934.

Hetherington, M. S. Ol d Engl ish Lexicography , 1550-1659. Unpub- lished dissertation, Uni v. of Texas at Austin, 1973.

Heyworth, P. L. "The Ol d Engl ish 1Seasons of Fasting. 1" t�S, 26 (1964), 358-59. Kennedy , A. G. "Cnut1S Law Code of 1018. " ASE, 11 (1983), 57-81 .

Ker, N. R. Cata l ogue of MSS Contai ning Anglo-Saxon. Oxford: Cl arendon Press, 1957.

Leslie, R. F. "Textual Notes on The Seasons for Fasting." JEGP, 52 (1953), 555-58.

Marckwardt, Al bert H. Laurence Nowel l1s Vocabul arium Saxonicum. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1952.

Meroney , Howard. "Review of ASPR 6. " MP, 41 (1943-44 ), 198-200.

Mo rris, R. The Blick lin9 Homi lies of the Tenth Century, Part I. EETS, 58, 63, 78. London, 1974, pp. 39-53. 84

Poe, Edgar Al lan. "The Poetic Principle." in AQ_tho_l_Q_gy of Ameri can Literature . V. I. ed. George Md1i chae 1 et a l. Ne'i'l York: Macmll� 1974 , pp. 839-45.

Pope, J. C. Homi lies of Aelfric: P.. Supplementary Colkctio_rl_ . V. I. EETS , 259. Loncon, 1967.

Ri chards, Mary P. "The Medieval Hagiography of St. Neot. " Analecta Bol l andiana, 99 (1981 ), 259-78.

Schabram, Hans. "The Seasons for Fasting 206f. Mi t einem Beitrag zur ae, Metri k." Britannica Festschrift fur Hermann M. Flasdieck. ed. Wol fgang Iser and Hans Schabram. Heidelberg, 1960.

Shippey , T. A. Old Engl ish Verse. London: Hutchinson Univ. Press , 1972.

Sisam, Kenneth . Studies in the History of Ol d Engl ish Literature . Oxford, 1953.

Skeat, R. W. Ael fric1S Lives of Saints . V. I. EETS , 94 , 114. London, 1900.

Thorpe , Benjami n. Homi lies of Ael fric. V. I- 1894 ; rpt. London: Johnson Reprint Co rp. , 1971 .

To ller, T. Northcote and Bosworth, Joseph. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1972.

Tupper, Frederick, Jr. "Anglo- Saxon Daeg-Mael ." PMLA, X (1895) , 111-241 .

Wanley, Humfrey . Catalogus Historico Criticus. Oxford, 1705.

Warni eke , R. M. "A Note on a Court Requests Case of 1571 ." ELN, 11 (1974) , 250- 256.

Wheloc, Abraham . Historiae Ecclesi asti cae Gentis Anglorum Libri V. Cambridge, 1643-44.

Whi tbread, Lesl ie. "Notes on the 1 Seasons for Fasting. 1" NQ, 191 v ( 1946) ' 249-52.

Whitelock, Dorothy. Engl ish Historical Documents , 500-1042 . 2nd ed. London: Eyre Methuen, 1979.

Sermo Lupi Ad Angl os . 3rd ed. New York, 1966.

Willis, G. G. Essays in Early Roman Liturgy . Alcuin Club Col l ec- tions , XLVI. London: SPCK, 1964. 85

Wi llis, G. G. Further Essavs in Eadl Roman LitJ:J..C9..Z.· Al cuin Club Col lections , 50 . London: SPCK, 1968.

Wrenn, C. L. A Study of 01 d Engl ish Literature . New York: W. W. Norton, 1967.

Venezky, R. L. and Healey, Antonette Di Paolo. A Microfiche Concord- ance to Ol d Engl ish. Newark, Del aware : Univ. of Del aware , 1980, pp. 153, 154, 142, 153. VITA

Chadwick Buford Hilton, Jr . was born in Lebanon, Vir ginia, on

September 29 , 1949 . He attended pub l i c school s i n Birmingham,

Al a bama , Fal ls Church , Virginia, Sunnyval e, Cal ifornia, and Winston

Salem, North Carol ina. In 1967 he enrol led in The University of

North Carol ina, Chapel Hill , graduating with an A. B. in 1971 .

After serving as an officer in the United States Air Force, he entered graduate school at North Carolina Sta te University, receiving his M. A. in 1975. He then taught for a year as an ins tructor at the

University of North Carolina, Charl otte . His doctoral work in Ol d

Engl ish was compl eted , with the aid of a Thaler Travel ling Fel lowship, at The University of Tennessee , Knoxville, in 1983.