DOCSLIB.ORG

The Semantic Field of Slavery in Old English: Wealh

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Semantic Field of Slavery in Old English: Wealh The Semantic Field of Slavery in Old English: Wealh, Esne, Þræl Katherine Leah Miller Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of English September 2014 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation fom the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2014 The University of Leeds and Katherine Leah Miller The right of Katherine Leah Miller to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 198⒏ 1 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to both my supervisors, Dr Alaric Hall and Dr Catherine Batt, without whose advice and unstinting assistance this thesis would not have been possible. Their suggestions, patience and encouragement have been invaluable. I would also like to thank the staff and students of the School of English for providing a welcoming and supportive environment, and the members of the University of Leeds Old Norse Reading Group for many enjoyable afernoons. All my fiends, especially the ASNaCs and Leeds medievalists, have vastly enriched my research and my experience as a postgraduate. I cannot thank them enough for their company and support, and for the reassurances they have offered. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my brother, who never let me fail, and Spot and Humbug, who made the hard times a little less hard. 2 Abstract This thesis considers three synonyms in the Old English semantic field of slavery: wealh, esne, þræl. It situates esne, ofen neglected, as a major word denoting SLAVE and a rival to þeow in all dialects except Late West Saxon. This reveals the bias of the authors of the Anglo-Saxon Dictionary who defined this word incorrectly, seeking to downplay the role of slavery in Anglo-Saxon England and to establish (non-existent) minimal differences between lexemes in this semantic field. This study demonstrates the ways in which these biases, rooted in an idealised view of the ‘fee’ Anglo-Saxon past, have continued to inform the work of modern scholars. The quantitative case study of words denoting SLAVE in four Old English versions of the Gospels shows that Mercian and Northumbrian authors usually chose words other than þeow for SLAVE. The chapters on wealh and þræl explore synonymy in this semantic field further, demonstrating that the three terms on which this study concentrates could all be used in both positive and negative contexts. Lexemes in the semantic field of slavery were differentiated fom one another geographically and chronologically, but not semantically. Thus, I argue that the semantic field of slavery was continually reshaped under the influence of linguistic and extra-linguistic forces. The dialectal aspects of this shaping are critical to our understanding both of the use of words for SLAVE in Old English, and of the way in which this semantic field developed in the transition to Middle English. Finally, this study demonstrates that the servus Dei trope was a major metaphor used to structure Anglo-Saxon ideas of society and spirituality: the slave was as much an ideal of obedience and a warning against the perils of disobedience as he was an unfee worker encountered in everyday life. 3 Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………1 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………………………‥2 Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………………7 ⒈ Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………….9 ⒈1 Wealh, Esne, Þræl……………………………………………………………………………….9 ⒈2 Overview of Scholarship…………………………………………………………………….11 ⒈3 Defining the Slave…………………………………………………………………………….22 ⒈4 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………‥25 ⒈5 Structure………………………………………………………………………………………‥27 ⒈6 Normalisation and Conventions…………………………………………………………‥31 ⒉ An Overview of the Old English Semantic Field SLAVE and Its Contexts…………………33 ⒉1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….33 ⒉2 The Semantic Field SLAVE………………………………………………………………….33 ⒉3 A Comparative Perspective…………………………………………………………………40 ⒉4 Slave Words in Four Gospel Translations……………………………………………….45 ⒉5 Slave Words in Four Gospel Translations: Collecting and Interpreting the Data……………………………………………………………………………………………………48 ⒉6 Analysis of the Gospels………………………………………………………………………53 ⒉⒍1 Servus………………………………………………………………………………‥53 ⒉⒍2 Ancilla………………………………………………………………………………‥63 ⒉⒍3 Other Latin Terms Glossed by Old English Slave Words in the Gospels……………………………………………………………………………………‥70 ⒉7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………77 4 ⒊ Wealh………………………………………………………………………………………………………‥79 ⒊1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….79 ⒊2 Etymology and Phonology…………………………………………………………………81 ⒊3 Wealh as CELTIC-SPEAKER, FOREIGNER, and Specific Ethnonyms………………89 ⒊4 Ethnicity, the Adventus Saxonum, and Semantic Change…………………………‥97 ⒊5 Wealh as SLAVE………………………………………………………………………………104 ⒊6 Wiln…………………………………………………………………………………………….112 ⒊7 Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles……………………………………………….127 ⒊8 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….132 ⒋ Esne…………………………………………………………………………………………………………136 ⒋1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………‥136 ⒋2 Etymology and Phonology……………………………………………………………….139 ⒋3 Prose: SLAVE………………………………………………………………………………….141 ⒋⒊1 Æthelberht…………………………………………………………………………142 ⒋⒊2 Hloþhere and Eadric…………………………………………………………….146 ⒋⒊3 Wihtræd……………………………………………………………………………147 ⒋⒊4 Alfed-Ine………………………………………………………………………….150 ⒋⒊5 Rectitudines Singularum Personarum……………………………………….155 ⒋⒊6 Pastoral Care……………………………………………………………………‥156 ⒋⒊7 Soliloquies of Saint Augustine………………………………………………‥162 ⒋⒊8 Vercelli Book Homily V……………………………………………………….163 ⒋⒊9 Lindisfarne and Rushworth Gospels……………………………………….165 ⒋⒊10 Durham Ritual…………………………………………………………………171 ⒋⒊11 Wulfstan’s Institutes of Polity………………………………………………‥174 ⒋4 Prose: MAN……………………………………………………………………………………175 ⒋⒋1 Consolatio Philosophiae…………………………………………………………175 5 ⒋⒋2 The Dicts of Cato……………………………………………………………….176 ⒋⒋3 Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion……………………………………………………….178 ⒋⒋4 The Heptateuch…………………………………………………………………‥181 ⒋5 Prose: Miscellaneous……………………………………………………………………….184 ⒋⒌1 The Dialogues of Gregory the Great……………………………………….184 ⒋⒌2 The Prose Psalter………………………………………………………………‥185 ⒋⒌3 Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica……………………………………………………187 ⒋⒌4 Charters and Wills……………………………………………………………‥190 ⒋⒌5 Glossaries………………………………………………………………………….196 ⒋6 Poetry…………………………………………………………………………………………‥197 ⒋⒍1 Psalms……………………………………………………………………………‥197 ⒋⒍2 Daniel………………………………………………………………………………201 ⒋7 Ambiguity in the Exeter Book Riddles……………………………………………….203 ⒋8 Chronology of the Simplex Esne………………………………………………………‥213 ⒋9 Commentary on the Chronology……………………………………………………….220 ⒋10 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………‥224 ⒌ Þræl………………………………………………………………………………………………………….229 ⒌1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………‥229 ⒌2 Etymology and Phonology……………………………………………………………….230 ⒌3 Texts……………………………………………………………………………………….……237 ⒌⒊1 Lindisfarne and Rushworth Gospels……………………………………….237 ⒌⒊2 Durham Ritual…………………………………………………………………‥240 ⒌⒊3 Laws………………………………………………………………………………‥241 ⒌⒊4 Wulfstanian Homilies (Sermo Lupi ad Anglos and Gifs of the Holy Spirit)………………………………………………………………………………………244 6 ⒌⒊5 Ælfic’s Colloquy.………………………………………………………………‥249 ⒌4 Overview of Manuscripts………………………………………………………………….250 ⒌5 Middle English………………………………………………………………………………253 ⒌6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….267 ⒍ Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………‥270 ⒍1 Metaphor………………………………………………………………………………………270 ⒍2 Synonymy……………………………………………………………………………………‥273 ⒍3 Dialect………………………………………………………………………………………….274 ⒍4 Dictionaries and Bias……………………………………………………………………….277 ⒍5 Further Work…………………………………………………………………………………281 ⒍6 Final Thoughts……………………………………………………………………………….283 Appendix ⒈………………………………………………………………………………………………….284 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………….301 7 List of Tables Table 1. A Comparison of Slave Words in Old English: Þeow, Wealh, Þræl, Esne…………………………………………………………………………………………………….38 Table 2. Words for Slave and Servant in the Germanic Languages…………………………….41 Table 3. Old English Words Glossing Servus in Aldred’s Gloss on the Lindisfarne Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥54 Table 4. Old English Words Glossing Servus in Farman’s Gloss on the Rushworth Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥56 Table 5. Old English Words Glossing Servus in Owun’s Gloss on the Rushworth Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥59 Table 6. A Comparison of Old English Words Glossing Servus in Lindisfarne and R2………………………………………………………………………………………………………50 Table 7. Old English Words Glossing Servus in the CCCC 140 Version of the West Saxon Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥61 Table 8. Old English Words Glossing Servus in the Hatton 38 Version of the West Saxon Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥62 Table 9. Old English Words Glossing Ancilla in Aldred’s Gloss on the Lindisfarne Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥64 Table 10. Old English Words Glossing Ancilla in Farman’s Gloss on the Rushworth Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥66 Table 11. Old English Words Glossing Ancilla in Owun’s Gloss on the Rushworth Gospels………………………………………………………………………………………………‥66 Table 12. Old English Words Glossing Ancilla in the CCCC 140 Version of the West Saxon
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Outlaw: Wilderness and Exile in Old and Middle
    THE ‘BESTLI’ OUTLAW: WILDERNESS AND EXILE IN OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sarah Michelle Haughey August 2011 © 2011 Sarah Michelle Haughey THE ‘BESTLI’ OUTLAW: WILDERNESS AND EXILE IN OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE Sarah Michelle Haughey, Ph. D. Cornell University 2011 This dissertation, The ‘Bestli’ Outlaw: Wilderness and Exile in Old and Middle English Literature explores the reasons for the survival of the beast-like outlaw, a transgressive figure who highlights tensions in normative definitions of human and natural, which came to represent both the fears and the desires of a people in a state of constant negotiation with the land they inhabited. Although the outlaw’s shelter in the wilderness changed dramatically from the dense and menacing forests of Anglo-Saxon England to the bright, known, and mapped greenwood of the late outlaw romances and ballads, the outlaw remained strongly animalistic, other, and liminal, in strong contrast to premodern notions of what it meant to be human and civilized. I argue that outlaw narratives become particularly popular and poignant at moments of national political and ecological crisis—as they did during the Viking attacks of the Anglo-Saxon period, the epoch of intense natural change following the Norman Conquest, and the beginning of the market revolution at the end of the Middle Ages. Figures like the Anglo-Saxon resistance fighter Hereward, the exiled Marcher lord Fulk Fitz Waryn, and the brutal yet courtly Gamelyn and Robin Hood, represent a lost England imagined as pristine and forested.
    [Show full text]
  • Audience for Old English.Pdf
    Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Gittos, Helen (2014) The audience for Old English texts: Ælfric, rhetoric and ‘the edification of the simple’. Anglo-Saxon England, 43 . pp. 231-266. ISSN 0263-6751. DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263675114000106 Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/41971/ Document Version Pre-print Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html 1 THE AUDIENCE FOR OLD ENGLISH TEXTS: ÆLFRIC, RHETORIC AND ‘THE EDIFICATION OF THE SIMPLE’ Helen Gittos Abstract There is a persistent view that Old English texts were mostly written to be read or heard by people with no knowledge of Latin, or little understanding of it, especially the laity. This is not surprising because it is what the texts themselves tend to say.
    [Show full text]
  • Herjans Dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age
    Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age Luke John Murphy Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Félagsvísindasvið Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Femininities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age Luke John Murphy Lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni trú Leiðbeinandi: Terry Gunnell Félags- og mannvísindadeild Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2013 Ritgerð þessi er lokaverkefni til MA–gráðu í Norrænni Trú og er óheimilt að afrita ritgerðina á nokkurn hátt nema með leyfi rétthafa. © Luke John Murphy, 2013 Reykjavík, Ísland 2013 Luke John Murphy MA in Old Nordic Religions: Thesis Kennitala: 090187-2019 Spring 2013 ABSTRACT Herjans dísir: Valkyrjur, Supernatural Feminities, and Elite Warrior Culture in the Late Pre-Christian Iron Age This thesis is a study of the valkyrjur (‘valkyries’) during the late Iron Age, specifically of the various uses to which the myths of these beings were put by the hall-based warrior elite of the society which created and propagated these religious phenomena. It seeks to establish the relationship of the various valkyrja reflexes of the culture under study with other supernatural females (particularly the dísir) through the close and careful examination of primary source material, thereby proposing a new model of base supernatural femininity for the late Iron Age. The study then goes on to examine how the valkyrjur themselves deviate from this ground state, interrogating various aspects and features associated with them in skaldic, Eddic, prose and iconographic source material as seen through the lens of the hall-based warrior elite, before presenting a new understanding of valkyrja phenomena in this social context: that valkyrjur were used as instruments to propagate the pre-existing social structures of the culture that created and maintained them throughout the late Iron Age.
    [Show full text]
  • The Alfred Jewel, an Historical Essay, Earle John, 1901
    F — — ALFEED JEWEL. tAv£S 3JD-6/. THE — THJ!; ALFIiED JEWEL. TIMES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. have been treading it is oir -Where so many angels Sir, —Mr. Elworthy would appear to be incapable of hnmble student to ventnre in. &tm, apprehending " perhaps rmwise for a my particular predicament in this Five another guess at the \"^^he worth whUe to make o'clock tea" controversy over the " Al frcd Jewel " jewel. which simply is that the traces of Oriental truth about the Alfred influence to be Musgrave, a Fellow of the Royal observed in its form and decoration support Professor Since 1698, when Dr. the the first notice of the jewel m Earle's contention that it was meant to be worn on a Society, published Tnmsactions"(No 247) It has been helmet. Surely this very humble suggestion is deserving f< Sophi-l " have been (1) an amulet of some consideration, especially as the " Alfred Jewel en^.ested that the jewel may a pendant to a chaan or was fastened to whatever it was attached in the same Musgrave's suggestion) ; (2) mT " " " of a roller for a M.S. ; manner as the two parts—the knop" and the flower • or head (3) an umbilicus, collar book-pomter (5) the head of a ; —of the Mo(n)gol torn were, and are, fastened together. the' top of a stilus ; U) sceptre standard; (7) the head of a ; After Professor Earle's suggestion of the purpose of 6 the top of a xs tbe " for .Alfred's helmet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia Religions : Ancient and Modern
    RELIGION OF ANCIENT SCANDINAVIA LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO RELIGIONS ANCIENT AND MODERN THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT SCANDINAVIA RELIGIONS : ANCIENT AND MODERN. ANIMISM. By EDWARD CLODD, Author of The Story of Creation. PANTHEISM. By JAMES ALLAN SON PICTON, Author of The Religion of the universe. THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA. By Professor GILES, LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the University of Cambridge. THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE. By JANE HARRISON, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge, Author of Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion. ISLAM. By AMEER An SYED, M.A., C.I.E., late of H.M.'s High Court of Judicature in Bengal, Author of The Spirit of Iflam and The Ethics of Islam. MAGIC AND FETISHISM. By Dr. A. C. H ADDON, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cam- bridge University. THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT. By Professor W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, F.R.S. THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. By THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, late of the British Museum. EARLY BUDDHISM. By Professor RHYS DAVIDS, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal Asiatic Society. HINDUISM. By Dr. L. D. BAR NEXT, of the Department of Oriental Printed Books and MSS. , British Museum. SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION. By WILLIAM A. CRAIGIE, Joint Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. CELTIC RELIGION. By Professor ANWYL, Professor of Welsh at University College, Aberystwyth. THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. By CHARLES SQUIRE, Author of The Mythology of the British Islands. JUDAISM By ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, Lecturer in Talmudic Literature in Cambridge University, Author of Jewish Life in the Middle Ages.
    [Show full text]
  • Hitler's Doubles
    Hitler’s Doubles By Peter Fotis Kapnistos Fully-Illustrated Hitler’s Doubles Hitler’s Doubles: Fully-Illustrated By Peter Fotis Kapnistos [email protected] FOT K KAPNISTOS, ICARIAN SEA, GR, 83300 Copyright © April, 2015 – Cold War II Revision (Trump–Putin Summit) © August, 2018 Athens, Greece ISBN: 1496071468 ISBN-13: 978-1496071460 ii Hitler’s Doubles Hitler’s Doubles By Peter Fotis Kapnistos © 2015 - 2018 This is dedicated to the remote exploration initiatives of the Stargate Project from the 1970s up until now, and to my family and friends who endured hard times to help make this book available. All images and items are copyright by their respective copyright owners and are displayed only for historical, analytical, scholarship, or review purposes. Any use by this report is done so in good faith and with respect to the “Fair Use” doctrine of U.S. Copyright law. The research, opinions, and views expressed herein are the personal viewpoints of the original writers. Portions and brief quotes of this book may be reproduced in connection with reviews and for personal, educational and public non-commercial use, but you must attribute the work to the source. You are not allowed to put self-printed copies of this document up for sale. Copyright © 2015 - 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii Hitler’s Doubles The Cold War II Revision : Trump–Putin Summit [2018] is a reworked and updated account of the original 2015 “Hitler’s Doubles” with an improved Index. Ascertaining that Hitler made use of political decoys, the chronological order of this book shows how a Shadow Government of crisis actors and fake outcomes operated through the years following Hitler’s death –– until our time, together with pop culture memes such as “Wunderwaffe” climate change weapons, Brexit Britain, and Trump’s America.
    [Show full text]
  • Editors' Introduction Douglas A
    Editors' Introduction Douglas A. Anderson Michael D. C. Drout Verlyn Flieger Tolkien Studies, Volume 7, 2010 Published by West Virginia University Press Editors’ Introduction This is the seventh issue of Tolkien Studies, the first refereed journal solely devoted to the scholarly study of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. As editors, our goal is to publish excellent scholarship on Tolkien as well as to gather useful research information, reviews, notes, documents, and bibliographical material. In this issue we are especially pleased to publish Tolkien’s early fiction “The Story of Kullervo” and the two existing drafts of his talk on the Kalevala, transcribed and edited with notes and commentary by Verlyn Flieger. With this exception, all articles have been subject to anonymous, ex- ternal review as well as receiving a positive judgment by the Editors. In the cases of articles by individuals associated with the journal in any way, each article had to receive at least two positive evaluations from two different outside reviewers. Reviewer comments were anonymously conveyed to the authors of the articles. The Editors agreed to be bound by the recommendations of the outside referees. The Editors also wish to call attention to the Cumulative Index to vol- umes one through five of Tolkien Studies, compiled by Jason Rea, Michael D.C. Drout, Tara L. McGoldrick, and Lauren Provost, with Maryellen Groot and Julia Rende. The Cumulative Index is currently available only through the online subscription database Project Muse. Douglas A. Anderson Michael D. C. Drout Verlyn Flieger v Abbreviations B&C Beowulf and the Critics.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the English Language Bible
    DISCOVER TheThe HistoryHistory ofof thethe EnglishEnglish LanguageLanguage BibleBible Presbyterian Heritage Center John 1:36 Illuminated Page — Call of the Disciples, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2002, Presbyterian Heritage Center PO Box 207 The Saint John’s Bible, Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Presbyterian Heritage Center Minnesota USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Montreat, NC 28757 Booklet copyright, 2016, January. Presbyterian Heritage Center. Learning Initiatives Educational Skills Used In This Booklet Booklets, Presentations, DVDs Analyze Cause and Effect 5, 9, 15 Conceptualize 19 Discussions 5, 9, 12, 15, 18, 19 Learning Initiatives Series Draw Conclusions 12. 19 The Presbyterian Heritage Center (PHC) creates new exhibits each year from its archives and Evaluate 12, 17 artifact collections, as well as from loans of materials from individuals and institutions. Onsite, we Explain 9, 15 utilize many different techniques to educate, including the displays, videos, touch screen kiosks and Make Inferences 5 more. To reach young people, we conduct Confirmation Classes (history), Collegiate Studies & Pose and Answer Questions 5. 18. 19 Visitations, Supplemental Club Programs, Youth Conference Research 5, 9, 12, 15, 18, 19 Related Exhibits, Online & Hands On Activities and Youth Summarize 18 Sunday School Lessons for all Presbyterian denominations. Write 18 Back cover photo shows an illuminated In addition to these limited-time exhibits, the PHC seeks to page from John 1:36 from The Saint provide accompanying educational materials, such as learning John’s Bible. The illumination is entitled booklets, online downloadable materials and DVD resource Call of the Disciples, by Donald Jackson, disks for adults and young people. Copyright 2002, The Saint John’s Bible, The Presbyterian Heritage Center (PHC) believes that Saint John’s University, Collegeville, learning can be exciting, inspiring and transformational.
    [Show full text]
  • Ordinariate Newsletter 2011 – Holy
    AANNGGLLIICCAANN OORRDDIINNAARRIIAATTEE FFOORR TTHHEE CCAANNAADDIIAANN FFOORRCCEESS Bulletin/Volume 8, No 1 Holy Week and Easter 2011 BISHOP ORDINARY TO THE FORCES The Right Reverend Peter Coffin STB, MA, DD 400 YEARS OF THE KING JAMES’ BIBLE by Padre David Greenwood 2011 marks the 400 th anniversary of the publication of the King James’ version of the Bible. It is this English language version that was carried by English speaking explorers and missionaries around the world. It is this translation that led to the remarkable standardization of the English language and the introduction of many new and beautiful phrases. It is this translation that some (most notably those of the King James Bible Trust) have called “the book that changed the world.” The King James’ version is not the first translation of the Bible into another language and indeed it is not event the first translation of the Bible into English. Here with great portions copied from Wikipedia, is part of the story of Biblical translation. The Bishop of the Goths Wulfila in the today's Bulgaria translated the Bible into Gothic in the mid-4th century. The earliest surviving complete manuscript of the entire Bible is the Codex Amiatinus , a Latin Vulgate edition produced in 8th century England at the double monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow. During the Middle Ages, translation, particularly of the Old Testament, was discouraged. Nevertheless, there are some fragmentary Old English Bible translations, notably a lost translation of the Gospel of John into Old English by the Venerable Bede, which he is said to have prepared shortly before his death around the year 735.
    [Show full text]
  • A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
    426 CATALOGUE OF MANUSCRIPTS [i82- Vellum, ii£x8, ff. 179+1, 29 lines to a page. Cent, xv, clearly written in a rather current hand. Collation: i flyleaf, I8 (6, 7 of cent, xvi) 2" (1-6 of cent, xvi) 38-228 (6-8 of cent, xvi) 23 (three). f. i a is finely bordered in gold and colour in characteristic English style and has decorative initial on gold ground, somewhat rubbed. Contents: Here begynneth a booke in Englissh tonge called Brute of Englonde or the cronicles of Englonde compilinge and treatynge of the saide lande etc. f. I —conteynyng cc and xxxvij chapiters. The pr(o)loge of this booke declareth and tellith howe }>is lande was furst callid Albioun —and slowe many of hem Sum tyme in the noble lande of Surr'. A fragment of the original fol. 6 (see collation above) is inserted after f. 60. At f. 151 (ch. 239: death of Edward III) is a note by Parker: hie terminatur unus liber (a reference to no. 174). Ends with ch. 245: restid him in the castell tille the toun was sette in Rule and Goueranase (!). Colophon (xvi). Expl. usque ad annum 7m Henrici quinti. The last edition is by Dr F. Brie (E. E. T. S.). On a fly-leaf is a Parkerian note from Goscelin's Life of St Augustine, and the Scala Chronica. 183. BEDAE VITA CUTHBERTI. J Under D. 5 GENEALOGIAE ETC. \ T. James 369 Codex membranaceus in 4*°, vetustioribus literis Saxonicis Latine scriptus, in quo continentur, Vellum, 11^ x 7^, ff.
    [Show full text]
  • AXS TV Canada Schedule for Mon. March 20, 2017 to Sun. March 26, 2017
    AXS TV Canada Schedule for Mon. March 20, 2017 to Sun. March 26, 2017 Monday March 20, 2017 6:10 PM ET / 3:10 PM PT 8:00 AM ET / 5:00 AM PT Rock Legends Nothing But Videos Billy Idol - English rock musician, Billy Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member Nothing But Videos is a collection of some of the biggest artists today. Catch some of the best of the band Generation X as well as creating a successful name for himself as a solo artist. Using music videos during this special presentation. interviews, news archive and performance this episode reveals the unique aspect of this iconic artist. 8:30 AM ET / 5:30 AM PT The Big Interview 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT Oliver Stone - Dan Rather sits down with Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone. From his Nothing But Trailers service in Vietnam, to his brief time behind bars in an American prison, Stone talks about how Sometimes the best part of the movie is the preview! So AXS TV presents Nothing But Trailers. his personal experiences shaped his legendary film making career. See the best trailers, old and new, in AXS TV’s collection. 9:30 AM ET / 6:30 AM PT 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT The Big Interview The Musical Mojo Of Dr. John - Celebrating Mac & His Music Gregg Allman - A conversation with the music legend known as one of the architects of southern Equal parts musician, singer, songwriter, hustler, and shaman, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Did England's King Alfred the Great Send Two Envoys to Christian
    Did England’s King Alfred the Great send two envoys to Christian shrines in India in 9th century? A passage in the ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’ has long been the subject of intrigue. Could it have been true? And what does it tell us about Christianity in India? Philip Jelley/Wikimedia Commons [Licensed under CC BY 3.0] One of the more intriguing references to early medieval contacts between Britain and the wider world is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which mentions a late ninth- century AD embassy to India that was supposedly sent by King Alfred the Great. The following post offers a quick discussion of the evidence for this voyage before going on to consider its potential context and feasibility. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 883 AD in MS F, which refers to Alfred sending alms to the shrines of St Thomas in India and St Bartholomew (Image: British Library, Cotton MS Domitian A VIII, f. 55v). According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for AD 883, King Alfred of Wessex sent two men, Sigehelm and Æthelstan, overseas with alms to carry both to Rome and to the shrines of “St Thomas in India/Indea and to St Bartholomew”, fulfilling a promise made when he besieged a Viking raiding-army at London (MSS D, E & F; also mentioned with additional details by William of Malmesbury and John of Worcester, see below). 883: Sigehelm and Athelstan took to Rome – and also to St Thomas in India and to St Bartholomew – the alms which King Alfred had vowed to send there when they besieged the raiding-army in London; and there, by the grace of God, they were very successful in obtaining their prayers in accordance with those vows.
    [Show full text]