DOCSLIB.ORG

The Practice and Theory of Anglo-Saxon Translation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Practice and Theory of Anglo-Saxon Translation University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2016 Patristic Precedent and Vernacular Innovation: the Practice and Theory of Anglo-Saxon Translation Andrew Timothy Eichel University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Other English Language and Literature Commons, and the Translation Studies Commons Recommended Citation Eichel, Andrew Timothy, "Patristic Precedent and Vernacular Innovation: the Practice and Theory of Anglo- Saxon Translation. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2016. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4134 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 Andrew Timothy Eichel entitled "Patristic Precedent and Vernacular Innovation: the Practice and Theory of Anglo-Saxon Translation." 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 equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. Roy M. Liuzza, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Laura L. Howes, Allen R. Dunn, Thomas E. Burman 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.) Patristic Precedent and Vernacular Innovation: the Practice and Theory of Anglo-Saxon Translation A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Andrew Timothy Eichel December 2016 1 Copyright © 2016 by Andrew Timothy Eichel All rights reserved. ii Acknowledgements A list of the people who have helped me get to this point in my career would be as long as this dissertation. And just as the latter project has been a massive undertaking in which I have overlooked many important points, so to will I no doubt overlook many people that have been integral. I want to first thank my family for their unconditional support of my academic endeavours. It is unfortunate that pursuing my degrees has led me to live far from my family for many years, but they have always been there. To my mother, Wendy, and my father, Tim, I owe a debt that can never be repaid. Along the way towards finishing this degree, I have made many friends, some in academia and others outside of it. They have been there for me as a surrogate family, far more than a network of future career contacts. I needed them before and I need them now. I’m talking to you, Brent, John, and James. Finally, I want to thank my mentors. I am privileged to have been around so many wonderful models for scholarship, education, professionalism, and simply being a humanist. When I could no longer move forward, they pulled me along anyway. And when I made leaps over risky chasms, they rescued me. My high school English teacher, Pat Andres, helped set me on the academic path many years ago. She exposed me to literature as a subject and a passion—thank you, Pat. In my undergrad and MA program, I was fortunate enough to have been noticed by Tim Shonk and David Raybin, who spent many hours turning me into a halfway decent writer and scholar. Tim, my thesis director, has remained a constant source of advice and support…and he still answers my phone calls. David always makes time for me when we are at the same conference, even though I am not a Chaucerian. Faculty is what has made my time at the University of Tennessee so worthwhile. The English Department genuinely cares about its graduate students and this is reflected in its policies and its members. Laura Howes has always been interested in what I want to say and she somehow manages to get me back on track so I can say it. Allen Dunn introduced me to the art and value of criticism and my own writing has been different ever since. Thomas Burman generously gave me his time and his advice before and during the dissertation project. I have been honored to work with Roy Liuzza for six years—he graciously accepted the role of my adviser when I started at UT and he calmly bore through the ups and downs of my PhD education and training. Thank you, Roy, for being such a superlative yet modest scholar and professor. Then there is Rumi. More than anyone else I have mentioned, Rumi understands what I went through to finish this dissertation. She put up with me on my good days and my bad; she even watched my cat, Ashur, despite her jealousy, all those times I went overseas for research and conferences; she would let me drone on and on about whatever I happened to be writing that day and, when I was smart enough to quiet down and listen, she had some insights I had missed. Thank you, Rumi, for letting this project live with us. Thank you for not giving up on me even when I gave up on myself iii Abstract My dissertation investigates Anglo-Saxon translation and interpretation during the reign of King Alfred of Wessex in the ninth century, and the Benedictine Reform of the tenth and eleventh centuries. These two periods represent a time of renaissance in Anglo-Saxon England, when circumstance and ambition allowed for a number of impressive reformation enterprises, including increased dedication to education of both clerical orders and the laity, which therefore augmented the output of writing motivated by scholarly curiosity, ecclesiastical inquiry, and political strategizing. At these formative stages, translation emerged as perhaps the most critical task for the vernacular writers. The Latinate prestige culture that was most often being translated was entrenched in a tradition of spiritual and philosophical austerity so early translators risked more than just their reputations by using the vernacular and thereby announcing its fitness as a vehicle of abstract and spiritual truths. Unfortunately, research into the history of English translation and its contributions to the Western interpretive tradition is still underdeveloped. The Anglo-Saxon period has either been ignored completely or dismissed as derivative, and these assumptions have misrepresented the achievements of Old English translators and restrained essential inquiry. My dissertation expands knowledge of English’s progress by investigating the relationship between the translation and interpretation strategies of the Church patriarchs and the methodologies of Anglo- Saxon writers. This project demonstrates that along with copying the practices and theories of Doctors of the Church like Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory, Anglo-Saxon translators deviated from the parameters set by tradition and turned acts of translation into instances of vernacular variation and innovation. By investigating the intellectual roots and contexts for some of these sites of early translation, I advance a more exact understanding of how and why Anglo-Saxon writers used particular strategies in their encounters with Latin discourse and how these strategies fit into the wider arena of translation and interpretation. iv Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Innovation and Tradition in Alfred’s Prose Psalms .............................. 18 A. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 18 B. Importance of Psalms and Psalters ....................................................................... 22 C. Textual and Hermeneutic Sources ........................................................................ 27 D. Stylistic Translation Examples .............................................................................. 41 E. Structural Changes in Translation ........................................................................ 54 F. Non-Literal Translation .......................................................................................... 56 G. Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 2: Æthelwold and Mastery of the Benedictine Rule ................................... 65 A. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 65 B. Æthelwold’s Life & Context ................................................................................... 68 C. Æthelwold’s Translation Impetus ......................................................................... 73 D. Æthelwold: the Prestige and the Vernacular ...................................................... 75 E. Æthelwold’s Preface ................................................................................................ 81 F. The Latin Style of the Regula S. Benedicti .............................................................. 92 G. Lectio Divina ............................................................................................................ 95 H. Hermeneutic Style in Latin
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Translation As a Critical Practice: Using Retranslation When Teaching
    Quaderns. Revista de Traducció 21, 2014 199-209 Translation as a Critical Practice : Using Retranslation when Teaching Translation Jonathan Evans University of Portsmouth School of Languages and Area Studies Park Building, King Henry I Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DZ, UK. [email protected] Abstract This article addresses the question of how to relate translation theory to translation practice when teaching translation. Retranslation is viewed as a critical practice (kydd 2011) that inte- grates critical engagement with existing translations and theory into practice. This critical reflexion is part of translation competence, both in Pym’s (2003) minimalist formulation and the European Master’s in Translation guidelines. Retranslation can therefore be seen to help students achieve the sort of critical awareness that is part and parcel of translation competence. A series of practical learning activities are suggested that use retranslation. These range from analyses of retranslation of the same text to commented retranslations that ask the students to explain their own process. Each of these offers ways of going beyond textual criticism to engage with wider theoretical concerns. Keywords: retranslation; translation pedagogy; reflexive practice; translation competence; commentary writing. Resum. Traduir com a pràctica crítica: la retraducció en l’ensenyament de la traducció Aquest article prova d’exposar com es pot incloure la teoria de la traducció en l’ensenyament pràctic a les aules, i considera que traduir un text ja versionat és un exercici que integra una lec- tura crítica tant del trasllat com de la teoria traductològica. Com que, tant en la formulació mini- malista de Pym (2003), com en les directrius dels màsters europeus en traducció, aquesta consciència crítica és part de la competència traductora, retraduir es pot considerar una manera d’ajudar els estudiants a aconseguir-la.
    [Show full text]
  • Paratext in Bible Translations with Special Reference to Selected Bible Translations Into Beninese Languages
    DigitalResources SIL eBook 58 ® Paratext in Bible Translations with Special Reference to Selected Bible Translations into Beninese Languages Geerhard Kloppenburg Paratext in Bible Translations with Special Reference to Selected Bible Translations into Beninese Languages Geerhard Kloppenburg SIL International® 2013 SIL e-Books 58 2013 SIL International® ISSN: 1934-2470 Fair-Use Policy: Books published in the SIL e-Books (SILEB) series are intended for scholarly research and educational use. You may make copies of these publications for research or instructional purposes free of charge (within fair-use guidelines) and without further permission. Republication or commercial use of SILEB or the documents contained therein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder(s). Editor-in-Chief Mike Cahill Compositor Margaret González VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT AMSTERDAM PARATEXT IN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SELECTED BIBLE TRANSLATIONS INTO BENINESE LANGUAGES THESIS MASTER IN LINGUISTICS (BIBLE TRANSLATION) THESIS ADVISOR: DR. L.J. DE VRIES GEERHARD KLOPPENBURG 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 The phenomenon of paratext............................................................................................ 3 1.2 The purpose of this study ................................................................................................. 5 2. PARATEXT: DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION.............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Leeds Studies in English
    Leeds Studies in English Article: Joyce Hill, 'Winchester Pedagogy and the Colloquy of Ælfric', Leeds Studies in English, n.s. 29, (1998), 137-52 Permanent URL: https://ludos.leeds.ac.uk:443/R/-?func=dbin-jump- full&object_id=121535&silo_library=GEN01 Leeds Studies in English School of English University of Leeds http://www.leeds.ac.uk/lse Winchester Pedagogy and the Colloquy of ^lfric Joyce Hill Most of the essays in this collection celebrate Peter Meredith's contributions to the study of Middle English literature, and in particular his renown as a specialist in medieval English drama. Anglo-Saxon England provides no drama on which I can base my own celebratory offering to Peter, but it does have one famous quasi-dramatic text in iElfric's Colloquy. The choice of this text as my subject, then, is partly dictated by the aptness of its form, but it is also chosen because, as I hope to show, it exemplifies the well-considered, imaginative and yet kindly teaching which is as characteristic of Peter as of/Elfric, and which those of us who have worked alongside him at Leeds, teaching Old as well as Middle English, would want to celebrate in this retirement festschrift. My purpose will be to examine iElfric's pedagogic techniques, as witnessed by the copy of the Colloquy preserved in British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius A iii, fols 60v-64v,' considered to be the closest to jElfric's original, and to suggest why, despite its undoubted pedagogic sophistication, it did not achieve the popularity of his Grammar and Glossary.
    [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]
  • A Study on the Translation of Cultural Relic Texts from the Perspective of Skopos Theory— Taking the Cultural Relic Texts in the National Museum of China As Examples
    International Journal of Linguistics and Communication December 2020, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 40-45 ISSN: 2372-479X (Print) 2372-4803 (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v8n2a5 URL: https://doi.org/10.15640/ijlc.v8n2a5 A Study on the Translation of Cultural Relic Texts from the Perspective of Skopos Theory— Taking the Cultural Relic Texts in the National Museum of China as Examples SONG Yuwei1 & LYU Liangqiu2 Abstract With the increasingly close cultural exchanges between China and the west, more foreigners show their interest and enthusiasm to Chinese culture. As the exhibition and educational institutions with cultural exchange functions, museums become their preferred visiting sites when they travel in China. In the process of spreading Chinese culture to the world, the translation of cultural relic texts in museum is an important part. This study collects hundreds of cases from exhibition introduction and cultural relic texts in the National Museum of China. Skopos Theory emphasized that translation should be oriented by target readers and the means of translation should be determined by the translation purposes, which is suitable to be applied in analysis of cultural relic texts. Under the guidance of Skopos Theory, the author classifies and analyzes the typical cases and puts forward four methods in the translation of cultural relic texts, including transliteration plus explanation, amplification, free Translation, omission. Keywords: cultural relic texts, Skopos Theory, the National Museum of China, translation method 1. Introduction With the continuous enhancement of Chinese cultural soft power and the deepening cultural exchanges between China and the West, more and more foreigners show their boundless interest and enthusiasm to Chinese culture.
    [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]
  • The Earliest Life of St Dunstan
    The Earliest Life of St Dunstan Michael Winterbottom Dunstan, the most important of the tenth-century reformers of the English church, was bom near Glastonbury in Somerset. In 940 he became abbot of the local monastery. After exile under King Eadwig, he was favoured by King Edgar, and was successively bishop of Worcester and of London, be­ fore becoming archbishop of Canterbury in 960. He died in 988. Much of the material concerning him is collected by William Stubbs in his Memorials o f Saint Dunstan (Rolls Series 63 [1874]). It includes a series of Lives, the ear­ liest of which is the topic of the present article (Stubbs, 3-52). This is dedi­ cated to a slightly later archbishop, Ælfric, who held office from 995 to 1005. The author describes himself as ‘omnium extimus sacerdotum B. uilisque Saxonum indigena’. It has been cogently argued by Michael Lapidge1 that ‘B.’ was an Englishman, trained at Glastonbury, who was in Dunstan’s retinue until moving to Liège around 960 and eventually dying there. It is certainly true that the author tells us little or nothing of the events of Dunstan’s archbishopric: a topic to which I shall return in the second part of this paper. For the earlier period, his Life is of the highest importance. 1. The Three Versions B.’s Life is transmitted to us in three manuscripts, none of them written long after the date of authorship. The oldest appears to be what I shall call C, In an article reprinted in his Anglo-Latin Literature 900-1066 (London and Rio Grande, 1993), 279-91.
    [Show full text]
  • Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications
    Introducing Translation Studies Introducing Translation Studies remains the definitive guide to the theories and concepts that make up the field of translation studies. Providing an accessible and up-to-date overview, it has long been the essential textbook on courses worldwide. This fourth edition has been fully revised and continues to provide a balanced and detailed guide to the theoretical landscape. Each theory is applied to a wide range of languages, including Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Punjabi, Portuguese and Spanish. A broad spectrum of texts is analysed, including the Bible, Buddhist sutras, Beowulf, the fiction of García Márquez and Proust, European Union and UNESCO documents, a range of contemporary films, a travel brochure, a children’s cookery book and the translations of Harry Potter. Each chapter comprises an introduction outlining the translation theory or theories, illustrative texts with translations, case studies, a chapter summary and discussion points and exercises. New features in this fourth edition include: Q new material to keep up with developments in research and practice, including the sociology of translation, multilingual cities, translation in the digital age and specialized, audiovisual and machine translation Q revised discussion points and updated figures and tables Q new, in-chapter activities with links to online materials and articles to encourage independent research Q an extensive updated companion website with video introductions and journal articles to accompany each chapter, online exercises, an interactive timeline, weblinks, and PowerPoint slides for teacher support This is a practical, user-friendly textbook ideal for students and researchers on courses in Translation and Translation Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Retranslation Phenomenon
    The Retranslation Phenomenon A Sociological Approach to the English Translations of Dickens’ Great Expectations into Arabic Shatha Abdullah Abdulrahman Al-Shaye Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) University College London July 2018 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 from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................... i Figures .......................................................................................................................... ix Tables ............................................................................................................................ xi Abstract and keywords ............................................................................................. xiii Declaration ................................................................................................................. xvi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. xviii Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. xx 1 Introduction .........................................................................................................
    [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]
  • ENARRATIO Barnhouse Vol6 P
    Pictorial Exegesis in the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch Rebecca Barnhouse The pictures in the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch were probably read in a number of wa:ys, on a number of levels, by audiences of a variety of backgrounds. In the British Library's 1997 exhibit, "The Heirs of Rome," Michelle Brown and Leslie Webster note the various levels of interpretation narrative images can inspire, "from the delib­ erations and intellectual game-playing of their ecclesiastical authors, through their explanation to the devout, to straightforward veneration by the faithful." One way in which the Hexateuch pictures function is to provide exegetical clues and connections between the Old and New Testaments. Danielou remarks that we should look for "types of the Sacra­ ments" not only in exegesis, but also in pictorial iconography., Weitzmann and Kessler demonstrate how pictorial exegesis works in the fifth or sixth-century Cotton Genesis, whose illustrators, "while affirming the Genesis story ... also found hidden meanings in it. ... By imposing Christian topoi on the story of Genesis, they controlled and gave meaning to the narrative.", More recently, Verkerk has shown that the miniatures in the late sixth-century Ashburnham Pentateuch "incorporate references to contemporary liturgical ceremonies" in or­ der to convey "the typological meaning of Exodus for a Christian com­ munity."• The artists of the Hexateuch include similar anachronistic liturgical details, in addition to other visual connectors between the Old and New Testaments. They have, at times, included extra-textual commentaries, adding their own brand of pictorial exegesis to the il­ lustrations of the first six books of the Old Testament.
    [Show full text]
  • Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality
    THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Wisdom’s Missionary: Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of the Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By James Andrew Estes Washington, DC 2016 Wisdom’s Missionary: Alfred the Great and the Pursuit of Wisdom in Anglo-Saxon Spirituality James Andrew Estes, PhD Director: Joshua Benson, PhD Co-Director: Lilla Kopár, PhD Abstract Alfred, King of Wessex (r. 871-899), is commonly studied as a military, political, and educational leader and reformer in Anglo-Saxon England, but not as a religious leader, and his cultural reform program’s translation of Latin works into Old English receives little attention in scholarship on Christian spirituality or medieval English vernacular theology. Such inattention is a symptom of the larger problem that Anglo-Saxon Christianity, particularly with regard to its vernacular literature, is often overlooked in the study of medieval Christian spirituality. This dissertation repositions Alfred as an Anglo-Saxon spiritual authority dedicated to teaching and learning for the purpose of Christian spiritual formation. It interprets two texts from Alfred’s reign: the Vita Ælfredi by Asser, and Alfred’s Old English translation of Gregory the Great’s Cura pastoralis. These works are treated as primary theological sources for examining Alfred’s role as a wisdom seeker and spiritual authority. The Vita Ælfredi intentionally depicts Alfred as a kingly wisdom figure with a lifelong devotion to the study of religious literature.
    [Show full text]