DOCSLIB.ORG

The Old English Bede: Transmission and Textual History in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Old English Bede: Transmission and Textual History in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts The Old English Bede: Transmission and Textual History in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts. Christine Wallis Doctor of Philosophy School of English November 2013 ‘The Old English Bede: Transmission and Textual History in Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts.’ An unknown author translated the Old English version of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (OEB) around the ninth century. Previous research focused on the text’s authorship, specifically on Mercian linguistic features in its earliest manuscript, rather than the reception and transmission of its manuscripts (Miller, 1890; Whitelock, 1962; Kuhn, 1972). This thesis considers the OEB’s reception and transmission as evident in its copyists’ scribal performances. Conservative and innovative textual variants are identified for the OEB, and scribal behaviour categorised according to the framework devised by Benskin and Laing (1981) in their study of Middle English scribes. A detailed linguistic comparison of OEB witnesses combined with a close examination of the physical manuscripts reveals the working methods of scribes involved in their production. The manuscripts examined are: Oxford, Bodleian Library Tanner 10 (T) Oxford, Corpus Christi College 279B (O) Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41 (B) Cambridge, University Library Kk.3.18 (Ca) Each chapter analyses a particular scribal performance. O’s scribe created a Mischsprache text, combining Mercian and West-Saxon forms, yet conflicting views of what constituted a good text are revealed by O’s producers’ extensive textual corrections. Relict forms in B demonstrate that its exemplar was illegible in places and that the scribe was forced to make several textual repairs. Ca has long been considered a direct copy of O, however my detailed comparison of the two manuscripts reveals that this cannot be the case. Finally, some previously unnoticed and unpublished drypoint annotations to O’s text are presented and explored in the context of other Anglo-Saxon scratched material. This thesis shows the benefits of examining the OEB from a scribal viewpoint, identifying common modes of scribal behaviour across the medieval period. It proposes a set of features belonging to the original translation, some of which hint at an earlier date of composition than previously supposed. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Susan Fitzmaurice, Dr. Philip Shaw and Dr. Mark Faulkner for their help, guidance and patience while undertaking this research. My thanks are also due to the many colleagues and friends who have helped along the way with their discussions and advice. The postgraduate community in the Schools of English and History provided a welcoming environment to share research and make friends. Likewise, HiSoN (the Historical Sociolinguistics Network) has been a source of inspiration and many friends. Thanks also to Dr Rebecca Fisher for sharing her enthusiasm of the Medieval world, and to Markus Schiegg, Dieter Studer-Joho and Dr. Andreas Nievergelt for sharing their knowledge and expertise of dry-point glosses. Also to Kate Wiles, Sanne van der Schee, Dr. Gavin Schwartz-Leeper and Hugh Escott for our many thought-provoking conversations. I would particularly like to thank Docent Matti Kilpiö for his kind and generous help during my visit to Helsinki in autumn 2012. I have benefitted from the facilities of several libraries, and wish to thank the librarians at Sheffield University Library, and the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. Corpus Christi College library in Oxford, the Parker Library, the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, and the British Library generously allowed me access to their manuscript collections. Finally, my thanks go to my family. My husband David provided invaluable support and endless cups of tea. My parents first introduced me to history and encouraged me to develop my interest in all things old, and this thesis is for them. Abbreviations Manuscript Sigla: T – Oxford, Bodleian, Tanner 10 O – Oxford, Corpus Christi College, 279B Ca – Cambridge, University Library Kk. 3.18 B – Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 41 Z – British Library, Cotton Domitian ix, f. 11 C – British Library, Cotton Otho B. xi, + Cotton Otho B. x, ff. 55, 58, 62, + British Library, Additional 34652, f. 2 Manuscript Dating: Manuscript dating follows Ker’s (1957) conventions: s. x = tenth century s. x1 = first half of the tenth century, c. 900-950 s. x2 = second half of the tenth century, c. 950-1000 s. xin = first quarter of the tenth century, c. 900-925 s. xmed = the middle two quarters of the tenth century, c. 925-975 s. xex = final quarter of the tenth century, c. 975-1000 Journals and Resources: AJP – American Journal of Philology ANQ – American Notes and Queries ASE – Anglo-Saxon England ASPR – Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records BLJ – British Library Journal BT – An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, J. Bosworth and T. N. Toller CH – A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, J. R. Clark-Hall DOE – Dictionary of Old English DOEC – Dictionary of Old English Corpus ECCO – Eighteenth Century Collections Online EEBO – Early English Books Online EETS – Early English Text Society ES – English Studies FLH – Folia Linguistica Historica JEGP – Journal of English and Germanic Philology LALME – Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediaeval English LSE – Leeds Studies in English MÆ – Medium Ævum MED – Middle English Dictionary MS – Mediaeval Studies NM – Neuphilologische Mitteilungen N&Q – Notes and Queries PASE – Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England PBA – Proceedings of the British Academy OE – Old English RES – Review of English Studies SAP – Studia Anglica Posnaniensia TPS – Transactions of the Philological Society TRHS – Transacrions of the Royal Historical Society ZfdP – Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie n.s. – new series o.s. – old series s.s. – supplementary series Transcription Conventions: \ / Text added in superscript # # Text cancelled by crossing through ( ) Expanded abbreviations [..] Erasure † † Uncertain reading / \ Line-end run-on, added below line ðaære Superscript letters in Chapter 6 denote scratched (dry-point) annotations Contents Abstract Acknowledgements List Of Abbreviations 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Manuscripts Used in the Study 2 1.1.1 Oxford, Bodleian Library Tanner 10 (T) 4 1.1.2 Oxford, Corpus Christi College 279B (O) 5 1.1.3 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41 (B) 6 1.1.4 Cambridge University Library Kk. 3.18 (Ca) 7 1.2 Approaches to the Bede 8 1.2.1 The Translator’s Identity 8 1.2.1.2 Authorship 11 1.2.2 Dialect Studies 13 1.2.2.2 Old English Dialectology 14 1.4.3 Manuscript Studies 17 1.3 Other Manuscripts 19 1.5 Thesis Outline 21 2. Methodology 23 2.1 The Nature of Manuscript Transmission 23 2.1.1 Writing Medieval Manuscripts 23 2.1.2 Textual Layering 26 2.1.3 Manuscript (Re)production 27 2.2 Texts Surviving in More Than One Manuscript 28 2.3 Old English Dialects 31 2.4 Conservative vs. Innovative Scribal Behaviour 31 2.5 The Difference Between Written and Spoken Language 32 2.6 Manuscripts As Evidence 34 2.7 Preparing the Data 35 2.7.1 Selection of the Data 36 2.7.2 Using the Data 40 3. The Creator of a Mischsprache: The Scribe of Oxford, 45 Corpus Christi College 279B 3.1 O As A Witness of the Old English Bede 46 3.1.1 The Manuscript 46 3.1.2 Editions of O 47 3.1.3 History of O 49 3.1.4 Scribal Performances in O 50 3.2 The Inconsistent Copyist 51 3.3 Conservative Textual Emendations 54 3.3.1 Pronouns: mec and ðec 54 3.3.2 Pronouns: ussa 56 3.3.3 Pronouns: eowic 57 3.3.4 Pronouns: usic 59 3.3.5 Pronouns: hio(ra) 60 3.3.6 Pronouns: hiæ 63 3.4 Innovative Emendations 65 3.4.1 Smoothing 65 3.4.2 Palatal Diphthongisation 66 3.4.2.1 Palatal Diphthongisation after <g> 66 3.4.2.2 Palatal Diphthongisation after <c> 69 3.4.3 Genitives in <æs> 69 3.5 Chapter-Initial Capitals 72 3.6 O1 as a Trainee Scribe 75 3.6.1 Scribe O3 75 3.6.2 ðam/ ðæm 81 3.7 Conclusion 82 4. A Translator Scribe: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 41 85 4.1 The Manuscript 85 4.2 Exeter Books and Archbishop Leofric 88 4.3 B1: A Consistent Copyist 91 4.4 Translating the Text 94 4.4.1 Breaking and Retraction 94 4.4.2 <o> + Nasal 96 4.4.3 Class 2 Weak Preterite Verbs 98 4.4.4 Mid + Accusative 99 4.4.5 Forðon 100 4.4.6 Negative Contraction 102 4.5 Conservative Features In B 104 4.5.1 Palaeography 104 4.5.2 Morphology 105 4.5.3 Double Vowels 105 4.5.4 Dative Singulars in <æ> 107 4.5.5 Æfæst 109 4.6 B1: A Textual (E)mender 110 4.6.1 Textual Misreading 110 4.6.1.1 Misreading of Minims 110 4.6.1.2 Misdivision of Words 112 4.6.1.3 Confusion of Letters 114 4.6.2 Dialectal Lexical Variation 115 4.6.3 Non-Dialectal Lexical Variation: Where Sense is Retained 116 4.6.4 Non-Dialectal Lexical Variation: Nonsensical Readings 118 4.7 Conclusion 119 5. An Innovative Scribe: Hemming 123 5.1 Previous Studies of Ca 124 5.1.2 The Manuscript 124 5.2 Worcester, Wulfstan and Hemming 126 5.3 O’s Corrections and Their Relationship to Ca 130 5.3.1 Common Readings in O and Ca 131 5.3.2 ‘Copied’ Corrections 133 5.3.3 Annotations in Ca 136 5.4 Evidence Against O as Ca’s Exemplar 138 5.4.1 Category One: ‘Errors’ in O 139 5.4.2 Category Two: Erasures in O 142 5.4.3 Category Three: Conservative Forms in Ca 145 5.4.3.1 þæm 145 5.4.3.2 Nemne 146 5.4.3.3 Retraction 147 5.4.3.4 Datives in <æ> 149 5.4.3.5 e-Caudata 149 5.4.4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Liminal Thinking and the Use of Geography in Old English Orosius
    HISTORIA STUDIA WARMIŃSKIE 56 (2019) ISSN 0137-6624 DOI: 10.31648/sw.3252 Mateusz Fafinski Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut Freie Universität Berlin1 Faraway, So Close: Liminal Thinking and the Use of Geography in Old English Orosius Słowa kluczowe: wczesne średniowiecze; narratologia; historia uniwersalna; język staroan- gielski; peryferia. Keywords: Early Middle Ages; narratology; Old English; periphery; universal history. Introduction. A Peripheral Duality2 The Old English Orosius is an early medieval adaptation of Paulus Orosius’ Historiae Adversum Paganos. The exact date and place of cre- ation of this text have been contested – notwithstanding its earlier asso- ciation with King Alfred, it is now assumed to be slightly later in date, probably written early in the 10th century.3 This text can be seen as a work between two extremes. Mary Kate Hurley has brilliantly exposi- ted the conflicted temporalities of the text and the fluctuating nature of its narrator. (Hurley, 2013) She writes about the two “nows” present in the text – the now of the 5th century and the now of the 9th and 10th cen- turies. (Hurley, 2013, p. 405–406) These temporal planes (that for metho- dological ease and to stress their linguistic aspect I shall call nunc for the 5th and nu for the 9th and 10th centuries) constitute two extremities of its narrative. But those planes also intertwine and create a liminal space in which the demarcations are less sharp – a narrative twilight in which the periphery swells and gains new importance. The broader the periphery is 1 Mateusz Fafinski, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, Freie Universität Berlin, Koserstr. 20, 14195 Berlin, [email protected], https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1637-8174.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Gospel of Mark
    The Gospel of MARK Part of the Holy Bible A Translation From the Greek by David Robert Palmer https://bibletranslation.ws/palmer-translation/ ipfs://drpbible.x ipfs://ebibles.x To get printed edtions on Amazon go here: http://bit.ly/PrintPostWS With Footnotes and Endnotes by David Robert Palmer July 23, 2021 Edition (First Edition was March 1998) You do not need anyone's permission to quote from, store, print, photocopy, re-format or publish this document. Just do not change the text. If you quote it, you might put (DRP) after your quotation if you like. The textual variant data in my footnote apparatus are gathered from the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament 3rd Edition (making adjustments for outdated data therein); the 4th Edition UBS GNT, the UBS Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, ed. Metzger; the NA27 GNT; Swanson’s Gospels apparatus; the online Münster Institute transcripts, and from Wieland Willker’s excellent online textual commentary on the Gospels. The readings for Φ (043) I obtained myself from Batiffol, Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France. PAG E 1 The Good News According to MARK Chapter 1 John the Baptizer Prepares the Way 1The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.1 2As2 it is written in the prophets: 3 "Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way," 3"a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make the paths straight for him,'4" 4so5 John the Baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
    [Show full text]
  • Divine Liturgy
    THE DIVINE LITURGY OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS JOHN CHRYSOSTOM H QEIA LEITOURGIA TOU EN AGIOIS PATROS HMWN IWANNOU TOU CRUSOSTOMOU St Andrew’s Orthodox Press SYDNEY 2005 First published 1996 by Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia 242 Cleveland Street Redfern NSW 2016 Australia Reprinted with revisions and additions 1999 Reprinted with further revisions and additions 2005 Reprinted 2011 Copyright © 1996 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia This work is subject to copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted without prior written permission from the publisher. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data The divine liturgy of our father among the saints John Chrysostom = I theia leitourgia tou en agiois patros imon Ioannou tou Chrysostomou. ISBN 0 646 44791 2. 1. Orthodox Eastern Church. Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. 2. Orthodox Eastern Church. Prayer-books and devotions. 3. Prayers. I. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. 242.8019 Typeset in 11/12 point Garamond and 10/11 point SymbolGreek II (Linguist’s Software) CONTENTS Preface vii The Divine Liturgy 1 ïH Qeiva Leitourgiva Conclusion of Orthros 115 Tevlo" tou' ÒOrqrou Dismissal Hymns of the Resurrection 121 ÆApolutivkia ÆAnastavsima Dismissal Hymns of the Major Feasts 127 ÆApolutivkia tou' Dwdekaovrtou Other Hymns 137 Diavforoi ÓUmnoi Preparation for Holy Communion 141 Eujcai; pro; th'" Qeiva" Koinwniva" Thanksgiving after Holy Communion 151 Eujcaristiva meta; th;n Qeivan Koinwnivan Blessing of Loaves 165 ÆAkolouqiva th'" ÆArtoklasiva" Memorial Service 177 ÆAkolouqiva ejpi; Mnhmosuvnw/ v PREFACE The Divine Liturgy in English translation is published with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rule of St Basil in Latin and English
    The Rule of St Basil in Latin and English The Rule of St Basil in Latin and English A Revised Critical Edition Translated by Anna M. Silvas A Michael Glazier Book LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press Cover design by Jodi Hendrickson. Cover image: Wikipedia. The Latin text of the Regula Basilii is keyed from Basili Regula—A Rufino Latine Versa, ed. Klaus Zelzer, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, vol. 86 (Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1986). Used by permission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Scripture has been translated by the author directly from Rufinus’s text. © 2013 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, micro- fiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea, approximately 329–379. The Rule of St Basil in Latin and English : a revised critical edition / Anna M. Silvas. pages cm “A Michael Glazier book.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8146-8212-8 — ISBN 978-0-8146-8237-1 (e-book) 1. Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea, approximately 329–379. Regula. 2. Orthodox Eastern monasticism and religious orders—Rules. I. Silvas, Anna, translator. II. Title. III. Title: Rule of Basil.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Mercian Text Production: Authors, Dialects, and Reputations
    Early Mercian Text Production: Authors, Dialects, and Reputations Abstract There are suggestions that King Alfred’s legendary literary renaissance may have been a reaction to the efforts of the neighbouring kingdom of Mercia. According to Asser, Alfred assembled a group of literary scholars from this rival Mercian tradition at his court. But it is not clear what early literary activities these scholars could have been involved in to justify their pre-Alfredian reputation. This article tries to outline the historical and literary evidence for early Mercian text production, and the importance of this ‘other’ early literary corpus. What is our current knowledge of Mercian text production and the political and literary relationship of Mercia with Canterbury? What was the relationship of Alfred’s educational movement with its Mercian forerunner? Why is modern scholarship better informed about Alfred’s movement than any Mercian rival culture? If our current knowledge of this area is insufficient for the writing of a literary history of Mercia, a provisional list of texts and bibliography, published electronically for convenient updating, may prove useful in the meantime. Alfredian evidence for Mercian literary culture That King Alfred claims to have initiated an educational Renaissance is well known. Alfredian writings acknowledge a marked decline in learning and scholarship, at least in terms of Latin text composition and manuscript production, and at least in Wessex (Lapidge 1996, 436-439). But the same texts also suggest the existence of
    [Show full text]
  • Prayer Diary Pray for Cleeve Prior & the Littletons and for Our Open the Book Teams Who Ordinarily Bring the Bible to Life in Our Village Schools
    Sunday 28 FEBRUARY Lent 2 Living in Love and Faith Pray that people throughout Recently the Church of England launched ‘Living our diocese will feel able in Love and Faith’ with a set of free resources to engage with this process about identity, sexuality, relationships and with love and compassion, marriage, drawing together information from praying particularly for those the Bible, theology, science and history with who might find it difficult for powerful real-life stories. whatever reason. The Church is home to a great diversity of people who have a variety of opinions on these topics. The resources seek to engage with these differences and include a Pershore & Evesham Deanery 480-page book, a series of films and podcasts and a course amongst other things. Area Dean: Sarah Dangerfield As a diocese, we will be looking at Living in Love and Faith at Diocesan Synod next Saturday and parishes and deaneries are encouraged to reflect on how they Anglican Church in Central America: might also engage. Bishop Julio Murray Thompson Canterbury: Bishop John said: “As bishops, we recognise that there have been deep and painful Archbishop Justin Welby with divisions within the Church over questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and Bishops Rose Hudson-Wilkin (Dover), marriage, stretching back over many years, and that a new approach is now Jonathan Goodall (Ebbsfleet), needed. Those divisions are rooted in sincerely held beliefs about God’s will, but go Rod Thomas (Maidstone), to the heart of people’s lives and loves. I hope and pray that people will feel able to Norman Banks (Richborough) engage with this process with love, grace, kindness and compassion.” Down and Dromore (Ireland): Bishop David McClay The free online resources can be found at churchofengland.org/LLF.
    [Show full text]
  • Kent Academic Repository Full Text Document (Pdf)
    Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Gallagher, Robert and TINTI, FRANCESCA (2018) Latin, Old English and documentary practice at Worcester from Wærferth to Oswald. Anglo-Saxon England . ISSN 0263-6751. (In press) DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/72334/ Document Version Author's Accepted Manuscript 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 Latin, Old English and documentary practice at Worcester from Wærferth to Oswald ROBERT GALLAGHER AND FRANCESCA TINTI ABSTRACT This article analyses the uses of Latin and Old English in the charters of Worcester cathedral, which represents one of the largest and most linguistically interesting of the surviving Anglo-Saxon archives. Specifically focused on the period encompassing the episcopates of Wærferth and Oswald (c. 870 to 992), this survey examines a time of intense administrative activity at Worcester, contemporaneous with significant transformations in the political and cultural life of Anglo-Saxon England more generally.
    [Show full text]
  • “Sitte Ge Sigewif, Sigað to Eorðe”: Settling the Anglo-Saxon Bee Charm Within Its Christian Manuscript Context
    https://doi.org/10.7592/Incantatio2018_7_O’Connor “SITTE GE SIGEWIF, SIGAÐ TO EORÐE”: SETTLING THE ANGLO-SAXON BEE CHARM WITHIN ITS CHRISTIAN MANUSCRIPT CONTEXT. Patricia O’Connor The Anglo-Saxon Bee Charm is one of a select number of Old English charms that were previously described as being “strange companions” to the Old English Bede (Grant 5). Written in the outer margin of page 182 of Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 41 (CCCC41), the Bee Charm accompanies a passage from Chapter XVII of Book III of the Old English Bede which narrates the consecration of a monastic site. Curiously, however, the Bee Charm’s connection to this passage of the Old English Bede and its influence on our reading of this important text has hitherto been inadequately addressed. Consequently, the objective of this article is to critically reconsider the Bee Charm within its immediate manuscript context and to highlight and evaluate the correspondences shared between the Anglo-Saxon charm and the adjacent passage of the Old English Bede. This codi- cological reassessment seeks to present a new interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon Bee Charm through encouraging a more inclusive reading experience of CCCC41, which incorporates both the margins and the central text. In doing so, this study endeavours to offer significant insights into the function of theBee Charm within Anglo-Saxon society and to contribute to our understanding of how these charms were perceived and circulated within late Anglo-Saxon England. Keywords: Marginalia, Bees, Old English Bede, New Philology, Old English Literature, Palaeography, Scribal Practices. The Anglo-Saxon Bee Charm is one of a number of interesting texts that were inserted anonymously into the margins of a well-known manuscript witness of the Old English Bede.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 Middle English
    A CONCISE HISTORY OF ENGLISH 5 Middle English 5.1 Historical background of Middle English Th e development of the English language was strongly infl uenced by political changes following the Norman Conquest. In 1066, the Norman army led by William the Con- queror (Duke of Normandy) defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings and killed the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II. Th is event foreshadowed the end of the Old English and the beginning of the Middle English period. Th e linguistic eff ects of the ar- rival of the Normans became apparent with considerable delay, therefore the beginning of the Middle English period has been set by scholars to the end of the 11th century or even a later date. Th e traditional periodization distinguishes three subperiods of Middle English: Early Middle English (1100–1250), Ordinary Middle English (1250–1400), and Late Middle English (1400–1500). However, recent research suggests that Old English was not only spoken but also written for almost one hundred years aft er the Norman Conquest. Da Rold et al. (2010) suggest the following modifi cation of the traditional periodization: Updated Old English (1066–1150) Early Middle English (1150–1325) Late Middle English (1325–1500) When William the Conqueror became King William I of England, the Normans (Norsemen who had previously conquered Northern France) seized political, econom- ic, military, and religious power. Th ey became the lords of the Anglo-Saxon population, which, however, continued to speak English. Th e Normans spoke Norman French and at the beginning of their rule, most of them did not learn English and could not com- municate with the Anglo-Saxon population.
    [Show full text]
  • Truso in the Old English Orosius and Tczew, Poland
    Truso in the Old English Orosius and Tczew, Poland Andrew Breeze University of Navarre Wulfstan’s description of his voyage to the Baltic is an addition to the Old English Orosius. It contains a notorious crux, as follows. Wulfstan (otherwise unknown) sailed to Truso, a trading-place near the mouth of the Vistula. Anglo-Saxonists and others have long identified Truso as somewhere on Lake Drużno, near Elbląg, Poland. But in 1985 the Polish philologist Stanisław Rospond disproved that. He regarded Truso as Tczew on the lower Vistula. Tczew (in German, Dirschau) is attested in early documents with forms (Trsow, Trssew, Treseu) that are compatible with Truso. Those for Drausensee or Lake Drużno (recorded in 1233 as Drusin) are not compatible with Truso. They start with the wrong letter and have an internal <n> absent from spellings of Tczew. His conclusions have nevertheless been ignored, despite their implications for English history and Polish or Viking archaeology. Let us set the out the story in detail. In the year 891 or so, a mariner called Wulfstan made a journey to the Baltic. Wulfstan’s account of his travels (surviving as an addition to the Old English Orosius) has had an unusual history. It was printed as early as 1598, when Richard Hakluyt included a translation of it in one edition of his Voyages. It is still read in Old English courses at conservative universities. Yet problems remain. Before we consider those, readers might obtain a map of the Gdańsk region. Failing that, they should keep in their mind’s eye this image.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerald Dyson
    CONTEXTS FOR PASTORAL CARE: ANGLO-SAXON PRIESTS AND PRIESTLY BOOKS, C. 900–1100 Gerald P. Dyson PhD University of York History March 2016 3 Abstract This thesis is an examination and analysis of the books needed by and available to Anglo-Saxon priests for the provision of pastoral care in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Anglo-Saxon priests are a group that has not previously been studied as such due to the scattered and difficult nature of the evidence. By synthesizing previous scholarly work on the secular clergy, pastoral care, and priests’ books, this thesis aims to demonstrate how priestly manuscripts can be used to inform our understanding of the practice of pastoral care in Anglo-Saxon England. In the first section of this thesis (Chapters 2–4), I will discuss the context of priestly ministry in England in the tenth and eleventh centuries before arguing that the availability of a certain set of pastoral texts prescribed for priests by early medieval bishops was vital to the provision of pastoral care. Additionally, I assert that Anglo- Saxon priests in general had access to the necessary books through means such as episcopal provision and aristocratic patronage and were sufficiently literate to use these texts. The second section (Chapters 5–7) is divided according to different types of priestly texts and through both documentary evidence and case studies of specific manuscripts, I contend that the analysis of individual priests’ books clarifies our view of pastoral provision and that these books are under-utilized resources in scholars’ attempts to better understand contemporary pastoral care.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded1 from Brill.Com09/28/2021 08:16:42AM Via Free Access 542 Rauer
    Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 77 (�0�7) 54�–558 brill.com/abag Early Mercian Text Production: Authors, Dialects, and Reputations Christine Rauer University of St Andrews, UK [email protected] Abstract There are suggestions that King Alfred’s legendary literary renaissance may have been a reaction to the efforts of the neighbouring kingdom of Mercia. According to Asser, Alfred assembled a group of literary scholars from this rival Mercian tradition at his court. But it is not clear what early literary activities these scholars could have been involved in to justify their pre-Alfredian reputation. This article tries to outline the historical and literary evidence for early Mercian text production, and the impor- tance of this ‘other’ early literary corpus. What is our current knowledge of Mercian text production and the political and literary relationship of Mercia with Canterbury? What was the relationship of Alfred’s educational movement with its Mercian forerun- ner? Why is modern scholarship better informed about Alfred’s movement than any Mercian rival culture? If our current knowledge of this area is insufficient for the writ- ing of a literary history of Mercia, a provisional list of texts and bibliography, published electronically for convenient updating, may prove useful in the meantime. Keywords Old English literature – Anglo-Saxon history – ethnicity – borders – Old English dialects – text production – King Alfred – authorship * An earlier version of this paper was presented to the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists (ISAS, Glasgow, 2015). I am grateful for the feedback received from members of ISAS and the Vereniging van Oudgermanisten. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi �0.��63/�87567�9-��34009Downloaded� from Brill.com09/28/2021 08:16:42AM via free access 542 Rauer 1 Alfredian Evidence for Mercian Literary Culture That King Alfred claims to have initiated an educational Renaissance is well known.
    [Show full text]