Entstand die altenglische Übersetzung der Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum des Beda Venerabilis, des wohl bedeutendsten anglo-lateinischen Werkes des Andreas Lemke Mittelalters, auf Bestreben König Alfreds ‚des Großen‘ als Teil seines Übersetzungs- und Bildungsprogrammes? War die altenglische Historia vielleicht ein Gründungs- The Old English Translation of Bede’s manifest des Königreichs der Angelsachsen? Dieses Königreich formierte sich Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum schließlich in einer Zeit, als England sich eines äußeren Feindes zu erwehren hatte, der die politische Ordnung der angelsächsischen Königreiche bedrohte: der in its Historical and Cultural Context Wikinger. Um diese Frage zu beantworten, präsentiert Andreas Lemke ein in dieser Form einzigartiges Kompendium interdisziplinärer Ansätze und wirft ein neues Licht auf die altenglische Beda-Übersetzung, das Literatur- und Sprachwissenschaftler, Philologen und Historiker gleichermaßen anspricht. Göttinger Schriften zur Englischen Philologie Band 8 Did King Alfred the Great commission the Old English translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, probably the masterpiece of medieval Anglo-Latin Literature, as part of his famous program of translation to educate the Anglo- Saxons? Was the Old English Historia, by any chance, a political and religious 2015 manifesto for the emerging ‘Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons’? Do we deal with the literary cornerstone of a nascent English identity at a time when the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were threatened by a common enemy: the Vikings? Andreas Lemke seeks to answer these questions – among others – in his recent publication. He presents us with a unique compendium of interdisciplinary approaches to the subject and sheds new light on the Old English translation of the Historia in a way that will Historia Ecclesiastica fascinate scholars of Literature, Language, Philology and History. in its Historical and Cultural Context Andreas Lemke The Old English Translation of Bede’s Gentis Anglorum ISBN: 978-3-86395-189-4 ISSN: 1868-3878 Universitätsdrucke Göttingen Universitätsdrucke Göttingen Andreas Lemke The Old English Translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in its Historical and Cultural Context This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. erschienen in der Reihe der Universitätsdrucke im Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2015 Andreas Lemke The Old English Translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in its Historical and Cultural Context Göttinger Schriften zur Englischen Philologie, Band 8 Universitätsverlag Göttingen 2015 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar. Gefördert durch Mittel der Graduiertenschule für Geisteswissenschaften Göttingen Address of the Author Andreas Lemke E-Mail: [email protected] This work is protected by German Intellectual Property Right Law. It is also available as an Open Access version through the publisher’s homepage and the Göttingen University Catalogue (GUK) at the Göttingen State and University Library (http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de). The conditions of the license terms of the online version apply. Satz und Layout: Frauke Reitemeier Umschlaggestaltung: Petra Lepschy © 2015 Universitätsverlag Göttingen http://univerlag.uni-goettingen.de ISBN: 978-3-86395-189-4 ISSN: 1868-3878 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to all who have supported me along this tedi- ous, exhausting and stony way. First, I want to thank my supervisors Prof. Winfried Rudolf and Prof. Thomas Honegger, who guided me through the process and gave me invaluable advice and moral support, without which I would not have successfully completed my task. I would also like to thank Prof. Michael Lapidge, Prof. Simon Keynes and the late Prof. Mechthild Gretsch, who supervised my thesis in its initial stage. Special thanks go to my colleagues and academic friends on both sides of the Atlantic, who were willing to give me feedback on particular chapters and aspects of my dissertation and always had an open ear for my troubles, especially Dr. Janna Müller, Dr. Dirk Schultze, Dr. Peter Darby, Dr. Johanna Kramer and Prof. Sharon Rowley. Prof. Gernot Wieland and Dr. Greg Waite also deserve thanks. The Graduiertenschule für Geisteswissenschaften Göttingen (GSGG), the Universitäts- bund Göttingen and the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) also had their share, as their stipends enabled me to present my thoughts on the topic on various international conferences and receive important feedback and establish my aca- demic network. I would further like to thank the GSGG as their stipend made the publication of this thesis possible. My students also deserve my gratitude as teaching them was the highlight of my day after long hours at my desk brooding over my opus magnum. Those classes reminded me what was really essential about this job: never stop thinking. Next come my friends. Their moral support, their pep-talks and their ability to distract me when I once more had hit rock-bottom helped me through this four- and-a-half years. Finally, I would like to thank the most important people in my life: First and foremost my family. They equipped me with everything I needed to make it in this world. I cannot say how much you mean to me. I would not be writing these lines without you. I thank God that he decided that my mother’s time had not yet come so that she can be an angel on earth as she has always been. I would also like to thank the Elliehausens, who welcomed me with open hearts, supported me and have become my family as well. But the person whom I owe eternal gratitude is my fiancée Saskia. You’ve been my rock in stormy sea, the calm breeze when the gales of my mind kept troubling me. You helped me to find my inner peace and that is more than I had ever expected of life. I love you – that is all I can say. Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................ 5 List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................11 I. Introduction and Methodology.....................................................................................15 Why Translate Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum? ..................................17 ‘Hwilum word be worde, hwilum andgite of angite’: Anglo-Saxon Translation in Theory and Practice...................................................23 A Brief History of Translation...................................................................................30 From Rome to the Fathers.....................................................................................31 Alfred and the Rise of English...............................................................................34 Translating the OEHE: Theoretical Considerations..............................................39 The HE and the OEHE: Text-theoretical Considerations ...................................40 The Social Logic of the Text......................................................................................44 Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................................46 II. The OEHE: The Material Evidence...........................................................................49 The Manuscripts of the OEHE.................................................................................49 Textual Criticism and the Problem of the Table of Contents ..............................50 Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Tanner, 10...............................................................62 Codicology ................................................................................................................63 Scribes and Script.....................................................................................................64 Decoration ................................................................................................................66 Language....................................................................................................................69 London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian A.IX, fol. 11r .............................72 Physical Description, Origin and Date.................................................................73 Phonology, Orthography, Lexicology...................................................................75 The Content..............................................................................................................79 The Reception of the Manuscripts............................................................................89 MS T (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Tanner 10)..............................................90 MS C (London, British Library, MS Cotton Otho B.XI)..................................92 MS O (Oxford, Corpus Christi College, MS 279B)............................................93 8 MS B (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 41) ...........................................93 MS Ca (Cambridge, University Library, MS Kk. 3.18).......................................95 III. The Intellectual and Political Landscape of Ninth-Century England..................97 IV. Author and Authority ................................................................................................113