THE INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE VOCABULARY OF OLD ENGLISH POETRY BY ALBERT KEISER A. B. Wartburg College, 1911. A. M. University of Montana, 1915. THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1918 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS THE GRADUATE 0"> SCHOOL a* May 8, 19l8_ I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION RY Albert Kelaer ENTITLED THE INFLUENC E OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE VOCABULARY OF OLD ENGLISH POETRY BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor r>f Philosophy In English In Charge of Thesis Head of Department Recommendation concurred in* Committee '^^C^V-r^/^^C^ on Final Examination* *Required for doctor's degree but not for master's TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE i INTRODUCTION — - __ 4 CHAPTER I DIVISION OF THE HUMAN RACE 17 1. The Non- Christians. 2. The Christians. II THE DEPARTED MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH 26 1. The Virgin Mary. 2. Patriarchs. 3. Prophets. 4. Apostles. 5. Martyrs. 6. Saints. Ill ECCLESIASTICAL OFFICES 39 IV CHURCH BUILDINGS - - 49 V FESTIVALS AND HOLY SEASONS 56 VI THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF THE CHURCH 62 1. Worship. 2. The Sacraments. 3. The Scriptures. VII THE DEITY 83 Wyrd. The term God. The Trinity. The Godhead and God the Father. Qualities. Gifts. Christ. The Holy Ghost. VIII THE WORLD, ANGELS, AND DEVILS - --128 IX SIN - - - 142 1. Peccata Operis. 2. Peccata Oris. Peccata Cordis. X FAITH, CONVERSION, REPENTANCE 160 XI CHRISTIAN VIRTUES, QUALITIES, AND GOOD WORKS 16? XII THE FUTURE LIFE 177 1. Judgment Day and Purgatory. 2. Heaven. 3. Hell. POETICAL WORDS - __- _ 191 e * Page TITLES AND ABBREVIATIONS 202 1. Titles and Alleviations referring to the Bibllothek I der anRelsaechsischen Poesle . -I II .by Greln-Wuelker. 2. Other Abbreviations. BIBLIOGRAPHY 207 VITA 212 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/influenceofchrisOOkeis " , 1 PREFACE In undertaking to present the Influence of Christianity on the vocabulary of Old English poetry, we have attempted for Old English what Raumer and Kahle have done for Old High German and Old Norse. A similar investigation, including the prose, was begun by MacGillivray who published" Part I ( 1st Half )"in 1902. No continuation has ever appeared, and in a letter of December 2, 1916, the author stated that certain circumstances had led to "the complete shipwreck of my hopes for the completion of my book." His consent to take up the work was obtained. After a survey of the field it did not seem advisable to con- tinue the investigation on the plan and scale of MacG-illivray, whose four chapters, corresponding to our first three, take up 1?0 pages. It was limited to the poetry as the more profitable and promising field. Neither could it be our intention to go to such lengths as our prede- cessor had done, for the generally favorable reviews of his work point out the diffuseness from which it suffers. We note E. Bjdrkman's re- " mark, Litbl. XXV, p. 235 : Nicht gerade nachahmenswert finde ich die er- muedende Weitschweif igkeit , womit allbekannte Dinger bis ins kleinste Detail auseinandergesetzt werden. Wenn man alles in der Wissenschaft so breit ausfuehrte, waere es doch zu schlimm !",as also in A. Pogat- # seller' s appreciative review .E.St .XXXII .p. 390: "Die arbeit leidet unter einer geradezu ermuedenden breite und weitschweif igkeit . From our practically complete collections we have given in many Instances , especially in the case of rare words, all occurrences . noted; otherwise the examples were carefully selected with a view of illustrating characteristic features. Occasionally unimportant terms could be omitted without loss. For the sake of completeness the more important kennlngs have also been included; however , in view of their large number and the special studies devoted to them, sometimes only selections have been given. Where the Old English poems have a Latin source, in many cases the Latin equivalents, especially from the Psalms and Doomsday .were added. The quotations from the Hymnus De Die Judlcil refer to Loehe's edition, while for Juliana and Elene the editions of Strunk and Kent have been used. Grein-Wuelker ' s Bibliothek der angel- saechsischen Poesie forms the basis of our textual study, though in many cases editions of single poems have also been consulted. As to the most satisfactory arrangement of the material , there may be a difference of opinion. We have been guided by the similar efforts in the related languages , and though the plan is not without its defects, no radical departure seemed advisable, as the loss would have been greater than the gain. For the sake of comparison the plan also recommended itself, which since Raumer has been adopted by Kahle irijhis two investigations, by MacGilllvray , and for the Romance loan words of Chaucer by Remus In the prosecution of the work, especially for checking up,Grein'£ Sprachschatz . in spite of its numerous omissions and mistakes, has been of great value. Bosworth- Toller and Clark Hall , the latter also for poetic terms, have been very helpful. In regard to etymologies the New English Dictionary has been chiefly drawn upon for a conservative statement of facts; it could not be our purpose to advance question- able theories for the solution of difficulties. 3 As the great world war has affected communications with Germany, and our own entrance prevented intercourse altogether, no literature pertaining to our subject that may have appeared in that country since 1915 could be consulted. INTRODUCTION Great spiritual movements as the embodiment of new ideas and conceptions are bound to influence the language or languages which serve as the medium of their expression. Thus Christianity in its attempt to reveal ultimate truth in the speech of man has fashioned to a considerable extent the instrument for conveying its meaning. Either old material is utilized and takes on a new meaning, or a new word is created, or adopted with the new idea. The religion of Christ first finds adequate expression in the highly developed and flexible Greek, a language capable to a remarka- ble degree of conveying all the finer shades of meaning and therefore admirably suited to serve as the means of propagating a spiritual religion. The Jewish-Christian doctrines find a fitting vehicle in the Hew Testament JC o< v -j , while later the Alexandrian School with the help of philosophy creates a distinctly Christian terminology. Simultaneously Christian ideas seek expression in the less flexible Latin, which, especially in the hands of Tertullian, is molded and en- riched by ecclesiastical terms. In both cases a highly developed language with a wealth of expressions and a literature of centuries becomes the garb in which the new conceptions appear. Thejsame story repeats itself as nation after nation embraces the new faith, though the mental and spiritual plane of converted tribes not seldon necessitates the taking over of many new terms, where the language does not even possess words of an analogous character. Missionaries to the American Indians and some Polynesian tribes can testify as to the poverty of suitable native terms for the new spiritual ideas. To a great extent the medium of expression has to be created. Among the Germanic tribes the Goths fall first under the sway of the Gospel, and the remnants of Ulfilas' translation of the Bible bear testimony as to how the great bishop sought to express the new ideas. The native material is utilized to a large extent, old terms taking on a new significance, and new formations being created where the language is deficient. However, when we consider the influence of Christianity on the vocabulary of the Germanic languages, we are confronted with a diffi- culty. Greek and Latin can boast of literatures antedating the Christian era by centuries , and we know in each case the exact meaning and connotation a word had in heathen times. Hence the transformation in meaning, or the acquisition of a new connotation, can generally be observed. Less fornunate is the situation in regard to the Germanic dialects, where, with the partial exception of Old Norse, the negligible remains from heathen times preclude such observation and detailed proof in all but rare instances. To this must be added the fact that in Old English and the related languages the poetical remnants of the early Christian period do not fairly represent the actual literature, since the works preserved 'have escaped total destruction by a series of lucky chances'. The facts at hand do not warrant any other inter- pretation. If we had only the more Important pieces of the doubtless flourishing Christian literature, the influence of Christianity would appear to be much greater than is possible to trace under the existing . I . 6 conditions. The large number of comparatively rare poetical terms in Old English also points to this conclusion. In their continental home the tribes which later settled in Britain were not entirely ignorant of Christianity. The contact of the Goths with Christian culture and their christianization seem to have passed on a few conceptions and terms to other Germanic tribes, where they gain a firm hold. We may point to Old English clrice . engel . deof ol . and possibly also to biscop .as representatives of this class. In the case of cirice the term becomes so firmly rooted that the Latin ecclesia is unable to supplant it. Contact with other tribee more influenced by Christianity , communication with Gaul, as also the raids on the "Saxon shore" of Britain, in which the wealth and orna- ments of churches and monasteries formed part of the spoil, would further add to the Anglo-Saxons ' knowledge of Christianity.