King Alfred & Boethius: An Analysis of the Old English Version of the Consolation of Philosophy

1970 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
William A. Chaney ◽  
F. Anne Payne
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Version ◽  
Consolation Of Philosophy ◽  
King Alfred

scholarly journals Word order and poetic style: auxiliary and verbal inThe Metres of Boethius

1986 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 167-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Donoghue
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Word Order ◽  
English Prose ◽  
English Verse ◽  
Consolation Of Philosophy ◽  
The Many ◽  
King Alfred ◽  
Complex Subject ◽  
Poetic Style ◽  
The Way

The Metres of Boethiusoffer a unique opportunity to study the complex subject of Old English verse syntax. They enjoy this distinction because of the unusual way in which they were composed. The versifier did not work directly from the original Latinmetraof Boethius'sConsolation of Philosophybut from an Old English prose intermediary, freely translated from the Latin originals. King Alfred was the author of the prose translation and was probably also responsible for turning the parts of the prose corresponding to the Latinmetrainto Old English verse. Since a copy of the prose model survives, it affords us an opportunity to compare the two versions in order to judge the versifier's debt to the prose. He apparently followed it quite faithfully and without referring back to the Latin originals. In many verse passages one can find words and half-lines which are direct transcriptions from the prose. Consequently the Old EnglishMetresare generally considered nothing more than prose expanded into verse, adding only ‘poetic’ embellishments (like repetition and variation) and obvious morals drawn from the passage. The fruit of the versifier's labours may be uninspired poetry, but the way that he rearranged the words of the prose offers a rare glimpse into the more elusive conventions of verse-making. Since the many similarities make the differences quite pronounced, the poetical shortcomings of theMetresmay be a blessing. A mediocre versifier is more likely to compose mechanically and to imitate established patterns than a good poet, whose virtuosity often conceals the rudiments of his craft.

Lexical evidence for the authorship of the prose psalms in the Paris Psalter

1981 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 69-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet M. Bately
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Old English ◽  
English Version ◽  
King Alfred

‘Forðy me ðyncð betre, gif iow swæ ðyncð, ðæt we eac sumæ bec, ða ðe niedbeðearfosta sien eallum monnum to wiotonne, ðætweðaonðæt geðiode wendenðe we ealle gecnawan mægen.’ With these well-known words, King Alfred, in the prefatory letter to his Old English version of Gregory's Pastoral Care, enunciates the policy of translation he wishes to see implemented with a view to restoring wisdom and learning to his war-torn kingdom. In the last twenty years or so modern scholars have made a determined effort to define the contribution the king himself made to his scheme. Traditionally it had been accepted that he translated the Pastoral Care, Boethius, Soliloquies, Bede and Orosius. But it has now been firmly established that, while the first three works are his, both Bede and Or are to be excluded as the work of others.

Tale and Parable: Theorizing Fictions in the Old English Boethius

PMLA ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-355
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Lorden
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
English Language ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Classical Myth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Consolation Of Philosophy ◽  
First Time ◽  
Fictional Story

AbstractScholarship has often considered the concept of fiction a modern phenomenon. But the Old English Boethius teaches us that medieval people could certainly tell that a fictional story was a lie, although it was hard for them to explain why it was all right that it was a lie—this is the problem the Old English Boethius addresses for the first time in the history of the English language. In translating Boethius's sixth-century Consolation of Philosophy, the ninth-century Old English Boethius offers explanatory comments on its source's narrative exempla drawn from classical myth. While some of these comments explain stories unfamiliar to early medieval English audiences, others consider how such “false stories” may be read and experienced by those properly prepared to encounter them. In so doing, the Old English Boethius must adopt and adapt a terminology for fiction that is unique in the extant corpus of Old English writing.

scholarly journals The Affix Changes from Middle English to Modern English Found In The Miller's Tale Written by Geoffrey Chaucer and Its Modern English Version

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Egi Putriana ◽  
Jufrizal Jufrizal ◽  
Fitrawati Fitrawati
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Geoffrey Chaucer ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Version ◽  
New Words ◽  
History Of ◽  
Vowel Change

The history of English language has three periods of time; Old English, Middle English, and Modern English. The linguistic forms in English development are different each period. This research aims to find out one of the changes, that is, the affix changes from Middle English to Modern English form that found in both of The Miller’s Tale Story Middle English and Modern English versions. This research also aims to find out the spelling changes in affixes. This research used descriptive qualitative method. The data, which are the collection of words that have affixes found in The Miller’s Tale, were identified based on the base of the words and its affixes and its were classified based on the type of its functions. Based on data analysis, there are seven affixes in Middle English which have been changed in Modern English form. These changes occur in the deletion of vowel, change of vowel, substitution of the affix, and elimination of the affix. The spelling change also influenced the change in suffixes. Some of the vocabularies change into the new words and some of the words change only in its vowel.

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