IX.—A Contribution to the Study of the Beowulf Codex

PMLA ◽  
1921 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-185
Author(s):  
Stanley I. Rypins
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Alexander The Great ◽  
Present Volume ◽  
King Alfred

The Old English ms. volume, Cotton Vitellius A XV, in “which the unique copy of Beowulf is preserved, consists of two separate codices which have been bound together since the time of Sir Robert Cotton to make the present volume. The first, in two main hands of the twelfth century, contains four articles: Flowers from St. Augustine's Soliloquies, translated by King Alfred, fol. 4a; Gospel of Nicodemus, fol. 60a; Dialogue between Solomon and Saturn, fol. 84b; and a fragment of eleven lines concerning martyrs, fol. 93b. The second codex, likewise in two hands, but of considerably earlier date, consists of five articles: A fragment of the Life of St. Christopher, imperfect at the beginning, fol. 94a; Wonders of the East, fol. 98b; Letter of Alexander the Great to Aristotle, fol. 107a; Beowidf, fol. 132a; and Judith, a fragment, fols. 202a-209b.

The Old English Life of St Neot and the legends of King Alfred

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 193-225
Author(s):  
Malcolm Godden
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
Derivative Work ◽  
King Alfred

AbstractThe Old English Life of St Neot has been generally dated to the twelfth century and dismissed as a late and derivative work. The article argues that it was written much earlier, in the first few decades of the eleventh century, and is both a significant example of late Old English hagiographic literature and an important witness to early legends about King Alfred and his posthumous reputation.

scholarly journals The Ælfrician Glossaries in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Barlow 35: A New Edition and Commentary

2020 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-233
Author(s):  
Claudio Cataldi
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Bodleian Library ◽  
The Third ◽  
Plant Names ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Comprehensive Discussion

AbstractThe present study provides a full edition and commentary of the three glossaries in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Barlow 35, fol. 57r–v. These glossaries, which were first partly edited and discussed by Liebermann (1894), are comprised of excerpts from Ælfric’s Grammar and Glossary arranged by subject. The selection of material from the two Ælfrician works witnesses to the interests of the glossator. The first glossary in Barlow 35 collects Latin grammatical terms and verbs followed by their Old English equivalents. The second glossary is drawn from the chapter on plant names of Ælfric’s Glossary, with interpolations from other chapters of the same work. This glossary also features twelfth-century interlinear notations, which seem to have a metatextual function. The third glossary combines excerpts from Ælfric’s Glossary with verbs derived from the Grammar. Liebermann transcribed only part of the glosses and gave a brief commentary on the glossaries as well as parallels with Zupitza’s (1880) edition of Ælfric’s Grammar and Glossary; hence the need for a new edition, which is provided in the present study, along with a comprehensive discussion of the glossaries and a reassessment of the correspondences concerning their Ælfrician sources.

The legend is born: early Greek, Latin, and insular versions

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Dresvina
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Proper Names ◽  
Place Names ◽  
Corpus Christi ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Katherine Group ◽  
Old English Martyrology

Chapter 1 is dedicated to the early distribution of the relics of St Margaret/Marina, the early versions of her passio (Greek, Latin, and Old English), and their interrelations. It also discusses the proper names and the place names found in her legend: of Margaret/Marina herself and its conflation with Pelagia, of her father Theodosius, the evil prefect Olibrius, her executioner Malchus, a matron Sinclitica, the supposed author Theotimus, the dragon Rufus, and of Pisidian Antioch. It then examines the three extant Old English versions of St Margaret’s life from the ninth to the early twelfth century: the Old English Martyrology, the Cotton Tiberius version, and the Corpus Christi life. The chapter proceeds with a discussion of the Anglo-Norman poem about the saint by Wace, an overview of Margaret’s early cult in England, and concludes with a study of the life of St Margaret from the Katherine Group.

Some Latin poems as evidence for the reign of Athelstan

1980 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 61-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lapidge
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Successful Career ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Latin Verse ◽  
The One ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
William Of Malmesbury

Like his illustrious grandfather, Alfred, King Athelstan (924–39) combined a distinguished and successful career as soldier and statesman with more overtly intellectual pursuits. He restored monasteries, established new bishoprics and was an extremely generous benefactor of churches throughout England. William of Malmesbury reports a view allegedly shared by his twelfth-century contemporaries, that ‘no one more just or more learned ever governed the kingdom’. William's assessment has been endorsed by modern historians. Stenton, for example, wrote of Athelstan that ‘in character and cast of mind he is the one West Saxon king who will bear comparison with Alfred’. As in the case of Alfred, we are moderately well informed concerning Athelstan's military exploits and political achievements from early chronicles. But whereas we also have sound evidence for the literary enterprise of Alfred's reign both in the pages of Asser and in the surviving Old English translations which were executed under Alfred's sponsorship, we have no comparable evidence for the reign of Athelstan. Here the contemporary evidence is limited to a couple of Latin letters addressed to the king, a series of royal diplomas issued in his name and a miscellany of (largely incomprehensible) Latin verse. In face of this pitiful collection of contemporary evidence scholars have seized upon a poem quoted at some length by William of Malmesbury, have declared it a near-contemporary document and have used it to fill the void in the historical record – without ever having examined the poem's credentials to authenticity and antiquity with care. I propose to examine the miscellaneous Latin verse contemporary with Athelstan's reign presently; but since the poem quoted by William of Malmesbury has loomed so large in previous discussions of the reign, it may serve as an appropriate point of departure.

Chancery norms before Chancery English?

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-77
Author(s):  
Olga Timofeeva
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Discourse Community ◽  
Document Type ◽  
Local Courts ◽  
William The Conqueror ◽  
King Alfred

Abstract This study analyses two Old English formulae gret freodlice (‘greets in a friendly manner’) and ic cyðe eow þæt (‘I make it known to you that’), which form a salutation–notification template in a document type called writs. It connects the emergence of this formulaic set to previous oral traditions of delivering news and messages, and to their reflection in dictation practices from at least the time of King Alfred. Their later routinisation and standardisation is seen as a factor brought about by the centralised production of royal writs and their subsequent adoption as templates in monastic scriptoria across the country. These templates continue to be recycled in the early Middle English period both in English and in Latin writs, ultimately shifting to Latin-only documents during the reign of William the Conqueror. Although this shift does not hinder the continuity of the selected bureaucratic template into the later Middle Ages, it affects the structure of the discourse community associated with the chancery norms, consolidating its core (those literate in Latin who are involved in production and preservation of writs) and marginalising its periphery (English speakers who used to make up the informed audience for writs in local courts).

Rewriting Old English in the Twelfth Century

2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-268
Author(s):  
Jane Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century

Reddatur Parentibus: The Vengeance of the Family in Cnut's Homicide Legislation

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Jurasinski
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Eleventh Century ◽  
British Library ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Corpus Christi ◽  
The Family ◽  
Ultimate Outcome ◽  
English Law ◽  
One Year

TheAnglo-Saxon Chroniclestates that during his 1018 meeting in Oxford with the leading English ecclesiastical and lay authorities, roughly one year after his accession to the throne in England, Cnut agreed to uphold “the laws of Edgar” during his reign. The ultimate outcome of this and subsequent meetings is the code issued at Winchester in 1020, referred to by editorial convention as I and II Cnut. This code contains, respectively, the religious and secular laws of England promulgated under Cnut. The code is contained in four manuscripts in Old English. The earliest are British Library, Cotton Nero A.i and Cambridge, Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 201, both dated to the mid-eleventh century; the latest, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 383 and British Library, Harley 55, belong to the early twelfth century. Cnut's code reappears in three twelfth-century Norman Latin tracts intended to acquaint French authorities with English law, theInstituta Cnuti, Consiliatio Cnuti, andQuadripartitus. TheLeges Henrici Primi, prepared by the same author as theQuadripartitus, also draws heavily on Cnut's legislation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document