Alfred's literary reputation caused a number of other works to
be ascribed to him for which there is no trustworthy evidence.
be ascribed to him for which there is no trustworthy evidence.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v01
No account is given
of the famous ecclesiastical controversy which took place at Whitby
-a fact which seems to Miller to confirm his view that the translator
was not a West Saxon but a Mercian, keenly aware of Scotch
susceptibilities. Bede's accounts of the great figures of the early
churches are retained, though the story of Adamnan is omitted.
In the interest of his narrative Alfred omits such documents as
letters from popes and bishops, retaining only Gregory's first
letter to the monks and this in oratio obliqua. The finest passage
in the English version is the account of Caedmon, an excellent
piece of early prose, and Caedmon's hymn is inserted in a West
Saxon form, of which the original is to be found only in the
Moore MS of Bede's History. The style is frequently marred
by over-literalness. Latin constructions are constantly introduced
i Gesta Regum Anglorum, 11, § 123.
## p. 97 (#117) #############################################
Old English Codes of Law
97
in an altogether un-English fashion, and words are used in an
un-English sense as equivalents for Latin terms. A peculiarity
of the style is the employment of two English terms to represent a
single term in the original. On the whole, the translation cannot
rank very high among Alfred's works, even if it be rightly attri-
buted to him.
There is no external evidence to enable us to decide the date of
Alfred's code of laws. The historical introduction, based on the
Pulgate, shows considerable independence and cannot be dated
very early. The composition of the code may be assigned, pro-
visionally, to the close of Alfred's first translation period (c. 893),
without, however, attaching much importance to Malmesbury's
statement that it was undertaken “amid the clash of armsı. " The
code is of a somewhat composite character, and has usually been
arranged in three sections—the introduction, the laws of Alfred
proper and the laws of Ine. In his monograph entitled The Legal
Code of Alfred the Great, Turk points out that this arrangement is
not justified by the MSS. The introduction consists properly of
two parts—the historical introduction based on the Mosaic law and
the introduction proper. The insertions from the Mosaic law give
a universal character to Alfred's code. They are rendered some-
what freely, large portions of the Latin text being omitted and
other portions altered. One of the Mosaic laws ran as follows:
“If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep,
and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, he
shall pay double. If the thief be not found, then the master of
the house shall come near unto God (or the judges), to see whether
he have not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods. " This
passage Alfred renders as follows: “If anyone entrust his property
to his friend: if he shall steal it, let him pay double; if he know
not who has stolen it, let him excuse himself. ” Another Mosaic
law_"If men contend, and one smiteth the other with a stone, or
with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed : if he rise again,
and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall be that smote him be
quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him
to be thoroughly healedº”—has been much altered in Alfred's
version: “If a man strike his neighbour with a stone or with his
fist and he may nevertheless go about with a staff, let him provide
him a leech and do his work during the time that he is not able. ”
The law concerning the firstborn—“the firstborn of thy sons shalt
Gesta Regum Anglorum, 1, § 129.
• Ex. xxii, 7, 8.
& Ex. xxi, 18, 19.
8 L 1 CH VL.
## p. 98 (#118) #############################################
98
The Prose of Alfred
thou give unto me? ”-naturally finds no place in the West Saxon
code. Another alteration is the substitution of two oxen for five
in the Mosaic ordinance:" If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep,
and kill it, or sell it; be shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four
sheep for a sheep? . ” A remarkable addition, intended to counter-
act the severity of the Mosaic code as a whole, is that of the
apostolic letter, at the close of which Alfred continues in his own
words—"From this one law a man may learn how we ought to
judge aright. He needs no other law-books; let him bethink him
that he do not to another what he would not have done to himself. "
Alfred's code is, as we have indicated, of a composite
character. He links himself with the church not only by his
insertions from the Mosaic code but by his reference to "the
many synods throughout the world and throughout England, after
they had received the faith of Christ, of holy bishops and other
distinguished counsellors. ” Some of the synodical laws may have
been embodied in the West Saxon code. Further, we find, along-
side Alfred's own laws, those of Ine, of Offa and of Aethelbriht.
The Mercian laws ascribed to Offa are, unfortunately, lost, but the
Kentish laws of Aethelbriht, the earliest “dooms" we have,
though in a late copy, can be traced in Alfred's code, where
they have been inserted in a revised form. Bede refers to the
original Kentish laws as “written in English and still preserved.
Among which, the king in the first place set down what satis-
faction should be given by those who should steal anything
belonging to the church, the bishop and the other clergy"
(II, 5). The prominence given to the church seems to have
appealed forcibly to the historian. Aethelbriht's code is mainly
taken up with the penalties payable for the infliction of personal
injuries. The compensation for the loss of an ear is fixed, tariff-like,
at 68. , of an eye at 50s. , of a nose at 98. “If one man strike another
with the fist on the nose38. " Alfred carefully revised each of
the penalties before inserting Aethelbriht's code in his own. The
laws of Ine date back to the eighth century and are the earliest of
West Saxon laws. They were more comprehensive in character
than the laws of Kent, but seem, by Alfred's date, to have received
large accretions. Alfred adopted the developed code of Ine ap-
parently without subjecting it to revision. But he connects his own
particular code with the earlier one in such a way as to make the
one supplementary to the other. One of Ine's laws, as it appears
in Alfred's text, is worth quoting :
1 Ex. xxii, 29.
• Ex. xxii, 1.
## p. 99 (#119) #############################################
De Consolatione Philosophiae 99
If a man burn a tree in a wood and it is made clear who did it, let him
pay the full penalty of 60s. , because fire is a thief. If a man fell many trees
in a wood and it is found out, let him pay for three trees, each with 30s. He
need not pay for more, however many they be, because the axe is an informer
and not a thief.
It is possible that some years elapsed before Alfred began his
translation of Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae. Assuming
that his energies had been fully employed during the period from
888 to 893 with his early work, he could have had little leisure
for any new undertaking before the year 897. The freedom with
which the whole of this new task is carried out points to a late
period and a mature method. Boethius's book ranked among the
most characteristic products of the Middle Ages. Its influence
on later literature was immense, and is scarcely to be estimated
by the number of translations, numerous though they were. It
was done into English, after Alfred's time, by Chaucer and
Elizabeth, into German by Notker, into French by Jean de Meun.
An early metrical version in Provençal also exists. The influence
of Boethius has been traced in Beowulf; it permeates Dante
and Chaucer. The closing words of the Paradiso—“Already my
desire and will were rolled, even as a wheel that moveth equally,
by the love that moves the sun and the other stars"-owe their
origin to the Consolation of Philosophy. The book was written
while the author was under sentence of death after having fallen
into disfavour with the Ostrogothic king Theodric. It is in the
form of a dialogue between Boethius and Philosophy, wherein are
set forth the consolations associated with the contemplative state
of mind. The famous dissertation upon fate and providence is
conducted with considerable subtlety; but the atmosphere of the
book is religious rather than philosophical, and it is signally free
from the technicalities of the schools. Boethius harks back to
the early Greek standpoint of Plato, from whom he derives his
central doctrine of submissiveness. The finite is to be realised
only in the absolute, which is identical with love, and love is
realised by faith. The Middle Ages, with their vivid sense of an
overruling fate, found in Boethius an interpretation of life closely
akin to the spirit of Christianity. The Consolation of Philosophy
stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian
doctrine of humility, midway between the heathen philosophy of
Seneca and the later Christian philosophy of consolation repre-
sented by Thomas a Kempis. Alfred's religious outlook had much
in common with the gentle philosophy of “the last of the Romans,”
and the translation afforded him considerable opportunity for
-
7-2
## p. 100 (#120) ############################################
Ιοο
The Prose of Alfred
self-expression. In some passages the king identifies himself
with the philosopher and enlarges on metaphysical themes. In
others, as in the famous seventeenth chapter, he reflects on such
problems as his duty towards the stato
Thou knowest, Reason, that the greed and grandeur of this temporal
power have never pleased me much, nor have I longed overmuch for this
earthly kingdom; but I desired tools and material for the work which I was
ordered to work, in order that I might virtuously and fittingly control the
power entrusted to me.
The rendering of Boethius is never close, and the additions
give a unique character to the work. The spirit of Alfred's
version, naturally, is more in keeping with Christianity than is
the Neo-Platonic doctrine of Boethius. There is definite mention
of God and Christ where Boethius speaks of “the good,” or “love,”
or " the true way,” or “divine reason”; again, the English version
substitutes “angels” for “divine substance. ” The minor additions
are often interesting. The lynx is “an animal that can see
through anything—trees or even stones”; the parcae are "the
cruel goddesses who preside over the fates of every man"; Orpheus
is “an excellent good harper. ” Alfred's interest in geography
induced him to supply the information that ultima Thule is
situated “in the north-west of this earth,” and mount Etna in
“the island of Sicily. " But it is in the expanded passages that
the chief value of the book consists. The preface and chapter 1,
with its interesting account of the Latin author, are wholly
original. Chapter XVII, again, is original, save for a few lines.
Details concerning Busiris, Regulus and Seneca are inserted,
which are only partially translated, and the account of Cicero is
a noteworthy addition. It was a happy inspiration that led
Alfred to render the Latin-Ubi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii
manent ? - in the spirit of a Teuton attached to his national
legends—“Where are the bones of Weland ? ” He is much in-
terested in astrology, and refers more than once to "the cold
star," Saturn. The reflective passages afford most instructive
glimpses into the workings of the king's mind. They are per-
meated by deep religious fervour: “It is,” he writes, “ the expec-
tation and fancy of fools that power and wealth are the highest
good; but really it is quite otherwise. " He reflects on the vanity
of earthly ambition, “O glory of this world, why do men falsely
call thee glory, when thou art not so ? ” The literary beauty of
the similes employed by Alfred has been often noted. Prosperity
passes away "like a gust of wind”; blessings flow from the source
## p. 101 (#121) ############################################
Alfred's Rendering of Boethius
101
of all goodness “like waters from the sea. " God is likened to
a steersman who perceives the oncoming of a storm and makes
preparations against it. In an important article, Schepss raised
the question as to how far Alfred's interpolations were based on
Latin commentaries similar to that of Froumond, or upon scholia
such as are to be found in the Munich MS. He pointed out that,
in expanding Boethius's account of the giants, who incurred the
wrath of Jupiter by assailing heaven, Alfred introduced Nimrod
and the tower of Babel. The hint for this seems to have been
derived from the Munich MS. The famous simile of the egg-
Thou, glorious king of hosts, through strong might wonderfully didst
establish the earth so firmly that she inclineth not on any side nor may she
sink hither and thither any more than she ever did. Yet nothing earthly
sustains her, it is equally easy for this world to fall upwards or downwards
likest to that which happens in an egg, the yolk is in the midst yet glidetk
freely about the egg. So stands the world fixed in its place, while the streams,
the play of waters, the sky and the stars and the shining shell move about
day by day as they did long ago
and the other simile, of the wheel, in which God is compared to the
fixed axle round which the felly and spokes turn, are not wholly
original but, together with many other passages, show the influence
of the scholia. It is highly probable that much in Alfred's work
which has hitherto been looked upon as wholly original will be
found to have been based upon similar sources. The preface, on
the genuineness of which some doubt has been thrown, informs us
that Alfred was the translator of the book and that he rendered
his original “sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense,
as best he could amid the manifold occupations of his kingdom. ”
This description of the king's method is altogether in keeping with
that prefixed to the Pastoral Care. It is worthy of note that,
according to William of Malmesbury', Asser had previously glossed
the Latin for the king's benefit. In view of this statement the
present translation was, for a long time, considered to have been
the first of Alfred's undertakings. He may have intended to begin
Boethius at an early period, but it is certain that the translation
as we now have it is a late piece of work. The language has
given rise to interesting problems. The two chief MSS, the
Bodleian and the Cottonian, contain, according to Sievers, a
large number of Kentisms. These are possibly due to a scribe of
Kentish origin, the whole case being parallel to that of Bede.
Much discussion has arisen with regard to the authorship
of the alliterative metres which are to be found in the British
Gesta Regum Anglorum, 11, $ 122.
## p. 102 (#122) ############################################
102
The Prose of Alfred
Museum MS of Boethius (Otho A. 6). The younger MS at
Oxford contains a prose version of these metres. It is generally
agreed that the verse renderings are based, not on the Latin
directly, but on a West Saxon prose version. In the British
Museum MS the text is preceded by two prefaces, one of which
is in alliterative verse; the other, in prose, attributes the metres
to Alfred. Thomas Wright was the first to doubt the king's
authorship of the metres, but his arguments have been largely
disproved. Leicht was able to bring forward a more formidable
case. While admitting the weakness of Wright's arguments, he
contended that the case for Alfred's authorship rests on an
unsound basis. He agreed with Ten Brink in the opinion that
the preface ascribing the verses to Alfred is not authentic, and
maintained that the king, in attempting to render his own prose
into verse, would scarcely have clung so closely to his model as is
the case. On the other hand, Hartmann has pointed out that
Alfred's skill in prose argues no facility in verse-making. The
two poems in Cura Pastoralis have no more distinction than
those in the British Museum MS. Again, there are certain
expressions in this MS, not to be found in the Oxford type,
which definitely refer to passages in the latter. The author of
the verses appears to identify himself with the author of the prose
translation. On the whole, the question must be left open, though
it would seem that it rests with those who deny the king's author-
ship to establish their case. It is known that Alfred was an
enthusiast in regard to Old English verse, and it is not improbable
that he was well acquainted with the verses of his kinsman,
Aldhelm. A spirit of emulation may have led him to try his
hand at versification.
The West Saxon version of Augustine's Soliloquia stands last
in order of Alfred's translations, and considerable doubt has been
expressed as to its genuineness. Pauli, on the ground that
Alfred's name does not occur in the preface, rejects it altogether,
and finds justification in the fact that the language is an impure
form of West Saxon. Wülker, who formerly identified the Solilo-
quies with the Handbook, considers the book to be genuine. He
points out that the preface in its present form is mutilated and
that the twelfth century MS is too late to afford any evidence based
on style. Judging from the nature of the references to boly
orders, the translation appears to have been the work of a layman
rather than of a mouk, and the closing words, whether genuine or
not, attribute it to Alfred. The vocabulary of the Soliloquies
## p. 103 (#123) ############################################
103
Augustine's Soliloquies
bas much in common with that of Alfred's Boethius, and
there are close resemblances between the two works in thought
and style. Some of the original passages seem to have been
directly based upon translated portions of Boethius, and original
passages in both works sometimes correspond closely. Alfred
was attracted to Augustine by the nature of his theme.
The Latin work is a treatise on God and the soul, in which
much space is devoted to a discussion of immortality. The
translation is undertaken quite in accordance with Alfred's
customary methods. He renders the first book somewhat closely,
but paraphrases the sense and makes a few additions, in-
dulging his taste for simile in a comparison between the soul
at rest in God and a ship at anchor, and discoursing at length
on the changes that take place in nature, on the likeness between
God and the sun and on the relation between king and subject.
Book 11 he renders very freely. He discusses the problem of
immortality from an independent standpoint, " believe thine own
reason and believe Christ, the Son of God, and believe all His
saints for they were truthful witnesses, and believe thine own soul
which ever declares through reason that she is in thee. " Book III
is based on another source, Augustine’s De Videndo Deo, supple-
mented by passages from Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, Gregory's
Morals and Dialogues and Jerome's Commentary on Luke.
The dialogue form is continued for some time, though the
sources do not justify such an arrangement. The spirit of the
whole translation is deeply religious. It is a logical discussion
of the nature and future of the soul, in which Augustine's
dialectics are rejected in favour of common-sense reasoning.
There is a natural connection between the Soliloquies and
Boethius, since its central theme had already been suggested in
the closing pages of the latter. It has already been shown that
the preface to the Pastoral Care is in the nature of a general
introduction to Alfred's translated works; the preface to the
Soliloquies may be considered an epilogue--the king's farewell
to literature
I gathered me poles and props and bars and handles for each of the tools
which I could handle, and bough-timbers and bolt-timbers for each of the
tasks which I was capable of undertaking, the fairest wood, as far as I could
bear it away. I came not home with a great burden, since it pleased me not
to bring all the wood home, even if I could have carried it. On each tree I
saw something which I needed at home. Therefore, I advise every man who
is able and has many waggons, that he direct himself to the same wood where
I cut the props, and that he procure for himself more, and load his waggons
## p. 104 (#124) ############################################
104
The Prose of Alfred
with fair beams, that he may construct many a fair wall, and many a beautiful
house, and many a town and dwell there merrily and peacefully, both winter
and summer, as I have not done.
With this parable Alfred closes his literary career.
The literature of the reign for which the king was not directly
responsible owed at least its inspiration to him. In the monas-
teries the work of producing MSS went forward with great activity,
but the scribes were engaged in merely copying out books; they
did no original work. It had been customary, however, for the
monks to keep records of events of outstanding importance.
These monastic records were of the briefest possible kind, de-
signed to serve merely as landmarks in the passage of time and
not as historical surveys, but in these casual and unsystematic
notes Alfred perceived the nucleus for a larger survey of West
Saxon history. The change in the tone of the Chronicle has been
ascribed to Aethelwulf's reign, but it is probable that Alfred
was responsible for the systematic revision of the earlier records
back to Hengest and Horsa, and his connection with the Chronicle
is possibly referred to in Gaimar's Estorie des Engles, though the
allusion is somewhat obscure. The Chronicle, as known to us, is a
highly composite piece of work, and it consists of various recensions,
the relations between which have been carefully worked out by
Earle and Plummer? . The original nucleus belonged to Winchester,
the capital of the West Saxon kingdom. The Alfredian version
comes down to 892 only, at which date the first hand in the MS
ceases, and of this portion Alfred may be supposed to have acted
as supervisor.
From a historical point of view, the Chronicle was the first
national continuous history of a western nation in its own language;
from a literary point of view, it was the first great book in English
prose. The account of the years 893—7 is one of the most vivid
in the whole of the annals. The struggle with the Danes and
the great series of campaigns extending over the whole of the
south of England are described in detail. At one time the king
is at Exeter while Aethelred, the ealdorman, is occupied on the
Severn, the struggle extending north as far as York and Chester.
Alfred's military and naval reforms are enlarged upon, the
king's brilliant exploits, and his care for the nation's well-being,
inspiring the annalist with the spirit of a historian. The whole
i The different recensions of the Chronicle and its further development are dealt
with in the chapter that follows.
## p. 105 (#125) ############################################
The Translation of Gregory's Dialogues 105
narrative is a masterpiece of Old English prose, full of vigour
and life.
The West Saxon translation of Gregory's Dialogues owed its -
inspiration directly to Alfred. The authorship of the translation
has never been called in question; both Asser and William of
Malmesbury attribute it to Werferth, bishop of Worcester, who
undertook the task at the king's bidding. The book is partly
in dialogue form. Gregory is found by his deacon, Peter, sitting
“in a solitary place, very fit for a sad and melancholy dis-
position. ” The stories, which Gregory proceeds to tell, serve to
relieve his mind of its weight of thought. The monk, Martinius,
impresses the sign of the cross upon a hearth-cake with a motion
of the hand; a sweet fragrance miraculously arises from the grave
of count Theophanius; bishop Frigidianus turns the course of
the Serchio by marking out its bed with a rake. Book II is
exclusively devoted to St Benedict. The collection was an
attempt to complete the accepted lives of the saints by a recital
of miraculous deeds performed in Italy. Towards the end of the
book Gregory leaves Italy and tells the story of St Hermenegild
and his brother, king Recarede. The preface, in the Oxford and
Cambridge MSS, is the work of the king and is thus of particular
interest-
I, Alfred, by God's grace, dignified with the title of king, have perceived
and often learnt from the reading of sacred books, that we, to whom God hath
given so much worldly honour, have particular need to humble and subdue
our minds to the divine law, in the midst of worldly cares; accordingly,
I besought my faithful friends that they would write down out of holy
books concerning the miracles of the saints the following narrative; that I,
strengthened in my mind by admonition and love, might think upon spiritual
things in the midst of my worldly cares.
The MSS of the Dialogues have given rise to interesting
problems. The Cambridge and British Museum types are closely
related and stand apart from that of Oxford. From this fact
Krebs deduced the theory that the Dialogues were translated on
two separate occasions. A more careful comparison of the MSS
has shown that they are all derived from a single original, of which
the Oxford type represents a revised version.
The West Saxon Martyrology may be ascribed to Alfred's
reign. Cockayne was of opinion that the oldest MS—that in the
British Museum-dates from the ninth century. It is noteworthy
that the saints referred to belong either to the period preceding
the king's reign or to the reign itself. Another proof of the age
## p. 106 (#126) ############################################
106
The Prose of Alfred
of the collection is the fact that under 5 August Oswald is described
as buried at Bardney, though his body was moved to Gloucester
soon after Alfred's death. The story of St Milus (15 November)
seems to have been derived from the east. The Leech-book attests
Alfred's relations with Elias, the patriarch of Jerusalem, whose
rule extended from 897 to 907. The Martyrology is incomplete,
but it extends from 31 December to 21 December.
Alfred's literary reputation caused a number of other works to
be ascribed to him for which there is no trustworthy evidence. Of
these the most important is the so-called Psalter. William of
Malmesbury makes a statement to the effect that Alfred began
a translation of the Psalms, but was unable to complete it
Psalterium transferre aggressus vix prima parte explicata
vivendi finem fecit. Curiously enough, an eleventh century MS
in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris contains an Old English
prose version of the first fifty psalms, followed by an alliterative
version of the remainder (psalms li-cl), Wülker conjectures
that the prose portions were based on the work of Alfred re-
ferred to by William of Malmesbury. Each psalm is preceded
by an introduction, in which are set forth the circumstances
under which the psalm was written. The translation is free,
and the method of rendering one word by two is frequently
resorted to. In this latter respect the prose Psalter resembles
Alfred's Bede and Pastoral Care”. The alliterative portions
in the Paris MS were probably introduced to supplement the
deficiencies of the prose version; there can be no doubt that a
complete alliterative version of the Psalms was in existence when
the prose was undertaken.
Alfred has been credited with a collection of Proverbs in
metrical form. In favour of this there is not the slightest evidence.
For centuries he must have had some reputation as a philosopher,
and an anonymous collection of maxims would naturally be
associated with his name. A treatise on Falconry and a trans-
lation of Aesop's Fables have also been attributed to him, but for
neither of these is there any evidence.
Alfred's literary achievement is of immense importance. The
prominence given to the vernacular during his reign made it
possible for English literature to develop on its own lines. He
was wise enough to limit himself to the work of translation, since
he had not, apparently, great creative genius in letters. But the
i Gesta Regum Anglorum, n1, 128.
• But see Bruce's Anglo-Saxon Version of the Book of Psalms.
## p. 107 (#127) ############################################
Alfred's Literary Achievement 107
effect of his choice of models was to introduce a large Latin'
element into Old English prose style. Compared with the abrupt
and rugged style of the king Cynewulf episode in the early part
of the Chronicle, Alfred's prose is that of an accomplished writer:
compared with later prose, it is largely tentative. It was not
until nearly a century later that more definite results were
achieved when Aelfric took up the task left incomplete by the
West Saxon king. Apart from the historic estimate, Alfred
has some personal claim to recognition as a prose-writer. His
original passages, however much they may owe to undiscovered
sources, embody his own personal convictions, and afford a remark-
able proof of his ability to inform with life the materials at his
disposal. In literature, personality is of the utmost importance,
and Alfred is one of the most personal of writers. He is the
embodiment, not only of the intellectual, but of the spiritual,
thoughts of his time. His writings constantly reveal his aspira-
tions after truth, and, even in the Laws, there is a definitely
religious tone. “I have wished,” he writes in Boethius, “to live
worthily while I lived, and to leave to those who should come
after me my memory in good deeds. ” And, in the language of
the inscription on the monument erected to his memory at
Wantage in 1877, he “found learning dead, and he restored it; / -
education neglected, and he revived it. "
## p. 108 (#128) ############################################
CHAPTER VII
FROM ALFRED TO THE CONQUEST
It seems permissible to treat the year 901, when king Alfred
died, as the dividing line between the earlier and later periods
of Old English literature. According to this classification, nearly
all the poetry composed in this country before the Norman con-
quest would fall within the first period; while the bulk of the
prose writings in the vernacular would be included in the second.
It was, indeed, during the tenth and eleventh centuries that our
language in its Old English stage attained its highest develop-
ment as a prose medium. The circumstances of the time were
unfavourable to the production of sustained poems. This may
be owing to the gradual break-up of Old English tradition
and to the influence of another Germanic literature, then at its
height, in the English court. The chief poetical fragments that
have survived from these years deal with contemporary events,
and seem to be the outbreak of emotions too strong to be sup-
pressed.
Like feelings find their expression also in the prose literature
of these centuries, which saw not only the rise of the West Saxon
kings to full mastery over England, but also the victories of Dane
and Norman, and the quenching of all hope of English rule over
England until the conquered should absorb the conquerors. There
was scarcely a year during this period in which the harassed rulers
of the kingdom could afford to lay aside their arms; though,
during the time of comparative quiet between the death of
Aethelstan and the accession of Aethelred, England took an active
part in the monastic revival which was a marked feature of
contemporary European history. In these times of struggle, letters
and learning found, for a time, their grave, and long years of patient
struggle were needed to revive them.
The gloomy tale is nowhere better told than in the Chronicle,
which, written in simple language, alone marks for more than half a
century the continuance of literary activity in England.
See note on p. 445.
## p. 109 (#129) ############################################
The Old English Chronicle 109
The beginning of the Chronicle is usually ascribed to the influence
of Alfred, and it continues for two and a half centuries after that
king's reign, long after the last English king had been slain and the
old tongue banished from court and school. Its principal recen-
sions' differ from one another not in the main story, but in the
attention given to various details, and in the length to which they
are carried. Owing to the number of hands employed in its
composition, the literary merit is very unequal; sometimes the
entries consist of a date and the simple statement of an event; at
others we find passages of fluent and glowing narrative, as in the
record of the war-filled years from 911 to 924. The period from
925 to 975 is very bare, and such entries as exist relate mostly
to church matters. It is, however, within this time that the
principal poems of the Chronicle are inserted. Under 991 is
told the story of Anlaf's raid at Maldon in which Byrhtnoth fell.
In the years 975—1001, the Chronicle is of extreme interest, and
the annals for the year 1001 are very full. Some time about
the middle, or towards the last quarter, of the eleventh century
the present recension of the Winchester chronicle was transplanted
to Christ Church, Canterbury, and there completed with Canterbury
annals, passages being interpolated in various places from begin-
ning to end from the chronicle kept at St Augustine's, Christ
Church library having been previously burnt. Before this, the
notice taken of Canterbury events was so extremely slight that
we do not even hear of the murder of archbishop Aelfhēah (St
Alphege) by the Danes. The MS known as Cott. Tib. A. VI
seems to have been originally meant to serve as an introduction
to further annals, which, however, were never written; and it
is, apparently, a copy of the original Abingdon chronicle (itself
a copy of the original Winchester, written at Abingdon), which
did not reach beyond 977. The MS under consideration is shown,
by a mass of internal and external evidence, to have been written
about 977, the year to which its annals reach. It may fitly be
called the shorter Abingdon chronicle to distinguish it from the
longer Abingdon chronicle referred to below, with which it has
did not reacof internal an which its anne
i The Winchester or Parker chronicle, in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge; the shorter Abingdon chronicle (Cott, Tib. A. VI); the longer Abingdon
chronicle (Cott. Tib. B. I); the Evesham or Worcester chronicle (Cott. Tib. B. IV);
the Peterborough chronicle (Bod. Laud. 636).
* The recension under notice is a copy of the original Winchester chronicle, which
latter was also the source of the original Abingdon chronicle. Hence the agreement
with Tib. A. VI, and Tib. B. I, up to 892. Naturally, it does not incorporate the
Mercian chronicle, but maintains a kind of separate parallelism from 894–915.
## p. 110 (#130) ############################################
110
Alfred to the Conquest
From
much in common’; both, for example, bodily insert the Mercian
annals (sometimes called the chronicle of Aethelflaed). These
extend from 902–925, and tell, with some detail, of the warlike
feats of the Lady of Mercia. It may be noted, in passing, that these
Mercian annals occur in the so-called Worcester chronicle, where,
however, they are distributed, with some omissions, amongst other
matter. These Mercian annals are of the greatest interest, both in
origin and history. Their chronology differs considerably from that
of other chronicles. Perhaps the original document, or some copy
of it, in which they were contained, is to be traced under the
record Cronica duo Anglica in the Catalogi veteres librorum
Ecclesiae Dunelmi, where we also find the record of Elfedes Boc
in the same place. This at once suggests to us the existence
of these annals in a book of Aethelflaed, telling of her fight for
English freedom. Thus, the inscription and record bring us into
close connection with what may well have suggested and stimulated
the heroic poem of Judith.
The (longer) Abingdon chronicle is so called because, from its
references to the affairs of that monastery, it is supposed to have
been written there. This longer chronicle is not expanded from
the shorter, nor the shorter extracted from the longer. Both have
a number of independent annals up to the very year 977 where the
common original ended. It may be surmised that the author of
the recension under notice found the original Abingdon ready up
to 977 (when the troubles consequent on Edgar's death may have
accounted for many things), and further annals up to 1018, to
which he made later additions. The MS tells of the election of
Siward, abbot of Abingdon, as archbishop of Canterbury in 1044,
the appointment of Aethelstan as his successor to the abbacy,
Aethelstan's death in 1047 and archbishop Siward's return to the
monastery after his retirement from office in 1048.
In 892, a copy of the southern chronicle was sent to a northern
cloister, and there was revised with the aid of the text of Bede's
Ecclesiastical History. There seems, also, to have been a northern
continuation of Bede's History, and, from this, were woven into
the chronicler's text annals from 737–806. Fifteen of these annals
are wholly, and sixteen partly, Northumbrian. That these annals
were taken from some such source seems to be proved by their
being found also in other works. The chronicler then followed
southern sources until 904, when he began to weave into his
text the book of Aethelflaed, mingling with it southern and
1 Cott. Tib. B. Le Cott. Tib. B. IV. See p. 142
## p. 111 (#131) ############################################
III
The Old English Chronicle
northern records. From 983—1022, he returned to his Abingdon
source. After this he struck out on his own line. From the
original thus created was copied the extant MS commonly known
as the Worcester or Evesham chronicle', which shows especial
acquaintance with the midlands and north. The close connection
between Worcester and York is shown by the fact that the arch-
bishop of York is mentioned simply as “the archbishop. ” The
chronicle shows strong feeling on the subject of Godwin's outlawry,
and in every way supports that nobleman. Alone amongst the
chronicles it tells the sad tale of the battle of Hastings. The
original, from which the above chronicle was copied, seems also to
have been the basis for that patriotic Kentish chronicle, now lost,
which was the chief source both of the Peterborough chronicle up
to 1123 and the recension known as Cott. Dom. A. VIII, 2.
The Peterborough chronicle is the longest of all, extending to
the year 1154. In 1116, the town and monastery of Peterborough
were destroyed by a terrible fire, which left standing only the
monastic chapterhouse and dormitory, and when, in 1121, the
rebuilding was completed, the annals contained in this chronicle
were undertaken to replace those lost in the fire. They were
based on the lost Kentish chronicle, which must have been for-
warded to Peterborough for that purpose. This original Kentish
chronicle is full of patriotic feeling, and shows great knowledge
of southern affairs from Canute's death, the burial of Harold
Harefoot (the record of which it alone rightly tells) and the
viking raid on Sandwich, to the feuds between English and
Normans in the reign of the Confessor. It relates count Eustace's
broils with the English at Canterbury and Dover, and the flight of
archbishop Robert, leaving his pallium behind him, an annal recorded
with dangerously schismatic glee. The scribe had lived at the
court of William the Conqueror, and had, therefore, seen the face
of the great enemy of the English. The entries for the tenth
century are very meagre; but from 991 to 1075 they are much
fuller and contain, among other contemporary records, the story
of the ravages of Hereward. Towards the end of the chronicle,
which is written in a somewhat rough and ready manner, occurs
the famous passage, often quoted by historians, telling of the
wretchedness of the common folk during the reign of Stephen and
its civil wars.
From the lost Kentish chronicle is derived the recension known
as F or Cott. Domitian A. VIII, 2, seemingly written by one hand
1 Cott. Tib. B. IV.
* Bod. Land. 636.
## p. 112 (#132) ############################################
112 From Alfred to the Conquest
in the twelfth century, and of interest because of its mixed use
Bar of Latin and English. In this it indicates the approach of the
employment of Latin as the general literary vehicle of English
culture. There is great confusion in its bilingual employment
of Latin and English ; sometimes English is the original and
Latin the copy, at other times the process is reversed; finally,
in some passages, Latin and English become ludicrously mixed.
Two other recensions exist as mere fragments : one, of three
damaged leaves, in a hand of the eleventh century, is bound
up with a copy of Bede's Ecclesiastical History? ; and the other?
consists of a single leaf. The manuscript to which the former of
these fragments belonged was edited by Wheloc in 1644 before it
was consumed in the Cottonian fire.
The following table adapted from Plummer shows the relations of the
various MSS to each other, the extant MSS being indicated by initial letters:
Original Winchester
(A) Winchester Original Abingdon
(B) (shorter) Abingdon (O) (longer) Abingdon Original Worcester
Lost Kentish
(D) Worcester
Lost enlarged Kentish (F) MS. Cotton Dom. A. VIII, 2.
(E) Peterborough
The Chronicle is of inestimable value as an authority for the
history of the time. The impression it leaves on the reader
is one of almost unrelieved gloom. Records of harrying with
fire and sword occur on almost every page, and, whether the
English ealdormen or the Danes “possess the place of slaughter,"
the wild lawlessness and the contempt for human life which pre-
vailed during the greater part of the period are plainly visible.
Sometimes the chronicler displays bitter indignation at the mis-
government of the country, as when he tells how Aethelred and
his ealdormen and the high witan forsook the navy which had
been collected with immense effort by the people and “let the
toil of all the nation thus lightly perish. ” But the entries are
usually of an entirely impersonal kind; the horror and desolation,
the fiery signs in the heaven and the plagues that befell men and
cattle upon earth, are recorded without comment; such misfortunes
were too common to call for special remark in the days of the long
struggle between Dane and Englishman.
Cott. Oth, B. XI, 2.
• Cott. Tib. A. III, fol. 175,
## p. 113 (#133) ############################################
The Monastic Reform
113
It has already been said that this portion of the Chronicle
contains several fragments of verse. These will be noticed later.
Here, it may, however, be remarked that some passages, written as
prose, are based on songs which have been inserted, after some
slight modification, by the scribe; and, towards the end of the
Peterborough chronicle, there occur some long stretches of rhythmic
prose almost akin to the sung verse of the people. These may be
either a development of the loose rhythm of Aelfric's prose, or may,
possibly, result from the incorporation of ballads and their reduc-
tion to prose. The subject is, however, still too obscure to admit
of any very definite statement on this point, and most of what has
been said on this subject seems far removed from finality.
From this brief description of the manuscripts of the Chronicle
we must turn to the homilists, who showed especial vigour between
960 and 1020. The development reached in style and in literary
tradition is at once apparent; it had its origin, doubtless, in the
religious revival of the tenth century, which emanated from Fleury,
and was identified in England with the names of Dunstan, Aethel-
wold and Oswald, the "three torches” of the church.
At the beginning of the tenth century, English monasticism and,
therefore, the state of learning in England, were in a deplorable
condition, from which all the efforts of king Alfred had been
unable to lift them. There were religious houses, of course, but
most of these seem to have been in the condition of Abingdon
when Aethelwold was appointed abbot"a place in which a little
monastery had been kept up from ancient days, but then desolate
and neglected, consisting of mean buildings and possessing only
a few hides. ” To the influence of the Benedictine reformers
we owe much of the prose literature of the tenth and eleventh
centuries. The great bond thus knit once more between English
literature and the literature of the continent ensured our share in
what was then living of classical and pseudo-classical lore.
With the accession of Edgar (959) better times dawned. On
the death of Odo, Dunstan became archbishop, and, in 961, Oswald,
Odo's nephew, was consecrated to the see of Worcester. His
appointment was followed in 963 by that of Aethelwold, abbot
of Abingdon, to the see of Winchester, and the three bishops set
about a vigorous ecclesiastical reform. During the reigns of
Edgar and his sons no fewer than forty monasteries for men
were founded or restored, and these were peopled chiefly by
monks trained at Abingdon or Winchester.
E. L. I. CH. VII.
8
## p. 114 (#134) ############################################
114 From Alfred to the Conquest
The most famous school of all was that founded at Winchester
by Aethelwold, one of the most distinguished of the pupils of
Dunstan, and himself an enthusiastic teacher, who did not scorn
to explain the difficulties of Donatus and Priscian to the postulants
and other youthful frequenters of the Benedictine school. The
most important of his scholars was Aelfric, the greatest prose
writer in the vernacular before the Conquest.
The inhabitants of the newly restored monasteries naturally
required instruction in the Benedictine rule, and to this necessity
is due the version of the rule which Aethelwold drew up under
the title Regularis Concordia Anglicae Nationis Monachorum
Sanctimonialiumque. In the beginning of this he stated that the
work had the sanction of the king, and that it was framed at a
council at Winchester. The name of the writer is nowhere given,
and, were it not that Aelfric, in his Letter to the Monks of
Eynsham, says that the source of his information is bishop
Aethelwold's De Consuetudine, and quotes long passages from the
Regularis (evidently the same work), we should be ignorant
of the authorship?
But it was not enough to multiply copies and commentaries
of the Rule in Latin. Many of the newly admitted postulants
and novices were quite ignorant of that language, and, therefore,
king Edgar further entrusted Aethelwold with the task of
translating the Rule into English, giving him, in acknowledgment,
the manor of Southborne, which he assigned to the newly restored
monastery at Ely. There are several MSS containing an Old
English version of the Rule, and, in one of them, it is followed
by a historical sketch of the monastic revival of the tenth century,
which recounts Edgar's share in the movement, his refounding
of Abingdon and his command to translate into English the Rule.
Schröer thinks that this tractate is by the author of the foregoing
version of the Rule; but, since the writer calls himself everywhere
“abbot,” and not “bishop,” if it is by Aethelwold, he must have
made it between 959, the year of Edgar's accession, and 963, when
he became bishop of Winchester.
It is possible that the Blickling Homilies, so called because
the MS is preserved at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, were also due
to this religious revival. They are nineteen in number, but several
are incomplete, and some are mere fragments. The earlier
Miss Bateson, Rules for monks and secular canons after the revival under king
Edgar, Eng. Hist. Review, 1894.
2 Faustina A.
## p. 115 (#135) ############################################
The Blickling Homilies 115
homilies are sermons, properly so called; but the later are largely
narrative in character, and are based on legendary sources.
The style of these homilies stands midway between the style --
of Alfred and that of Aelfric; it is more developed than the
one, more primitive than the other; it is rude, vehement and
homely, more indulgent of legend and shows the primitive love
for recitative; the syntax is clumsy, and the vocabulary often
archaic. On the other hand, the treatment is sometimes very
poetical, though this characteristic appears rather in simile and
metaphor than in rhythm of structure. “The redness of the rose
glitters in thee, and the whiteness of the lily shines in thee," says
Gabriel to Mary; and Heaven is pictured as a place where there
“is youth without age; nor is there hunger nor thirst, nor wind
nor storm nor rush of waters. " The palm branch in the hand
of the angel who announces to the Virgin her approaching death
is “bright as the morning star," and the Lord appears to Andrew
with a face “like that of a fair child. ” Equally poetical are the
passages that deal with more sombre themes, such as doomsday,
the lamentation of the lost at the barrowing of hell and the vision
of St Paul of the souls clinging to the cliffs from which the devils
sought to drag them away. Morris has pointed out that there is
a good deal of similarity between this last passage and the well-
known lines in Beowulf which describe the “rimy groves” which
grew above the abyss where Grendel had his home. But exactly
similar descriptions are found in all other versions of this aged
legend? . Aelfric, it is true, rejected the legend on critical grounds,
but the coming centuries were to see it become the basis of a
masterpiece of the world's poetry.
of the famous ecclesiastical controversy which took place at Whitby
-a fact which seems to Miller to confirm his view that the translator
was not a West Saxon but a Mercian, keenly aware of Scotch
susceptibilities. Bede's accounts of the great figures of the early
churches are retained, though the story of Adamnan is omitted.
In the interest of his narrative Alfred omits such documents as
letters from popes and bishops, retaining only Gregory's first
letter to the monks and this in oratio obliqua. The finest passage
in the English version is the account of Caedmon, an excellent
piece of early prose, and Caedmon's hymn is inserted in a West
Saxon form, of which the original is to be found only in the
Moore MS of Bede's History. The style is frequently marred
by over-literalness. Latin constructions are constantly introduced
i Gesta Regum Anglorum, 11, § 123.
## p. 97 (#117) #############################################
Old English Codes of Law
97
in an altogether un-English fashion, and words are used in an
un-English sense as equivalents for Latin terms. A peculiarity
of the style is the employment of two English terms to represent a
single term in the original. On the whole, the translation cannot
rank very high among Alfred's works, even if it be rightly attri-
buted to him.
There is no external evidence to enable us to decide the date of
Alfred's code of laws. The historical introduction, based on the
Pulgate, shows considerable independence and cannot be dated
very early. The composition of the code may be assigned, pro-
visionally, to the close of Alfred's first translation period (c. 893),
without, however, attaching much importance to Malmesbury's
statement that it was undertaken “amid the clash of armsı. " The
code is of a somewhat composite character, and has usually been
arranged in three sections—the introduction, the laws of Alfred
proper and the laws of Ine. In his monograph entitled The Legal
Code of Alfred the Great, Turk points out that this arrangement is
not justified by the MSS. The introduction consists properly of
two parts—the historical introduction based on the Mosaic law and
the introduction proper. The insertions from the Mosaic law give
a universal character to Alfred's code. They are rendered some-
what freely, large portions of the Latin text being omitted and
other portions altered. One of the Mosaic laws ran as follows:
“If a man shall deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep,
and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, he
shall pay double. If the thief be not found, then the master of
the house shall come near unto God (or the judges), to see whether
he have not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods. " This
passage Alfred renders as follows: “If anyone entrust his property
to his friend: if he shall steal it, let him pay double; if he know
not who has stolen it, let him excuse himself. ” Another Mosaic
law_"If men contend, and one smiteth the other with a stone, or
with his fist, and he die not, but keep his bed : if he rise again,
and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall be that smote him be
quit; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him
to be thoroughly healedº”—has been much altered in Alfred's
version: “If a man strike his neighbour with a stone or with his
fist and he may nevertheless go about with a staff, let him provide
him a leech and do his work during the time that he is not able. ”
The law concerning the firstborn—“the firstborn of thy sons shalt
Gesta Regum Anglorum, 1, § 129.
• Ex. xxii, 7, 8.
& Ex. xxi, 18, 19.
8 L 1 CH VL.
## p. 98 (#118) #############################################
98
The Prose of Alfred
thou give unto me? ”-naturally finds no place in the West Saxon
code. Another alteration is the substitution of two oxen for five
in the Mosaic ordinance:" If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep,
and kill it, or sell it; be shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four
sheep for a sheep? . ” A remarkable addition, intended to counter-
act the severity of the Mosaic code as a whole, is that of the
apostolic letter, at the close of which Alfred continues in his own
words—"From this one law a man may learn how we ought to
judge aright. He needs no other law-books; let him bethink him
that he do not to another what he would not have done to himself. "
Alfred's code is, as we have indicated, of a composite
character. He links himself with the church not only by his
insertions from the Mosaic code but by his reference to "the
many synods throughout the world and throughout England, after
they had received the faith of Christ, of holy bishops and other
distinguished counsellors. ” Some of the synodical laws may have
been embodied in the West Saxon code. Further, we find, along-
side Alfred's own laws, those of Ine, of Offa and of Aethelbriht.
The Mercian laws ascribed to Offa are, unfortunately, lost, but the
Kentish laws of Aethelbriht, the earliest “dooms" we have,
though in a late copy, can be traced in Alfred's code, where
they have been inserted in a revised form. Bede refers to the
original Kentish laws as “written in English and still preserved.
Among which, the king in the first place set down what satis-
faction should be given by those who should steal anything
belonging to the church, the bishop and the other clergy"
(II, 5). The prominence given to the church seems to have
appealed forcibly to the historian. Aethelbriht's code is mainly
taken up with the penalties payable for the infliction of personal
injuries. The compensation for the loss of an ear is fixed, tariff-like,
at 68. , of an eye at 50s. , of a nose at 98. “If one man strike another
with the fist on the nose38. " Alfred carefully revised each of
the penalties before inserting Aethelbriht's code in his own. The
laws of Ine date back to the eighth century and are the earliest of
West Saxon laws. They were more comprehensive in character
than the laws of Kent, but seem, by Alfred's date, to have received
large accretions. Alfred adopted the developed code of Ine ap-
parently without subjecting it to revision. But he connects his own
particular code with the earlier one in such a way as to make the
one supplementary to the other. One of Ine's laws, as it appears
in Alfred's text, is worth quoting :
1 Ex. xxii, 29.
• Ex. xxii, 1.
## p. 99 (#119) #############################################
De Consolatione Philosophiae 99
If a man burn a tree in a wood and it is made clear who did it, let him
pay the full penalty of 60s. , because fire is a thief. If a man fell many trees
in a wood and it is found out, let him pay for three trees, each with 30s. He
need not pay for more, however many they be, because the axe is an informer
and not a thief.
It is possible that some years elapsed before Alfred began his
translation of Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophiae. Assuming
that his energies had been fully employed during the period from
888 to 893 with his early work, he could have had little leisure
for any new undertaking before the year 897. The freedom with
which the whole of this new task is carried out points to a late
period and a mature method. Boethius's book ranked among the
most characteristic products of the Middle Ages. Its influence
on later literature was immense, and is scarcely to be estimated
by the number of translations, numerous though they were. It
was done into English, after Alfred's time, by Chaucer and
Elizabeth, into German by Notker, into French by Jean de Meun.
An early metrical version in Provençal also exists. The influence
of Boethius has been traced in Beowulf; it permeates Dante
and Chaucer. The closing words of the Paradiso—“Already my
desire and will were rolled, even as a wheel that moveth equally,
by the love that moves the sun and the other stars"-owe their
origin to the Consolation of Philosophy. The book was written
while the author was under sentence of death after having fallen
into disfavour with the Ostrogothic king Theodric. It is in the
form of a dialogue between Boethius and Philosophy, wherein are
set forth the consolations associated with the contemplative state
of mind. The famous dissertation upon fate and providence is
conducted with considerable subtlety; but the atmosphere of the
book is religious rather than philosophical, and it is signally free
from the technicalities of the schools. Boethius harks back to
the early Greek standpoint of Plato, from whom he derives his
central doctrine of submissiveness. The finite is to be realised
only in the absolute, which is identical with love, and love is
realised by faith. The Middle Ages, with their vivid sense of an
overruling fate, found in Boethius an interpretation of life closely
akin to the spirit of Christianity. The Consolation of Philosophy
stands, by its note of fatalism and its affinities with the Christian
doctrine of humility, midway between the heathen philosophy of
Seneca and the later Christian philosophy of consolation repre-
sented by Thomas a Kempis. Alfred's religious outlook had much
in common with the gentle philosophy of “the last of the Romans,”
and the translation afforded him considerable opportunity for
-
7-2
## p. 100 (#120) ############################################
Ιοο
The Prose of Alfred
self-expression. In some passages the king identifies himself
with the philosopher and enlarges on metaphysical themes. In
others, as in the famous seventeenth chapter, he reflects on such
problems as his duty towards the stato
Thou knowest, Reason, that the greed and grandeur of this temporal
power have never pleased me much, nor have I longed overmuch for this
earthly kingdom; but I desired tools and material for the work which I was
ordered to work, in order that I might virtuously and fittingly control the
power entrusted to me.
The rendering of Boethius is never close, and the additions
give a unique character to the work. The spirit of Alfred's
version, naturally, is more in keeping with Christianity than is
the Neo-Platonic doctrine of Boethius. There is definite mention
of God and Christ where Boethius speaks of “the good,” or “love,”
or " the true way,” or “divine reason”; again, the English version
substitutes “angels” for “divine substance. ” The minor additions
are often interesting. The lynx is “an animal that can see
through anything—trees or even stones”; the parcae are "the
cruel goddesses who preside over the fates of every man"; Orpheus
is “an excellent good harper. ” Alfred's interest in geography
induced him to supply the information that ultima Thule is
situated “in the north-west of this earth,” and mount Etna in
“the island of Sicily. " But it is in the expanded passages that
the chief value of the book consists. The preface and chapter 1,
with its interesting account of the Latin author, are wholly
original. Chapter XVII, again, is original, save for a few lines.
Details concerning Busiris, Regulus and Seneca are inserted,
which are only partially translated, and the account of Cicero is
a noteworthy addition. It was a happy inspiration that led
Alfred to render the Latin-Ubi nunc fidelis ossa Fabricii
manent ? - in the spirit of a Teuton attached to his national
legends—“Where are the bones of Weland ? ” He is much in-
terested in astrology, and refers more than once to "the cold
star," Saturn. The reflective passages afford most instructive
glimpses into the workings of the king's mind. They are per-
meated by deep religious fervour: “It is,” he writes, “ the expec-
tation and fancy of fools that power and wealth are the highest
good; but really it is quite otherwise. " He reflects on the vanity
of earthly ambition, “O glory of this world, why do men falsely
call thee glory, when thou art not so ? ” The literary beauty of
the similes employed by Alfred has been often noted. Prosperity
passes away "like a gust of wind”; blessings flow from the source
## p. 101 (#121) ############################################
Alfred's Rendering of Boethius
101
of all goodness “like waters from the sea. " God is likened to
a steersman who perceives the oncoming of a storm and makes
preparations against it. In an important article, Schepss raised
the question as to how far Alfred's interpolations were based on
Latin commentaries similar to that of Froumond, or upon scholia
such as are to be found in the Munich MS. He pointed out that,
in expanding Boethius's account of the giants, who incurred the
wrath of Jupiter by assailing heaven, Alfred introduced Nimrod
and the tower of Babel. The hint for this seems to have been
derived from the Munich MS. The famous simile of the egg-
Thou, glorious king of hosts, through strong might wonderfully didst
establish the earth so firmly that she inclineth not on any side nor may she
sink hither and thither any more than she ever did. Yet nothing earthly
sustains her, it is equally easy for this world to fall upwards or downwards
likest to that which happens in an egg, the yolk is in the midst yet glidetk
freely about the egg. So stands the world fixed in its place, while the streams,
the play of waters, the sky and the stars and the shining shell move about
day by day as they did long ago
and the other simile, of the wheel, in which God is compared to the
fixed axle round which the felly and spokes turn, are not wholly
original but, together with many other passages, show the influence
of the scholia. It is highly probable that much in Alfred's work
which has hitherto been looked upon as wholly original will be
found to have been based upon similar sources. The preface, on
the genuineness of which some doubt has been thrown, informs us
that Alfred was the translator of the book and that he rendered
his original “sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for sense,
as best he could amid the manifold occupations of his kingdom. ”
This description of the king's method is altogether in keeping with
that prefixed to the Pastoral Care. It is worthy of note that,
according to William of Malmesbury', Asser had previously glossed
the Latin for the king's benefit. In view of this statement the
present translation was, for a long time, considered to have been
the first of Alfred's undertakings. He may have intended to begin
Boethius at an early period, but it is certain that the translation
as we now have it is a late piece of work. The language has
given rise to interesting problems. The two chief MSS, the
Bodleian and the Cottonian, contain, according to Sievers, a
large number of Kentisms. These are possibly due to a scribe of
Kentish origin, the whole case being parallel to that of Bede.
Much discussion has arisen with regard to the authorship
of the alliterative metres which are to be found in the British
Gesta Regum Anglorum, 11, $ 122.
## p. 102 (#122) ############################################
102
The Prose of Alfred
Museum MS of Boethius (Otho A. 6). The younger MS at
Oxford contains a prose version of these metres. It is generally
agreed that the verse renderings are based, not on the Latin
directly, but on a West Saxon prose version. In the British
Museum MS the text is preceded by two prefaces, one of which
is in alliterative verse; the other, in prose, attributes the metres
to Alfred. Thomas Wright was the first to doubt the king's
authorship of the metres, but his arguments have been largely
disproved. Leicht was able to bring forward a more formidable
case. While admitting the weakness of Wright's arguments, he
contended that the case for Alfred's authorship rests on an
unsound basis. He agreed with Ten Brink in the opinion that
the preface ascribing the verses to Alfred is not authentic, and
maintained that the king, in attempting to render his own prose
into verse, would scarcely have clung so closely to his model as is
the case. On the other hand, Hartmann has pointed out that
Alfred's skill in prose argues no facility in verse-making. The
two poems in Cura Pastoralis have no more distinction than
those in the British Museum MS. Again, there are certain
expressions in this MS, not to be found in the Oxford type,
which definitely refer to passages in the latter. The author of
the verses appears to identify himself with the author of the prose
translation. On the whole, the question must be left open, though
it would seem that it rests with those who deny the king's author-
ship to establish their case. It is known that Alfred was an
enthusiast in regard to Old English verse, and it is not improbable
that he was well acquainted with the verses of his kinsman,
Aldhelm. A spirit of emulation may have led him to try his
hand at versification.
The West Saxon version of Augustine's Soliloquia stands last
in order of Alfred's translations, and considerable doubt has been
expressed as to its genuineness. Pauli, on the ground that
Alfred's name does not occur in the preface, rejects it altogether,
and finds justification in the fact that the language is an impure
form of West Saxon. Wülker, who formerly identified the Solilo-
quies with the Handbook, considers the book to be genuine. He
points out that the preface in its present form is mutilated and
that the twelfth century MS is too late to afford any evidence based
on style. Judging from the nature of the references to boly
orders, the translation appears to have been the work of a layman
rather than of a mouk, and the closing words, whether genuine or
not, attribute it to Alfred. The vocabulary of the Soliloquies
## p. 103 (#123) ############################################
103
Augustine's Soliloquies
bas much in common with that of Alfred's Boethius, and
there are close resemblances between the two works in thought
and style. Some of the original passages seem to have been
directly based upon translated portions of Boethius, and original
passages in both works sometimes correspond closely. Alfred
was attracted to Augustine by the nature of his theme.
The Latin work is a treatise on God and the soul, in which
much space is devoted to a discussion of immortality. The
translation is undertaken quite in accordance with Alfred's
customary methods. He renders the first book somewhat closely,
but paraphrases the sense and makes a few additions, in-
dulging his taste for simile in a comparison between the soul
at rest in God and a ship at anchor, and discoursing at length
on the changes that take place in nature, on the likeness between
God and the sun and on the relation between king and subject.
Book 11 he renders very freely. He discusses the problem of
immortality from an independent standpoint, " believe thine own
reason and believe Christ, the Son of God, and believe all His
saints for they were truthful witnesses, and believe thine own soul
which ever declares through reason that she is in thee. " Book III
is based on another source, Augustine’s De Videndo Deo, supple-
mented by passages from Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, Gregory's
Morals and Dialogues and Jerome's Commentary on Luke.
The dialogue form is continued for some time, though the
sources do not justify such an arrangement. The spirit of the
whole translation is deeply religious. It is a logical discussion
of the nature and future of the soul, in which Augustine's
dialectics are rejected in favour of common-sense reasoning.
There is a natural connection between the Soliloquies and
Boethius, since its central theme had already been suggested in
the closing pages of the latter. It has already been shown that
the preface to the Pastoral Care is in the nature of a general
introduction to Alfred's translated works; the preface to the
Soliloquies may be considered an epilogue--the king's farewell
to literature
I gathered me poles and props and bars and handles for each of the tools
which I could handle, and bough-timbers and bolt-timbers for each of the
tasks which I was capable of undertaking, the fairest wood, as far as I could
bear it away. I came not home with a great burden, since it pleased me not
to bring all the wood home, even if I could have carried it. On each tree I
saw something which I needed at home. Therefore, I advise every man who
is able and has many waggons, that he direct himself to the same wood where
I cut the props, and that he procure for himself more, and load his waggons
## p. 104 (#124) ############################################
104
The Prose of Alfred
with fair beams, that he may construct many a fair wall, and many a beautiful
house, and many a town and dwell there merrily and peacefully, both winter
and summer, as I have not done.
With this parable Alfred closes his literary career.
The literature of the reign for which the king was not directly
responsible owed at least its inspiration to him. In the monas-
teries the work of producing MSS went forward with great activity,
but the scribes were engaged in merely copying out books; they
did no original work. It had been customary, however, for the
monks to keep records of events of outstanding importance.
These monastic records were of the briefest possible kind, de-
signed to serve merely as landmarks in the passage of time and
not as historical surveys, but in these casual and unsystematic
notes Alfred perceived the nucleus for a larger survey of West
Saxon history. The change in the tone of the Chronicle has been
ascribed to Aethelwulf's reign, but it is probable that Alfred
was responsible for the systematic revision of the earlier records
back to Hengest and Horsa, and his connection with the Chronicle
is possibly referred to in Gaimar's Estorie des Engles, though the
allusion is somewhat obscure. The Chronicle, as known to us, is a
highly composite piece of work, and it consists of various recensions,
the relations between which have been carefully worked out by
Earle and Plummer? . The original nucleus belonged to Winchester,
the capital of the West Saxon kingdom. The Alfredian version
comes down to 892 only, at which date the first hand in the MS
ceases, and of this portion Alfred may be supposed to have acted
as supervisor.
From a historical point of view, the Chronicle was the first
national continuous history of a western nation in its own language;
from a literary point of view, it was the first great book in English
prose. The account of the years 893—7 is one of the most vivid
in the whole of the annals. The struggle with the Danes and
the great series of campaigns extending over the whole of the
south of England are described in detail. At one time the king
is at Exeter while Aethelred, the ealdorman, is occupied on the
Severn, the struggle extending north as far as York and Chester.
Alfred's military and naval reforms are enlarged upon, the
king's brilliant exploits, and his care for the nation's well-being,
inspiring the annalist with the spirit of a historian. The whole
i The different recensions of the Chronicle and its further development are dealt
with in the chapter that follows.
## p. 105 (#125) ############################################
The Translation of Gregory's Dialogues 105
narrative is a masterpiece of Old English prose, full of vigour
and life.
The West Saxon translation of Gregory's Dialogues owed its -
inspiration directly to Alfred. The authorship of the translation
has never been called in question; both Asser and William of
Malmesbury attribute it to Werferth, bishop of Worcester, who
undertook the task at the king's bidding. The book is partly
in dialogue form. Gregory is found by his deacon, Peter, sitting
“in a solitary place, very fit for a sad and melancholy dis-
position. ” The stories, which Gregory proceeds to tell, serve to
relieve his mind of its weight of thought. The monk, Martinius,
impresses the sign of the cross upon a hearth-cake with a motion
of the hand; a sweet fragrance miraculously arises from the grave
of count Theophanius; bishop Frigidianus turns the course of
the Serchio by marking out its bed with a rake. Book II is
exclusively devoted to St Benedict. The collection was an
attempt to complete the accepted lives of the saints by a recital
of miraculous deeds performed in Italy. Towards the end of the
book Gregory leaves Italy and tells the story of St Hermenegild
and his brother, king Recarede. The preface, in the Oxford and
Cambridge MSS, is the work of the king and is thus of particular
interest-
I, Alfred, by God's grace, dignified with the title of king, have perceived
and often learnt from the reading of sacred books, that we, to whom God hath
given so much worldly honour, have particular need to humble and subdue
our minds to the divine law, in the midst of worldly cares; accordingly,
I besought my faithful friends that they would write down out of holy
books concerning the miracles of the saints the following narrative; that I,
strengthened in my mind by admonition and love, might think upon spiritual
things in the midst of my worldly cares.
The MSS of the Dialogues have given rise to interesting
problems. The Cambridge and British Museum types are closely
related and stand apart from that of Oxford. From this fact
Krebs deduced the theory that the Dialogues were translated on
two separate occasions. A more careful comparison of the MSS
has shown that they are all derived from a single original, of which
the Oxford type represents a revised version.
The West Saxon Martyrology may be ascribed to Alfred's
reign. Cockayne was of opinion that the oldest MS—that in the
British Museum-dates from the ninth century. It is noteworthy
that the saints referred to belong either to the period preceding
the king's reign or to the reign itself. Another proof of the age
## p. 106 (#126) ############################################
106
The Prose of Alfred
of the collection is the fact that under 5 August Oswald is described
as buried at Bardney, though his body was moved to Gloucester
soon after Alfred's death. The story of St Milus (15 November)
seems to have been derived from the east. The Leech-book attests
Alfred's relations with Elias, the patriarch of Jerusalem, whose
rule extended from 897 to 907. The Martyrology is incomplete,
but it extends from 31 December to 21 December.
Alfred's literary reputation caused a number of other works to
be ascribed to him for which there is no trustworthy evidence. Of
these the most important is the so-called Psalter. William of
Malmesbury makes a statement to the effect that Alfred began
a translation of the Psalms, but was unable to complete it
Psalterium transferre aggressus vix prima parte explicata
vivendi finem fecit. Curiously enough, an eleventh century MS
in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris contains an Old English
prose version of the first fifty psalms, followed by an alliterative
version of the remainder (psalms li-cl), Wülker conjectures
that the prose portions were based on the work of Alfred re-
ferred to by William of Malmesbury. Each psalm is preceded
by an introduction, in which are set forth the circumstances
under which the psalm was written. The translation is free,
and the method of rendering one word by two is frequently
resorted to. In this latter respect the prose Psalter resembles
Alfred's Bede and Pastoral Care”. The alliterative portions
in the Paris MS were probably introduced to supplement the
deficiencies of the prose version; there can be no doubt that a
complete alliterative version of the Psalms was in existence when
the prose was undertaken.
Alfred has been credited with a collection of Proverbs in
metrical form. In favour of this there is not the slightest evidence.
For centuries he must have had some reputation as a philosopher,
and an anonymous collection of maxims would naturally be
associated with his name. A treatise on Falconry and a trans-
lation of Aesop's Fables have also been attributed to him, but for
neither of these is there any evidence.
Alfred's literary achievement is of immense importance. The
prominence given to the vernacular during his reign made it
possible for English literature to develop on its own lines. He
was wise enough to limit himself to the work of translation, since
he had not, apparently, great creative genius in letters. But the
i Gesta Regum Anglorum, n1, 128.
• But see Bruce's Anglo-Saxon Version of the Book of Psalms.
## p. 107 (#127) ############################################
Alfred's Literary Achievement 107
effect of his choice of models was to introduce a large Latin'
element into Old English prose style. Compared with the abrupt
and rugged style of the king Cynewulf episode in the early part
of the Chronicle, Alfred's prose is that of an accomplished writer:
compared with later prose, it is largely tentative. It was not
until nearly a century later that more definite results were
achieved when Aelfric took up the task left incomplete by the
West Saxon king. Apart from the historic estimate, Alfred
has some personal claim to recognition as a prose-writer. His
original passages, however much they may owe to undiscovered
sources, embody his own personal convictions, and afford a remark-
able proof of his ability to inform with life the materials at his
disposal. In literature, personality is of the utmost importance,
and Alfred is one of the most personal of writers. He is the
embodiment, not only of the intellectual, but of the spiritual,
thoughts of his time. His writings constantly reveal his aspira-
tions after truth, and, even in the Laws, there is a definitely
religious tone. “I have wished,” he writes in Boethius, “to live
worthily while I lived, and to leave to those who should come
after me my memory in good deeds. ” And, in the language of
the inscription on the monument erected to his memory at
Wantage in 1877, he “found learning dead, and he restored it; / -
education neglected, and he revived it. "
## p. 108 (#128) ############################################
CHAPTER VII
FROM ALFRED TO THE CONQUEST
It seems permissible to treat the year 901, when king Alfred
died, as the dividing line between the earlier and later periods
of Old English literature. According to this classification, nearly
all the poetry composed in this country before the Norman con-
quest would fall within the first period; while the bulk of the
prose writings in the vernacular would be included in the second.
It was, indeed, during the tenth and eleventh centuries that our
language in its Old English stage attained its highest develop-
ment as a prose medium. The circumstances of the time were
unfavourable to the production of sustained poems. This may
be owing to the gradual break-up of Old English tradition
and to the influence of another Germanic literature, then at its
height, in the English court. The chief poetical fragments that
have survived from these years deal with contemporary events,
and seem to be the outbreak of emotions too strong to be sup-
pressed.
Like feelings find their expression also in the prose literature
of these centuries, which saw not only the rise of the West Saxon
kings to full mastery over England, but also the victories of Dane
and Norman, and the quenching of all hope of English rule over
England until the conquered should absorb the conquerors. There
was scarcely a year during this period in which the harassed rulers
of the kingdom could afford to lay aside their arms; though,
during the time of comparative quiet between the death of
Aethelstan and the accession of Aethelred, England took an active
part in the monastic revival which was a marked feature of
contemporary European history. In these times of struggle, letters
and learning found, for a time, their grave, and long years of patient
struggle were needed to revive them.
The gloomy tale is nowhere better told than in the Chronicle,
which, written in simple language, alone marks for more than half a
century the continuance of literary activity in England.
See note on p. 445.
## p. 109 (#129) ############################################
The Old English Chronicle 109
The beginning of the Chronicle is usually ascribed to the influence
of Alfred, and it continues for two and a half centuries after that
king's reign, long after the last English king had been slain and the
old tongue banished from court and school. Its principal recen-
sions' differ from one another not in the main story, but in the
attention given to various details, and in the length to which they
are carried. Owing to the number of hands employed in its
composition, the literary merit is very unequal; sometimes the
entries consist of a date and the simple statement of an event; at
others we find passages of fluent and glowing narrative, as in the
record of the war-filled years from 911 to 924. The period from
925 to 975 is very bare, and such entries as exist relate mostly
to church matters. It is, however, within this time that the
principal poems of the Chronicle are inserted. Under 991 is
told the story of Anlaf's raid at Maldon in which Byrhtnoth fell.
In the years 975—1001, the Chronicle is of extreme interest, and
the annals for the year 1001 are very full. Some time about
the middle, or towards the last quarter, of the eleventh century
the present recension of the Winchester chronicle was transplanted
to Christ Church, Canterbury, and there completed with Canterbury
annals, passages being interpolated in various places from begin-
ning to end from the chronicle kept at St Augustine's, Christ
Church library having been previously burnt. Before this, the
notice taken of Canterbury events was so extremely slight that
we do not even hear of the murder of archbishop Aelfhēah (St
Alphege) by the Danes. The MS known as Cott. Tib. A. VI
seems to have been originally meant to serve as an introduction
to further annals, which, however, were never written; and it
is, apparently, a copy of the original Abingdon chronicle (itself
a copy of the original Winchester, written at Abingdon), which
did not reach beyond 977. The MS under consideration is shown,
by a mass of internal and external evidence, to have been written
about 977, the year to which its annals reach. It may fitly be
called the shorter Abingdon chronicle to distinguish it from the
longer Abingdon chronicle referred to below, with which it has
did not reacof internal an which its anne
i The Winchester or Parker chronicle, in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge; the shorter Abingdon chronicle (Cott, Tib. A. VI); the longer Abingdon
chronicle (Cott. Tib. B. I); the Evesham or Worcester chronicle (Cott. Tib. B. IV);
the Peterborough chronicle (Bod. Laud. 636).
* The recension under notice is a copy of the original Winchester chronicle, which
latter was also the source of the original Abingdon chronicle. Hence the agreement
with Tib. A. VI, and Tib. B. I, up to 892. Naturally, it does not incorporate the
Mercian chronicle, but maintains a kind of separate parallelism from 894–915.
## p. 110 (#130) ############################################
110
Alfred to the Conquest
From
much in common’; both, for example, bodily insert the Mercian
annals (sometimes called the chronicle of Aethelflaed). These
extend from 902–925, and tell, with some detail, of the warlike
feats of the Lady of Mercia. It may be noted, in passing, that these
Mercian annals occur in the so-called Worcester chronicle, where,
however, they are distributed, with some omissions, amongst other
matter. These Mercian annals are of the greatest interest, both in
origin and history. Their chronology differs considerably from that
of other chronicles. Perhaps the original document, or some copy
of it, in which they were contained, is to be traced under the
record Cronica duo Anglica in the Catalogi veteres librorum
Ecclesiae Dunelmi, where we also find the record of Elfedes Boc
in the same place. This at once suggests to us the existence
of these annals in a book of Aethelflaed, telling of her fight for
English freedom. Thus, the inscription and record bring us into
close connection with what may well have suggested and stimulated
the heroic poem of Judith.
The (longer) Abingdon chronicle is so called because, from its
references to the affairs of that monastery, it is supposed to have
been written there. This longer chronicle is not expanded from
the shorter, nor the shorter extracted from the longer. Both have
a number of independent annals up to the very year 977 where the
common original ended. It may be surmised that the author of
the recension under notice found the original Abingdon ready up
to 977 (when the troubles consequent on Edgar's death may have
accounted for many things), and further annals up to 1018, to
which he made later additions. The MS tells of the election of
Siward, abbot of Abingdon, as archbishop of Canterbury in 1044,
the appointment of Aethelstan as his successor to the abbacy,
Aethelstan's death in 1047 and archbishop Siward's return to the
monastery after his retirement from office in 1048.
In 892, a copy of the southern chronicle was sent to a northern
cloister, and there was revised with the aid of the text of Bede's
Ecclesiastical History. There seems, also, to have been a northern
continuation of Bede's History, and, from this, were woven into
the chronicler's text annals from 737–806. Fifteen of these annals
are wholly, and sixteen partly, Northumbrian. That these annals
were taken from some such source seems to be proved by their
being found also in other works. The chronicler then followed
southern sources until 904, when he began to weave into his
text the book of Aethelflaed, mingling with it southern and
1 Cott. Tib. B. Le Cott. Tib. B. IV. See p. 142
## p. 111 (#131) ############################################
III
The Old English Chronicle
northern records. From 983—1022, he returned to his Abingdon
source. After this he struck out on his own line. From the
original thus created was copied the extant MS commonly known
as the Worcester or Evesham chronicle', which shows especial
acquaintance with the midlands and north. The close connection
between Worcester and York is shown by the fact that the arch-
bishop of York is mentioned simply as “the archbishop. ” The
chronicle shows strong feeling on the subject of Godwin's outlawry,
and in every way supports that nobleman. Alone amongst the
chronicles it tells the sad tale of the battle of Hastings. The
original, from which the above chronicle was copied, seems also to
have been the basis for that patriotic Kentish chronicle, now lost,
which was the chief source both of the Peterborough chronicle up
to 1123 and the recension known as Cott. Dom. A. VIII, 2.
The Peterborough chronicle is the longest of all, extending to
the year 1154. In 1116, the town and monastery of Peterborough
were destroyed by a terrible fire, which left standing only the
monastic chapterhouse and dormitory, and when, in 1121, the
rebuilding was completed, the annals contained in this chronicle
were undertaken to replace those lost in the fire. They were
based on the lost Kentish chronicle, which must have been for-
warded to Peterborough for that purpose. This original Kentish
chronicle is full of patriotic feeling, and shows great knowledge
of southern affairs from Canute's death, the burial of Harold
Harefoot (the record of which it alone rightly tells) and the
viking raid on Sandwich, to the feuds between English and
Normans in the reign of the Confessor. It relates count Eustace's
broils with the English at Canterbury and Dover, and the flight of
archbishop Robert, leaving his pallium behind him, an annal recorded
with dangerously schismatic glee. The scribe had lived at the
court of William the Conqueror, and had, therefore, seen the face
of the great enemy of the English. The entries for the tenth
century are very meagre; but from 991 to 1075 they are much
fuller and contain, among other contemporary records, the story
of the ravages of Hereward. Towards the end of the chronicle,
which is written in a somewhat rough and ready manner, occurs
the famous passage, often quoted by historians, telling of the
wretchedness of the common folk during the reign of Stephen and
its civil wars.
From the lost Kentish chronicle is derived the recension known
as F or Cott. Domitian A. VIII, 2, seemingly written by one hand
1 Cott. Tib. B. IV.
* Bod. Land. 636.
## p. 112 (#132) ############################################
112 From Alfred to the Conquest
in the twelfth century, and of interest because of its mixed use
Bar of Latin and English. In this it indicates the approach of the
employment of Latin as the general literary vehicle of English
culture. There is great confusion in its bilingual employment
of Latin and English ; sometimes English is the original and
Latin the copy, at other times the process is reversed; finally,
in some passages, Latin and English become ludicrously mixed.
Two other recensions exist as mere fragments : one, of three
damaged leaves, in a hand of the eleventh century, is bound
up with a copy of Bede's Ecclesiastical History? ; and the other?
consists of a single leaf. The manuscript to which the former of
these fragments belonged was edited by Wheloc in 1644 before it
was consumed in the Cottonian fire.
The following table adapted from Plummer shows the relations of the
various MSS to each other, the extant MSS being indicated by initial letters:
Original Winchester
(A) Winchester Original Abingdon
(B) (shorter) Abingdon (O) (longer) Abingdon Original Worcester
Lost Kentish
(D) Worcester
Lost enlarged Kentish (F) MS. Cotton Dom. A. VIII, 2.
(E) Peterborough
The Chronicle is of inestimable value as an authority for the
history of the time. The impression it leaves on the reader
is one of almost unrelieved gloom. Records of harrying with
fire and sword occur on almost every page, and, whether the
English ealdormen or the Danes “possess the place of slaughter,"
the wild lawlessness and the contempt for human life which pre-
vailed during the greater part of the period are plainly visible.
Sometimes the chronicler displays bitter indignation at the mis-
government of the country, as when he tells how Aethelred and
his ealdormen and the high witan forsook the navy which had
been collected with immense effort by the people and “let the
toil of all the nation thus lightly perish. ” But the entries are
usually of an entirely impersonal kind; the horror and desolation,
the fiery signs in the heaven and the plagues that befell men and
cattle upon earth, are recorded without comment; such misfortunes
were too common to call for special remark in the days of the long
struggle between Dane and Englishman.
Cott. Oth, B. XI, 2.
• Cott. Tib. A. III, fol. 175,
## p. 113 (#133) ############################################
The Monastic Reform
113
It has already been said that this portion of the Chronicle
contains several fragments of verse. These will be noticed later.
Here, it may, however, be remarked that some passages, written as
prose, are based on songs which have been inserted, after some
slight modification, by the scribe; and, towards the end of the
Peterborough chronicle, there occur some long stretches of rhythmic
prose almost akin to the sung verse of the people. These may be
either a development of the loose rhythm of Aelfric's prose, or may,
possibly, result from the incorporation of ballads and their reduc-
tion to prose. The subject is, however, still too obscure to admit
of any very definite statement on this point, and most of what has
been said on this subject seems far removed from finality.
From this brief description of the manuscripts of the Chronicle
we must turn to the homilists, who showed especial vigour between
960 and 1020. The development reached in style and in literary
tradition is at once apparent; it had its origin, doubtless, in the
religious revival of the tenth century, which emanated from Fleury,
and was identified in England with the names of Dunstan, Aethel-
wold and Oswald, the "three torches” of the church.
At the beginning of the tenth century, English monasticism and,
therefore, the state of learning in England, were in a deplorable
condition, from which all the efforts of king Alfred had been
unable to lift them. There were religious houses, of course, but
most of these seem to have been in the condition of Abingdon
when Aethelwold was appointed abbot"a place in which a little
monastery had been kept up from ancient days, but then desolate
and neglected, consisting of mean buildings and possessing only
a few hides. ” To the influence of the Benedictine reformers
we owe much of the prose literature of the tenth and eleventh
centuries. The great bond thus knit once more between English
literature and the literature of the continent ensured our share in
what was then living of classical and pseudo-classical lore.
With the accession of Edgar (959) better times dawned. On
the death of Odo, Dunstan became archbishop, and, in 961, Oswald,
Odo's nephew, was consecrated to the see of Worcester. His
appointment was followed in 963 by that of Aethelwold, abbot
of Abingdon, to the see of Winchester, and the three bishops set
about a vigorous ecclesiastical reform. During the reigns of
Edgar and his sons no fewer than forty monasteries for men
were founded or restored, and these were peopled chiefly by
monks trained at Abingdon or Winchester.
E. L. I. CH. VII.
8
## p. 114 (#134) ############################################
114 From Alfred to the Conquest
The most famous school of all was that founded at Winchester
by Aethelwold, one of the most distinguished of the pupils of
Dunstan, and himself an enthusiastic teacher, who did not scorn
to explain the difficulties of Donatus and Priscian to the postulants
and other youthful frequenters of the Benedictine school. The
most important of his scholars was Aelfric, the greatest prose
writer in the vernacular before the Conquest.
The inhabitants of the newly restored monasteries naturally
required instruction in the Benedictine rule, and to this necessity
is due the version of the rule which Aethelwold drew up under
the title Regularis Concordia Anglicae Nationis Monachorum
Sanctimonialiumque. In the beginning of this he stated that the
work had the sanction of the king, and that it was framed at a
council at Winchester. The name of the writer is nowhere given,
and, were it not that Aelfric, in his Letter to the Monks of
Eynsham, says that the source of his information is bishop
Aethelwold's De Consuetudine, and quotes long passages from the
Regularis (evidently the same work), we should be ignorant
of the authorship?
But it was not enough to multiply copies and commentaries
of the Rule in Latin. Many of the newly admitted postulants
and novices were quite ignorant of that language, and, therefore,
king Edgar further entrusted Aethelwold with the task of
translating the Rule into English, giving him, in acknowledgment,
the manor of Southborne, which he assigned to the newly restored
monastery at Ely. There are several MSS containing an Old
English version of the Rule, and, in one of them, it is followed
by a historical sketch of the monastic revival of the tenth century,
which recounts Edgar's share in the movement, his refounding
of Abingdon and his command to translate into English the Rule.
Schröer thinks that this tractate is by the author of the foregoing
version of the Rule; but, since the writer calls himself everywhere
“abbot,” and not “bishop,” if it is by Aethelwold, he must have
made it between 959, the year of Edgar's accession, and 963, when
he became bishop of Winchester.
It is possible that the Blickling Homilies, so called because
the MS is preserved at Blickling Hall, Norfolk, were also due
to this religious revival. They are nineteen in number, but several
are incomplete, and some are mere fragments. The earlier
Miss Bateson, Rules for monks and secular canons after the revival under king
Edgar, Eng. Hist. Review, 1894.
2 Faustina A.
## p. 115 (#135) ############################################
The Blickling Homilies 115
homilies are sermons, properly so called; but the later are largely
narrative in character, and are based on legendary sources.
The style of these homilies stands midway between the style --
of Alfred and that of Aelfric; it is more developed than the
one, more primitive than the other; it is rude, vehement and
homely, more indulgent of legend and shows the primitive love
for recitative; the syntax is clumsy, and the vocabulary often
archaic. On the other hand, the treatment is sometimes very
poetical, though this characteristic appears rather in simile and
metaphor than in rhythm of structure. “The redness of the rose
glitters in thee, and the whiteness of the lily shines in thee," says
Gabriel to Mary; and Heaven is pictured as a place where there
“is youth without age; nor is there hunger nor thirst, nor wind
nor storm nor rush of waters. " The palm branch in the hand
of the angel who announces to the Virgin her approaching death
is “bright as the morning star," and the Lord appears to Andrew
with a face “like that of a fair child. ” Equally poetical are the
passages that deal with more sombre themes, such as doomsday,
the lamentation of the lost at the barrowing of hell and the vision
of St Paul of the souls clinging to the cliffs from which the devils
sought to drag them away. Morris has pointed out that there is
a good deal of similarity between this last passage and the well-
known lines in Beowulf which describe the “rimy groves” which
grew above the abyss where Grendel had his home. But exactly
similar descriptions are found in all other versions of this aged
legend? . Aelfric, it is true, rejected the legend on critical grounds,
but the coming centuries were to see it become the basis of a
masterpiece of the world's poetry.
