His later book,
likewise
due to the inspiration
## p.
## p.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v01
He quotes
many Christian poets, but not quite so many as Aldhelm, and,
clearly, does not take so much interest as his predecessor in
pagan authors.
The letter to Egbert of York, perhaps the latest document
we possess from Bede's pen, deserves a special and separate
mention. It is, in brief, a pastoral epistle; and it gives (what we
could only gather indirectly from his other works) the clearest
evidence of Bede's lively interest in the religious life of the people
at large, and his wise and noble conception of the duties of a
Christian minister. His advice to Egbert is prompted by “a real
and unassuming spirit of humility and affection," and it is
thoroughly practical in its statement, alike of the abuses which
need reform, and of the means of reforming them. The suggestions
offered by Bede are those of a man at once spiritually minded and
versed in the affairs of his time; they are, moreover, based on
an intimate knowledge of the history of the church with which he
is dealing. Rarely as he may have trodden the regions outside the
walls of his monastery, it is plain from this letter alone that Bede
may be reckoned as one of the most effective contributors, by his
advice and influence, to the spreading of Christianity in northern
England
No enumeration of works, no accumulation of epithets will give
the picture of a man's mind. And it is the personality of Bede
which we come to regard with affection, when we have read the
6-2
## p. 84 (#104) #############################################
84
Latin Writings in England
book into which he has infused most of his own character. That
book is the History, and from the study of it few will rise without
the feeling that Bede was one of the best of men.
It cannot be maintained that the influence of Alcuin's writings
upon the literature of his country was very important. As a
product of the great school of York, he does, indeed, bear witness
to the admirable training which that school could furnish. The
debt which the schools of Charles the Great owed, through Alcuin,
to England must never be forgotten. This is the central fact,
so far as England is concerned, in Alcuin's career. His written
works, mostly produced on the continent, were not of a kind to
affect very markedly the development of literature; and the
condition of England during the period of Alcuin's residence
abroad was such that English scholars could make no use of what
he was able to impart. The fact is that, very shortly before Alcuin
left England for ever, the Scandinavians had begun that desolating
series of raids upon this country which ended by exterminating the
learning and literature of Northumbria and paralysed intellectual
effort all over the land.
In an often quoted poem on the saints of York, Alcuin
enumerates the principal authors whose works were to be found
in the library collected there by Egbert and Albert. Within
a generation after the poem was written, that library had ceased
to exist; and so had that earlier treasury of books at Wearmouth
which Benedict Biscop commended in the last years of his life
to the special care of his monks. The end of the eighth century
and the course of the ninth saw learning gradually obliterated in
England, until the efforts of Alfred revived an interest in the things
of the mind among his countrymen.
Had it not been for this catastrophe we might have found
English scholars taking part with Alcuin in the adoptionist
controversy, or contributing to the revision of the Vulgate which
is associated with his name. As it is, the ninth century, to the
historian of our Latin literature, is almost a blank.
Alcuin, to resume, was not a great writer. The clearest
indications of his general culture and his manifold activities may,
perhaps, be gathered from his numerous poems and his letters.
These latter, with some of his grammatical works, were the only
part of his writings which attained popularity in England. His
controversial books are of less enduring interest: it is given to
few to follow with intelligent appreciation the dispute which he
## p. 85 (#105) #############################################
Alcuin
waged with Felix of Urgel and Elipandus of Toledo upon the
question whether Christ, in His human nature, was or was not
to be called the "adoptive” Son of God. The liturgical works,
again—the homiliary, lectionary and sacramentary-which made
a deep mark upon the church-life of the continent, are works of
compilation. As to the revision of the text of the Latin Bible,
clear evidence that it was the work of Alcuin is not yet producible;
but the probability is very strong that he was at least prominent,
if not supreme, in the undertaking.
But, though the tale of Alcuin's labours is an imposing one,
it is the intellectual stimulus which he imparted, and the long
line of scholars which owed to him its existence, that forms his
true monument. He ranks with Bede as an inspirer of men; but
the vehicle by which his inspiration was conveyed was rather the
voice of the teacher than the written words.
With Alcuin we close the list of the considerable authors who
fall within our period. But there still remain some few writings
of the eighth and ninth centuries which demand a word of notice.
These consist mainly of lives of saints, visions, poems and
devotional literature.
The anonymous lives of the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow,
and the life of Cuthbert by a Lindisfarne monk-both ex-
tensively used by Bede-have been mentioned already. The
earliest life of Gregory the Great, to which an English origin is
attributed, should not be forgotten here. It is discussed by
Plummer in an appendix to the edition of Bede's History.
More important than this, from the literary point of view, are
the lives of Wilfrid of York by Eddius Stephanus, and of Guthlac
by Felix. Both of these belong to the eighth century. The
former begins in a way which may indicate either indolence or
modesty on the part of its author, who transcribes, with few
alterations and without acknowledgment, the preface of the
anonymous life of Cuthbert. The reading of the life will pro-
bably conduce to the most favourable interpretation being placed
upon this proceeding; for, unflinching partisan as he is, Eddius
makes us think of him kindly. Many a man would have spoken
much more bitterly of the opponents of his hero; and, though
Eddius persistently and gallantly disguises that hero's faults, we
do not feel so much that he is a bad historian, as that he is a
wrongly faithful friend.
Felix, the biographer of Guthlac, is far more picturesque in
style than Eddius. Unlike the latter, he has fallen under the
## p. 86 (#106) #############################################
86
Latin Writings in England
spell of Aldhelm. He has been fascinated, too, by the tales of the
demon hordes who haunted the lonely hermit of the fens, and has
portrayed them in language which, whether directly or not, was
reproduced in vernacular poetry not many generations later.
Closely connected with these biographies of saints are the
visions of the next world. Several of them are reported by Bede,
notably the vision of Fursey, the Irish hermit, and of Drythelm.
Two more (one of them in a fragmentary condition) are preserved
among the correspondence of Boniface. Like the life of Guthlac
these apocalypses had firm hold upon the popular imagination,
and some of them appear in the homilies of Aelfric in an English
dress. They owed their origin, it may be remarked, in great
measure to the Dialogues of Gregory and the apocryphal Revelation
of Paul—which latter, as we have seen, was known to Aldhelm.
It is possible that the far older Revelation of Peter may have
survived in some form accessible to the English church of the
seventh and eighth centuries. Evidence is not wanting to show
that an Italian apocalypse of the seventh century, that of
St Barontus of Pistoja, was studied in England not long after
our period'.
In the department of poetry the only considerable work which
remains to be mentioned is the poem of one Ethelwulf upon the
history of a monastery, the identity of which is not yet certainly
established. The house in question was clearly connected with
Lindisfarne, and is thought to have been at Crayke near York.
The poem is dedicated to Egbert, who was bishop of Lindisfarne
in the first quarter of the ninth century, and is constructed on
the model of Alcuin's versified history of the saints of the
church of York. It contains, among other things, an account of
a vision of the next world, similar to those mentioned in the last
paragraph.
Of devotional literature, by which we mean more particularly
collections of prayers and hymns for private use, there is a fairly
large quantity preserved in manuscripts which belong to the
period under consideration. The most remarkable of these is,
perhaps, the volume called the Book of Cerne, now in the
University Library at Cambridge. Both Celtic and Spanish
influences have been traced in many of the compositions in this
and other like works. Much light may, eventually, be thrown
1 See a passage towards the end of an 11th (? ) century Old English MS, Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, 367, quoted in The Sources of Abp Parker's MSS at
C. C. C. O. , James, M. R. , Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1899, p. 62.
## p. 87 (#107) #############################################
Bede and Alcuin
by this class of literature upon the intellectual, as well as the
religious, surroundings of the clergy and monks of the eighth and
ninth centuries.
A not inconsiderable portion of the Latin writings of these
same centuries consists of documents connected with church law.
Books called Penitentials exist under the names of Theodore, Bede
and Egbert of York; and there are, besides, canons of church
councils and the like. But these have really no claim to the name
of literature, and a mere mention of them must suffice.
These, then, are the chief remains of the Latin literature which
was produced in England before the time of Alfred. The period
of greatest activity lasted, we have seen, for about a hundred
years, from A. D. 690 to 790. It is marked by the rise of two
great schools, those of Canterbury and York, and by the work
of one great scholar. The south of England produced works
characterised by a rather perverted and fanciful erudition. It was
the north which gave birth to Bede, the one writer of that age a
whose works are of first-rate value, and to Alcuin, whose influence
was supreme in the schools of the continent.
Note to p. 78. Henry Bradley has pointed out (English Historical Review, 1900,
p. 291) that the first poem is, most likely, addressed to Helmgisl, not Aldhelm, and
that the fifth is by Aethilwald and addressed to one Oua.
## p. 88 (#108) #############################################
CHAPTER VI
ALFRED AND THE OLD ENGLISH PROSE OF HIS
REIGN
THE reign of Alfred acquired its chief glory from the personality
of the king. He had many titles to fame. His character was
made up of so many diverse elements that he seemed, at one and
the same time, to be military leader, lawgiver, scholar and saint,
and these elements were so combined that the balance of the
whole was never disturbed. In the minds of posterity Alfred
lives as the type of an ideal Englishman.
In each of the departments of his activity the king's work was
of permanent value. His efforts, though essentially pioneer in
character, laid a solid and permanent foundation for the super-
structure which was to be raised by his successors. As king, he
ruled a portion only of modern England and left much to be com-
pleted by his descendants. But the centralising policy which he
inaugurated and successfully realised—the policy of making Wessex
the nucleus of England's expansion-alone made possible the
growth of an enlarged kingdom. Alfred's ideals for Wessex re-
flect a large vision and much practical wisdom, and the reign is
as remarkable for its educational as for its political progress. His
conceptions were cosmopolitan rather than insular. He never lost
sight of the importance of keeping his kingdom in organic relation
with European civilisation-a lesson stamped upon his mind ever
since, in his early years (856), during the pontificate of one of the
greatest of the popes, Leo IV, he had visited Rome and the court
of Charles the Bald. This visit made a vivid impression upon
Alfred's mind. His father's marriage with the emperor's daughter,
Judith, cemented relationships with the continent and the
insularity of Britain was henceforth broken down. The import-
ance for literature of this emergence from isolation cannot be
over-estimated. Charles the Great had gathered round him at
Aachen a cultured circle of scholars and writers, and had pro-
moted a renascence of classical study, the influence of which was
## p. 89 (#109) #############################################
Asser's Life of Alfred 89
still powerful in the days of Charles the Bald. The illuminated
MSS of the French court of the ninth century—the St Denis
and Metz Bibles, the Psalter and book of Gospels, in particular-
are conspicuous examples of artistic skill. After his accession
Alfred looked to the Frankish empire for assistance in his task
of reviving learning in Wessex. At his request, Grimbald, a
monk of St Bertin in Flanders, and John of Corbie came
over to Britain, and were appointed abbots of Winchester and
Aethelney respectively. The king diligently promoted scholarship, -
and himself undertook to translate into West Saxon recognised
works in Latin prose. At the same time he increased the number
of monasteries and reformed the educational side of these institu-
tions by the introduction of teachers, English and foreign. The
story of Grimbald's visit to Oxford and of the existence there of a
community of scholars is, however, not supported by any evidence.
The legend was interpolated in an edition of Asser's Life of
Alfred, based on Parker's text, which Camden published in
1602—3. No MS, or other authority, is known to support
Camden's statement. The consequence of the educational and
literary activity of Alfred's reign was to transfer the centre of 4
learning from Northumbria to Wessex. The monastic communities
of Lindisfarne, Evesham and Croyland had fostered scholarship
in the north, and, in the seventh century, Whitby had produced
Caedmon. In 674, Benedict Biscop had built the monastery of
St Peter at Wearmouth and, in 682, a second house at Jarrow, at
both of which large libraries were collected. The arts of glass-
making, gold-work and embroidery were introduced from the
continent. Northumbria had thus become “the literary centre)
of western Europe," producing scholars of the type of Bede, the
master of the learning of his day, and Alcuin, the scholarly helper
of Charles the Great. But with the appearance of the Danes began
the decline of learning in the north. So much did scholarship suffer
in consequence of the viking raids that, at the date of Alfred's
accession, there was no scholar even south of the Thames who could
read the mass-book in Latin. The revival of letters in Wessex was
the direct result of the king's enthusiasm and personal efforts, and
his educational aims recall irresistibly the work of Charles the Great.
The authorities for the life of Alfred are many, but of unequal
value. His own works, reflecting as they do his personal
character and convictions, furnish the most important data, the
Chronicle and the Life by Asser ranking next in value. Asser, L
a Welsh cleric, was, in all probability, educated at St David's to
## p. 90 (#110) #############################################
go
The Prose of Alfred
He had already been in communication with Alfred regarding the
defence of his monastery when he was summoned by the king to
assist him in his educational schemes. According to his own
account, Asser arranged to stay with Alfred for six months of
each year, spending the remaining six in Wales. He became the
king's most intimate friend and diligently assisted him in his
study of Latin. He was eventually appointed bishop of Sherborne,
and died some ten years after the king. The authenticity of
Asser's book has been much disputed. The unique MS survives
only in charred and illegible fragments, but it is clear from
external evidence that Parker's edition (1574) contains large
editorial alterations and interpolations from the Lives of St Neots.
Formidable evidence in support of the genuineness of the original
Asser has been collected by Stevenson and others. The Welsh and
Latin forms and the scriptural quotations point to the early part of
the tenth century, and, at the same time, attest the Celtic nationality
of the author. The chronology is based on a primitive version of
the Chronicle, which the author supplements by details which none
but an eye-witness could have supplied. The very incompleteness
of the book is an argument against its being a forgery. Its abrupt
beginning and conclusion, and its awkward combination of extracts
from the Chronicle with original matter, may have been due to the
choice of Frankish models, such as Einhart's Life of Charles the
Great or Thegan's Life of Ludwig the Pious. Asser's book holds
a unique position as “the earliest biography of an English layman. ”
Florence of Worcester is valuable as illustrating the genuine text
. . of Asser, since he ignores what was, apparently, interpolated. The
later chroniclers, Simeon of Durham and William of Malmesbury,
throw occasional light on incidents in the king's career, but, on
the whole, are responsible for the growth of the Alfred legend.
The chronological order of Alfred's works is difficult to
determine. Depending, as we do, mainly upon internal evidence,
there is no absolute test whereby to fix the priority of one work
over another. Evidence of style is notoriously untrustworthy.
There are, however, a few considerations on the basis of which a
general arrangement may be attempted, though scarcely two
critics are in entire agreement as to the final order. Of these
considerations the most important is ability to reproduce in West
Saxon prose the spirit of the Latin original. A comparatively
close translation is, in Alfred's case, a sign of the 'prentice hand;
his latest work is marked by great freedom of rendering and large
insertions. Some further light is thrown on the problem by the
## p. 91 (#111) #############################################
Alfred's Pastoral Care
91
character of the prefaces to the various books. The chroniclers
are of little assistance in the determination of the relative
order.
The Handbook may safely be considered the earliest of Alfred's
compilations. Unfortunately, no trace of the book is now to be
found, though its existence is attested by external evidence. The
circumstances under which the formation of the Handbook was
begun make it clear that it was essentially a commonplace-book of
extracts from the Latin Bible and the Fathers. Asser, to whom
was due the suggestion that a book of this nature might be of
service to the king, describes it as an assemblage of flosculi,
culled from various sources. These extracts Alfred wrote down
in Latin, in the first instance, and, aſterwards, began to render them
into English. The first entries were made on 11 November 887,
in venerabili Martini solemnitate. William of Malmesbury
refers to the common-place book, quem patria lingua Handboc
(Encheiridion) i. e. manualem librum appellavit. Further, there
is in Florence of Worcester's Chronicle a reference to certain
Dicta regis Aelfredi, whereby the Handbook may, possibly, be
meant. There would, however, be no justification for identifying
the Dicta with the Handbook, were it not for the fact that
Malmesbury uses the latter as an authority for the life of Aldhelm.
It is quite conceivable that Alfred inserted among his notes an
account of Aldhelm, with whose verses he was probably acquainted.
But no importance whatever is to be attached to Florence of
Worcester's suggestion that the Handbook was a record of West
Saxon genealogy. It is possible that neither chronicler is to be
relied upon in this matter. The formation of the Handbook
was of literary importance merely : it afforded Alfred valuable
literary training and indirectly stimulated him to try his hand
at more extensive translation.
The translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis may be considered
the first of Alfred's literary works, properly so called. Grein,
Pauli and Bosworth awarded first place to Boethius, but internal
evidence is altogether in favour of the priority of the Pastoral
Care. The decay of learning consequent upon Danish raids made it
imperative that an attempt should be made to revive the education
of the clergy. No work of the Middle Ages seemed better adapted
to enlighten the church than Gregory's treatise, designed to serve
as a spiritual guide for the conscience of the priest. In Moralia
· Gesta Regum Anglorum, u, § 123.
## p. 92 (#112) #############################################
92
The Prose of Alfred
first of a series ultimately all th might be insta
England, who order that ultimbooks which the
Gregory had indulged to the full his passion for allegory; Cura
Pastoralis is less dominated by the tendency to allegorise, though
it contains some gross examples of the practice—the explanation,
for example, of Ezekiel's injunction to the priests not to shave
their heads. But the allegorical method of the church reformer
does not altogether obscure a vigorous and healthy tone, and this
in spite of Gregory's expressed contempt for the technical side
of letters. Cura Pastoralis appealed to Alfred by its spiritual
insight; consequently, he began to turn into West Saxon “the
book called in Latin Pastoralis and in English Hierdeboc, some
times word for word, sometimes sense for sense. " In so doing he
availed himself of the help of his teachers, Plegmund and Asser,
Grimbald and John, and, as he understood their explanations,
he rendered the matter into English.
The preface, which gives this particular account of the
origin of the Pastoral Care, is of great importance in another
respect. An earlier passage makes it clear that the present was
only the first of a series of books which the king intended to
translate, in order that ultimately all the free-born youths of
England, who had the necessary leisure, might be instructed in
their own tongue. The preface to the Pastoral Care is thus a
preface to the whole series of translations. At the same time it
ranks among the most important of Alfred's original contributions
to literature. It gives an account of the decay of learning in
Britain, and sets forth the king's determination to reform the
schools of Wessex. It defends the use of the vernacular by
showing how the Old Testament was written first in Hebrew, then
translated into Greek and subsequently into Latin, and how all
other Christian nations had turned some portion of ancient
literature into their own tongue. From a literary point of view,
the preface is the first important piece of prose in English;
linguistically, it is, on account of its age, of unique value. A
passage in alliterative verse, containing a glowing tribute to
Gregory, “Christ's warrior, the Pope of Rome,” forms a kind of
second preface. It closes with a reference to the despatch of a
copy to each bishop in the land.
The style of the Pastoral Care has just those characteristics
which might have been expected in an early work. Alfred's con-
ception of the translator's province never limited him to a very
close rendering ; but, compared with his later work, there are signs
of restraint in this effort that suggest inexperience. The double
versions and the anacolutha in the text have given rise to the
## p. 93 (#113) #############################################
Alfred's Orosius
93
ingenious suggestion that the translation was dictated. A close
comparison of the Latin text and the West Saxon version throws
further light on the king's methods. His English audience is
always kept in view, and, for their benefit, he inserts brief ex-
planatory notes. Thus, he interprets“ manna" as "the sweet meat
which came down from heaven," "shittim wood” as “the tree
which never decays," " purple" as "the royal robe. ” Occasionally,
he Teutonises the terms of the Latin original by identifying
Hebrew institutions and social grades with their nearest analogues
in West Saxon civilisation. Plateis he renders by "herestraetum,"
David is described as a “salm-sceop,” Uriah as a “thegn. ”
Naturally, blunders are to be met with, as, for example, in the
derivation of sacerdotes—"in English cleansers because they are
to act as guides of believers and govern them. ” Compared with
later translations, Alfred's Pastoral Care is very close to the
original. The style is somewhat Latinised and abounds in pleonasms
and repetition, and the translation is remarkable for the number
of Smaš veryóueva it contains. The copy preserved in the Bodleian
is interesting as containing the name of Werferth, and it is the
actual copy destined for the Worcester see.
The relative positions of Orosius, and Bede are difficult to
determine. For a long period the prior position was assigned to
Orosius, but, latterly, there has been a tendency to reverse the
order. The argument based on closeness of translation may, in
this case, be fallacious, not only from the fact that the Latin of
Orosius presents more difficulties than that of Bede, but because,
in the latter case, Alfred would have been far less justified in
tampering with his original. Bede's work ranked, in Alfred's day,
as a standard history of the early English church; it was a recog-
nised classic. Much of Orosius, on the other hand, was obviously
unsuitable for English readers unversed in the outlines of classical
history. The comparative closeness of the translation of Bede
does not, therefore, necessarily imply early work. Plummer has
pointed out that the account of Caesar's invasions was omitted in
the first recension of Bede-a fact which can only be understood
by assuming that Alfred had already treated these events in detail
in Orosius.
The Historia adversus Paganos of Paulus Orosius, a Spanish
ecclesiastic, dates from the fifth century and was looked upon as
a standard text-book of universal history. Orosius, as a disciple --
of Augustine, had already given expression to anti-Pelagian views
in an earlier work.
His later book, likewise due to the inspiration
## p. 94 (#114) #############################################
94
The Prose of Alfred
of Augustine', was an attempt to expound the thesis that the
decline of the Roman empire was due to other causes than the
rise of Christianity and the neglect of pagan deities.
Alfred's interest in the work of Orosius lay chiefly on the historical
and geographical sides, though he did not neglect to draw the
moral. He aimed at giving to the English people a compendium of
universal history and geography, handling his original with great
freedom, introducing alterations and additions, omitting much
superfluous detail and making original contributions of great value.
The account of the geography of Germania is an interpolation of the
greatest importance as a historical document. Further, the accounts
of the celebrated voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan inserted in the
volume were taken down from hearsay. The Norwegian, Ohthere,
had voyaged furthest north of all his contemporaries, reaching a
latitude of about 71° 15'. Passing round the north of the Scandi-
navian peninsula, he afterwards explored the White Sea. Not till
1553 was this feat eclipsed, by Willoughby. Ohthere afterwards
made a voyage south, from Halgoland to Haddeby in the Baltic.
From this point Wulfstan set out to explore the great sea, which
Ohthere had described as running for many miles into the land.
For a time he had Wendland on his starboard and the Danish
islands on his port side. Continuing past the Swedish provinces
of Bleking and Smaland, he reached the mouth of the Vistula. He
entered the Frische Haff and sailed up the Elbing to Truso, having
accomplished the voyage in seven days. On their return both
voyagers recounted their adventures to Alfred, who gave them a
sympathetic hearing. The narrative of Ohthere must have had
particular interest for him, for the spirit of discovery which animated
the Norwegian sailor was akin to that felt by the West Saxon king.
Alfred had already formed plans for the development of a navy,
and would readily recognise the relation between the spirit of adven-
ture and the maintenance of sea-power. Geographical conditions
were largely responsible for the unrest of the Scandinavian. The
interior of Sweden was filled with dense pine forests and Norway
was, for the most part, a barren moor. Hence expeditions, piratical
or otherwise, and the growth of that love for the sea which is
reflected in the northern sagas. “He alone," says the Ynglinga
Saga, “had full right to the name of sea-king, who never slept
under sooty beam and never drank at chimney corner. " The
narrative of Ohthere's voyage holds a unique position as the first
attempt to give expression to the spirit of discovery. It is, besides,
1 Cf. De Civ. Dei, m.
## p. 95 (#115) #############################################
95
-
Alfred's Orosius
good literature, and finds an honourable place in Hakluyt's great
collection of voyages.
Alfred was too wise to burden his book with all the geographi-
cal detail given by Orosius. He confined himself to the essentials
of general geography, omitting the descriptions of north-east
Africa and of central Asia and abbreviating other passages. The
mistakes which crept into his version are to be ascribed either
to lack of acquaintance with the district described or to a
misunderstanding of the somewhat difficult Latin of Orosius. The
historical portion of the book is less original than the geographical.
Alfred omitted a great deal, particularly in the sections dealing
with classical mythology. The stories of Philomela, Tantalus and
Caligula had little to commend them, and were not inserted in the
translation. Many of the moralisings of Orosius were left out, though
a number were retained in a paraphrased form. Curiously enough,
some of the passages definitely ascribed by Alfred to Orosius are
not to be traced in the original. It is possible that, in such cases,
Alfred availed himself of materials as yet unknown to us. A more
questionable proceeding is the omission of details prejudicial to
the reputation of Germanic tribes. The alterations and additions in
the historical section are decidedly interesting. There are the
usual misunderstandings—the identification of Theseus with the
victor of Marathon, of Carthage with Cordova, and the fusion of
the consuls Lepidus and Mucius into one under the title of Lepidus
Mutius. Wherever possible the king acts as interpreter, substi-
tuting, for example, English equivalents for the Latin names
of British towns and English names of measures for Latin. The
description given by Orosius of the appearances of Commodus in
the arena is reduced to the simple statement that the emperor
was accustomed to fight duels. Alfred's imagination plays around
the details of the plague of frogs in Egypt-“No meat could be
prepared without there being as large a quantity of reptiles as of
meat in the vessel before it could be dressed. ” Cleopatra is de-
scribed as placing the adder against her arm because she thought
it would cause less pain there. Interesting accounts are inserted
of a Roman triumph and of the temple of Janus. A side glimpse
is often to be had of the king's opinions, religious or otherwise.
He enlarges on Scipio's love for the fatherland, concluding: "he
compelled them to swear that they would all together either live
or die in their native land. " His admiration, likewise, is moved
by the courage of Regulus, to whom he devotes considerable
space. Thus, Orosius is of great value for the light it throws on
## p. 96 (#116) #############################################
96
The Prose of Alfred
Alfred's character. He is shown to have been a skilful geographer
and an interested, if not a scholarly, student of history. His
practical purpose is clearly apparent. Everywhere in dealing with
history he endeavours to bring the historical fact into vital relation
with current affairs. The military achievements of Greeks and
Romans remind him of wars in which he had himself been engaged,
and his explanations of manoeuvres are generally based on his
own experience. Though the band of Alfred is very apparent in
the pages of Orosius, there is no good external authority for the
authorship. The first to associate his name with this translation
was William of Malmesbury'.
The translation of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica may be con-
sidered next. The original is much less freely rendered than is
the case with Orosius-a fact which may have been due to the
authoritative position occupied by Bede's book. The external
testimony for Alfred's authorship is fairly trustworthy. In his
Homily on St Gregory Aelfric refers to the Historia Anglorum,
“which Alfred translated out of Latin into English,” and there is
further evidence in the Cambridge MS, on the first leaf of
which is written, Historicus quondam fecit me Beda latinum,
Aelfred rex Saxo transtulit ille pius. On the ground of certain
Mercian characteristics in the text, however, Miller ventures to
doubt the Alfredian authorship, and is led by the fact of certain
omissions to fix the locality of the original MS at Lichfield. On
the other hand, Schipper holds to the orthodox view and considers
the arguments based on dialect to be unproven. The omissions in
Alfred's Bede are very considerable, and no attempt is made to
supplement the original with southern annals. 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.
many Christian poets, but not quite so many as Aldhelm, and,
clearly, does not take so much interest as his predecessor in
pagan authors.
The letter to Egbert of York, perhaps the latest document
we possess from Bede's pen, deserves a special and separate
mention. It is, in brief, a pastoral epistle; and it gives (what we
could only gather indirectly from his other works) the clearest
evidence of Bede's lively interest in the religious life of the people
at large, and his wise and noble conception of the duties of a
Christian minister. His advice to Egbert is prompted by “a real
and unassuming spirit of humility and affection," and it is
thoroughly practical in its statement, alike of the abuses which
need reform, and of the means of reforming them. The suggestions
offered by Bede are those of a man at once spiritually minded and
versed in the affairs of his time; they are, moreover, based on
an intimate knowledge of the history of the church with which he
is dealing. Rarely as he may have trodden the regions outside the
walls of his monastery, it is plain from this letter alone that Bede
may be reckoned as one of the most effective contributors, by his
advice and influence, to the spreading of Christianity in northern
England
No enumeration of works, no accumulation of epithets will give
the picture of a man's mind. And it is the personality of Bede
which we come to regard with affection, when we have read the
6-2
## p. 84 (#104) #############################################
84
Latin Writings in England
book into which he has infused most of his own character. That
book is the History, and from the study of it few will rise without
the feeling that Bede was one of the best of men.
It cannot be maintained that the influence of Alcuin's writings
upon the literature of his country was very important. As a
product of the great school of York, he does, indeed, bear witness
to the admirable training which that school could furnish. The
debt which the schools of Charles the Great owed, through Alcuin,
to England must never be forgotten. This is the central fact,
so far as England is concerned, in Alcuin's career. His written
works, mostly produced on the continent, were not of a kind to
affect very markedly the development of literature; and the
condition of England during the period of Alcuin's residence
abroad was such that English scholars could make no use of what
he was able to impart. The fact is that, very shortly before Alcuin
left England for ever, the Scandinavians had begun that desolating
series of raids upon this country which ended by exterminating the
learning and literature of Northumbria and paralysed intellectual
effort all over the land.
In an often quoted poem on the saints of York, Alcuin
enumerates the principal authors whose works were to be found
in the library collected there by Egbert and Albert. Within
a generation after the poem was written, that library had ceased
to exist; and so had that earlier treasury of books at Wearmouth
which Benedict Biscop commended in the last years of his life
to the special care of his monks. The end of the eighth century
and the course of the ninth saw learning gradually obliterated in
England, until the efforts of Alfred revived an interest in the things
of the mind among his countrymen.
Had it not been for this catastrophe we might have found
English scholars taking part with Alcuin in the adoptionist
controversy, or contributing to the revision of the Vulgate which
is associated with his name. As it is, the ninth century, to the
historian of our Latin literature, is almost a blank.
Alcuin, to resume, was not a great writer. The clearest
indications of his general culture and his manifold activities may,
perhaps, be gathered from his numerous poems and his letters.
These latter, with some of his grammatical works, were the only
part of his writings which attained popularity in England. His
controversial books are of less enduring interest: it is given to
few to follow with intelligent appreciation the dispute which he
## p. 85 (#105) #############################################
Alcuin
waged with Felix of Urgel and Elipandus of Toledo upon the
question whether Christ, in His human nature, was or was not
to be called the "adoptive” Son of God. The liturgical works,
again—the homiliary, lectionary and sacramentary-which made
a deep mark upon the church-life of the continent, are works of
compilation. As to the revision of the text of the Latin Bible,
clear evidence that it was the work of Alcuin is not yet producible;
but the probability is very strong that he was at least prominent,
if not supreme, in the undertaking.
But, though the tale of Alcuin's labours is an imposing one,
it is the intellectual stimulus which he imparted, and the long
line of scholars which owed to him its existence, that forms his
true monument. He ranks with Bede as an inspirer of men; but
the vehicle by which his inspiration was conveyed was rather the
voice of the teacher than the written words.
With Alcuin we close the list of the considerable authors who
fall within our period. But there still remain some few writings
of the eighth and ninth centuries which demand a word of notice.
These consist mainly of lives of saints, visions, poems and
devotional literature.
The anonymous lives of the abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow,
and the life of Cuthbert by a Lindisfarne monk-both ex-
tensively used by Bede-have been mentioned already. The
earliest life of Gregory the Great, to which an English origin is
attributed, should not be forgotten here. It is discussed by
Plummer in an appendix to the edition of Bede's History.
More important than this, from the literary point of view, are
the lives of Wilfrid of York by Eddius Stephanus, and of Guthlac
by Felix. Both of these belong to the eighth century. The
former begins in a way which may indicate either indolence or
modesty on the part of its author, who transcribes, with few
alterations and without acknowledgment, the preface of the
anonymous life of Cuthbert. The reading of the life will pro-
bably conduce to the most favourable interpretation being placed
upon this proceeding; for, unflinching partisan as he is, Eddius
makes us think of him kindly. Many a man would have spoken
much more bitterly of the opponents of his hero; and, though
Eddius persistently and gallantly disguises that hero's faults, we
do not feel so much that he is a bad historian, as that he is a
wrongly faithful friend.
Felix, the biographer of Guthlac, is far more picturesque in
style than Eddius. Unlike the latter, he has fallen under the
## p. 86 (#106) #############################################
86
Latin Writings in England
spell of Aldhelm. He has been fascinated, too, by the tales of the
demon hordes who haunted the lonely hermit of the fens, and has
portrayed them in language which, whether directly or not, was
reproduced in vernacular poetry not many generations later.
Closely connected with these biographies of saints are the
visions of the next world. Several of them are reported by Bede,
notably the vision of Fursey, the Irish hermit, and of Drythelm.
Two more (one of them in a fragmentary condition) are preserved
among the correspondence of Boniface. Like the life of Guthlac
these apocalypses had firm hold upon the popular imagination,
and some of them appear in the homilies of Aelfric in an English
dress. They owed their origin, it may be remarked, in great
measure to the Dialogues of Gregory and the apocryphal Revelation
of Paul—which latter, as we have seen, was known to Aldhelm.
It is possible that the far older Revelation of Peter may have
survived in some form accessible to the English church of the
seventh and eighth centuries. Evidence is not wanting to show
that an Italian apocalypse of the seventh century, that of
St Barontus of Pistoja, was studied in England not long after
our period'.
In the department of poetry the only considerable work which
remains to be mentioned is the poem of one Ethelwulf upon the
history of a monastery, the identity of which is not yet certainly
established. The house in question was clearly connected with
Lindisfarne, and is thought to have been at Crayke near York.
The poem is dedicated to Egbert, who was bishop of Lindisfarne
in the first quarter of the ninth century, and is constructed on
the model of Alcuin's versified history of the saints of the
church of York. It contains, among other things, an account of
a vision of the next world, similar to those mentioned in the last
paragraph.
Of devotional literature, by which we mean more particularly
collections of prayers and hymns for private use, there is a fairly
large quantity preserved in manuscripts which belong to the
period under consideration. The most remarkable of these is,
perhaps, the volume called the Book of Cerne, now in the
University Library at Cambridge. Both Celtic and Spanish
influences have been traced in many of the compositions in this
and other like works. Much light may, eventually, be thrown
1 See a passage towards the end of an 11th (? ) century Old English MS, Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge, 367, quoted in The Sources of Abp Parker's MSS at
C. C. C. O. , James, M. R. , Cambridge Antiquarian Society, 1899, p. 62.
## p. 87 (#107) #############################################
Bede and Alcuin
by this class of literature upon the intellectual, as well as the
religious, surroundings of the clergy and monks of the eighth and
ninth centuries.
A not inconsiderable portion of the Latin writings of these
same centuries consists of documents connected with church law.
Books called Penitentials exist under the names of Theodore, Bede
and Egbert of York; and there are, besides, canons of church
councils and the like. But these have really no claim to the name
of literature, and a mere mention of them must suffice.
These, then, are the chief remains of the Latin literature which
was produced in England before the time of Alfred. The period
of greatest activity lasted, we have seen, for about a hundred
years, from A. D. 690 to 790. It is marked by the rise of two
great schools, those of Canterbury and York, and by the work
of one great scholar. The south of England produced works
characterised by a rather perverted and fanciful erudition. It was
the north which gave birth to Bede, the one writer of that age a
whose works are of first-rate value, and to Alcuin, whose influence
was supreme in the schools of the continent.
Note to p. 78. Henry Bradley has pointed out (English Historical Review, 1900,
p. 291) that the first poem is, most likely, addressed to Helmgisl, not Aldhelm, and
that the fifth is by Aethilwald and addressed to one Oua.
## p. 88 (#108) #############################################
CHAPTER VI
ALFRED AND THE OLD ENGLISH PROSE OF HIS
REIGN
THE reign of Alfred acquired its chief glory from the personality
of the king. He had many titles to fame. His character was
made up of so many diverse elements that he seemed, at one and
the same time, to be military leader, lawgiver, scholar and saint,
and these elements were so combined that the balance of the
whole was never disturbed. In the minds of posterity Alfred
lives as the type of an ideal Englishman.
In each of the departments of his activity the king's work was
of permanent value. His efforts, though essentially pioneer in
character, laid a solid and permanent foundation for the super-
structure which was to be raised by his successors. As king, he
ruled a portion only of modern England and left much to be com-
pleted by his descendants. But the centralising policy which he
inaugurated and successfully realised—the policy of making Wessex
the nucleus of England's expansion-alone made possible the
growth of an enlarged kingdom. Alfred's ideals for Wessex re-
flect a large vision and much practical wisdom, and the reign is
as remarkable for its educational as for its political progress. His
conceptions were cosmopolitan rather than insular. He never lost
sight of the importance of keeping his kingdom in organic relation
with European civilisation-a lesson stamped upon his mind ever
since, in his early years (856), during the pontificate of one of the
greatest of the popes, Leo IV, he had visited Rome and the court
of Charles the Bald. This visit made a vivid impression upon
Alfred's mind. His father's marriage with the emperor's daughter,
Judith, cemented relationships with the continent and the
insularity of Britain was henceforth broken down. The import-
ance for literature of this emergence from isolation cannot be
over-estimated. Charles the Great had gathered round him at
Aachen a cultured circle of scholars and writers, and had pro-
moted a renascence of classical study, the influence of which was
## p. 89 (#109) #############################################
Asser's Life of Alfred 89
still powerful in the days of Charles the Bald. The illuminated
MSS of the French court of the ninth century—the St Denis
and Metz Bibles, the Psalter and book of Gospels, in particular-
are conspicuous examples of artistic skill. After his accession
Alfred looked to the Frankish empire for assistance in his task
of reviving learning in Wessex. At his request, Grimbald, a
monk of St Bertin in Flanders, and John of Corbie came
over to Britain, and were appointed abbots of Winchester and
Aethelney respectively. The king diligently promoted scholarship, -
and himself undertook to translate into West Saxon recognised
works in Latin prose. At the same time he increased the number
of monasteries and reformed the educational side of these institu-
tions by the introduction of teachers, English and foreign. The
story of Grimbald's visit to Oxford and of the existence there of a
community of scholars is, however, not supported by any evidence.
The legend was interpolated in an edition of Asser's Life of
Alfred, based on Parker's text, which Camden published in
1602—3. No MS, or other authority, is known to support
Camden's statement. The consequence of the educational and
literary activity of Alfred's reign was to transfer the centre of 4
learning from Northumbria to Wessex. The monastic communities
of Lindisfarne, Evesham and Croyland had fostered scholarship
in the north, and, in the seventh century, Whitby had produced
Caedmon. In 674, Benedict Biscop had built the monastery of
St Peter at Wearmouth and, in 682, a second house at Jarrow, at
both of which large libraries were collected. The arts of glass-
making, gold-work and embroidery were introduced from the
continent. Northumbria had thus become “the literary centre)
of western Europe," producing scholars of the type of Bede, the
master of the learning of his day, and Alcuin, the scholarly helper
of Charles the Great. But with the appearance of the Danes began
the decline of learning in the north. So much did scholarship suffer
in consequence of the viking raids that, at the date of Alfred's
accession, there was no scholar even south of the Thames who could
read the mass-book in Latin. The revival of letters in Wessex was
the direct result of the king's enthusiasm and personal efforts, and
his educational aims recall irresistibly the work of Charles the Great.
The authorities for the life of Alfred are many, but of unequal
value. His own works, reflecting as they do his personal
character and convictions, furnish the most important data, the
Chronicle and the Life by Asser ranking next in value. Asser, L
a Welsh cleric, was, in all probability, educated at St David's to
## p. 90 (#110) #############################################
go
The Prose of Alfred
He had already been in communication with Alfred regarding the
defence of his monastery when he was summoned by the king to
assist him in his educational schemes. According to his own
account, Asser arranged to stay with Alfred for six months of
each year, spending the remaining six in Wales. He became the
king's most intimate friend and diligently assisted him in his
study of Latin. He was eventually appointed bishop of Sherborne,
and died some ten years after the king. The authenticity of
Asser's book has been much disputed. The unique MS survives
only in charred and illegible fragments, but it is clear from
external evidence that Parker's edition (1574) contains large
editorial alterations and interpolations from the Lives of St Neots.
Formidable evidence in support of the genuineness of the original
Asser has been collected by Stevenson and others. The Welsh and
Latin forms and the scriptural quotations point to the early part of
the tenth century, and, at the same time, attest the Celtic nationality
of the author. The chronology is based on a primitive version of
the Chronicle, which the author supplements by details which none
but an eye-witness could have supplied. The very incompleteness
of the book is an argument against its being a forgery. Its abrupt
beginning and conclusion, and its awkward combination of extracts
from the Chronicle with original matter, may have been due to the
choice of Frankish models, such as Einhart's Life of Charles the
Great or Thegan's Life of Ludwig the Pious. Asser's book holds
a unique position as “the earliest biography of an English layman. ”
Florence of Worcester is valuable as illustrating the genuine text
. . of Asser, since he ignores what was, apparently, interpolated. The
later chroniclers, Simeon of Durham and William of Malmesbury,
throw occasional light on incidents in the king's career, but, on
the whole, are responsible for the growth of the Alfred legend.
The chronological order of Alfred's works is difficult to
determine. Depending, as we do, mainly upon internal evidence,
there is no absolute test whereby to fix the priority of one work
over another. Evidence of style is notoriously untrustworthy.
There are, however, a few considerations on the basis of which a
general arrangement may be attempted, though scarcely two
critics are in entire agreement as to the final order. Of these
considerations the most important is ability to reproduce in West
Saxon prose the spirit of the Latin original. A comparatively
close translation is, in Alfred's case, a sign of the 'prentice hand;
his latest work is marked by great freedom of rendering and large
insertions. Some further light is thrown on the problem by the
## p. 91 (#111) #############################################
Alfred's Pastoral Care
91
character of the prefaces to the various books. The chroniclers
are of little assistance in the determination of the relative
order.
The Handbook may safely be considered the earliest of Alfred's
compilations. Unfortunately, no trace of the book is now to be
found, though its existence is attested by external evidence. The
circumstances under which the formation of the Handbook was
begun make it clear that it was essentially a commonplace-book of
extracts from the Latin Bible and the Fathers. Asser, to whom
was due the suggestion that a book of this nature might be of
service to the king, describes it as an assemblage of flosculi,
culled from various sources. These extracts Alfred wrote down
in Latin, in the first instance, and, aſterwards, began to render them
into English. The first entries were made on 11 November 887,
in venerabili Martini solemnitate. William of Malmesbury
refers to the common-place book, quem patria lingua Handboc
(Encheiridion) i. e. manualem librum appellavit. Further, there
is in Florence of Worcester's Chronicle a reference to certain
Dicta regis Aelfredi, whereby the Handbook may, possibly, be
meant. There would, however, be no justification for identifying
the Dicta with the Handbook, were it not for the fact that
Malmesbury uses the latter as an authority for the life of Aldhelm.
It is quite conceivable that Alfred inserted among his notes an
account of Aldhelm, with whose verses he was probably acquainted.
But no importance whatever is to be attached to Florence of
Worcester's suggestion that the Handbook was a record of West
Saxon genealogy. It is possible that neither chronicler is to be
relied upon in this matter. The formation of the Handbook
was of literary importance merely : it afforded Alfred valuable
literary training and indirectly stimulated him to try his hand
at more extensive translation.
The translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis may be considered
the first of Alfred's literary works, properly so called. Grein,
Pauli and Bosworth awarded first place to Boethius, but internal
evidence is altogether in favour of the priority of the Pastoral
Care. The decay of learning consequent upon Danish raids made it
imperative that an attempt should be made to revive the education
of the clergy. No work of the Middle Ages seemed better adapted
to enlighten the church than Gregory's treatise, designed to serve
as a spiritual guide for the conscience of the priest. In Moralia
· Gesta Regum Anglorum, u, § 123.
## p. 92 (#112) #############################################
92
The Prose of Alfred
first of a series ultimately all th might be insta
England, who order that ultimbooks which the
Gregory had indulged to the full his passion for allegory; Cura
Pastoralis is less dominated by the tendency to allegorise, though
it contains some gross examples of the practice—the explanation,
for example, of Ezekiel's injunction to the priests not to shave
their heads. But the allegorical method of the church reformer
does not altogether obscure a vigorous and healthy tone, and this
in spite of Gregory's expressed contempt for the technical side
of letters. Cura Pastoralis appealed to Alfred by its spiritual
insight; consequently, he began to turn into West Saxon “the
book called in Latin Pastoralis and in English Hierdeboc, some
times word for word, sometimes sense for sense. " In so doing he
availed himself of the help of his teachers, Plegmund and Asser,
Grimbald and John, and, as he understood their explanations,
he rendered the matter into English.
The preface, which gives this particular account of the
origin of the Pastoral Care, is of great importance in another
respect. An earlier passage makes it clear that the present was
only the first of a series of books which the king intended to
translate, in order that ultimately all the free-born youths of
England, who had the necessary leisure, might be instructed in
their own tongue. The preface to the Pastoral Care is thus a
preface to the whole series of translations. At the same time it
ranks among the most important of Alfred's original contributions
to literature. It gives an account of the decay of learning in
Britain, and sets forth the king's determination to reform the
schools of Wessex. It defends the use of the vernacular by
showing how the Old Testament was written first in Hebrew, then
translated into Greek and subsequently into Latin, and how all
other Christian nations had turned some portion of ancient
literature into their own tongue. From a literary point of view,
the preface is the first important piece of prose in English;
linguistically, it is, on account of its age, of unique value. A
passage in alliterative verse, containing a glowing tribute to
Gregory, “Christ's warrior, the Pope of Rome,” forms a kind of
second preface. It closes with a reference to the despatch of a
copy to each bishop in the land.
The style of the Pastoral Care has just those characteristics
which might have been expected in an early work. Alfred's con-
ception of the translator's province never limited him to a very
close rendering ; but, compared with his later work, there are signs
of restraint in this effort that suggest inexperience. The double
versions and the anacolutha in the text have given rise to the
## p. 93 (#113) #############################################
Alfred's Orosius
93
ingenious suggestion that the translation was dictated. A close
comparison of the Latin text and the West Saxon version throws
further light on the king's methods. His English audience is
always kept in view, and, for their benefit, he inserts brief ex-
planatory notes. Thus, he interprets“ manna" as "the sweet meat
which came down from heaven," "shittim wood” as “the tree
which never decays," " purple" as "the royal robe. ” Occasionally,
he Teutonises the terms of the Latin original by identifying
Hebrew institutions and social grades with their nearest analogues
in West Saxon civilisation. Plateis he renders by "herestraetum,"
David is described as a “salm-sceop,” Uriah as a “thegn. ”
Naturally, blunders are to be met with, as, for example, in the
derivation of sacerdotes—"in English cleansers because they are
to act as guides of believers and govern them. ” Compared with
later translations, Alfred's Pastoral Care is very close to the
original. The style is somewhat Latinised and abounds in pleonasms
and repetition, and the translation is remarkable for the number
of Smaš veryóueva it contains. The copy preserved in the Bodleian
is interesting as containing the name of Werferth, and it is the
actual copy destined for the Worcester see.
The relative positions of Orosius, and Bede are difficult to
determine. For a long period the prior position was assigned to
Orosius, but, latterly, there has been a tendency to reverse the
order. The argument based on closeness of translation may, in
this case, be fallacious, not only from the fact that the Latin of
Orosius presents more difficulties than that of Bede, but because,
in the latter case, Alfred would have been far less justified in
tampering with his original. Bede's work ranked, in Alfred's day,
as a standard history of the early English church; it was a recog-
nised classic. Much of Orosius, on the other hand, was obviously
unsuitable for English readers unversed in the outlines of classical
history. The comparative closeness of the translation of Bede
does not, therefore, necessarily imply early work. Plummer has
pointed out that the account of Caesar's invasions was omitted in
the first recension of Bede-a fact which can only be understood
by assuming that Alfred had already treated these events in detail
in Orosius.
The Historia adversus Paganos of Paulus Orosius, a Spanish
ecclesiastic, dates from the fifth century and was looked upon as
a standard text-book of universal history. Orosius, as a disciple --
of Augustine, had already given expression to anti-Pelagian views
in an earlier work.
His later book, likewise due to the inspiration
## p. 94 (#114) #############################################
94
The Prose of Alfred
of Augustine', was an attempt to expound the thesis that the
decline of the Roman empire was due to other causes than the
rise of Christianity and the neglect of pagan deities.
Alfred's interest in the work of Orosius lay chiefly on the historical
and geographical sides, though he did not neglect to draw the
moral. He aimed at giving to the English people a compendium of
universal history and geography, handling his original with great
freedom, introducing alterations and additions, omitting much
superfluous detail and making original contributions of great value.
The account of the geography of Germania is an interpolation of the
greatest importance as a historical document. Further, the accounts
of the celebrated voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan inserted in the
volume were taken down from hearsay. The Norwegian, Ohthere,
had voyaged furthest north of all his contemporaries, reaching a
latitude of about 71° 15'. Passing round the north of the Scandi-
navian peninsula, he afterwards explored the White Sea. Not till
1553 was this feat eclipsed, by Willoughby. Ohthere afterwards
made a voyage south, from Halgoland to Haddeby in the Baltic.
From this point Wulfstan set out to explore the great sea, which
Ohthere had described as running for many miles into the land.
For a time he had Wendland on his starboard and the Danish
islands on his port side. Continuing past the Swedish provinces
of Bleking and Smaland, he reached the mouth of the Vistula. He
entered the Frische Haff and sailed up the Elbing to Truso, having
accomplished the voyage in seven days. On their return both
voyagers recounted their adventures to Alfred, who gave them a
sympathetic hearing. The narrative of Ohthere must have had
particular interest for him, for the spirit of discovery which animated
the Norwegian sailor was akin to that felt by the West Saxon king.
Alfred had already formed plans for the development of a navy,
and would readily recognise the relation between the spirit of adven-
ture and the maintenance of sea-power. Geographical conditions
were largely responsible for the unrest of the Scandinavian. The
interior of Sweden was filled with dense pine forests and Norway
was, for the most part, a barren moor. Hence expeditions, piratical
or otherwise, and the growth of that love for the sea which is
reflected in the northern sagas. “He alone," says the Ynglinga
Saga, “had full right to the name of sea-king, who never slept
under sooty beam and never drank at chimney corner. " The
narrative of Ohthere's voyage holds a unique position as the first
attempt to give expression to the spirit of discovery. It is, besides,
1 Cf. De Civ. Dei, m.
## p. 95 (#115) #############################################
95
-
Alfred's Orosius
good literature, and finds an honourable place in Hakluyt's great
collection of voyages.
Alfred was too wise to burden his book with all the geographi-
cal detail given by Orosius. He confined himself to the essentials
of general geography, omitting the descriptions of north-east
Africa and of central Asia and abbreviating other passages. The
mistakes which crept into his version are to be ascribed either
to lack of acquaintance with the district described or to a
misunderstanding of the somewhat difficult Latin of Orosius. The
historical portion of the book is less original than the geographical.
Alfred omitted a great deal, particularly in the sections dealing
with classical mythology. The stories of Philomela, Tantalus and
Caligula had little to commend them, and were not inserted in the
translation. Many of the moralisings of Orosius were left out, though
a number were retained in a paraphrased form. Curiously enough,
some of the passages definitely ascribed by Alfred to Orosius are
not to be traced in the original. It is possible that, in such cases,
Alfred availed himself of materials as yet unknown to us. A more
questionable proceeding is the omission of details prejudicial to
the reputation of Germanic tribes. The alterations and additions in
the historical section are decidedly interesting. There are the
usual misunderstandings—the identification of Theseus with the
victor of Marathon, of Carthage with Cordova, and the fusion of
the consuls Lepidus and Mucius into one under the title of Lepidus
Mutius. Wherever possible the king acts as interpreter, substi-
tuting, for example, English equivalents for the Latin names
of British towns and English names of measures for Latin. The
description given by Orosius of the appearances of Commodus in
the arena is reduced to the simple statement that the emperor
was accustomed to fight duels. Alfred's imagination plays around
the details of the plague of frogs in Egypt-“No meat could be
prepared without there being as large a quantity of reptiles as of
meat in the vessel before it could be dressed. ” Cleopatra is de-
scribed as placing the adder against her arm because she thought
it would cause less pain there. Interesting accounts are inserted
of a Roman triumph and of the temple of Janus. A side glimpse
is often to be had of the king's opinions, religious or otherwise.
He enlarges on Scipio's love for the fatherland, concluding: "he
compelled them to swear that they would all together either live
or die in their native land. " His admiration, likewise, is moved
by the courage of Regulus, to whom he devotes considerable
space. Thus, Orosius is of great value for the light it throws on
## p. 96 (#116) #############################################
96
The Prose of Alfred
Alfred's character. He is shown to have been a skilful geographer
and an interested, if not a scholarly, student of history. His
practical purpose is clearly apparent. Everywhere in dealing with
history he endeavours to bring the historical fact into vital relation
with current affairs. The military achievements of Greeks and
Romans remind him of wars in which he had himself been engaged,
and his explanations of manoeuvres are generally based on his
own experience. Though the band of Alfred is very apparent in
the pages of Orosius, there is no good external authority for the
authorship. The first to associate his name with this translation
was William of Malmesbury'.
The translation of Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica may be con-
sidered next. The original is much less freely rendered than is
the case with Orosius-a fact which may have been due to the
authoritative position occupied by Bede's book. The external
testimony for Alfred's authorship is fairly trustworthy. In his
Homily on St Gregory Aelfric refers to the Historia Anglorum,
“which Alfred translated out of Latin into English,” and there is
further evidence in the Cambridge MS, on the first leaf of
which is written, Historicus quondam fecit me Beda latinum,
Aelfred rex Saxo transtulit ille pius. On the ground of certain
Mercian characteristics in the text, however, Miller ventures to
doubt the Alfredian authorship, and is led by the fact of certain
omissions to fix the locality of the original MS at Lichfield. On
the other hand, Schipper holds to the orthodox view and considers
the arguments based on dialect to be unproven. The omissions in
Alfred's Bede are very considerable, and no attempt is made to
supplement the original with southern annals. 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.
