In the hands of
Aelfric its vocabulary became less concrete, its constructions
more logical, and, though it was still seen to best advantage in
simple narrative, it was moulded by him with fair success to
philosophic requirements.
Aelfric its vocabulary became less concrete, its constructions
more logical, and, though it was still seen to best advantage in
simple narrative, it was moulded by him with fair success to
philosophic requirements.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v01
The
work must have been composed after 1014, since it contains a
quotation from Aethelred's laws of that date; and, probably, before
1016, when Wulfstan's connection with Worcester came to an end.
The epistles were written in Latin and translated into English
by Aelfric himself, at Wulfstan's request, in the following year.
Aelfric's life was now drawing to a close. The exact date of
his death is not known, but he died, probably, soon after 1020.
His last years were passed in times not favourable for literary
work. They were eventful years for England, for they witnessed
the Danish sack of Canterbury in 1011, the murder of St Alphege
by the Danes at Greenwich, the flight of Aethelred before Sweyn,
the strife of Edmund Ironside and Canute and Canute's final
triumph.
Aelfric was not only the greatest prose writer, he was also /
the most distinguished English-writing theologian, in his own time,
and for five centuries afterwards. Yet he was in no sense an
original thinker; his homilies, as he frankly states, are borrowed
from others, and in them he reflects the thought of the west,
especially the teaching of St Augustine its great Father. His chief
object was to convey to the simple and unlearned the teaching
of the Fathers; and in this he was pre-eminently successful. If
Dunstan and Aethelwold first kindled the flame, it was Aelfric who,
through dark years of strife and warfare, when men's thoughts
were absorbed by the pressing anxieties of their daily life, kept
the lamp alight and reminded them of spiritual ideals. His
influence lasted long after his death, as is shown by the many late
## p. 128 (#148) ############################################
128 From Alfred to the Conquest
manuscripts of his writings, some of which date from the twelfth
century; and if it had not been for his faithful, modest labour, the
difficulties of Lanfranc and Anselm would have been even greater
than they were.
As he himself tells us, he took Alfred for his model, but, in
ease and grace, his style far surpasses that of his great predecessor.
Both Aelfric and Wulfstan write and translate in a free style, but
it is no longer the gossiping colloquialism of Alfred. English had
become a literary language, polished in the cloisters with long
use as a vehicle for translation and original works. In the cloisters
Latin was still a living language and, hence, Latin constructions
became common. The necessity of having to express difficult
ideas in a form intelligible to ignorant men helped Aelfric in his
choice of words and in his effort after lucidity, while, with the
instinct of a true teacher, he refused to be led astray by the
example of Latin syntax and preferred simple constructions.
Unfortunately, as time went on, he deferred more and more
to the preferences of his audience, and debased his prose
by throwing it into the rhythmical alliterative form popular
with the vulgar. Perhaps it was felt that a more pompous,
rhetorical style than that of ordinary speech should be used in
treating of solemn themes. However that may be, the later,
florid manner which Aelfric affected in the Saints' Lives, and
in some of his other treatises, is distinctly inferior to that of
the first two series of homilies. His prose is seen at its best in
simple narrative, and, to appreciate the difficulties under which
he laboured, the homilies on the Eucharist and on the Creation
(both philosophic subjects) should be read together. The first
is confused and complex, compared with the flowing ease of the
great Father upon whose work it was based and, obviously, the
language was not, at this time, equal to abstruse metaphysical
speculation. The second, which deals with a simpler subject, is
clear and comprehensive. Aelfric shows power in his treatment
of pathos as well as of philosophy, when both are simple; as may
be seen in the homilies on the Holy Innocents and on the Creation.
But, whatever his theme, he is always logical and persuasive ; and
the "sweet reasonableness” of his methods especially distinguishes
his sermons from the fiery denunciations, and the direct, strenuous
language, of his contemporary and friend, archbishop Wulfstan,
who goes to the point without any of the abstract moralising to
be found in Aelfric. Wulfstan delivers his Christian doctrine as
a statement of facts, and his phrases have a legal smack about
## p. 129 (#149) ############################################
Aelfric and Wulfstan
129
them; while Aelfric loves what has some philosophy in it, for even
his simplicity is often profound. In a word, Wulfstan is a judges
and legalist, Aelfric a contemplative student.
This difference in tone is explained partly by temperament,
partly by the circumstances of their lives. Aelfric, following the
quiet industrious routine of duty behind the shelter of the abbey
walls, heard only the rumours of the strife that raged without;
Wulfstan, absorbed in practical, political life, was brought face
to face with the anguish and the practical needs of the time. He
was already bishop of Worcester, when, in 1002, he was appointed, --
also, to the see of York. In 1014, he assisted in the compilation of
the laws of Aethelred, drawn up at the synod of Eynsham ; he
died on 28 May 1023. Thus, his period of office coincided with
that of the most disastrous and devastating invasions of the
country.
It is extremely difficult to determine exactly which of the
homilies in the Bodleian · are really Wulfstan's. Owing to the
superscription at the beginning of the first : Hic incipiunt
sermones Lupi, all were ascribed to him by Wanley. Napier has
pointed out, however, that this heading was, probably, taken from
another manuscript of the archbishop's sermons, which were copied
into a miscellaneous collection containing many others, of which
the authorship is uncertain, or certainly not his. Of the fifty-three
homilies in the Bodleian MS, only five are indisputably by Wulfstan.
There are the two immediately following the superscription, dealing
with the Bible story', and with the catholic faith'; next follows a
sermon* of which only parts are by Wulfstan, and which Napier,
rejecting the passages he considers unauthentic, has divided into
four portionsº: on the Christian life, on Christ's death, on Christ
as the true friend and on the duties of Christians. Then comes
the famous Address to the English', and, last of all, a short
exhortation? with the superscription Sermo Lupi, on the duty of
Christians, full of metrical fragments, which can be separated
from the context and show signs of sung verse united by alliteration
or assonance. Of the remaining homilies, some, which occur in
the same order in various manuscripts, are, possibly, by Wulfstan ;
many, such as the paraphrase of the poem called Be Domes Daege,
and The Address of the Soul to the Body, must be entirely rejected;
while othergs appear also among the Blickling Homilies or the
, Napier 2.
1 Junius 99.
1 Wanley 1, Napier 2.
• Wanley 4.
5 Napier XIX, XX, XXI, XXI.
; Wanley 6, Napier 84.
E. L. I. CH. VII.
3 Wanley 2, Napier 3.
6 Wanley 5, Napier 83.
8 XLIX, LIV and LV.
## p. 130 (#150) ############################################
130 From Alfred to the Conquest
works of Aelfric. It is noteworthy that the homilies referred to
above as possibly by Wulfstan are very similar in phraseology
to the Old English laws drawn up at the council of Eynsham in
1014; and, as we know from his own statement that Wulfstan was
responsible for the Latin paraphrase of these statutes, it is probable
that the English version was his also.
Of the five homilies which can certainly be ascribed to Wulfstan,
the most powerful is the one entitled in the Bodleian MS Sermo
Lupi ad Anglos quando Dani maxime persecuti sunt eos, quod
fuit in die Aethelredi regis, to which another MS adds more
explicitly that this was in anno millesimo wiiii ab incarnatione
Domini nostri Jesus Christi, and another, in anno millesimo viii.
But it is, indeed, applicable to any year in the ill-fated reign of
Aethelred. The vices, evil deeds and cowardice of the English
are scourged with a heavy hand; the English are likened to the
Britons whom they have turned out, and are threatened with the
same fate. The archbishop's passionate patriotism breaks forth
in the burning words with which he describes the desolation and
demoralisation of the people, scattered like frightened sheep
before the onset of the heathen, without a single leader to rally
them to resistance. Villages are destroyed by fire, the new
minsters are stripped of their holy things; father is turned against
son and brother against brother; even the ancient bond of thane
and thrall becomes loosened in this time of universal disintegration.
And, like some Hebrew prophet, Wulfstan refuses to believe that
the Almighty would have laid so heavy an affliction upon an
innocent people; he sees in the crimes of the nation the cause,
rather than the effect, of the long strife; this evil has come upon
them for their sins; they have provoked the wrath of Heaven,
and, unless they repent and reform, a worse evil shall befall them.
But there is still room for penitence, and the sermon ends on a
gentler note:
“Let us creep to Christ,” says the preacher, “and call upon Him un-
ceasingly with trembling hearts, and deserve His mercy; let us love God and
His laws, and faithfully perform what our sponsors promised for us at our
baptism. Let us order rightly our words and our deeds, and keep faith with
one another without guile, and frequently think upon the great judgment
that awaits us all; and protect ourselves against the flaming fire of hell; and
let us earn for ourselves the glory and the joy which God has prepared for
those who do His will on earth. So God help us. Amen. "
Here and there are traces of metrical character sometimes
assonant, sometimes alliterative, which may have been part of
some pessimistic folk-ballads on England's downfall.
## p. 131 (#151) ############################################
Wulfstan and Byrhtferth
131
Wulfstan's style is much more vehement than that of Aelfric.
He is preacher rather than teacher, appealing more to the emotions
than to the reason of his hearers, fertile in concrete illustrations,
and avoiding the subtle symbolism in which Aelfric delighted.
His sentences, though not deficient in lucidity, are very long ;
synonym is heaped on synonym and clause upon clause; yet the
chanting sense of rhythm is always present; epithets are balanced,
and the effect is often heightened by the use of antithesis. But,
as might be expected from one whose life was so much absorbed
by the administration of public affairs, his style is that of the
rhetorician rather than of the philosopher.
In addition to the homilies already mentioned, several isolated
tracts of the same nature by unknown authors survive. Among
these may be noted the Life of St Guthlac and of St Swithun,
the former translated from the Latin of Felix of Croyland, and,
on the ground that one MS is in the same handwriting as
Aelfric's Pentateuch? , often attributed to him; the latter a mere
fragment, also supposed by some scholars to be his. There are
also the Life of St Neot, and of St Mary of Egypt, which may,
possibly, be his.
Another renowned contemporary of Aelfric was the monk
Byrhtferth, whose writings are chiefly concerned with mathematics.
He lived about 980, and is said to have been a pupil of Abbo.
Leland says he was called Thorneganus. He seems to have known
some of Dunstan's earlier disciples, and to have lived at Canterbury
for a time. His reputation as an English writer rests on his
Handboc or Enchiridion, a miscellany preserved in only one MSS.
It begins with a descriptive calendar, and then follow short
treatises of a mathematical and philological nature. After these,
come three theological tracts, on The Ages of the World, The
Loosing of Satan and The Seven Sins. The collection concludes
with two homilies, one entitled Ammonitio Amisi paet is freondlic
mynegungʻ, and the other on the four cardinal virtues. The sermon
on the loosing of Satan seems to indicate that it was composed
towards the close of the tenth century, and this date is corroborated
by what other information we possess about the author.
Like Aelfric, Byrhtferth was a product of St Aethelwold's
i Cott. Vesp. D. XXI.
• Bod. Laud. E. 19.
3 Oxf. Ash. 328.
reminder.
* Besides these English treatises, Byrhtferth was also responsible for Latin com.
mentaries on Bede's De Temporum Ratione and De Natura Rerum and two essays
entitled De Principiis Mathematicis and De Institutione Monachorum; & Vita Dunstani
has also been attributed to him.
9_2
## p. 132 (#152) ############################################
132 From Alfred to the Conquest
monastic reform, but his scientific leanings differentiated him
remarkably from the greater homilists.
Besides these homilies and scientific treatises, there were com-
posed, during the tenth century, three English versions of the
Gospels, known as the Lindisfarne, Rushworth and West Saxon
glosses. The Latin text of the Lindisfarne Gospels', contained
in a magnificent manuscript, adorned with beautiful illuminations,
was written about the year 700; and it was not till at least two
hundred and fifty years later, when it had been removed to
Chester-le-Street, near Durham, for safety, that the interlinear
North Northumbrian gloss was added by Aldred, a priest of that
place. The gloss gives many variant English equivalents for the
Latin words. Aldred himself, however, seems to have written only
the latter part of the gloss, that beginning at St John v, 10 in
a new hand, though the earlier portion was, probably, made under
his supervision. The gloss is of the greatest importance from a
philological point of view, since it is our most valuable authority
for the Northumbrian dialect of the middle of the tenth century.
Equally interesting are the Rushworth Gospels. The Latin
text, which differs very slightly from that of the Lindisfarne MS,
was, perhaps, written in the eighth century, while the gloss dates
from the second half of the tenth. It falls into two distinct
portions, the first of which, in the dialect of north Mercia, was
written by Farman, a priest of Harewood, seven miles north-east
of Leeds. This portion, which includes the gospel of St Matthew
and part of chapters i and ii of St Mark, begins as a gloss, and,
later, becomes again a gloss, but, in the main, it is a fairly free
version of the Latin text. The second part, in a dialect which
has been called South Northumbrian by Lindelöf, was written by
Owun, and shows, very strongly, the influence of the Lindisfarne
glosses, which must have been before the writer as he worked,
since he often goes astray from the Latin text to follow Aldred's
version. It seems probable that Farman, who was a good Latin
scholar, had made his gloss as far as St Mark ii, 15, when the
Lindisfarne MS came into his hands. He then entrusted the task
to Owun, who was a less accomplished linguist, and who, whenever
he was confronted by a difficulty, resorted to the Lindisfarne gloss
for its solution. It may be that Farman chose Owun as one know-
ing a dialect closely akin to that of Lindisfarne.
i Cott. Nero D. iv.
• so called because the MS in which they are contained was formerly owned by
J. Rushworth, clerk to the House of Commons during the Long Parliament.
## p. 133 (#153) ############################################
Legends of the Holy Rood 133
There also exists in six MSS a West Saxon version of the
Gospels, which, owing to a note in one MS_ego Aelfricus scripsi
hunc librum in monasterio Baðhonio et dedi Brihtwoldo pre-
posito—was formerly ascribed to Aelfric of Eynsham. If we
suppose this Brihtwold to be the same as the bishop of that
name, who held the see of Sherborne from 1006—1046, as he is
here called prepositus, we may conclude that the Corpus MS
was written before 1006. It certainly belongs to the first quarter
of the eleventh century and is not of Aelfric's authorship, for it in
Do wise agrees with his description of his own work on the New
Testament. He tells us that he had translated pieces from the
New Testament; but this is a full version. The other MSS are
later, and one of them, in the Cambridge University Library, con-
tains also the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which provided
legendary material for later medieval homilists and for the growth
of the Arthurian legend in respect of Joseph of Arimathaea.
The early Christian legends, indeed, and, more particularly,
such as mark the continuance of Jewish traditions and the gradual
diffusion of Christianity in the east, seem to have had a special
attraction for English writers of this period. There are two
legends connected with the Holy Rood-one with the growth of its
wood, the other with the history of the cross after the crucifixion.
The legend of the Holy Rood itself is the same as the original
story of Cynewulf's poem. It will be remembered that St Helena
was reputed to be of British origin.
The oldest English version of the legend of the growth of the
wood is found in a MS in the Bodleian (343), which contains also
fifty-one homilies by Aelfric. The manuscript dates only from
the twelfth century, but, as the other contents are copies of
eleventh century originals, it is reasonable to suppose that the
cross legend also was composed at an earlier period. This theory
is borne out by the language, which Napier considers too archaic
for the twelfth century. From a literary point of view, as well as
linguistically, the version is of the greatest interest, as showing
the development of English prose. In its original eleventh century
form, it represented, perhaps, the best tradition of the literary
West Saxon language developed in the cloisters, and the grace and
ease of the story show considerable mastery of the art of narrative.
The theme ultimately depends on the Jewish legends con-
tained in the Book of Adam and the Book of Enoch, and it had
originally no connection with Christianity. The story frequently
1 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, oxL.
ease of the language dew ps, the best to bal eleventh cent
www. considerab) the cloistention of the
## p. 134 (#154) ############################################
134 From Alfred to the Conquest
occurs in medieval literature (as, for instance, in the South English
Legendary and the Cursor Mundi), and a brief outline of it may,
therefore, be given here. Unfortunately, the earlier part of the
legend in its Latin form, treating of the history of the rood to
the time of Moses, is missing in the English text. The story
shapes itself as follows. Adam being on the point of death, Eve and
Seth go to Paradise to ask the guardian angel for the healing oil
of life. Seth, as fallen man, is denied entrance to Paradise, and,
instead of the oil, the angel gives him three pips of cedar, cypress
and pine. When Seth returns to his father, he finds Adam
already dead; he places the three pips under Adam's tongue,
and, God having given Adam's body to Michael, it is buried by
the four archangels in Paradise. The pips fructify in the ground,
and from them spring three rods, which remain green till the time
of Moses. The Old English version begins at this point and tells
how Moses, having led the Children of Israel over the Red Sea,
lies down to rest, and, in the morning, finds that three rods have
sprung up, one at his head, and one at each side. With these
rods he makes sweet the bitter waters, and the host continues
its journey to Arabia. Hither David, whom the legend represents
as contemporary with Moses, is sent to demand the rods, and it is
revealed to him in a vision that they betoken the Trinity? He
carries them to Jerusalem, where there is a pit of water so bitter
that none can taste of it. The rods are placed in it, and they join
together into a mighty tree, the growth of which is marked by
silver rings. After the death of David, Solomon attempts to use
the tree for the building of the Temple; but, owing to the fact that
it continually alters in length, this proves impossible, and it remains
untouched within the sanctuary. Finally, when the Jews seek for
a tree on which to crucify Christ, they remember this rood, and
use part of it for the cross.
The legend of the finding of the cross by St Helena is entirely
Christian in origin, and is cognate to the version in The Golden
Legend of Jacobus a Voragine, and in the Bollandist Acta Sanc-
torum for the fourth of May, and it is the same theme as that
treated so beautifully by Cynewulf in his Elene.
An important legend cycle, to which attention has recently
been drawn, is that of the letter sent from Heaven on Sunday
observance. It is found in Old English in four of Wulfstan's
homilies, and in two separate versions (C. C. C. C 140 and 162).
1 "Cypressus taonær þone fæder ; Cedrus tacnæf pone suna; Pinus tacnef bone
balze gast. "
## p. 135 (#155) ############################################
Legends of the East
an
135
Of the legends printed by Cockayne, that of Jamnes and Mambres
has quite a modern “psychical” flavour. The fact of its being
a mere fragment, and breaking off when just about to become dull,
saves it in the eyes of all lovers of ghost-tales.
In addition to other legends of a sacred character there are
others of a more worldly nature, the most remarkable being the
(suppositious) Letter from Alexander to Aristotle', The Wonders
of the East2 and the story of Apollonius of Tyres. The first two
are closely connected with the eastern legend of Alexander the
Great, which had taken shape before the Christian era in a work
known as the pseudo-Kallisthenes, which was translated into Latin
before 340 by the so-called Julius Valerius. The two Alexander
legends, as we have them, are very faithful translations from Latin
originals, each chapter of The Wonders of the East being preceded
by a copy of the text on which it is founded. They are important
in the history of literature as proving the interest taken by the
educated clergy of the eleventh century in the Latin legend
cycles. Rather later than these two works, and also of eastern
origin, is the Old English version of Apollonius of Tyre, of which
only half is extant, a version of the same theme as that treated
in the 153rd chapter of Gesta Romanorum. It tells of the
wooing of the king of Antioch's daughter by Apollonius of Tyre,
and how her father, to prevent her marriage, required her suitors
to solve a riddle or to be beheaded. The early appearance of this
legend in the vernacular is especially interesting, since Gower's
version of the story in his Confessio Amantis provided the theme
for Pericles of Tyre. The presence of these legends in Old English
is peculiarly significant as indicating the on-coming flood of foreign
literature. Hitherto, the priest had been the story-teller, after
the heroic minstrelsy of earlier days had passed away; henceforth,
the lighter touch of the deliberate tale-teller was to be heard
in English.
From these we must turn to consider the quasi-scientific
works of this period, which have all been printed by Cockayne
in his Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft in Early England.
As might be expected, they have little literary value, but are
extremely interesting from a historical standpoint, since they
throw many valuable side-lights on the manners and social
conditions of the time. Cockayne's collection begins with the
Herbarium that passes under the name of Apuleius, a work
1 M8. Vitell. A. IV.
• Oott. Tib. B. v.
: 0. 0. C. C. 8. 18.
in bis Con Pecially intearly appear
## p. 136 (#156) ############################################
136 From Alfred to the Conquest
stating the various ills for which each plant is a remedy. It
appears in four MSS, the one printed by Cockayne dating
from the first half of the eleventh century. Following this
is an English version of the Medicina de quadrupedibus of
Sextus Placidus, about whom nothing is known, which describes
the various kinds of animals and the use of their bodies in
medicine.
Even more interesting is the leech-book in Cockayne's second
volume? The author was evidently acquainted with the Greek
and Latin authorities on medicine, for the work is full of their
prescriptions, and Helias, patriarch of Jerusalem, is mentioned as
having sent such prescriptions to king Alfred.
Lastly, Cockayne printed in his third volume two collections
of miscellaneous recipes, and a number of prognostications, inter-
pretations of dreams and a horologium. The first collection is
extremely interesting on account of the heathen nature of many
of the prescriptions, which require for their efficacy the repetition
of charms. Some of these are mere gibberish, in which, however,
fragments of Greek, Latin and Hebrew may be traced; others,
such as the celebrated charm against the stitch, show close con-
nection with Scandinavian mythology; while in some, such as the
charm to bring home straying cattle, there is a curious mingling
of Christian nomenclature and heathen superstition. All these
works are deeply tinged with poetic feeling; and the desire to
propitiate the powers that distribute storm and sunshine is visible
throughout. The date of these compositions is not known, but
most of the manuscripts belong to the eleventh century.
From the foregoing survey of English prose literature during
the eleventh century, it is clear that the language had attained
considerable development as a literary medium.
In the hands of
Aelfric its vocabulary became less concrete, its constructions
more logical, and, though it was still seen to best advantage in
simple narrative, it was moulded by him with fair success to
philosophic requirements. But, in the years that followed the
Norman conquest, the development of English prose met with a
great check, and four hundred years elapsed before the vernacular
was again employed with the grace and fluency of Aelfric.
The decline of Old English poetry cannot be so directly
attributed to the Norman conquest. During the course of the
tenth and eleventh centuries the classical rhetorical metre bad
i Cott. Vitell. O. m.
· Printed from MS Reg. 12 D. XVI.
* M8 Harl. 685 and M8 Harl. 6258. • Chiefly from MS Oott. Tib. A. II.
## p. 137 (#157) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 137
already begun to deteriorate, and was being gradually replaced
by the sung metre of the popular ballad. For the whole of our
period we have only two great poems, the fragment of Judith
in the Beowulf MS and the East Anglian poem of Byrhtnoth’s
death at Maldon. Both poems deal with the struggle against the
same foe and both are in the alliterative rhetorical metre. Judith
contains a fair number of lines which are undoubtedly clear types
of sung verse, such as is found in the thirteenth century in
Layamon's Brut. The Battle of Maldon also contains two much
alike'. The adoption of this metre, which, although ancient, here
exhibits what are practically its first known traces in Old English
literature, is carried to much greater lengths in the poems em-
bedded in the Chronicle; and some observations upon this new
metre, called the “sung" or four-beat verse, as opposed to the
declamatory or two-beat metre of the older poems, will be found
in an appendix at the end of the volume.
The first poem in the Chronicle occurs under the year 937, and
celebrates the glorious victory won by Aethelstan at Brunanburh.
It is a markedly patriotic poem and shows deep feeling; its
brilliant lyrical power, and the national enthusiasm evident
throughout, have made it familiar, in one form or another, to
all lovers of English verse. Great care was taken with the metre,
which is the ancient rhetorical line.
Under the year 942 another poem in alliterative rhetorical
metre occurs. It consists only of a few lines, and its subject is
the liberation of the five boroughs, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham,
Stamford and Derby, “which were formerly Danish, constrained
by need in the captive bonds of the heathen,” by Edmund, son
of Edward the Elder. It has little poetic value; but it is dis
tinguished by the same intense patriotism as the verses on the
battle of Brunanburh.
The first poem in sung verse contained in the Chronicle is that
for 959, on the accession of king Edgar. It contains forty-nine half
lines, making twenty-four and a half full lines, connected, of which
only about eight show alliteration. The lines are connected in the
earlier form of rimeless rhythm, not strictly alliterative, though
* But the reader must be cautioned against assuming that every rimed verse was
also sung verse. The shorter types of rimed verse in such poems as Judith and The
Battle of Maldon were almost certainly not. The only sure oriteria are (1) conformity
to the metrical schemes given in the Appendix, (2) a tendency to neglect the rhetorio
stress and turn the two-beat rhythm into a four-beat, as shown by the riming use of
syllables pot carrying the full stress. Examples are: Judith, l. 231, (écgum geoósto)
slógon éornostè; Maldon, 1. 309, Býrhtwold máþetode bórd bắfēnode.
## p. 138 (#158) ############################################
138
From
Alfred to the Conquest
assonance is sometimes found. Metrically, it is our best preserved
example. The theme is the prosperity of Edgar; how his wise
rule was honoured far and wide, how he established peace in the
land and how he was rewarded by God with the willing submission
of kings and earls. Of one fault, however, says the chronicler,
he was too often guilty, namely that he loved foreign ways and
enticed outlanders into his dominions. The poem ends with a
prayer that God may be more mindful of the king's virtues than of
his evil deeds, and that they may shield his soul from harm on its
long journey hence.
The delight of the English in the peaceful rule of Edgar is
still further shown by a poem in the old rhetorical metre which
is variously given in the different recensions of the Chronicle
under the years 972, 973 and 974, and relates the coronation of
Edgar. The Peterborough chronicle has some lines which have
been written as verse, but scansion seems to raise insurmount-
able difficulties. It can only be scanned on the assumption
that we have an attempt to combine two stress lines with four-
stress rhythm, or an attempt to put a ballad into the form of the
“higher” poetry. They tell how kings came from afar to do
homage to Edgar, and how there was no fleet so daring as to
threaten his dominions, or host so strong as to ravage the land
while he ruled over it.
Another interesting ballad poem, on the troubles caused by
Aelfhere and other rebels in the reign of Edgar's son Edward,
is found in the MS known as Cott. Tib. B. IV. It is of 19 half
lines or 9} full lines. The linking system seems to be mostly
alliteration, but rime and assonance show themselves most clearly
where alliteration becomes absent or weak, as in
Godes wibersăecan
Godes lage brãecon
and
mynstra tostaencton,
and
munecas todraefdon.
The verse is sung ballad-verse, and the alliteration what would
be called irregular in rhetorical verse. It is uncertain whether
what seems an opening verse really belongs to the song.
The murder of Edward son of Edgar, at Corfesgeat, is
related in a peculiarly distinctive poem, which is quite clearly in
sung verse, and shows traces of strophic arrangement. Some lines,
possibly, show the earliest English seven-beat verse; some lines
have, obviously, been lengthened, and the last six printed as verse
do not scan as such, being, possibly, only rhythmic prose added
## p. 139 (#159) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 139
afterwards. They are exactly like the irregular lines on Edgar's
death. Probably the chronicler took a popular ballad or ballads,
broke it up, and attempted to destroy its sing-song character by
the addition of end verses. This, and the strophic character of the
original or originals, would account for its metrical variety and
uncertainty. In several places we meet with half line tags, gene-
rally trimetric, once certainly in full tetrameter. The poem de-
clares that no worse deed than the murder of Edward had ever
been committed among the English since the invasion of Britain ;
men murdered him, but God glorified him; and he who was before
an earthly king is now, after death, a heavenly saint. His earthly
kinsmen would not avenge him, but his heavenly Father has
avenged him amply, and they who would not bow to him living
now bend humbly on their knees to his dead bones. Thus, we may
perceive that men's plans are as naught before God's. The words,
“Men murdered him, but God glorified him,” are alliterative, and
seem like a refrain ; and the whole poem is, metrically, one of the
most interesting of the series.
There is a long interval before the next verses, which tell of
the siege of Canterbury, and the capture of archbishop Aelfhēah
(Alphege) in 1011. They consist of twelve half lines of sung verse,
and are, evidently, a quotation from some ballad commemorating
these disasters. They lament the imprisonment of him who was
erstwhile head of Christendom and England, and the misery that
men might now behold in the unhappy city whence first came
the joys of Christianity. There are some difficulties in scansion,
and the variant readings in certain MSS', though they can be
restored to something like proper metrical harmony, show what
mishandling these songs underwent when written down by the
scribes.
The metre of the next poem is much better preserved. It is
of the same Layamon sung verse type, but shows a regular
union of each two half lines by rime and assonance. Where this
fails, we can at once suspect that the scribe has tampered with the
original version. Some assonances can only be south-eastern. Its
subject is the capture and cruel fate of the aetheling Alfred, and it
shows a strong spirit of partisanship against Godwin. This is led up
to by the prose account telling how Alfred came to Winchester
to see his mother, but was hindered and captured by Godwin.
The poem relates how Godwin scattered Alfred's followers, killing
some and imprisoning others, and how the aetheling was led
* Cott. Tib. B. IV, and Bodl. Laud. 686.
## p. 140 (#160) ############################################
140
From
Alfred to the Conquest
bound to Ely, blinded aboard ship and given over to the monks.
It gives us the important architectural statement (since the old
minster long has perished) that he was buried at the west end
in the south porch “close to the steeple. ” The story is told in
20 couplets of sung half lines (40 half lines). The few lines that
do not rime can easily be restored'.
Many of the features of this poem are paralleled in another on
a like theme, the arrival of Edward Aetheling, son of Edmund
Ironside, in England in 1057, his illness and his death, without
seeing his kinsman the king. The story is that of the death of the
last of the kingly line. The poem is in sung verse, the half lines
being mainly arranged in pairs of one short and one fuller half
line, a combination which is the great feature of this poem, whose
strophic connection depends absolutely neither on rime or asso-
nance, but rather on rhythm. The poem is in four uneven tirades.
The first two are ended by a single half line as a tag (no. 1, of 3 full
lines + tag; no. 2, of 5 full lines + half line tag). The last two
tirades (no. 3, of 3 full lines; no. 4, of 4 full lines) are without half
line tags. The tags may here have been lost in copying.
It is noticeable that all these poems in sung verse, which seem
to be based on popular ballads, are characterised by deep patriotic
feeling. This, however, is wanting in the alliterative rhetorical
lines on the death of Edward the Confessor, which merely tell how
he had reigned for four and twenty years and had governed
illustriously Welsh, Scots, Britons, Angles and Saxons.
Another passage in sung verse dealing with the marriage of
Margaret, the sister of Edward Aetheling, to Malcolm of Scotland,
and recording her distaste for marriage and her desire for convent
life, seems to be in ten sung half lines, of which the first four have
been completely wrecked. The last four are perfect and of great
1 At the end we have the following: They buried him
"fal warflice / swa he wyrde waes (no rime)
aet pam Westende i pam styple fulgehende (rimes)
on pam suðportice | seo saul is mid Criste” (no rime).
Now on þam supportice rimes with ful wurflice, although it does not rime in
its present place. It also would then follow on in sense. Seo saul is mid Criste
needs a rime in -iste and what better one can be than og ba aeriste? This rime was
possibly removed because, on a fullstop being lost in the last line, the first half verso
would apply to the soul, and smack of heresy to the monk. We may then read:
“ ful wurdlice on bam bu portice.
aet bam Westende i bam styple falgehendo
08&a aeriste / 800 saul is mid Criste"
which obanges the architectural sense.
## p. 141 (#161) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 141
interest. We have, likewise, some fragments on the marriage of
earl Ralph of Norwich, the first couplet of which
baer waes paet bryd ealo
paet waes manegra manna bealo,
shows, unmistakably, its ballad origin.
The last verses of this class are those on the reign of William
the Conqueror. Earle arranged some twelve lines as poetry, but
the whole passage claims similar treatment, since, in the portion
which he has printed as prose, there occur examples of full rime
and also of full assonance, connecting the half lines in the passages
he has not so written. The whole passage seems to be derived
from at least two ballads against the Norman conqueror. The
first begins "He rixade dfer Englaeland” and tells of the king's
intimate acquaintance with his dominions, so that he knew the
owner of every hide of land and how much it was worth; then, how
he conquered Wales and Scotland and, if he had lived two years
longer, would have won Ireland, also, without weapon strife. This,
which is unrimed, is followed by the passage “Castelas hè lēt
wýrcedn,” which is invaluable because of its strong Kentish asson-
ances. These lines tell, in bitter words, of the king's oppression, of
his heavy taxation, and of the terrible game laws, drawn up to pre-
serve those "tall deer" which he loved as greatly as though he were
their father. This last part is 38 lines long, divided into 19 couplets
linked by rime or assonance, the nineteenth being either marred
in transcription or a monastic addition in rime. The spelling often
hides the dialectical completeness of the assonance. After this
sung ballad follows a passage of rhythmical prose, in which the
compiler states that he has written these things about the king,
both good and evil, that men may imitate the goodness and wholly
flee from the evil. It would seem that the chronicler had to be
original in telling of the Conqueror's virtues; but, for the vices, he
had plenty of popular material at hand. The unhappy people were
in no mood to exalt his virtues, and, for the description of these,
the chronicler was forced to rely on his own literary resources.
The verses in the Chronicle have little literary merit, with
the exception of the poem on the battle of Brunanburh, and this
seems to have been strongly influenced by the epic of Judith.
Of this latter, unfortunately, only a beautiful fragment, consisting
of some 350 lines, survives? . Judith was, perhaps, composed as
a eulogy of Aethelflaed, queen of Mercia, who fought nobly against
1 Cott. Vitell. xv.
## p. 142 (#162) ############################################
142
From Alfred to the Conquest
the Danes in the first quarter of the tenth century. It has been
attributed to Caedmon; but its use of rime and the character of
its language has led some critics to place the poem comparatively
late. The use of rime, however, is no conclusive argument. It
recounts, in vigorous language, the deeds of the Apocryphal
heroine, and dwells especially on the way in which her deed
stirred up the timorous Jews to more courageous patriotism.
It is noteworthy that Aelfric himself had written a homily on
Judith, to teach the English the virtues of resistance to the
Danes. This homily must have been written earlier, and, perhaps,
it influenced the writer of Judith to choose her as a national
type in the fight for God and fatherland. The poem, as we
have it, begins at the end of the ninth canto; cantos X, XI
and xII are preserved in full, but the earlier part of the poem
is entirely wanting. This loss, however, is the less to be regretted
since the remaining cantos, containing the crisis of the story, are,
probably, the finest of all, and deal with a complete episode, to
which the fragment of canto Ix, telling of the faith of the heroine
and the invitation to the feast of Holofernes, serves as introduc-
tion. Canto x describes, with all the delight of Old English poets
in such pictures, the banquet in the Assyrian camp, the deep bowls
of wine borne along the benches, and the shouts and laughter of
the revellers. Darkness descends, and the warriors bring the maiden
to their master's tent. Overcome with wine, he falls into a deep
slumber, and the heroine, with a supplication to heaven for help,
draws the sword from its sheath. She hales the heathen towards
her by his hair, and smites twice with her weapon, till his head
rolls upon the floor. In canto XI, we read how Judith and her
maid steal from the camp with the head of Holofernes, and return
to Bethulia, where their kinsmen are waiting for them on the
wall. As soon as the two approach, men and women hasten to-
gether to meet them, and Judith bids her servant uncover the
trophy and exhibit it to the warriors. Then, with passionate
words, she exhorts them to attack the camp, to bear forth shields
and bucklers and bright helmets among the foe. So, at dawn
of day, they set out, the wolf and raven rejoicing in the tumult,
and the dewy-feathered eagle singing his war-song above them,
their sudden onset on the camp disturbing the enemy, drowsy
with mead. The next canto relates how the terrified Assyrians
hasten to tell their leader of the assault, and how, when they find
only his dead body, they, “sorrowfully minded, cast down their
weapons, and turn, sad at heart, to flight. ” The poem ends with
## p. 143 (#163) ############################################
Judith
143
the entire overthrow of the Assyrians, the return of the conquerors
with their booty to Bethulia, and Judith’s praise of the Almighty
for the triumph of her stratagem.
From this sketch of the poem it will be seen that it is
closely allied in theme to those of Cynewulf and his school, and
this led to the assumption of Ten Brink and others that it was
composed in the early part of the ninth century. A close in-
vestigation of its diction by Gregory Foster led him to place it
a century later; and, if, as he thinks, it was composed to com-
memorate the valiant deeds of Aethelflaed, the Lady of Mercia,
who wrested the five boroughs from the Danes, it was probably
written about 918. But nothing can be said with certainty on the
subject.
As poetry, this fragment stands in the front rank of Old English
literature, with Beowulf and Elene and Andreas. In wealth of
synonym it is equal to the best poems of Cynewulf, while the
construction of the sentences is simpler, and the narrative, in
consequence, less obscure. An impression of intensity is produced
by the heaping of synonyms in moments of stress, as in the prayer
of Judith, and in the fierce lines which describe the onset against
the Assyrians ; while a sense of dramatic fitness is shown in the
transitions, the divisions of the cantos and the preparation for
each great adventure. The tragedy is alive, and the actors play
their parts before our eyes.
The patriotic feeling which probably gave rise to Judith was
certainly responsible for the second great poem of our period, the
Battle of Maldon, sometimes called Byrhtnoth's Death. The
manuscript of this poem was destroyed by the Cottonian fire;
but it had, fortunately, been printed by Hearne in 1726, and it is
from his text that our knowledge of the poem is derived. It
celebrates the death of the great ealdorman Byrhtnoth, who was
connected by close ties of kinship with Aethelmaer, the friend of
Aelfric; it was, indeed, partly by means of legacies left by him
that Aethelmaer was enabled to support so generously the monastic
revival, and it is, therefore, fitting that he should be commemorated
by one of the finest poems in Old English. In the poem before
us he stands out as the ideal leader of men, admirable alike in his
devotion to his king, his simple piety and his sense of responsi-
bility towards his followers. He died as became a member of
the race that thirsts for danger, almost the last of the warriors
of that time who maintained the noble tradition of the days of
1 Oth. A. xa.
• Tacitus, Hist. V, 19.
## p. 144 (#164) ############################################
144
Alfred to the Conquest
From
Alfred. In less than twenty years after this date, the chronicler
tells a pitiful story of divisions between those who should have
united to lead the people to battle, and of forced payment of the
shameful tribute which Byrhtnoth refused.
It was in the year 991 that the Northman Anlaf sailed with
ninety-three ships to the coast of England, and, after harrying
Stone, Sandwich and Ipswich, came to Maeldune (now Maldon)
on the banks of the river Panta or Blackwater. The stream
divides here into two branches, and, leaving their ships at anchor
in one of them, the Danes drew up their forces on the intervening
piece of land. The poem, the beginning and end of which are lost,
opens with the directions of Byrhtnoth to his men, and tells how,
after marshalling his troops, he exhorted them to stand firm,
taking his place among the band of his immediate followers. At
that moment there appeared on the other side of the stream the
viking herald, who said that he was sent by the seamen to
announce that, if Byrhtnoth would buy off the assault with tribute,
they would make peace with him and return to their own land.
But Byrhtnoth scornfully rejected the offer, saying that he would
give tribute, indeed, but it should be the tribute of the sharp spear
and the ancient sword, and their only booty would be battle. With
this message he bade his men advance to the edge of the stream;
but, owing to the inflowing flood after the ebb, neither army could
reach the other, and they waited in battle array till the tide's
going out. Then Byrhtnoth, overweeningly daring, trusting too
much in his own strength, allowed the enemy to cross by the
bridge (probably one of stepping-stones which would be covered
at high tide), and the fight became fierce. “The time had come
for the fated men to fall; then was a tumult raised, the raven,
eager for carrion, hovered in the air, and on earth was a great
cry. ” On every side fell the heroes; a kingman of Byrhtnoth was
wounded, and, at last, the brave earl himself was slain by a poisoned
spear. With his last words he exhorted his men to resistance, and
died commending his soul to God. True to the noble traditions
of the heroic age, Aelfnoth and Wulfmaer shared his fate and fell,
hewn down by the heathen beside their lord. Then cowards began
to flee and seek safety in the woods, forgetting the brave words
they had spoken when feasting in the mead-hall. But Aelfwine,
the son of Aelfric, shouted to those fleeing, reminding them of
their vows, and declaring that none among his race should twit
him with flight, now that his prince lay fallen in battle, he who
was both his kinsman and his lord His brave words were taken
## p. 145 (#165) ############################################
The Battle of Maldon
145
up by Offa and Dunnere; and the warriors advanced to a fresh
attack. The appearance amongst the defending ranks of Aeschere,
son of Ecglaf, a Northumbrian hostage, is of great interest, as it
seems, for a moment, to give us a vivid glance of the political
troubles of the land. The poem ends by telling how Godric
exhorted his comrades and fought fiercely against the heathen
till he, too, fell.
This brief outline may, perhaps, give some idea of the great
interest of the poem, whose every word is filled with deep hatred
against the marauding foe, and with dignified sorrow for the loss
of beloved friends. The verse is as noble as the deed and instinct
with dramatic life. In it we see the heroic feeling of the earlier
national poetry, full of the Teutonic theme of loyal friendship and
warlike courage. And not until many hundreds of years have elapsed
do we find its equal in tragic strength. It is from this stirring
narrative, from Wulfstan's address to the English and from the
bitter records in the Chronicle, that we realise the degradation
of the country during the unhappy reign of Aethelred.
The remaining poems of our period in the old alliterative
metre are of a didactic character. Among them may be mentioned
the Menologium or poetical calendar, which is prefixed to a
version of the Chronicle'. It is an interesting metrical survey
of the progress of the year, with special mention of the saints'
days observed by the church, preserving some of the Old English
names of the months, such as Weodmonad (August), Winterfylleð
(October) and Blotmona8 (November), and retaining traces of
heathen times, though the whole is Christian in basis. Its value,
as poetry, depends on the tender feeling for nature shown in such
passages as those which describe the coming of May, tranquil
and gentle, with blossoming woods and flowers, or winter, which
cuts off the harvest with the sword of rime and snow, when all is
fettered with frost by the hest of the Creator, so that men may
no longer haunt the green meadows or the flowery fields.
Of more literary value is the poem entitled Be Domes Daege,
a free version of the Latin poem De Die Judicii, by some scholars
ascribed to Bede and by others to Alcuin. The 157 lines of the
Latin original are expanded to 304 by the translator, whose
imaginative gift is especially visible in the way he enlarges on a
hint from his source. The opening passage is extremely beautiful.
i Cott. Tib. B. I.
· Found in a unique manuscript in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge.
work must have been composed after 1014, since it contains a
quotation from Aethelred's laws of that date; and, probably, before
1016, when Wulfstan's connection with Worcester came to an end.
The epistles were written in Latin and translated into English
by Aelfric himself, at Wulfstan's request, in the following year.
Aelfric's life was now drawing to a close. The exact date of
his death is not known, but he died, probably, soon after 1020.
His last years were passed in times not favourable for literary
work. They were eventful years for England, for they witnessed
the Danish sack of Canterbury in 1011, the murder of St Alphege
by the Danes at Greenwich, the flight of Aethelred before Sweyn,
the strife of Edmund Ironside and Canute and Canute's final
triumph.
Aelfric was not only the greatest prose writer, he was also /
the most distinguished English-writing theologian, in his own time,
and for five centuries afterwards. Yet he was in no sense an
original thinker; his homilies, as he frankly states, are borrowed
from others, and in them he reflects the thought of the west,
especially the teaching of St Augustine its great Father. His chief
object was to convey to the simple and unlearned the teaching
of the Fathers; and in this he was pre-eminently successful. If
Dunstan and Aethelwold first kindled the flame, it was Aelfric who,
through dark years of strife and warfare, when men's thoughts
were absorbed by the pressing anxieties of their daily life, kept
the lamp alight and reminded them of spiritual ideals. His
influence lasted long after his death, as is shown by the many late
## p. 128 (#148) ############################################
128 From Alfred to the Conquest
manuscripts of his writings, some of which date from the twelfth
century; and if it had not been for his faithful, modest labour, the
difficulties of Lanfranc and Anselm would have been even greater
than they were.
As he himself tells us, he took Alfred for his model, but, in
ease and grace, his style far surpasses that of his great predecessor.
Both Aelfric and Wulfstan write and translate in a free style, but
it is no longer the gossiping colloquialism of Alfred. English had
become a literary language, polished in the cloisters with long
use as a vehicle for translation and original works. In the cloisters
Latin was still a living language and, hence, Latin constructions
became common. The necessity of having to express difficult
ideas in a form intelligible to ignorant men helped Aelfric in his
choice of words and in his effort after lucidity, while, with the
instinct of a true teacher, he refused to be led astray by the
example of Latin syntax and preferred simple constructions.
Unfortunately, as time went on, he deferred more and more
to the preferences of his audience, and debased his prose
by throwing it into the rhythmical alliterative form popular
with the vulgar. Perhaps it was felt that a more pompous,
rhetorical style than that of ordinary speech should be used in
treating of solemn themes. However that may be, the later,
florid manner which Aelfric affected in the Saints' Lives, and
in some of his other treatises, is distinctly inferior to that of
the first two series of homilies. His prose is seen at its best in
simple narrative, and, to appreciate the difficulties under which
he laboured, the homilies on the Eucharist and on the Creation
(both philosophic subjects) should be read together. The first
is confused and complex, compared with the flowing ease of the
great Father upon whose work it was based and, obviously, the
language was not, at this time, equal to abstruse metaphysical
speculation. The second, which deals with a simpler subject, is
clear and comprehensive. Aelfric shows power in his treatment
of pathos as well as of philosophy, when both are simple; as may
be seen in the homilies on the Holy Innocents and on the Creation.
But, whatever his theme, he is always logical and persuasive ; and
the "sweet reasonableness” of his methods especially distinguishes
his sermons from the fiery denunciations, and the direct, strenuous
language, of his contemporary and friend, archbishop Wulfstan,
who goes to the point without any of the abstract moralising to
be found in Aelfric. Wulfstan delivers his Christian doctrine as
a statement of facts, and his phrases have a legal smack about
## p. 129 (#149) ############################################
Aelfric and Wulfstan
129
them; while Aelfric loves what has some philosophy in it, for even
his simplicity is often profound. In a word, Wulfstan is a judges
and legalist, Aelfric a contemplative student.
This difference in tone is explained partly by temperament,
partly by the circumstances of their lives. Aelfric, following the
quiet industrious routine of duty behind the shelter of the abbey
walls, heard only the rumours of the strife that raged without;
Wulfstan, absorbed in practical, political life, was brought face
to face with the anguish and the practical needs of the time. He
was already bishop of Worcester, when, in 1002, he was appointed, --
also, to the see of York. In 1014, he assisted in the compilation of
the laws of Aethelred, drawn up at the synod of Eynsham ; he
died on 28 May 1023. Thus, his period of office coincided with
that of the most disastrous and devastating invasions of the
country.
It is extremely difficult to determine exactly which of the
homilies in the Bodleian · are really Wulfstan's. Owing to the
superscription at the beginning of the first : Hic incipiunt
sermones Lupi, all were ascribed to him by Wanley. Napier has
pointed out, however, that this heading was, probably, taken from
another manuscript of the archbishop's sermons, which were copied
into a miscellaneous collection containing many others, of which
the authorship is uncertain, or certainly not his. Of the fifty-three
homilies in the Bodleian MS, only five are indisputably by Wulfstan.
There are the two immediately following the superscription, dealing
with the Bible story', and with the catholic faith'; next follows a
sermon* of which only parts are by Wulfstan, and which Napier,
rejecting the passages he considers unauthentic, has divided into
four portionsº: on the Christian life, on Christ's death, on Christ
as the true friend and on the duties of Christians. Then comes
the famous Address to the English', and, last of all, a short
exhortation? with the superscription Sermo Lupi, on the duty of
Christians, full of metrical fragments, which can be separated
from the context and show signs of sung verse united by alliteration
or assonance. Of the remaining homilies, some, which occur in
the same order in various manuscripts, are, possibly, by Wulfstan ;
many, such as the paraphrase of the poem called Be Domes Daege,
and The Address of the Soul to the Body, must be entirely rejected;
while othergs appear also among the Blickling Homilies or the
, Napier 2.
1 Junius 99.
1 Wanley 1, Napier 2.
• Wanley 4.
5 Napier XIX, XX, XXI, XXI.
; Wanley 6, Napier 84.
E. L. I. CH. VII.
3 Wanley 2, Napier 3.
6 Wanley 5, Napier 83.
8 XLIX, LIV and LV.
## p. 130 (#150) ############################################
130 From Alfred to the Conquest
works of Aelfric. It is noteworthy that the homilies referred to
above as possibly by Wulfstan are very similar in phraseology
to the Old English laws drawn up at the council of Eynsham in
1014; and, as we know from his own statement that Wulfstan was
responsible for the Latin paraphrase of these statutes, it is probable
that the English version was his also.
Of the five homilies which can certainly be ascribed to Wulfstan,
the most powerful is the one entitled in the Bodleian MS Sermo
Lupi ad Anglos quando Dani maxime persecuti sunt eos, quod
fuit in die Aethelredi regis, to which another MS adds more
explicitly that this was in anno millesimo wiiii ab incarnatione
Domini nostri Jesus Christi, and another, in anno millesimo viii.
But it is, indeed, applicable to any year in the ill-fated reign of
Aethelred. The vices, evil deeds and cowardice of the English
are scourged with a heavy hand; the English are likened to the
Britons whom they have turned out, and are threatened with the
same fate. The archbishop's passionate patriotism breaks forth
in the burning words with which he describes the desolation and
demoralisation of the people, scattered like frightened sheep
before the onset of the heathen, without a single leader to rally
them to resistance. Villages are destroyed by fire, the new
minsters are stripped of their holy things; father is turned against
son and brother against brother; even the ancient bond of thane
and thrall becomes loosened in this time of universal disintegration.
And, like some Hebrew prophet, Wulfstan refuses to believe that
the Almighty would have laid so heavy an affliction upon an
innocent people; he sees in the crimes of the nation the cause,
rather than the effect, of the long strife; this evil has come upon
them for their sins; they have provoked the wrath of Heaven,
and, unless they repent and reform, a worse evil shall befall them.
But there is still room for penitence, and the sermon ends on a
gentler note:
“Let us creep to Christ,” says the preacher, “and call upon Him un-
ceasingly with trembling hearts, and deserve His mercy; let us love God and
His laws, and faithfully perform what our sponsors promised for us at our
baptism. Let us order rightly our words and our deeds, and keep faith with
one another without guile, and frequently think upon the great judgment
that awaits us all; and protect ourselves against the flaming fire of hell; and
let us earn for ourselves the glory and the joy which God has prepared for
those who do His will on earth. So God help us. Amen. "
Here and there are traces of metrical character sometimes
assonant, sometimes alliterative, which may have been part of
some pessimistic folk-ballads on England's downfall.
## p. 131 (#151) ############################################
Wulfstan and Byrhtferth
131
Wulfstan's style is much more vehement than that of Aelfric.
He is preacher rather than teacher, appealing more to the emotions
than to the reason of his hearers, fertile in concrete illustrations,
and avoiding the subtle symbolism in which Aelfric delighted.
His sentences, though not deficient in lucidity, are very long ;
synonym is heaped on synonym and clause upon clause; yet the
chanting sense of rhythm is always present; epithets are balanced,
and the effect is often heightened by the use of antithesis. But,
as might be expected from one whose life was so much absorbed
by the administration of public affairs, his style is that of the
rhetorician rather than of the philosopher.
In addition to the homilies already mentioned, several isolated
tracts of the same nature by unknown authors survive. Among
these may be noted the Life of St Guthlac and of St Swithun,
the former translated from the Latin of Felix of Croyland, and,
on the ground that one MS is in the same handwriting as
Aelfric's Pentateuch? , often attributed to him; the latter a mere
fragment, also supposed by some scholars to be his. There are
also the Life of St Neot, and of St Mary of Egypt, which may,
possibly, be his.
Another renowned contemporary of Aelfric was the monk
Byrhtferth, whose writings are chiefly concerned with mathematics.
He lived about 980, and is said to have been a pupil of Abbo.
Leland says he was called Thorneganus. He seems to have known
some of Dunstan's earlier disciples, and to have lived at Canterbury
for a time. His reputation as an English writer rests on his
Handboc or Enchiridion, a miscellany preserved in only one MSS.
It begins with a descriptive calendar, and then follow short
treatises of a mathematical and philological nature. After these,
come three theological tracts, on The Ages of the World, The
Loosing of Satan and The Seven Sins. The collection concludes
with two homilies, one entitled Ammonitio Amisi paet is freondlic
mynegungʻ, and the other on the four cardinal virtues. The sermon
on the loosing of Satan seems to indicate that it was composed
towards the close of the tenth century, and this date is corroborated
by what other information we possess about the author.
Like Aelfric, Byrhtferth was a product of St Aethelwold's
i Cott. Vesp. D. XXI.
• Bod. Laud. E. 19.
3 Oxf. Ash. 328.
reminder.
* Besides these English treatises, Byrhtferth was also responsible for Latin com.
mentaries on Bede's De Temporum Ratione and De Natura Rerum and two essays
entitled De Principiis Mathematicis and De Institutione Monachorum; & Vita Dunstani
has also been attributed to him.
9_2
## p. 132 (#152) ############################################
132 From Alfred to the Conquest
monastic reform, but his scientific leanings differentiated him
remarkably from the greater homilists.
Besides these homilies and scientific treatises, there were com-
posed, during the tenth century, three English versions of the
Gospels, known as the Lindisfarne, Rushworth and West Saxon
glosses. The Latin text of the Lindisfarne Gospels', contained
in a magnificent manuscript, adorned with beautiful illuminations,
was written about the year 700; and it was not till at least two
hundred and fifty years later, when it had been removed to
Chester-le-Street, near Durham, for safety, that the interlinear
North Northumbrian gloss was added by Aldred, a priest of that
place. The gloss gives many variant English equivalents for the
Latin words. Aldred himself, however, seems to have written only
the latter part of the gloss, that beginning at St John v, 10 in
a new hand, though the earlier portion was, probably, made under
his supervision. The gloss is of the greatest importance from a
philological point of view, since it is our most valuable authority
for the Northumbrian dialect of the middle of the tenth century.
Equally interesting are the Rushworth Gospels. The Latin
text, which differs very slightly from that of the Lindisfarne MS,
was, perhaps, written in the eighth century, while the gloss dates
from the second half of the tenth. It falls into two distinct
portions, the first of which, in the dialect of north Mercia, was
written by Farman, a priest of Harewood, seven miles north-east
of Leeds. This portion, which includes the gospel of St Matthew
and part of chapters i and ii of St Mark, begins as a gloss, and,
later, becomes again a gloss, but, in the main, it is a fairly free
version of the Latin text. The second part, in a dialect which
has been called South Northumbrian by Lindelöf, was written by
Owun, and shows, very strongly, the influence of the Lindisfarne
glosses, which must have been before the writer as he worked,
since he often goes astray from the Latin text to follow Aldred's
version. It seems probable that Farman, who was a good Latin
scholar, had made his gloss as far as St Mark ii, 15, when the
Lindisfarne MS came into his hands. He then entrusted the task
to Owun, who was a less accomplished linguist, and who, whenever
he was confronted by a difficulty, resorted to the Lindisfarne gloss
for its solution. It may be that Farman chose Owun as one know-
ing a dialect closely akin to that of Lindisfarne.
i Cott. Nero D. iv.
• so called because the MS in which they are contained was formerly owned by
J. Rushworth, clerk to the House of Commons during the Long Parliament.
## p. 133 (#153) ############################################
Legends of the Holy Rood 133
There also exists in six MSS a West Saxon version of the
Gospels, which, owing to a note in one MS_ego Aelfricus scripsi
hunc librum in monasterio Baðhonio et dedi Brihtwoldo pre-
posito—was formerly ascribed to Aelfric of Eynsham. If we
suppose this Brihtwold to be the same as the bishop of that
name, who held the see of Sherborne from 1006—1046, as he is
here called prepositus, we may conclude that the Corpus MS
was written before 1006. It certainly belongs to the first quarter
of the eleventh century and is not of Aelfric's authorship, for it in
Do wise agrees with his description of his own work on the New
Testament. He tells us that he had translated pieces from the
New Testament; but this is a full version. The other MSS are
later, and one of them, in the Cambridge University Library, con-
tains also the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which provided
legendary material for later medieval homilists and for the growth
of the Arthurian legend in respect of Joseph of Arimathaea.
The early Christian legends, indeed, and, more particularly,
such as mark the continuance of Jewish traditions and the gradual
diffusion of Christianity in the east, seem to have had a special
attraction for English writers of this period. There are two
legends connected with the Holy Rood-one with the growth of its
wood, the other with the history of the cross after the crucifixion.
The legend of the Holy Rood itself is the same as the original
story of Cynewulf's poem. It will be remembered that St Helena
was reputed to be of British origin.
The oldest English version of the legend of the growth of the
wood is found in a MS in the Bodleian (343), which contains also
fifty-one homilies by Aelfric. The manuscript dates only from
the twelfth century, but, as the other contents are copies of
eleventh century originals, it is reasonable to suppose that the
cross legend also was composed at an earlier period. This theory
is borne out by the language, which Napier considers too archaic
for the twelfth century. From a literary point of view, as well as
linguistically, the version is of the greatest interest, as showing
the development of English prose. In its original eleventh century
form, it represented, perhaps, the best tradition of the literary
West Saxon language developed in the cloisters, and the grace and
ease of the story show considerable mastery of the art of narrative.
The theme ultimately depends on the Jewish legends con-
tained in the Book of Adam and the Book of Enoch, and it had
originally no connection with Christianity. The story frequently
1 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, oxL.
ease of the language dew ps, the best to bal eleventh cent
www. considerab) the cloistention of the
## p. 134 (#154) ############################################
134 From Alfred to the Conquest
occurs in medieval literature (as, for instance, in the South English
Legendary and the Cursor Mundi), and a brief outline of it may,
therefore, be given here. Unfortunately, the earlier part of the
legend in its Latin form, treating of the history of the rood to
the time of Moses, is missing in the English text. The story
shapes itself as follows. Adam being on the point of death, Eve and
Seth go to Paradise to ask the guardian angel for the healing oil
of life. Seth, as fallen man, is denied entrance to Paradise, and,
instead of the oil, the angel gives him three pips of cedar, cypress
and pine. When Seth returns to his father, he finds Adam
already dead; he places the three pips under Adam's tongue,
and, God having given Adam's body to Michael, it is buried by
the four archangels in Paradise. The pips fructify in the ground,
and from them spring three rods, which remain green till the time
of Moses. The Old English version begins at this point and tells
how Moses, having led the Children of Israel over the Red Sea,
lies down to rest, and, in the morning, finds that three rods have
sprung up, one at his head, and one at each side. With these
rods he makes sweet the bitter waters, and the host continues
its journey to Arabia. Hither David, whom the legend represents
as contemporary with Moses, is sent to demand the rods, and it is
revealed to him in a vision that they betoken the Trinity? He
carries them to Jerusalem, where there is a pit of water so bitter
that none can taste of it. The rods are placed in it, and they join
together into a mighty tree, the growth of which is marked by
silver rings. After the death of David, Solomon attempts to use
the tree for the building of the Temple; but, owing to the fact that
it continually alters in length, this proves impossible, and it remains
untouched within the sanctuary. Finally, when the Jews seek for
a tree on which to crucify Christ, they remember this rood, and
use part of it for the cross.
The legend of the finding of the cross by St Helena is entirely
Christian in origin, and is cognate to the version in The Golden
Legend of Jacobus a Voragine, and in the Bollandist Acta Sanc-
torum for the fourth of May, and it is the same theme as that
treated so beautifully by Cynewulf in his Elene.
An important legend cycle, to which attention has recently
been drawn, is that of the letter sent from Heaven on Sunday
observance. It is found in Old English in four of Wulfstan's
homilies, and in two separate versions (C. C. C. C 140 and 162).
1 "Cypressus taonær þone fæder ; Cedrus tacnæf pone suna; Pinus tacnef bone
balze gast. "
## p. 135 (#155) ############################################
Legends of the East
an
135
Of the legends printed by Cockayne, that of Jamnes and Mambres
has quite a modern “psychical” flavour. The fact of its being
a mere fragment, and breaking off when just about to become dull,
saves it in the eyes of all lovers of ghost-tales.
In addition to other legends of a sacred character there are
others of a more worldly nature, the most remarkable being the
(suppositious) Letter from Alexander to Aristotle', The Wonders
of the East2 and the story of Apollonius of Tyres. The first two
are closely connected with the eastern legend of Alexander the
Great, which had taken shape before the Christian era in a work
known as the pseudo-Kallisthenes, which was translated into Latin
before 340 by the so-called Julius Valerius. The two Alexander
legends, as we have them, are very faithful translations from Latin
originals, each chapter of The Wonders of the East being preceded
by a copy of the text on which it is founded. They are important
in the history of literature as proving the interest taken by the
educated clergy of the eleventh century in the Latin legend
cycles. Rather later than these two works, and also of eastern
origin, is the Old English version of Apollonius of Tyre, of which
only half is extant, a version of the same theme as that treated
in the 153rd chapter of Gesta Romanorum. It tells of the
wooing of the king of Antioch's daughter by Apollonius of Tyre,
and how her father, to prevent her marriage, required her suitors
to solve a riddle or to be beheaded. The early appearance of this
legend in the vernacular is especially interesting, since Gower's
version of the story in his Confessio Amantis provided the theme
for Pericles of Tyre. The presence of these legends in Old English
is peculiarly significant as indicating the on-coming flood of foreign
literature. Hitherto, the priest had been the story-teller, after
the heroic minstrelsy of earlier days had passed away; henceforth,
the lighter touch of the deliberate tale-teller was to be heard
in English.
From these we must turn to consider the quasi-scientific
works of this period, which have all been printed by Cockayne
in his Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft in Early England.
As might be expected, they have little literary value, but are
extremely interesting from a historical standpoint, since they
throw many valuable side-lights on the manners and social
conditions of the time. Cockayne's collection begins with the
Herbarium that passes under the name of Apuleius, a work
1 M8. Vitell. A. IV.
• Oott. Tib. B. v.
: 0. 0. C. C. 8. 18.
in bis Con Pecially intearly appear
## p. 136 (#156) ############################################
136 From Alfred to the Conquest
stating the various ills for which each plant is a remedy. It
appears in four MSS, the one printed by Cockayne dating
from the first half of the eleventh century. Following this
is an English version of the Medicina de quadrupedibus of
Sextus Placidus, about whom nothing is known, which describes
the various kinds of animals and the use of their bodies in
medicine.
Even more interesting is the leech-book in Cockayne's second
volume? The author was evidently acquainted with the Greek
and Latin authorities on medicine, for the work is full of their
prescriptions, and Helias, patriarch of Jerusalem, is mentioned as
having sent such prescriptions to king Alfred.
Lastly, Cockayne printed in his third volume two collections
of miscellaneous recipes, and a number of prognostications, inter-
pretations of dreams and a horologium. The first collection is
extremely interesting on account of the heathen nature of many
of the prescriptions, which require for their efficacy the repetition
of charms. Some of these are mere gibberish, in which, however,
fragments of Greek, Latin and Hebrew may be traced; others,
such as the celebrated charm against the stitch, show close con-
nection with Scandinavian mythology; while in some, such as the
charm to bring home straying cattle, there is a curious mingling
of Christian nomenclature and heathen superstition. All these
works are deeply tinged with poetic feeling; and the desire to
propitiate the powers that distribute storm and sunshine is visible
throughout. The date of these compositions is not known, but
most of the manuscripts belong to the eleventh century.
From the foregoing survey of English prose literature during
the eleventh century, it is clear that the language had attained
considerable development as a literary medium.
In the hands of
Aelfric its vocabulary became less concrete, its constructions
more logical, and, though it was still seen to best advantage in
simple narrative, it was moulded by him with fair success to
philosophic requirements. But, in the years that followed the
Norman conquest, the development of English prose met with a
great check, and four hundred years elapsed before the vernacular
was again employed with the grace and fluency of Aelfric.
The decline of Old English poetry cannot be so directly
attributed to the Norman conquest. During the course of the
tenth and eleventh centuries the classical rhetorical metre bad
i Cott. Vitell. O. m.
· Printed from MS Reg. 12 D. XVI.
* M8 Harl. 685 and M8 Harl. 6258. • Chiefly from MS Oott. Tib. A. II.
## p. 137 (#157) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 137
already begun to deteriorate, and was being gradually replaced
by the sung metre of the popular ballad. For the whole of our
period we have only two great poems, the fragment of Judith
in the Beowulf MS and the East Anglian poem of Byrhtnoth’s
death at Maldon. Both poems deal with the struggle against the
same foe and both are in the alliterative rhetorical metre. Judith
contains a fair number of lines which are undoubtedly clear types
of sung verse, such as is found in the thirteenth century in
Layamon's Brut. The Battle of Maldon also contains two much
alike'. The adoption of this metre, which, although ancient, here
exhibits what are practically its first known traces in Old English
literature, is carried to much greater lengths in the poems em-
bedded in the Chronicle; and some observations upon this new
metre, called the “sung" or four-beat verse, as opposed to the
declamatory or two-beat metre of the older poems, will be found
in an appendix at the end of the volume.
The first poem in the Chronicle occurs under the year 937, and
celebrates the glorious victory won by Aethelstan at Brunanburh.
It is a markedly patriotic poem and shows deep feeling; its
brilliant lyrical power, and the national enthusiasm evident
throughout, have made it familiar, in one form or another, to
all lovers of English verse. Great care was taken with the metre,
which is the ancient rhetorical line.
Under the year 942 another poem in alliterative rhetorical
metre occurs. It consists only of a few lines, and its subject is
the liberation of the five boroughs, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham,
Stamford and Derby, “which were formerly Danish, constrained
by need in the captive bonds of the heathen,” by Edmund, son
of Edward the Elder. It has little poetic value; but it is dis
tinguished by the same intense patriotism as the verses on the
battle of Brunanburh.
The first poem in sung verse contained in the Chronicle is that
for 959, on the accession of king Edgar. It contains forty-nine half
lines, making twenty-four and a half full lines, connected, of which
only about eight show alliteration. The lines are connected in the
earlier form of rimeless rhythm, not strictly alliterative, though
* But the reader must be cautioned against assuming that every rimed verse was
also sung verse. The shorter types of rimed verse in such poems as Judith and The
Battle of Maldon were almost certainly not. The only sure oriteria are (1) conformity
to the metrical schemes given in the Appendix, (2) a tendency to neglect the rhetorio
stress and turn the two-beat rhythm into a four-beat, as shown by the riming use of
syllables pot carrying the full stress. Examples are: Judith, l. 231, (écgum geoósto)
slógon éornostè; Maldon, 1. 309, Býrhtwold máþetode bórd bắfēnode.
## p. 138 (#158) ############################################
138
From
Alfred to the Conquest
assonance is sometimes found. Metrically, it is our best preserved
example. The theme is the prosperity of Edgar; how his wise
rule was honoured far and wide, how he established peace in the
land and how he was rewarded by God with the willing submission
of kings and earls. Of one fault, however, says the chronicler,
he was too often guilty, namely that he loved foreign ways and
enticed outlanders into his dominions. The poem ends with a
prayer that God may be more mindful of the king's virtues than of
his evil deeds, and that they may shield his soul from harm on its
long journey hence.
The delight of the English in the peaceful rule of Edgar is
still further shown by a poem in the old rhetorical metre which
is variously given in the different recensions of the Chronicle
under the years 972, 973 and 974, and relates the coronation of
Edgar. The Peterborough chronicle has some lines which have
been written as verse, but scansion seems to raise insurmount-
able difficulties. It can only be scanned on the assumption
that we have an attempt to combine two stress lines with four-
stress rhythm, or an attempt to put a ballad into the form of the
“higher” poetry. They tell how kings came from afar to do
homage to Edgar, and how there was no fleet so daring as to
threaten his dominions, or host so strong as to ravage the land
while he ruled over it.
Another interesting ballad poem, on the troubles caused by
Aelfhere and other rebels in the reign of Edgar's son Edward,
is found in the MS known as Cott. Tib. B. IV. It is of 19 half
lines or 9} full lines. The linking system seems to be mostly
alliteration, but rime and assonance show themselves most clearly
where alliteration becomes absent or weak, as in
Godes wibersăecan
Godes lage brãecon
and
mynstra tostaencton,
and
munecas todraefdon.
The verse is sung ballad-verse, and the alliteration what would
be called irregular in rhetorical verse. It is uncertain whether
what seems an opening verse really belongs to the song.
The murder of Edward son of Edgar, at Corfesgeat, is
related in a peculiarly distinctive poem, which is quite clearly in
sung verse, and shows traces of strophic arrangement. Some lines,
possibly, show the earliest English seven-beat verse; some lines
have, obviously, been lengthened, and the last six printed as verse
do not scan as such, being, possibly, only rhythmic prose added
## p. 139 (#159) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 139
afterwards. They are exactly like the irregular lines on Edgar's
death. Probably the chronicler took a popular ballad or ballads,
broke it up, and attempted to destroy its sing-song character by
the addition of end verses. This, and the strophic character of the
original or originals, would account for its metrical variety and
uncertainty. In several places we meet with half line tags, gene-
rally trimetric, once certainly in full tetrameter. The poem de-
clares that no worse deed than the murder of Edward had ever
been committed among the English since the invasion of Britain ;
men murdered him, but God glorified him; and he who was before
an earthly king is now, after death, a heavenly saint. His earthly
kinsmen would not avenge him, but his heavenly Father has
avenged him amply, and they who would not bow to him living
now bend humbly on their knees to his dead bones. Thus, we may
perceive that men's plans are as naught before God's. The words,
“Men murdered him, but God glorified him,” are alliterative, and
seem like a refrain ; and the whole poem is, metrically, one of the
most interesting of the series.
There is a long interval before the next verses, which tell of
the siege of Canterbury, and the capture of archbishop Aelfhēah
(Alphege) in 1011. They consist of twelve half lines of sung verse,
and are, evidently, a quotation from some ballad commemorating
these disasters. They lament the imprisonment of him who was
erstwhile head of Christendom and England, and the misery that
men might now behold in the unhappy city whence first came
the joys of Christianity. There are some difficulties in scansion,
and the variant readings in certain MSS', though they can be
restored to something like proper metrical harmony, show what
mishandling these songs underwent when written down by the
scribes.
The metre of the next poem is much better preserved. It is
of the same Layamon sung verse type, but shows a regular
union of each two half lines by rime and assonance. Where this
fails, we can at once suspect that the scribe has tampered with the
original version. Some assonances can only be south-eastern. Its
subject is the capture and cruel fate of the aetheling Alfred, and it
shows a strong spirit of partisanship against Godwin. This is led up
to by the prose account telling how Alfred came to Winchester
to see his mother, but was hindered and captured by Godwin.
The poem relates how Godwin scattered Alfred's followers, killing
some and imprisoning others, and how the aetheling was led
* Cott. Tib. B. IV, and Bodl. Laud. 686.
## p. 140 (#160) ############################################
140
From
Alfred to the Conquest
bound to Ely, blinded aboard ship and given over to the monks.
It gives us the important architectural statement (since the old
minster long has perished) that he was buried at the west end
in the south porch “close to the steeple. ” The story is told in
20 couplets of sung half lines (40 half lines). The few lines that
do not rime can easily be restored'.
Many of the features of this poem are paralleled in another on
a like theme, the arrival of Edward Aetheling, son of Edmund
Ironside, in England in 1057, his illness and his death, without
seeing his kinsman the king. The story is that of the death of the
last of the kingly line. The poem is in sung verse, the half lines
being mainly arranged in pairs of one short and one fuller half
line, a combination which is the great feature of this poem, whose
strophic connection depends absolutely neither on rime or asso-
nance, but rather on rhythm. The poem is in four uneven tirades.
The first two are ended by a single half line as a tag (no. 1, of 3 full
lines + tag; no. 2, of 5 full lines + half line tag). The last two
tirades (no. 3, of 3 full lines; no. 4, of 4 full lines) are without half
line tags. The tags may here have been lost in copying.
It is noticeable that all these poems in sung verse, which seem
to be based on popular ballads, are characterised by deep patriotic
feeling. This, however, is wanting in the alliterative rhetorical
lines on the death of Edward the Confessor, which merely tell how
he had reigned for four and twenty years and had governed
illustriously Welsh, Scots, Britons, Angles and Saxons.
Another passage in sung verse dealing with the marriage of
Margaret, the sister of Edward Aetheling, to Malcolm of Scotland,
and recording her distaste for marriage and her desire for convent
life, seems to be in ten sung half lines, of which the first four have
been completely wrecked. The last four are perfect and of great
1 At the end we have the following: They buried him
"fal warflice / swa he wyrde waes (no rime)
aet pam Westende i pam styple fulgehende (rimes)
on pam suðportice | seo saul is mid Criste” (no rime).
Now on þam supportice rimes with ful wurflice, although it does not rime in
its present place. It also would then follow on in sense. Seo saul is mid Criste
needs a rime in -iste and what better one can be than og ba aeriste? This rime was
possibly removed because, on a fullstop being lost in the last line, the first half verso
would apply to the soul, and smack of heresy to the monk. We may then read:
“ ful wurdlice on bam bu portice.
aet bam Westende i bam styple falgehendo
08&a aeriste / 800 saul is mid Criste"
which obanges the architectural sense.
## p. 141 (#161) ############################################
The Ballads and Poems in the Chronicle 141
interest. We have, likewise, some fragments on the marriage of
earl Ralph of Norwich, the first couplet of which
baer waes paet bryd ealo
paet waes manegra manna bealo,
shows, unmistakably, its ballad origin.
The last verses of this class are those on the reign of William
the Conqueror. Earle arranged some twelve lines as poetry, but
the whole passage claims similar treatment, since, in the portion
which he has printed as prose, there occur examples of full rime
and also of full assonance, connecting the half lines in the passages
he has not so written. The whole passage seems to be derived
from at least two ballads against the Norman conqueror. The
first begins "He rixade dfer Englaeland” and tells of the king's
intimate acquaintance with his dominions, so that he knew the
owner of every hide of land and how much it was worth; then, how
he conquered Wales and Scotland and, if he had lived two years
longer, would have won Ireland, also, without weapon strife. This,
which is unrimed, is followed by the passage “Castelas hè lēt
wýrcedn,” which is invaluable because of its strong Kentish asson-
ances. These lines tell, in bitter words, of the king's oppression, of
his heavy taxation, and of the terrible game laws, drawn up to pre-
serve those "tall deer" which he loved as greatly as though he were
their father. This last part is 38 lines long, divided into 19 couplets
linked by rime or assonance, the nineteenth being either marred
in transcription or a monastic addition in rime. The spelling often
hides the dialectical completeness of the assonance. After this
sung ballad follows a passage of rhythmical prose, in which the
compiler states that he has written these things about the king,
both good and evil, that men may imitate the goodness and wholly
flee from the evil. It would seem that the chronicler had to be
original in telling of the Conqueror's virtues; but, for the vices, he
had plenty of popular material at hand. The unhappy people were
in no mood to exalt his virtues, and, for the description of these,
the chronicler was forced to rely on his own literary resources.
The verses in the Chronicle have little literary merit, with
the exception of the poem on the battle of Brunanburh, and this
seems to have been strongly influenced by the epic of Judith.
Of this latter, unfortunately, only a beautiful fragment, consisting
of some 350 lines, survives? . Judith was, perhaps, composed as
a eulogy of Aethelflaed, queen of Mercia, who fought nobly against
1 Cott. Vitell. xv.
## p. 142 (#162) ############################################
142
From Alfred to the Conquest
the Danes in the first quarter of the tenth century. It has been
attributed to Caedmon; but its use of rime and the character of
its language has led some critics to place the poem comparatively
late. The use of rime, however, is no conclusive argument. It
recounts, in vigorous language, the deeds of the Apocryphal
heroine, and dwells especially on the way in which her deed
stirred up the timorous Jews to more courageous patriotism.
It is noteworthy that Aelfric himself had written a homily on
Judith, to teach the English the virtues of resistance to the
Danes. This homily must have been written earlier, and, perhaps,
it influenced the writer of Judith to choose her as a national
type in the fight for God and fatherland. The poem, as we
have it, begins at the end of the ninth canto; cantos X, XI
and xII are preserved in full, but the earlier part of the poem
is entirely wanting. This loss, however, is the less to be regretted
since the remaining cantos, containing the crisis of the story, are,
probably, the finest of all, and deal with a complete episode, to
which the fragment of canto Ix, telling of the faith of the heroine
and the invitation to the feast of Holofernes, serves as introduc-
tion. Canto x describes, with all the delight of Old English poets
in such pictures, the banquet in the Assyrian camp, the deep bowls
of wine borne along the benches, and the shouts and laughter of
the revellers. Darkness descends, and the warriors bring the maiden
to their master's tent. Overcome with wine, he falls into a deep
slumber, and the heroine, with a supplication to heaven for help,
draws the sword from its sheath. She hales the heathen towards
her by his hair, and smites twice with her weapon, till his head
rolls upon the floor. In canto XI, we read how Judith and her
maid steal from the camp with the head of Holofernes, and return
to Bethulia, where their kinsmen are waiting for them on the
wall. As soon as the two approach, men and women hasten to-
gether to meet them, and Judith bids her servant uncover the
trophy and exhibit it to the warriors. Then, with passionate
words, she exhorts them to attack the camp, to bear forth shields
and bucklers and bright helmets among the foe. So, at dawn
of day, they set out, the wolf and raven rejoicing in the tumult,
and the dewy-feathered eagle singing his war-song above them,
their sudden onset on the camp disturbing the enemy, drowsy
with mead. The next canto relates how the terrified Assyrians
hasten to tell their leader of the assault, and how, when they find
only his dead body, they, “sorrowfully minded, cast down their
weapons, and turn, sad at heart, to flight. ” The poem ends with
## p. 143 (#163) ############################################
Judith
143
the entire overthrow of the Assyrians, the return of the conquerors
with their booty to Bethulia, and Judith’s praise of the Almighty
for the triumph of her stratagem.
From this sketch of the poem it will be seen that it is
closely allied in theme to those of Cynewulf and his school, and
this led to the assumption of Ten Brink and others that it was
composed in the early part of the ninth century. A close in-
vestigation of its diction by Gregory Foster led him to place it
a century later; and, if, as he thinks, it was composed to com-
memorate the valiant deeds of Aethelflaed, the Lady of Mercia,
who wrested the five boroughs from the Danes, it was probably
written about 918. But nothing can be said with certainty on the
subject.
As poetry, this fragment stands in the front rank of Old English
literature, with Beowulf and Elene and Andreas. In wealth of
synonym it is equal to the best poems of Cynewulf, while the
construction of the sentences is simpler, and the narrative, in
consequence, less obscure. An impression of intensity is produced
by the heaping of synonyms in moments of stress, as in the prayer
of Judith, and in the fierce lines which describe the onset against
the Assyrians ; while a sense of dramatic fitness is shown in the
transitions, the divisions of the cantos and the preparation for
each great adventure. The tragedy is alive, and the actors play
their parts before our eyes.
The patriotic feeling which probably gave rise to Judith was
certainly responsible for the second great poem of our period, the
Battle of Maldon, sometimes called Byrhtnoth's Death. The
manuscript of this poem was destroyed by the Cottonian fire;
but it had, fortunately, been printed by Hearne in 1726, and it is
from his text that our knowledge of the poem is derived. It
celebrates the death of the great ealdorman Byrhtnoth, who was
connected by close ties of kinship with Aethelmaer, the friend of
Aelfric; it was, indeed, partly by means of legacies left by him
that Aethelmaer was enabled to support so generously the monastic
revival, and it is, therefore, fitting that he should be commemorated
by one of the finest poems in Old English. In the poem before
us he stands out as the ideal leader of men, admirable alike in his
devotion to his king, his simple piety and his sense of responsi-
bility towards his followers. He died as became a member of
the race that thirsts for danger, almost the last of the warriors
of that time who maintained the noble tradition of the days of
1 Oth. A. xa.
• Tacitus, Hist. V, 19.
## p. 144 (#164) ############################################
144
Alfred to the Conquest
From
Alfred. In less than twenty years after this date, the chronicler
tells a pitiful story of divisions between those who should have
united to lead the people to battle, and of forced payment of the
shameful tribute which Byrhtnoth refused.
It was in the year 991 that the Northman Anlaf sailed with
ninety-three ships to the coast of England, and, after harrying
Stone, Sandwich and Ipswich, came to Maeldune (now Maldon)
on the banks of the river Panta or Blackwater. The stream
divides here into two branches, and, leaving their ships at anchor
in one of them, the Danes drew up their forces on the intervening
piece of land. The poem, the beginning and end of which are lost,
opens with the directions of Byrhtnoth to his men, and tells how,
after marshalling his troops, he exhorted them to stand firm,
taking his place among the band of his immediate followers. At
that moment there appeared on the other side of the stream the
viking herald, who said that he was sent by the seamen to
announce that, if Byrhtnoth would buy off the assault with tribute,
they would make peace with him and return to their own land.
But Byrhtnoth scornfully rejected the offer, saying that he would
give tribute, indeed, but it should be the tribute of the sharp spear
and the ancient sword, and their only booty would be battle. With
this message he bade his men advance to the edge of the stream;
but, owing to the inflowing flood after the ebb, neither army could
reach the other, and they waited in battle array till the tide's
going out. Then Byrhtnoth, overweeningly daring, trusting too
much in his own strength, allowed the enemy to cross by the
bridge (probably one of stepping-stones which would be covered
at high tide), and the fight became fierce. “The time had come
for the fated men to fall; then was a tumult raised, the raven,
eager for carrion, hovered in the air, and on earth was a great
cry. ” On every side fell the heroes; a kingman of Byrhtnoth was
wounded, and, at last, the brave earl himself was slain by a poisoned
spear. With his last words he exhorted his men to resistance, and
died commending his soul to God. True to the noble traditions
of the heroic age, Aelfnoth and Wulfmaer shared his fate and fell,
hewn down by the heathen beside their lord. Then cowards began
to flee and seek safety in the woods, forgetting the brave words
they had spoken when feasting in the mead-hall. But Aelfwine,
the son of Aelfric, shouted to those fleeing, reminding them of
their vows, and declaring that none among his race should twit
him with flight, now that his prince lay fallen in battle, he who
was both his kinsman and his lord His brave words were taken
## p. 145 (#165) ############################################
The Battle of Maldon
145
up by Offa and Dunnere; and the warriors advanced to a fresh
attack. The appearance amongst the defending ranks of Aeschere,
son of Ecglaf, a Northumbrian hostage, is of great interest, as it
seems, for a moment, to give us a vivid glance of the political
troubles of the land. The poem ends by telling how Godric
exhorted his comrades and fought fiercely against the heathen
till he, too, fell.
This brief outline may, perhaps, give some idea of the great
interest of the poem, whose every word is filled with deep hatred
against the marauding foe, and with dignified sorrow for the loss
of beloved friends. The verse is as noble as the deed and instinct
with dramatic life. In it we see the heroic feeling of the earlier
national poetry, full of the Teutonic theme of loyal friendship and
warlike courage. And not until many hundreds of years have elapsed
do we find its equal in tragic strength. It is from this stirring
narrative, from Wulfstan's address to the English and from the
bitter records in the Chronicle, that we realise the degradation
of the country during the unhappy reign of Aethelred.
The remaining poems of our period in the old alliterative
metre are of a didactic character. Among them may be mentioned
the Menologium or poetical calendar, which is prefixed to a
version of the Chronicle'. It is an interesting metrical survey
of the progress of the year, with special mention of the saints'
days observed by the church, preserving some of the Old English
names of the months, such as Weodmonad (August), Winterfylleð
(October) and Blotmona8 (November), and retaining traces of
heathen times, though the whole is Christian in basis. Its value,
as poetry, depends on the tender feeling for nature shown in such
passages as those which describe the coming of May, tranquil
and gentle, with blossoming woods and flowers, or winter, which
cuts off the harvest with the sword of rime and snow, when all is
fettered with frost by the hest of the Creator, so that men may
no longer haunt the green meadows or the flowery fields.
Of more literary value is the poem entitled Be Domes Daege,
a free version of the Latin poem De Die Judicii, by some scholars
ascribed to Bede and by others to Alcuin. The 157 lines of the
Latin original are expanded to 304 by the translator, whose
imaginative gift is especially visible in the way he enlarges on a
hint from his source. The opening passage is extremely beautiful.
i Cott. Tib. B. I.
· Found in a unique manuscript in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge.
