Their aim however is
clear—to
glorify the
idea of the virgin life.
idea of the virgin life.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v01
1100) and of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090—1153) point
to the employment of late Latin originals. Certain quotations in
these Homilies are also taken from Horace and Ovid-an excep-
tional proceeding in Old English works, though common in writings
of the eleventh and twelfth centuries'; and thus the inference is clear
that here Aelfric is not the sole, or even the main, influence, but
that this is rather supplied by those French writers whose religious
works became known in England after the Conquest. The influence
of the same Norman school of theology is, moreover, visible in the
Old Kentish Sermons (1150—1200). They are, in reality, transla-
tions of French texts, and signs of this origin are preserved in the
diction employed, in the use of such words as apierede, cuuenable
and others.
The latter half of the twelfth century was a period of experiment
and of conflicting elements. It was a stage necessarily unproductive,
but of great importance, notwithstanding, in the work of develop-
ment. Older native traditions lived on; but access had been obtained
to continental learning, and, while themes were being borrowed
from Norman writers, as a consequence of the study of other
Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. auf einige kleinere Schöpfungen der
engl. Vebergangsperiode, pp. 6—18.
## p. 222 (#242) ############################################
222
Early Transition English
French works, the riming couplet and the septenarius had by this
time been adopted, and an alien system of versification, based on
the regular recurrence of accent, seemed in a fair way of being
assimilated. With the attainment of a certain amount of pro-
ficiency in the technique of the new style, the embargo on literary
effort was, in some degree, removed, and the literature of the first
half of the thirteenth century forthwith responded to contemporary
influences. The age became once more articulate, and the four
chief works of the time are eloquent witnesses of the impulses
which were abroad. Ormulum is representative of purely re-
ligious tradition, while the Ancren Riwle points to an increased
interest in the religious life of women, and also, in part, to new
mystical tendencies. Layamon's Brut, with its hoard of legendary
fancy, is clearly the outcome of an impulse fresh to English soil ;
while The Owl and the Nightingale is the herald of the love-theme
in England.
It must be conceded, in the first place, that the general literary
tone of the first half of the thirteenth century was determined by
the prevailing power of the church and the monastery. The intel-
lectual atmosphere of England was mainly cleric, as opposed to
the laic independence which existed across the Channel; and
this difference is suggested by the respective traits of contempo-
rary Gothic architecture in England and in France. From the
eleventh to the thirteenth centuries the power of the pope, so far
as western Europe was concerned, was at its height. National
enthusiasms aroused by the crusades played unconsciously into
the papal hands, and, during this time, more than one pope deposed
a ruling monarch and then disposed of his dominions. Theology
was the main study at the newly-founded universities of Paris and
Oxford; it dominated all learning. And, whereas the church,
generally, had attained the zenith of its power, its influence in
England was visible in the strong personalities of Lanfranc and
Anselm, while the religious revival under Henry I and the coming
of the friars at a later date were ample evidence of the spirit of
devotion which was abroad.
But literature was not destined to remain a religious monotone:
other and subtler influences were to modify its character. The
twelfth century renascence was a period of popular awakening,
and vigorous young nations found scope for their activities in
attempting to cast off the fetters which had bound them in
the past. As the imperial power declined, individual countries
wrested their freedom, and, in England, by 1215, clear ideas had
## p. 223 (#243) ############################################
"
Literary Revolt of the Thirteenth Century 223
been formulated as to the rights of the individual citizen. This
groping for political freedom found its intellectual counterpart
in France, not only in the appearance of secular littérateurs
but also in that school of laic architects which proceeded to
modify French Gothic style? . In England, it appeared in a de-
liberate tendency to reject the religious themes which had been
all but compulsory and to revert to that which was elemental in
man. Fancy, in the shape of legend, was among these ineradicable
elements, long despised by erudition and condemned by religion ;
and it was because the Arthurian legend offered satisfaction to
some of the inmost cravings of the human heart, while it led the
way to loftier ideals, that, when revealed, it succeeded in colouring
much of the subsequent literature. The Brut of Layamon is,
therefore, a silent witness to a literary revolt, in which the
claims of legend and fancy were advanced anew for recognition in
a field where religion had held the monopoly. And this spirit of
revolt was further reinforced by the general assertion of another
side of elemental man, viz. that connected with the passion of
love. France, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, had been
swept by a wave of popular love-poetry which brought in its wake
the music of the troubadours. Germany, in the twelfth century,
produced the minnesingers. The contemporary poets of Italy
were also love-poets, and, at a slightly later date, Portugal, too,
possessed many of the kind. This general inspiration, originating
in France and passing over the frontiers on the lips of the
troubadours (for, in each country, the original form of the popular
poetry was one and the same%), was destined to touch English soil
soon after 1200. Though it failed for some time to secularise
English poetry, it imparted a note of passion to much of the
religious work; and, further, in The Owl and the Nightingale
religious traditions were boldly confronted with new-born ideas,
and the case for Love was established beyond all dispute.
The religious writings of the time may be divided into four
sections according to the aims which they severally have in view.
The purport of the first is to teach Biblical history; the second
to exhort to holier living ; the third is connected with the religious
life of women; the last with the Virgin cult and mysticism.
Of the several attempts at scriptural exposition Ormulum is
the most considerable. The power of literary appeal displayed
in this work is, intrinsically, of the smallest. Its matter is not
1 E. S. Prior, History of Gothic Art in England, pp. 21—2.
? A. Jeanroy, Les origines de la poésie lyrique en France au Moyen-âge.
foi
## p. 224 (#244) ############################################
224
Early Transition English
attractive, its movement is prodigiously monotonous, its very
correctness is tiresome; and yet it has an interest of its own,
for, in its way, it helps to fill in the details of the literary picture
of the time. It was probably written in the first decade of the
thirteenth century in the north-east midlands. Its author, Orm, was
a member of an Augustine monastery in that district, and, in re-
sponse to the wishes of his "bro perr Wallterr," he undertook to turn
into English paraphrases all the gospels for the ecclesiastical year
as arranged in the mass-book, and to add to each paraphrase an
exposition for English readers. The work, as projected, entailed a
treatment of 243 passages of Scripture: the result, as extant,
embodies only one-eighth of the plan-thirty paraphrases with
the corresponding homilies. In his translation of the scriptural
text Orm faithfully followed his original; for the matter of the
homiletic sections he drew mainly on the Commentaries and
Homilies of Bede, though, occasionally, he appears to have con-
sulted the homiletic work of Gregory as well as the writings of
Josephus and Isidore. It has been usual to point to the works of
Augustine and Aelfric as among the sources; but definite reasons
have been advanced for discountenancing this view. Traces of
originality on the part of Orm are few and far between. Encouraged
by the spirit of his originals, he occasionally essays short flights of
fancy; and instances of such ventures possibly occur in Il. 3710,
8019, 9390. In a work so entirely dependent as this is on earlier
material it is not strange to find that the theology was already out
of date. Orm is orthodox; but it is the orthodoxy of Bede. Of later
developments, such as the thirteenth century mysticism, he has not
a sign. He combats heresies such as the Ebionite (L. 18,577) and
the Sabellian (L. 18,625), which had disturbed the days of Bede but
had since been laid to rest. In his introduction appear Augustinian
ideas concerning original sin; but of the propitiation theory as set
forth by Anselm there is no mention. His dogma and his erudition
are alike pre-Conquest; and, in this sense, Orm may be said to stand
outside his age and to represent merely a continuation of Old
English thought. Again, he is only following the methods of the
earlier schools in his allegorical interpretation. He is amazingly
subtle and frequently puerile in the vast significance which he gives
to individual words, even to individual letters. Personal names
and place-names furnish him with texts for small sermons, and
the frequently indulged desire to extract hidden meanings from
the most unpromising material leads to such an accumulation of
1 G. Sarrazin, Englische Stud. vi, 1–27.
## p. 225 (#245) ############################################
Ormulum
225
strained conceits as would have made the work a veritable gold-
mine for seventeenth century intellect. Most illuminating as to
this fanciful treatment is his handling of the name of Jesus
(1. 4302). Of the human and personal element the work contains but
little. The simple modesty of the author's nature is revealed when
he fears his limitations and his inadequacy for the task. Otherwise,
the passionless temperament of the monk is felt in every line as
the work ambles along, innocent of all poetic exaltation, and given
over completely to pious moralisings. He shows a great regard
for scholarly exactitude; but this, in excess, becomes mere pedantry,
and, indeed, his scruples often cause him to linger needlessly over
trifles in the text and to indulge in aimless repetitions which prove
exhausting. As a monument of industry the work is beyond all
praise. Its peculiar orthography, carefully sustained through 10,000 con
long lines, is the joy of the philologist, though aesthetically it is open
to grave objection. By his method of doubling every consonant
immediately following a short vowel, Orm furnishes most valuable
evidence regarding vowel-length at a critical period of the language.
It is doubtful whether he was well advised in choosing verse of any
kind as the form of his ponderous work; but it must, at least,
be conceded that the verse which he did adopt—the iambic
septenarius-was not the least suitable for the purpose he had in
view. It was the simplest of Latin metres, and Orm's mechanical
handling certainly involves no great complexities. He allows
himself no licences. The line invariably consists of fifteen syllables
and is devoid of either riming or alliterative ornament. The
former might possibly, in the author's opinion, have tended to
detract from the severity of the theme; the latter must have
appeared too vigorous for the tone desired. Except for his versi-
fication, Orm, as compared with Old English writers, appears to
have forgotten nothing, to have learnt nothing. Equally blind to 4! . Moe
the uses of Romance vocabulary and conservative in thought, werin ;
Orm is but a relic of the past in an age fast hurrying on to new
forms and new ideas.
Other attempts at teaching Biblical history are to be found in the
Genesis and Exodus poems and in the shorter poems called The
Passion of Our Lord and The Woman of Samaria. In the Genesis
and Exodus poems may be seen a renewal of the earlier method of
telling Bible stories in “londes speche and wordes smale. ” They
are probably by one and the same author', who wrote about 1250
1 Fritzsche, Angl. v, 42—92, and Ten Brink, History of English Literature, Vol. I,
Appendix F.
| K L I. CH, XI.
15
## p. 226 (#246) ############################################
226 Early Transition English
in the south-eastern Midlands. Their theme comprises Israelitish
history down to the death of Moses. But the poet did not write
from the Biblical text; his work is founded almost wholly on
the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor, although the first 600
lines appear to be drawn from some other source, while in 11. 78 ff.
a reminiscence of Philippe de Thaon's Comput is found. The poet's
aim is to tell a plain story, and it is the simple human items upon
which he concentrates. He avoids all show of moralising, and
consistently passes by the quotations with which his original was
abundantly fortified. In each, the earlier epic style has given way
to the more business-like methods of the riming chronicle, and both
works are written in a short riming couplet of excellent workman-
ship. They are of considerable importance in the history of English
prosody, since in them the principles upon which that prosody
is based clearly emerge. The line is based upon feet rather
than accents, and studied variations in the arrangement of the feet
produce melody of inconceivable variety in the accentual system
with its unlicensed particles. The other two poems deal with New
Testament history. The Passion is a sketch of the life of Christ
with details added concerning the later persecutions under Nero
and Domitian. It is, confessedly, a set-off to current narratives
of Karlemeyne and the Duzeper. The Woman of Samaria deals
with the episode of Christ's meeting with the woman at the
well, and, as in the previous poem, the suitable septenarius is
employed
The corresponding section of hortatory writings is of mixed
character. It comprises both verse and prose, and its effects are
produced in divers manners. Sometimes it is by satire in which
prevailing vices are specifically arraigned, elsewhere by stock
devices for terrifying evil-doers; or, again, the method may be
the less aggressive one of allegorical teaching. All these writings
have but one aim, that of inculcating holier living. Beginning with
the satires, we have in Hwon holy chireche is under uote a short
poem in septenars, in which the evils of simony within the church,
and the general batred of the church without, are lamented. Sinners
Beware, a more ambitious effort in six-line stanzas (aabaab), is
directed against the age generally, though worldly priests, a
rapacious soldiery, cheating chapmen and haughty ladies are the
types directly aimed at. And, again, in a Lutel Soth Sermun
-a poem in septenars—bad brewers and bakers, priests' wives and
illicit lovers like Malkin and Jankin are railed against. While
thus assailing the vices of certain types and classes the writers
## p. 227 (#247) ############################################
131
The Bestiary
227
frequently follow up their indictment with the argument of terror,
after the fashion of Poema Morale. Material for thundering of
this sort lay ready to hand in medieval compositions connected
with the subjects of doomsday, death and hell, such as the Old
English Be Domes Daege, The Address of the Soul to the Body and
The Vision of St Paul. In the poem called Doomsday and in the
work On Serving Christ the first of these themes is logically,
pursued. The clearest use of The Address motive appears in the
poem Death, the sequence of ideas observed in The Address being
here preserved', while, in addition, the theme is slightly developed.
Other reminiscences of the same motive also appear in the frag-
mentary Signs of Death and in Sinners Beware (11. 331 ff. ). Of
The Vision of St Paul traces are clearly seen in The XI Pains of 1
Hell. The depicting of hell was a favourite medieval exercise,
and The Vision is found in several languages. The archangel
Michael is represented as conducting St Paul into the gloomy
abode, and Dante's journey under Vergil's guidance is merely a
variation of this theme. The Vision can be traced in the twelfth
century homily In Diebus Dominicis, where sabbath-breakers
are warned. In The XI Pains of Hell—a poem in riming
couplets—the treatment is modified by the addition of the popular
Address element. A lost soul describes the place of torment
for St Paul's benefit, whereas in The Vision the description
proceeds from the apostle himself.
Besides satire and arguments of terror, allegory was employed
for the same didactic end, notably in the Bestiary, An Bispel
(a Parable) and Sawles Warde, each of which was based on a Latin
original. The Bestiary is founded on the Latin Physiologus of one
chemist!
Thetbaldus, though earlier specimens had appeared in Old English
and Anglo-French. Of the thirteen animals dealt with, twelve e
are taken from the work of Thetbaldus, the section relating to
the dove from Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum (1, 56). The method
of teaching is venerable but effective; the habits of animals
are made to symbolise spiritual truth. The work does not,
however, represent much originality, though the metrical form
is a blending of old and new. Its six-syllable couplet is de- x the ine
rived either from the Latin hexameters of the original or from
Philippe de Thaon's couplet, with which it is identical. But the
treatment is far from regular; alliteration, rime and asson-
ance are promiscuously used, and syllabic equivalence is but
.
* Mod. Lang. Notes (1890), p. 193.
15_2
## p. 228 (#248) ############################################
228
Early Transition English
imperfectly apprehended. Occasionally delightful movements are
obtained such as exist in
Al is man so is tis ern,
wuldė ge nu listen,
old in hisė sinnes dern,
or he bicumes cristen:
And tus he newed him dis man,
Panne he nimex to kirke,
or he it bidenken can,
hise egen weren mirkel.
But the whole seems to point to artistic inconsistencies rather
than whimsical handling, though the work is interesting as showing
English verse in the process of making. The second work, An
Bispel, is a free translation of Anselm's De Similitudine inter
Deum et quemlibet regem suos judicantem. This prose parable
relates and explains God's dealings with mankind under the simile
of a feast held by a king, to which are invited, by means of five
messengers, both friend and foe. The English adapter adds certain
details, notably the incident of the five messengers, who are in-
tended to represent the five codes of law. The Sawles Warde,
a more pretentious allegory of much the same date, is based upon
a Latin prose work of Hugo de St Victor, the elements of which
were suggested by St Matthew, xxiv, 43. Wit (judgment) is lord of
a castle (the soul of man). His wife (Will) is capricious, and the
servants (the five senses) are hard to govern. He therefore needs
the assistance of his four daughters (the four cardinal virtues,
prudence, strength, temperance and righteousness); but the
good behaviour of his household is ultimately assured by the
appearance of two messengers, Fear (messenger of death), who
paints the terrors of hell, and Love of Life, who describes
the joys of heaven. The writer shows some originality in his
treatment, and the allegory in his hands becomes rather more
coherent and convincing; his characters are more developed, and
certain dramatic touches are added here and there. The same
motive appears in a short contemporaneous poem called Wil and
Wit. Other didactic methods which call for brief mention are
those in which the joys of heaven are persuasively described, as,
for instance, in the poems Long Life and The Duty of Christians,
or in which the dialogue form is used for the first time, as in Vices
and Virtues (c. 1200)—"a soul's confession of its sins, with reason's
description of the virtues. ”
1 Ll. 88–95. tis ern, this eagle. dern, secret. or, ere. tus, thus. egen, eyes.
De anima, eto. (Works, Bk. IV, chs. 13—15. ) See Vollhart, Einfluss, etc. ,
pp. 26 ff.
## p. 229 (#249) ############################################
Lives of the Saints
229
The third section of the religious writings of this period is
wholly concerned with the religious life of women. The twelfth
century, the golden age of monasticism, witnessed also an increased
sympathy with convent life; and this is evident not only from the
letters of Ailred, but also from the increasing frequency with which
legacies were left to convent communities, and from the founding
of such an order as that of St Gilbert of Sempringham? Before
the Conquest religious women had been by no means a neglig-
ible quantity. The revival of interest in their cause, at this
later date, was part of that impulse which had inspired, on
the continent, the mystical writers St Hildegard of Bingen, St
Elisabeth of Schönau and the philanthropic zeal of the noble
Hedwig. In the thirteenth century, the convent of Helfta in
Saxony was the centre of these tendencies; and, though it cannot
be said with certainty that England produced any women-writers,
yet the attention to practical religion and mystical thought, which
had been the subjects of zeal abroad, are tolerably well represented
in the writings for women in England.
Hali Meidenhad and the Lives of the Saints are connected
with this movement by the incitement they furnish to convent life.
The former, an alliterative prose homily, is based on the text of
Psalm xlv. 10; but the methods of the writer are entirely wanting
in that gentle grace and persuasion which are found elsewhere. He
sets forth his arguments in a coarse, repellent manner. Where
others dwell on the beauty of cloistered affection, he derides
rather gracelessly the troubles of the married state; and, if these
troubles are related with something like humour, it is of a grim
kind and easily slides into odious invective. Maidenly ideals are
exalted in more becoming fashion in the Lives of the Saints, which
appeared about the same date. They consist of three rhythmical
alliterative prose lives of St Margaret, St Katharine and St Juliana,
based on Latin originals. Saintly legends had revived in England
in the early thirteenth century, and were already taking the place
of the homily in the services of the church. With the later
multiplying of themes a distinct falling-off in point of style became
visible. Of the three lives, that of St Katharine is, in some
respects, the most attractive. As compared with its original,
the character of the saint becomes somewhat softened and refined
in the English version. She has lost something of that impulsive-
ness, that hardy revengeful spirit which earlier writers had regarded
as not inconsistent with the Christian profession. The English
L. Eckenstein, Woman under Monasticism, pp. 213 ff.
## p. 230 (#250) ############################################
230
Early Transition English
fe
adapter also shows some idea of the art of story-telling, in re-
moving certain superfluous details. But, in all three works,
sufficient horrors remain to perpetuate the terrors of an earlier
age, and, in general, the saintly heroines are more remarkable for
stern undaunted courage of the Judith type than for the milder
charms of later ideals.
Their aim however is clear—to glorify the
idea of the virgin life.
Besides these, there are certain works in which definite instruc-
tion as to the secluded life is given for the guidance of those who had
already entered upon that career. Early in the thirteenth century
the Latin Rule of St Benet (516) was adapted for the nuns of
Winteney. The version is clearly based on some masculine text,
for occasional masculine forms' are inadvertently retained in the
feminine version. A chapter is also added “concerning the priests
admitted to a convent" (LXII). The aim of the Ancren Riwle
(anchoresses' rule) is of a similar kind; but this is a work which,
owing to its greater originality, its personal charm and its complete
sympathy with all that was good in contemporary literature, stands
apart by itself as the greatest prose work of the time, and as one
of the most interesting of the whole Middle English period. It
may, in the first place, be assumed that the English version is the
original one, though French and Latin forms are found, and that it
appeared in the south of England in the first quarter of the century.
The question of authorship is still unsolved. Richard Poore, bishop
of Salisbury (1217—29) and founder of its cathedral, is credited
with it, and Tarrent in Dorsetshire is regarded as the site of the
anchorhold. The aim of the work is to provide ghostly counsel
for three anchoresses, i. e. religious women, who, after a period of
training within a nunnery, dedicated themselves to a secluded life
outside. These recluses often lived in a slight dwelling attached to
a church; and such may have been the conditions of these “three
pious sisters. " The work incidentally throws much light upon the
life within an anchorhold, upon the duties of the inmates, the out-
sisters and maids, and their sundry difficulties, whether of a business,
domestic, or spiritual kind. The admonition imparted was not
without precedent. As early as 709 Aldhelm, in his De Laudibus
Virginitatis, had depicted the glories of the celibate life, and about
1131–61 a letter (De vita eremitica) was written by Ailred of
Rievaulx to his sister, dealing with similar matters; since this
latter work is quoted in the Ancren Riwle, while the general
arrangement of both is the same, there can be little doubt of a
1 Cf. zearowne, 139. 2, eto.
## p. 231 (#251) ############################################
Ancren Riwle
231
certain degree of indebtedness. The treatise opens with a preface,
which summarises the contents; sections I and viII refer to
external matters, to religious ceremonies and domestic affairs;
sections II–VII to the inward life. The work has much that is
medieval commonplace, an abundance of well-digested learning,
borrowings from Anselm and Augustine, Bernard and Gregory, and
illustrations which reveal a considerable acquaintance with animal
and plant lore. The author also betrays those learned tendencies
which gloried in subtle distinctions. There is the ancient delight
in allegorical teaching : Biblical names are made to reveal hidden
truths: a play upon words can suggest a precept. And, along-
side of all this, which is severely pedantic, there is much that
is quaint and picturesque. Traces are not wanting of a vein
of mysticism. Courtly motives occasionally receive a spiritual
adaptation, and, here and there, are touches of those romantic
conceptions which were elsewhere engaged in softening the severity
of religious verse. The writer, then, is possessed of the learning
of the age, its methods of teaching, its mystical and romantic
tendencies. And yet these facts are far from altogether explain-
ing the charm of the work, its power of appeal to modern readers.
The charm lies rather in the writer's individuality, in his gentle
refinement and lovable nature. The keynote of the whole work
seems to be struck in that part of the preface where the sisters,
belonging as they did to no order of nuns, are instructed to claim
for themselves the order of St James. The work is animated by
the "pure religion and undefiled” of that apostle, and is instinct
with lofty morality and infinite tenderness. The writer's instruc-
tions as to ceremonies and observances are broad-minded and
reasonable; his remarks on love reveal the sweetness and light
which dwelt in his soul. The prose style from the historical stand-
point is of very great merit. The ancient fetters are not quite
discarded; there is still constraint and a want of suppleness; but
there are also signs that the limping gait is acquiring freedom.
The style, moreover, is earnest, fresh and touched with the charm
of the sentiment it clothes. Above all it is naïve: the writer
occasionally reaches the heart, while provoking a smile.
Closely connected with this woman-literature are those works
which belong to the Virgin cult and those which are touched with
erotic mysticism. This section is the outcome of those chivalrous
ideals which had dawned in the twelfth century, to soften the
harshness of earlier heroics and to refine the relation between
the sexes. These new ideals coloured the atmosphere of court
## p. 232 (#252) ############################################
232
Early Transition English
life, and the exaltation of woman in its courtly sense found a
counterpart in the revived Virgin cult, just as knightly wooing
suggested the image of the wistful soul striving for union with the
Divine. This erotic mysticism, which was to appear again in Crashaw,
Herbert and Vaughan, was merely a phase of those allegorical
tendencies, of which Dante was the culmination. The pious soul
yearning for a closer walk with God now expressed its longings in
the language of earthly passion, just as earlier mystics had tried
to interpret the Divine nature by the use of more commonplace
allegory. And this development was encouraged by the mysticism
of Hugo de St Victor, which influenced both Paris and Oxford;
while elsewhere on the continent a school of nuns was producing
works laden with passion and breathing an intense emotion.
The Virgin cult is represented in the first place by the prose
Lofsong of ure Lefdi, a fairly close translation of the poem Oratio
ad Sanctam Mariam of archbishop Marbod of Rheims (1035—
1138), and by On God Ureisun of ure Lefdi (A Good Orison of
our Lady), a poem in riming couplets, for which no Latin original
has yet been found, though it contains suggestions of the work of
Anselm? . Other examples of the kind are found in The Five Joys
of the Virgin, a poem in eight-line stanzas; A Song to the Virgin,
with Latin insertions; A Prayer to Our Lady, a sinner's repentance
in interesting four-line stanzas; A Prayer to the Virgin, in similar
form. Another side of the Virgin cult is represented by the Middle
English versions of the Compassio Mariae and the Assumptio
Mariae, which appeared about the middle of the century. The
former is a west Midland translation of a Latin hymn, and the
work is artistically interesting as illustrating how metrical innova-
tion was made. The six-line strophe and the riming formula are
taken over from the original, though this identity of form prevents
a literal rendering. The treatment is otherwise not without
originality. Alliterative ornament is added, and use is made of a
popular piece of medieval fancy, namely, the comparison of Christ's
birth to a sunbeam passing through glass and leaving it unstained”.
Assumptio Mariae rests on a venerable legend of the ascension
of Mary; it is of eastern origin, but is found in Latin, German
and French versions. The English version is written in short
couplets, and appears to be of an eclectic kind. The episode of
unbelieving Thomas is taken from a Latin version; otherwise the
poem is strongly reminiscent of Wace’s Vie de la Vierge Marie.
1 Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. eto. , pp. 41 ff.
: A. Napier, E. E. T. S. CIII, pp. 75 ff.
## p. 233 (#253) ############################################
The Luve Ron
233
Erotic mysticism is best represented by the Luve Ron of Thomas
de Hales, a delightful lyric in eight-line stanzas, written in the
earlier portion of the reign of Henry III, and, probably, before 1240
judging from the allusion in ll. 97 ff. The writer was a native of
Hales (Gloucester), who, after a career at Paris and Oxford, attained
considerable distinction as a scholar. The main theme of the work
is the perfect love which abides with Christ and the joy and peace
of mystic union with Him. The poem is full of lofty devotion and
passionate yearning ; its deep seriousness is conveyed through a
medium tender and refined, and it is, in short, one of the most
attractive and impassioned works of the time, as the following
extracts suggest :
Maydė her þu myht biholde,
bis worldes luue nys bute o res,
And is by-set so felė-volde,
Vikel and frakel and wok and les.
beos beines bat her weren bolde
Beoþ aglyden, 80 wyndes bles:
Under molde hi liggep colde,
And falewep so dop medewe gres.
Hwer is Paris and Heleyne
bat weren so bryht and feyre on bleo:
Amadas, Tristram, and Dideyne
Yseudė and alle peo:
Eotor wib his scharpė meyno
And Cesar riche of wor[1]des feo?
Heo beob iglyden ut of þe reyno,
So þe schef is of be cleol.
The three prose prayers, The Wohung of ure Lauerd, On Lofsong
of ure Louerde and On Ureisun of ure Louerde, belong to the
same category as the Luve Ron. They are written in an allitera-
tive prose? , which aimed at obtaining the emphatic movement of
Old English verse, and is most effective in recitation, though the
absence of metrical rules brings about a looser structure. All
three prayers consist of passionate entreaties for closer communion
with Christ, and the personal feeling revealed in them illustrates
the use of the love motive in the service of religion. But
to interpret the love terminology literally and to connect these
prayers solely with the devotions of nuns, as one critic suggests,
seems to involve a misapprehension of their tone, for it infuses
i Ll. 9–16; 65—72. O res, passing, transitory. frakel, base. wok, feeble.
les, false. bles, blast. meyne, might. feo, wealth. schef of þe cleo, corn from the
hill-side.
Cf. Hwa ne mei luue pi luueli leor ?
## p. 234 (#254) ############################################
234
Early Transition English
into their being an earthliness quite out of keeping with their
rarefied sentiment. Further, these works have some points in
common, occasionally literal agreement, with the Ancren Riwle
and Hali Meidenhad, but, in all probability, it is in the works of
Anselm and Hugo de St Victor that the sources must be sought,
in which case all these English works are distinct and separate
borrowings from the same Latin originals”.
We come now to that section of the literature of the period
which represents a revolt against established religious themes.
It has been seen that religious writers occasionally made use of
the motives of legend and love, and from this it might be inferred
that these were the directions into which the general taste was
inclining. At all events, these are the lines along which the
literary revolt began to develope, Layamon, in the first instance,
setting forth in the vernacular legendary material which came to
hand. Layamon's Brut, written early in the thirteenth century,
has come down in two MSS (A text and B text), belonging
respectively to the first and second halves of the thirteenth
century. The later version has numerous scribal alterations:
there are many omissions of words and passages, the spelling is
slightly modernised, riming variants are introduced and foreign
substitutes take the place of obsolescent native words. The author
reveals his identity in the opening lines. He is Layamon, a priest
of Ernley (Arley Regis, Worcester), on the right bank of the
Severn, where he was wont to "read books” (i. e. the services of the
church). Layamon's ambitious purpose was to tell the story of
Britain from the time of the Flood. He is, however, content to
begin with the story of Troy and the arrival of Brutus, and to end
with the death of Cadwalader, 689 A. D. As regards his sources, he
mentions the English book of Bede, the Latin books of St Albin
and St Austin (by which he probably meant the Latin version of
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History) and, thirdly, the Brut of the
French clerk Wace. Of the first two authorities, however, it is
curious to note, he makes not the slightest use. The account of
Gregory and the English captives at Rome (II. 29,445 ff. ), which is
often quoted in support of his indebtedness to Bede, in reality
proves his entire independence, for glaring discrepancies occur
between the respective narratives. Elsewhere in the Brut Bede
is directly contradicted2 and, in fact, Layamon's assertion of in-
debtedness, as far as Bede is concerned, can be nothing more
1 Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. eto. , pp. 41 ff.
2 Cf. Layamon, Brut, 412; Bede, 1, 3, etc.
## p. 235 (#255) ############################################
Layamon's Brut
235
than a conventional recognition of a venerable work which dealt
with a kindred subject. Convention rather than fact also lay
behind his statement that he had consulted works in three different
languages.
His debt to Wace, however, is beyond all doubt'. Innumerable
details are common to both works, and, moreover, it is clear that it
is Wace's work rather than Wace's original (Geoffrey of Monmouth's
History of the Kings of Britain) that has been laid under contribu-
tion? . In the first place, Wace and Layamon have certain details in
common which are lacking in the work of Geoffrey; in the matter
of omissions Wace and Layamon frequently agree as opposed to
Geoffrey; while again they often agree in differing from the Latin
narrative in regard to place and personal names. But if Wace's
Brut forms the groundwork of Layamon's work, in the latter there
are numerous details, not accounted for by the original, which
have generally been attributed to Celtic (i. e. Welsh) influences.
Many of these details, however, have recently been shown to be
non-Welsh. The name of Argante the elf-queen, as well as that of
Modred, for instance, point to other than Welsh territory. The
traits added to the character of Arthur are in direct opposition to
what is known of Welsh tradition. The elements of the Arthurian
saga relating to the Round Table are known to have been treated
as spurious by Welsh writers ; Tysilio, in his Brut, for instance,
passes them over. Therefore the explanation of this additional
matter in Layamon, as compared with Wace, must be sought for in
other than Welsh materials.
Hitherto, when Wace's Brut has been mentioned, it has been
tacitly assumed that the printed version of that work was meant,
rather than one of those numerous versions which either remain
in manuscript or have since disappeared. One MS (Add. 32,125.
Brit. Mus. ), however, will be found to explain certain name-forms,
concerning which Layamon is in conflict with the printed Wace.
And other later works, such as the Anglo-French Brut (thirteenth
or fourteenth century) and the English metrical Mort Arthur, both
of which are based on unprinted versions of Wace, contain material
which is present in Layamon, namely, details connected with the
stories of Lear, Merlin and Arthur. Therefore it seems possible
that Layamon, like the authors of the later works, used one of the
variant texts. Further, the general nature of Layamon's additions
1 Cf. post, Chapter XII, pp. 265 ff.
R. Wülker, P. B. B. III, pp. 530 ff.
* For the main points contained in the discussion of Layamon's sources see
Imelmann, Layamon, Versuch über seine Quellen.
## p. 236 (#256) ############################################
236
Early Transition English
appear to be Breton or Norman. The names Argante and Delgan,
for instance, are derived through Norman media; the fight between
Arthur and Frollo is found in the Roman des Franceis (1204) of
André de Coutances. But Layamon seems to stand in yet closer
relation to Gaimar's Rhyming Chronicle, so far as that book can
be judged from the related Münchner Brut. An explanation of
the Carric-Cinric confusion, for instance, would be obtained by
this assumption. The representation of Cerdic and Cinric in
Layamon as one and the same person' might conceivably be
due, not to the account in the Old English Chronicle, but to
some such foreign version as is found in Gaimar (11. 819 ff. ). To
Gaimar, moreover, may probably be attributed several details of
Layamon's style-his tendency to employ forms of direct speech,
his discursiveness, his appeals to the gods and his protestations
as to the truth of his narrative. It is possible that one of the
later versions of Wace may have embodied details taken from
Gaimar. Waurin's Chroniques et istoires (fifteenth century) seems
a compilation of this kind, and it is not impossible that Layamon's
original may have been a similarly compiled work, with, it should
be added, elements taken from contemporary Tristram and Lancelot
poems. In any case, the English Brut is not based on the printed
Brut of Wace, but on one of the later versions of which certain
MSS remain and of which other traces can be found. This par-
ticular version had probably been supplemented by Breton material
introduced through some Norman medium, and, since this supple-
mentary portion is reminiscent of Gaimar, there is reason for
supposing that the particular version may have been mainly a
compilation of the earlier works of Wace and Gaimar.
This view as to sources must modify, in some degree, the estimate
to be formed of Layamon's artistic merits, and must discount the
value of some of the additions formerly ascribed to his imagination
or research. It will also account for certain matters of style already
mentioned. But, when these items have been removed, there still
remains much that is Layamon's own, sufficient to raise his work
far above the rank of a mere translation. The poet's English
individuality may be said to pervade the whole. It appears in the
reminiscences of English popular legend perceived in Wygar, the
maker of Arthur's corselet, and in the sea of Lumond, the “atteliche
pole,” where “nikeres " bathe. His English temperament appears
in the fondness he betrays for maxims and proverbs, which afford
relief from the mere business of the narrative. The poet is still in
1 Cf. 11. 28,867 fi.
## p. 237 (#257) ############################################
Layamon's Brut
237
possession of the ancient vocabulary, with its hosts of synonyms,
though the earlier parallelisms which retarded the movement are
conspicuously absent. His most resonant lines, like those of his
literary ancestors, deal with the conflict of warriors or with
that of the elements. In such passages as those which describe
the storm that overtook Ursula (11, 74), or the wrestling match
between Corineus and the giant (1, 79), he attains the true epic
note, while his words gather strength from their alliterative setting.
His verse is a compromise between the old and the new. With
the Old English line still ringing in his ears, he attempts to regulate
the rhythm, and occasionally to adorn his verse with rime or
assonance. His device of simile was, no doubt, caught from his
original, for many of the images introduced are coloured by the
Norman love of the chase, as when a fox-hunt is introduced to depict
the hunted condition of Childric (II, 452), or the pursuit of a wild
crane by hawks in the fenland to describe the chase after Colgrim
(II, 422). The poet, in general, handles his borrowings with accuracy,
but he has limitations-perhaps shows impatience—as a scholar.
Apart from a totally uncritical attitude-a venial sin in that age-he
betrays, at times, a certain ignorance on historical and geographical
points. But such anachronisms and irregularities are of little
importance in a work of this kind, and do not detract from its
literary merits. Other verbal errors suggest that the work of o
translation was to Layamon not devoid of difficulty. Where Wace
indulges in technical terminology, as in his nautical description of
Arthur's departure from Southampton, Layamon here and else-
where solves his linguistic difficulties by a process of frank omission.
The interest which the Brut possesses for modern readers
arises in part from the fact that much of its material is closely
bound up with later English literature. Apart from the Arthurian
legend here appear for the first time in English the story of Leir
and Kinbelin, Cloten and Arviragus. But the main interest
centres round the Arthurian section, with its haunting story of
a wondrous birth, heroic deeds and a mysterious end. The grey
king appears in a garment of chivalry. As compared with the
Arthur of Geoffrey's narrative, his figure has grown in knightliness
and splendour. He is endowed with the added traits of noble
generosity and heightened sensibility; he has advanced in courtesy;
he is the defender of Christianity; he is a lover of law and order.
And Layamon's narrative is also interesting historically. It is the
work of the first writer of any magnitude in Middle English, and,
standing at the entrance to that period, he may be said to look
## p. 238 (#258) ############################################
238 Early Transition English
before and after. He retains much of Old English tradition; in
addition, he is the first to make extensive use of French material.
And, lastly, in the place of a fast vanishing native mythology, he
endows his countrymen with a new legendary store in which lay
concealed the seeds of later chivalry.
The Owl and the Nightingale, which represents another line
of literary revolt, has come down in two MSS, one dating from the
first, the other from the second, half of the thirteenth century.
Of the two MSS the earlier (Cotton MS) is the more trustworthy;
the scribe of the other has frequently omitted unimportant mono-
syllabic words, regardless of scansion, besides having altered
inflexional endings and made sundry substitutions in the matter
of diction, such alterations are clearly revealed in riming
positions. The authorship is a matter of conjecture; Nicholas
of Guildford, a cleric of Portisham (Dorset), who is mentioned
thrice in the poem, is supposed by some to have been the writer,
but the objections to this view are that the allusions are all in the
third person, and that lavish praise is showered on his name. On
the other hand, since the poem aims incidentally at urging the
claims of Nicholas to clerical preferment, the end may have
justified the means and may account for the unstinted praise
as well as the anonymous character of the work.
to the employment of late Latin originals. Certain quotations in
these Homilies are also taken from Horace and Ovid-an excep-
tional proceeding in Old English works, though common in writings
of the eleventh and twelfth centuries'; and thus the inference is clear
that here Aelfric is not the sole, or even the main, influence, but
that this is rather supplied by those French writers whose religious
works became known in England after the Conquest. The influence
of the same Norman school of theology is, moreover, visible in the
Old Kentish Sermons (1150—1200). They are, in reality, transla-
tions of French texts, and signs of this origin are preserved in the
diction employed, in the use of such words as apierede, cuuenable
and others.
The latter half of the twelfth century was a period of experiment
and of conflicting elements. It was a stage necessarily unproductive,
but of great importance, notwithstanding, in the work of develop-
ment. Older native traditions lived on; but access had been obtained
to continental learning, and, while themes were being borrowed
from Norman writers, as a consequence of the study of other
Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. auf einige kleinere Schöpfungen der
engl. Vebergangsperiode, pp. 6—18.
## p. 222 (#242) ############################################
222
Early Transition English
French works, the riming couplet and the septenarius had by this
time been adopted, and an alien system of versification, based on
the regular recurrence of accent, seemed in a fair way of being
assimilated. With the attainment of a certain amount of pro-
ficiency in the technique of the new style, the embargo on literary
effort was, in some degree, removed, and the literature of the first
half of the thirteenth century forthwith responded to contemporary
influences. The age became once more articulate, and the four
chief works of the time are eloquent witnesses of the impulses
which were abroad. Ormulum is representative of purely re-
ligious tradition, while the Ancren Riwle points to an increased
interest in the religious life of women, and also, in part, to new
mystical tendencies. Layamon's Brut, with its hoard of legendary
fancy, is clearly the outcome of an impulse fresh to English soil ;
while The Owl and the Nightingale is the herald of the love-theme
in England.
It must be conceded, in the first place, that the general literary
tone of the first half of the thirteenth century was determined by
the prevailing power of the church and the monastery. The intel-
lectual atmosphere of England was mainly cleric, as opposed to
the laic independence which existed across the Channel; and
this difference is suggested by the respective traits of contempo-
rary Gothic architecture in England and in France. From the
eleventh to the thirteenth centuries the power of the pope, so far
as western Europe was concerned, was at its height. National
enthusiasms aroused by the crusades played unconsciously into
the papal hands, and, during this time, more than one pope deposed
a ruling monarch and then disposed of his dominions. Theology
was the main study at the newly-founded universities of Paris and
Oxford; it dominated all learning. And, whereas the church,
generally, had attained the zenith of its power, its influence in
England was visible in the strong personalities of Lanfranc and
Anselm, while the religious revival under Henry I and the coming
of the friars at a later date were ample evidence of the spirit of
devotion which was abroad.
But literature was not destined to remain a religious monotone:
other and subtler influences were to modify its character. The
twelfth century renascence was a period of popular awakening,
and vigorous young nations found scope for their activities in
attempting to cast off the fetters which had bound them in
the past. As the imperial power declined, individual countries
wrested their freedom, and, in England, by 1215, clear ideas had
## p. 223 (#243) ############################################
"
Literary Revolt of the Thirteenth Century 223
been formulated as to the rights of the individual citizen. This
groping for political freedom found its intellectual counterpart
in France, not only in the appearance of secular littérateurs
but also in that school of laic architects which proceeded to
modify French Gothic style? . In England, it appeared in a de-
liberate tendency to reject the religious themes which had been
all but compulsory and to revert to that which was elemental in
man. Fancy, in the shape of legend, was among these ineradicable
elements, long despised by erudition and condemned by religion ;
and it was because the Arthurian legend offered satisfaction to
some of the inmost cravings of the human heart, while it led the
way to loftier ideals, that, when revealed, it succeeded in colouring
much of the subsequent literature. The Brut of Layamon is,
therefore, a silent witness to a literary revolt, in which the
claims of legend and fancy were advanced anew for recognition in
a field where religion had held the monopoly. And this spirit of
revolt was further reinforced by the general assertion of another
side of elemental man, viz. that connected with the passion of
love. France, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, had been
swept by a wave of popular love-poetry which brought in its wake
the music of the troubadours. Germany, in the twelfth century,
produced the minnesingers. The contemporary poets of Italy
were also love-poets, and, at a slightly later date, Portugal, too,
possessed many of the kind. This general inspiration, originating
in France and passing over the frontiers on the lips of the
troubadours (for, in each country, the original form of the popular
poetry was one and the same%), was destined to touch English soil
soon after 1200. Though it failed for some time to secularise
English poetry, it imparted a note of passion to much of the
religious work; and, further, in The Owl and the Nightingale
religious traditions were boldly confronted with new-born ideas,
and the case for Love was established beyond all dispute.
The religious writings of the time may be divided into four
sections according to the aims which they severally have in view.
The purport of the first is to teach Biblical history; the second
to exhort to holier living ; the third is connected with the religious
life of women; the last with the Virgin cult and mysticism.
Of the several attempts at scriptural exposition Ormulum is
the most considerable. The power of literary appeal displayed
in this work is, intrinsically, of the smallest. Its matter is not
1 E. S. Prior, History of Gothic Art in England, pp. 21—2.
? A. Jeanroy, Les origines de la poésie lyrique en France au Moyen-âge.
foi
## p. 224 (#244) ############################################
224
Early Transition English
attractive, its movement is prodigiously monotonous, its very
correctness is tiresome; and yet it has an interest of its own,
for, in its way, it helps to fill in the details of the literary picture
of the time. It was probably written in the first decade of the
thirteenth century in the north-east midlands. Its author, Orm, was
a member of an Augustine monastery in that district, and, in re-
sponse to the wishes of his "bro perr Wallterr," he undertook to turn
into English paraphrases all the gospels for the ecclesiastical year
as arranged in the mass-book, and to add to each paraphrase an
exposition for English readers. The work, as projected, entailed a
treatment of 243 passages of Scripture: the result, as extant,
embodies only one-eighth of the plan-thirty paraphrases with
the corresponding homilies. In his translation of the scriptural
text Orm faithfully followed his original; for the matter of the
homiletic sections he drew mainly on the Commentaries and
Homilies of Bede, though, occasionally, he appears to have con-
sulted the homiletic work of Gregory as well as the writings of
Josephus and Isidore. It has been usual to point to the works of
Augustine and Aelfric as among the sources; but definite reasons
have been advanced for discountenancing this view. Traces of
originality on the part of Orm are few and far between. Encouraged
by the spirit of his originals, he occasionally essays short flights of
fancy; and instances of such ventures possibly occur in Il. 3710,
8019, 9390. In a work so entirely dependent as this is on earlier
material it is not strange to find that the theology was already out
of date. Orm is orthodox; but it is the orthodoxy of Bede. Of later
developments, such as the thirteenth century mysticism, he has not
a sign. He combats heresies such as the Ebionite (L. 18,577) and
the Sabellian (L. 18,625), which had disturbed the days of Bede but
had since been laid to rest. In his introduction appear Augustinian
ideas concerning original sin; but of the propitiation theory as set
forth by Anselm there is no mention. His dogma and his erudition
are alike pre-Conquest; and, in this sense, Orm may be said to stand
outside his age and to represent merely a continuation of Old
English thought. Again, he is only following the methods of the
earlier schools in his allegorical interpretation. He is amazingly
subtle and frequently puerile in the vast significance which he gives
to individual words, even to individual letters. Personal names
and place-names furnish him with texts for small sermons, and
the frequently indulged desire to extract hidden meanings from
the most unpromising material leads to such an accumulation of
1 G. Sarrazin, Englische Stud. vi, 1–27.
## p. 225 (#245) ############################################
Ormulum
225
strained conceits as would have made the work a veritable gold-
mine for seventeenth century intellect. Most illuminating as to
this fanciful treatment is his handling of the name of Jesus
(1. 4302). Of the human and personal element the work contains but
little. The simple modesty of the author's nature is revealed when
he fears his limitations and his inadequacy for the task. Otherwise,
the passionless temperament of the monk is felt in every line as
the work ambles along, innocent of all poetic exaltation, and given
over completely to pious moralisings. He shows a great regard
for scholarly exactitude; but this, in excess, becomes mere pedantry,
and, indeed, his scruples often cause him to linger needlessly over
trifles in the text and to indulge in aimless repetitions which prove
exhausting. As a monument of industry the work is beyond all
praise. Its peculiar orthography, carefully sustained through 10,000 con
long lines, is the joy of the philologist, though aesthetically it is open
to grave objection. By his method of doubling every consonant
immediately following a short vowel, Orm furnishes most valuable
evidence regarding vowel-length at a critical period of the language.
It is doubtful whether he was well advised in choosing verse of any
kind as the form of his ponderous work; but it must, at least,
be conceded that the verse which he did adopt—the iambic
septenarius-was not the least suitable for the purpose he had in
view. It was the simplest of Latin metres, and Orm's mechanical
handling certainly involves no great complexities. He allows
himself no licences. The line invariably consists of fifteen syllables
and is devoid of either riming or alliterative ornament. The
former might possibly, in the author's opinion, have tended to
detract from the severity of the theme; the latter must have
appeared too vigorous for the tone desired. Except for his versi-
fication, Orm, as compared with Old English writers, appears to
have forgotten nothing, to have learnt nothing. Equally blind to 4! . Moe
the uses of Romance vocabulary and conservative in thought, werin ;
Orm is but a relic of the past in an age fast hurrying on to new
forms and new ideas.
Other attempts at teaching Biblical history are to be found in the
Genesis and Exodus poems and in the shorter poems called The
Passion of Our Lord and The Woman of Samaria. In the Genesis
and Exodus poems may be seen a renewal of the earlier method of
telling Bible stories in “londes speche and wordes smale. ” They
are probably by one and the same author', who wrote about 1250
1 Fritzsche, Angl. v, 42—92, and Ten Brink, History of English Literature, Vol. I,
Appendix F.
| K L I. CH, XI.
15
## p. 226 (#246) ############################################
226 Early Transition English
in the south-eastern Midlands. Their theme comprises Israelitish
history down to the death of Moses. But the poet did not write
from the Biblical text; his work is founded almost wholly on
the Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor, although the first 600
lines appear to be drawn from some other source, while in 11. 78 ff.
a reminiscence of Philippe de Thaon's Comput is found. The poet's
aim is to tell a plain story, and it is the simple human items upon
which he concentrates. He avoids all show of moralising, and
consistently passes by the quotations with which his original was
abundantly fortified. In each, the earlier epic style has given way
to the more business-like methods of the riming chronicle, and both
works are written in a short riming couplet of excellent workman-
ship. They are of considerable importance in the history of English
prosody, since in them the principles upon which that prosody
is based clearly emerge. The line is based upon feet rather
than accents, and studied variations in the arrangement of the feet
produce melody of inconceivable variety in the accentual system
with its unlicensed particles. The other two poems deal with New
Testament history. The Passion is a sketch of the life of Christ
with details added concerning the later persecutions under Nero
and Domitian. It is, confessedly, a set-off to current narratives
of Karlemeyne and the Duzeper. The Woman of Samaria deals
with the episode of Christ's meeting with the woman at the
well, and, as in the previous poem, the suitable septenarius is
employed
The corresponding section of hortatory writings is of mixed
character. It comprises both verse and prose, and its effects are
produced in divers manners. Sometimes it is by satire in which
prevailing vices are specifically arraigned, elsewhere by stock
devices for terrifying evil-doers; or, again, the method may be
the less aggressive one of allegorical teaching. All these writings
have but one aim, that of inculcating holier living. Beginning with
the satires, we have in Hwon holy chireche is under uote a short
poem in septenars, in which the evils of simony within the church,
and the general batred of the church without, are lamented. Sinners
Beware, a more ambitious effort in six-line stanzas (aabaab), is
directed against the age generally, though worldly priests, a
rapacious soldiery, cheating chapmen and haughty ladies are the
types directly aimed at. And, again, in a Lutel Soth Sermun
-a poem in septenars—bad brewers and bakers, priests' wives and
illicit lovers like Malkin and Jankin are railed against. While
thus assailing the vices of certain types and classes the writers
## p. 227 (#247) ############################################
131
The Bestiary
227
frequently follow up their indictment with the argument of terror,
after the fashion of Poema Morale. Material for thundering of
this sort lay ready to hand in medieval compositions connected
with the subjects of doomsday, death and hell, such as the Old
English Be Domes Daege, The Address of the Soul to the Body and
The Vision of St Paul. In the poem called Doomsday and in the
work On Serving Christ the first of these themes is logically,
pursued. The clearest use of The Address motive appears in the
poem Death, the sequence of ideas observed in The Address being
here preserved', while, in addition, the theme is slightly developed.
Other reminiscences of the same motive also appear in the frag-
mentary Signs of Death and in Sinners Beware (11. 331 ff. ). Of
The Vision of St Paul traces are clearly seen in The XI Pains of 1
Hell. The depicting of hell was a favourite medieval exercise,
and The Vision is found in several languages. The archangel
Michael is represented as conducting St Paul into the gloomy
abode, and Dante's journey under Vergil's guidance is merely a
variation of this theme. The Vision can be traced in the twelfth
century homily In Diebus Dominicis, where sabbath-breakers
are warned. In The XI Pains of Hell—a poem in riming
couplets—the treatment is modified by the addition of the popular
Address element. A lost soul describes the place of torment
for St Paul's benefit, whereas in The Vision the description
proceeds from the apostle himself.
Besides satire and arguments of terror, allegory was employed
for the same didactic end, notably in the Bestiary, An Bispel
(a Parable) and Sawles Warde, each of which was based on a Latin
original. The Bestiary is founded on the Latin Physiologus of one
chemist!
Thetbaldus, though earlier specimens had appeared in Old English
and Anglo-French. Of the thirteen animals dealt with, twelve e
are taken from the work of Thetbaldus, the section relating to
the dove from Neckam’s De Naturis Rerum (1, 56). The method
of teaching is venerable but effective; the habits of animals
are made to symbolise spiritual truth. The work does not,
however, represent much originality, though the metrical form
is a blending of old and new. Its six-syllable couplet is de- x the ine
rived either from the Latin hexameters of the original or from
Philippe de Thaon's couplet, with which it is identical. But the
treatment is far from regular; alliteration, rime and asson-
ance are promiscuously used, and syllabic equivalence is but
.
* Mod. Lang. Notes (1890), p. 193.
15_2
## p. 228 (#248) ############################################
228
Early Transition English
imperfectly apprehended. Occasionally delightful movements are
obtained such as exist in
Al is man so is tis ern,
wuldė ge nu listen,
old in hisė sinnes dern,
or he bicumes cristen:
And tus he newed him dis man,
Panne he nimex to kirke,
or he it bidenken can,
hise egen weren mirkel.
But the whole seems to point to artistic inconsistencies rather
than whimsical handling, though the work is interesting as showing
English verse in the process of making. The second work, An
Bispel, is a free translation of Anselm's De Similitudine inter
Deum et quemlibet regem suos judicantem. This prose parable
relates and explains God's dealings with mankind under the simile
of a feast held by a king, to which are invited, by means of five
messengers, both friend and foe. The English adapter adds certain
details, notably the incident of the five messengers, who are in-
tended to represent the five codes of law. The Sawles Warde,
a more pretentious allegory of much the same date, is based upon
a Latin prose work of Hugo de St Victor, the elements of which
were suggested by St Matthew, xxiv, 43. Wit (judgment) is lord of
a castle (the soul of man). His wife (Will) is capricious, and the
servants (the five senses) are hard to govern. He therefore needs
the assistance of his four daughters (the four cardinal virtues,
prudence, strength, temperance and righteousness); but the
good behaviour of his household is ultimately assured by the
appearance of two messengers, Fear (messenger of death), who
paints the terrors of hell, and Love of Life, who describes
the joys of heaven. The writer shows some originality in his
treatment, and the allegory in his hands becomes rather more
coherent and convincing; his characters are more developed, and
certain dramatic touches are added here and there. The same
motive appears in a short contemporaneous poem called Wil and
Wit. Other didactic methods which call for brief mention are
those in which the joys of heaven are persuasively described, as,
for instance, in the poems Long Life and The Duty of Christians,
or in which the dialogue form is used for the first time, as in Vices
and Virtues (c. 1200)—"a soul's confession of its sins, with reason's
description of the virtues. ”
1 Ll. 88–95. tis ern, this eagle. dern, secret. or, ere. tus, thus. egen, eyes.
De anima, eto. (Works, Bk. IV, chs. 13—15. ) See Vollhart, Einfluss, etc. ,
pp. 26 ff.
## p. 229 (#249) ############################################
Lives of the Saints
229
The third section of the religious writings of this period is
wholly concerned with the religious life of women. The twelfth
century, the golden age of monasticism, witnessed also an increased
sympathy with convent life; and this is evident not only from the
letters of Ailred, but also from the increasing frequency with which
legacies were left to convent communities, and from the founding
of such an order as that of St Gilbert of Sempringham? Before
the Conquest religious women had been by no means a neglig-
ible quantity. The revival of interest in their cause, at this
later date, was part of that impulse which had inspired, on
the continent, the mystical writers St Hildegard of Bingen, St
Elisabeth of Schönau and the philanthropic zeal of the noble
Hedwig. In the thirteenth century, the convent of Helfta in
Saxony was the centre of these tendencies; and, though it cannot
be said with certainty that England produced any women-writers,
yet the attention to practical religion and mystical thought, which
had been the subjects of zeal abroad, are tolerably well represented
in the writings for women in England.
Hali Meidenhad and the Lives of the Saints are connected
with this movement by the incitement they furnish to convent life.
The former, an alliterative prose homily, is based on the text of
Psalm xlv. 10; but the methods of the writer are entirely wanting
in that gentle grace and persuasion which are found elsewhere. He
sets forth his arguments in a coarse, repellent manner. Where
others dwell on the beauty of cloistered affection, he derides
rather gracelessly the troubles of the married state; and, if these
troubles are related with something like humour, it is of a grim
kind and easily slides into odious invective. Maidenly ideals are
exalted in more becoming fashion in the Lives of the Saints, which
appeared about the same date. They consist of three rhythmical
alliterative prose lives of St Margaret, St Katharine and St Juliana,
based on Latin originals. Saintly legends had revived in England
in the early thirteenth century, and were already taking the place
of the homily in the services of the church. With the later
multiplying of themes a distinct falling-off in point of style became
visible. Of the three lives, that of St Katharine is, in some
respects, the most attractive. As compared with its original,
the character of the saint becomes somewhat softened and refined
in the English version. She has lost something of that impulsive-
ness, that hardy revengeful spirit which earlier writers had regarded
as not inconsistent with the Christian profession. The English
L. Eckenstein, Woman under Monasticism, pp. 213 ff.
## p. 230 (#250) ############################################
230
Early Transition English
fe
adapter also shows some idea of the art of story-telling, in re-
moving certain superfluous details. But, in all three works,
sufficient horrors remain to perpetuate the terrors of an earlier
age, and, in general, the saintly heroines are more remarkable for
stern undaunted courage of the Judith type than for the milder
charms of later ideals.
Their aim however is clear—to glorify the
idea of the virgin life.
Besides these, there are certain works in which definite instruc-
tion as to the secluded life is given for the guidance of those who had
already entered upon that career. Early in the thirteenth century
the Latin Rule of St Benet (516) was adapted for the nuns of
Winteney. The version is clearly based on some masculine text,
for occasional masculine forms' are inadvertently retained in the
feminine version. A chapter is also added “concerning the priests
admitted to a convent" (LXII). The aim of the Ancren Riwle
(anchoresses' rule) is of a similar kind; but this is a work which,
owing to its greater originality, its personal charm and its complete
sympathy with all that was good in contemporary literature, stands
apart by itself as the greatest prose work of the time, and as one
of the most interesting of the whole Middle English period. It
may, in the first place, be assumed that the English version is the
original one, though French and Latin forms are found, and that it
appeared in the south of England in the first quarter of the century.
The question of authorship is still unsolved. Richard Poore, bishop
of Salisbury (1217—29) and founder of its cathedral, is credited
with it, and Tarrent in Dorsetshire is regarded as the site of the
anchorhold. The aim of the work is to provide ghostly counsel
for three anchoresses, i. e. religious women, who, after a period of
training within a nunnery, dedicated themselves to a secluded life
outside. These recluses often lived in a slight dwelling attached to
a church; and such may have been the conditions of these “three
pious sisters. " The work incidentally throws much light upon the
life within an anchorhold, upon the duties of the inmates, the out-
sisters and maids, and their sundry difficulties, whether of a business,
domestic, or spiritual kind. The admonition imparted was not
without precedent. As early as 709 Aldhelm, in his De Laudibus
Virginitatis, had depicted the glories of the celibate life, and about
1131–61 a letter (De vita eremitica) was written by Ailred of
Rievaulx to his sister, dealing with similar matters; since this
latter work is quoted in the Ancren Riwle, while the general
arrangement of both is the same, there can be little doubt of a
1 Cf. zearowne, 139. 2, eto.
## p. 231 (#251) ############################################
Ancren Riwle
231
certain degree of indebtedness. The treatise opens with a preface,
which summarises the contents; sections I and viII refer to
external matters, to religious ceremonies and domestic affairs;
sections II–VII to the inward life. The work has much that is
medieval commonplace, an abundance of well-digested learning,
borrowings from Anselm and Augustine, Bernard and Gregory, and
illustrations which reveal a considerable acquaintance with animal
and plant lore. The author also betrays those learned tendencies
which gloried in subtle distinctions. There is the ancient delight
in allegorical teaching : Biblical names are made to reveal hidden
truths: a play upon words can suggest a precept. And, along-
side of all this, which is severely pedantic, there is much that
is quaint and picturesque. Traces are not wanting of a vein
of mysticism. Courtly motives occasionally receive a spiritual
adaptation, and, here and there, are touches of those romantic
conceptions which were elsewhere engaged in softening the severity
of religious verse. The writer, then, is possessed of the learning
of the age, its methods of teaching, its mystical and romantic
tendencies. And yet these facts are far from altogether explain-
ing the charm of the work, its power of appeal to modern readers.
The charm lies rather in the writer's individuality, in his gentle
refinement and lovable nature. The keynote of the whole work
seems to be struck in that part of the preface where the sisters,
belonging as they did to no order of nuns, are instructed to claim
for themselves the order of St James. The work is animated by
the "pure religion and undefiled” of that apostle, and is instinct
with lofty morality and infinite tenderness. The writer's instruc-
tions as to ceremonies and observances are broad-minded and
reasonable; his remarks on love reveal the sweetness and light
which dwelt in his soul. The prose style from the historical stand-
point is of very great merit. The ancient fetters are not quite
discarded; there is still constraint and a want of suppleness; but
there are also signs that the limping gait is acquiring freedom.
The style, moreover, is earnest, fresh and touched with the charm
of the sentiment it clothes. Above all it is naïve: the writer
occasionally reaches the heart, while provoking a smile.
Closely connected with this woman-literature are those works
which belong to the Virgin cult and those which are touched with
erotic mysticism. This section is the outcome of those chivalrous
ideals which had dawned in the twelfth century, to soften the
harshness of earlier heroics and to refine the relation between
the sexes. These new ideals coloured the atmosphere of court
## p. 232 (#252) ############################################
232
Early Transition English
life, and the exaltation of woman in its courtly sense found a
counterpart in the revived Virgin cult, just as knightly wooing
suggested the image of the wistful soul striving for union with the
Divine. This erotic mysticism, which was to appear again in Crashaw,
Herbert and Vaughan, was merely a phase of those allegorical
tendencies, of which Dante was the culmination. The pious soul
yearning for a closer walk with God now expressed its longings in
the language of earthly passion, just as earlier mystics had tried
to interpret the Divine nature by the use of more commonplace
allegory. And this development was encouraged by the mysticism
of Hugo de St Victor, which influenced both Paris and Oxford;
while elsewhere on the continent a school of nuns was producing
works laden with passion and breathing an intense emotion.
The Virgin cult is represented in the first place by the prose
Lofsong of ure Lefdi, a fairly close translation of the poem Oratio
ad Sanctam Mariam of archbishop Marbod of Rheims (1035—
1138), and by On God Ureisun of ure Lefdi (A Good Orison of
our Lady), a poem in riming couplets, for which no Latin original
has yet been found, though it contains suggestions of the work of
Anselm? . Other examples of the kind are found in The Five Joys
of the Virgin, a poem in eight-line stanzas; A Song to the Virgin,
with Latin insertions; A Prayer to Our Lady, a sinner's repentance
in interesting four-line stanzas; A Prayer to the Virgin, in similar
form. Another side of the Virgin cult is represented by the Middle
English versions of the Compassio Mariae and the Assumptio
Mariae, which appeared about the middle of the century. The
former is a west Midland translation of a Latin hymn, and the
work is artistically interesting as illustrating how metrical innova-
tion was made. The six-line strophe and the riming formula are
taken over from the original, though this identity of form prevents
a literal rendering. The treatment is otherwise not without
originality. Alliterative ornament is added, and use is made of a
popular piece of medieval fancy, namely, the comparison of Christ's
birth to a sunbeam passing through glass and leaving it unstained”.
Assumptio Mariae rests on a venerable legend of the ascension
of Mary; it is of eastern origin, but is found in Latin, German
and French versions. The English version is written in short
couplets, and appears to be of an eclectic kind. The episode of
unbelieving Thomas is taken from a Latin version; otherwise the
poem is strongly reminiscent of Wace’s Vie de la Vierge Marie.
1 Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. eto. , pp. 41 ff.
: A. Napier, E. E. T. S. CIII, pp. 75 ff.
## p. 233 (#253) ############################################
The Luve Ron
233
Erotic mysticism is best represented by the Luve Ron of Thomas
de Hales, a delightful lyric in eight-line stanzas, written in the
earlier portion of the reign of Henry III, and, probably, before 1240
judging from the allusion in ll. 97 ff. The writer was a native of
Hales (Gloucester), who, after a career at Paris and Oxford, attained
considerable distinction as a scholar. The main theme of the work
is the perfect love which abides with Christ and the joy and peace
of mystic union with Him. The poem is full of lofty devotion and
passionate yearning ; its deep seriousness is conveyed through a
medium tender and refined, and it is, in short, one of the most
attractive and impassioned works of the time, as the following
extracts suggest :
Maydė her þu myht biholde,
bis worldes luue nys bute o res,
And is by-set so felė-volde,
Vikel and frakel and wok and les.
beos beines bat her weren bolde
Beoþ aglyden, 80 wyndes bles:
Under molde hi liggep colde,
And falewep so dop medewe gres.
Hwer is Paris and Heleyne
bat weren so bryht and feyre on bleo:
Amadas, Tristram, and Dideyne
Yseudė and alle peo:
Eotor wib his scharpė meyno
And Cesar riche of wor[1]des feo?
Heo beob iglyden ut of þe reyno,
So þe schef is of be cleol.
The three prose prayers, The Wohung of ure Lauerd, On Lofsong
of ure Louerde and On Ureisun of ure Louerde, belong to the
same category as the Luve Ron. They are written in an allitera-
tive prose? , which aimed at obtaining the emphatic movement of
Old English verse, and is most effective in recitation, though the
absence of metrical rules brings about a looser structure. All
three prayers consist of passionate entreaties for closer communion
with Christ, and the personal feeling revealed in them illustrates
the use of the love motive in the service of religion. But
to interpret the love terminology literally and to connect these
prayers solely with the devotions of nuns, as one critic suggests,
seems to involve a misapprehension of their tone, for it infuses
i Ll. 9–16; 65—72. O res, passing, transitory. frakel, base. wok, feeble.
les, false. bles, blast. meyne, might. feo, wealth. schef of þe cleo, corn from the
hill-side.
Cf. Hwa ne mei luue pi luueli leor ?
## p. 234 (#254) ############################################
234
Early Transition English
into their being an earthliness quite out of keeping with their
rarefied sentiment. Further, these works have some points in
common, occasionally literal agreement, with the Ancren Riwle
and Hali Meidenhad, but, in all probability, it is in the works of
Anselm and Hugo de St Victor that the sources must be sought,
in which case all these English works are distinct and separate
borrowings from the same Latin originals”.
We come now to that section of the literature of the period
which represents a revolt against established religious themes.
It has been seen that religious writers occasionally made use of
the motives of legend and love, and from this it might be inferred
that these were the directions into which the general taste was
inclining. At all events, these are the lines along which the
literary revolt began to develope, Layamon, in the first instance,
setting forth in the vernacular legendary material which came to
hand. Layamon's Brut, written early in the thirteenth century,
has come down in two MSS (A text and B text), belonging
respectively to the first and second halves of the thirteenth
century. The later version has numerous scribal alterations:
there are many omissions of words and passages, the spelling is
slightly modernised, riming variants are introduced and foreign
substitutes take the place of obsolescent native words. The author
reveals his identity in the opening lines. He is Layamon, a priest
of Ernley (Arley Regis, Worcester), on the right bank of the
Severn, where he was wont to "read books” (i. e. the services of the
church). Layamon's ambitious purpose was to tell the story of
Britain from the time of the Flood. He is, however, content to
begin with the story of Troy and the arrival of Brutus, and to end
with the death of Cadwalader, 689 A. D. As regards his sources, he
mentions the English book of Bede, the Latin books of St Albin
and St Austin (by which he probably meant the Latin version of
Bede’s Ecclesiastical History) and, thirdly, the Brut of the
French clerk Wace. Of the first two authorities, however, it is
curious to note, he makes not the slightest use. The account of
Gregory and the English captives at Rome (II. 29,445 ff. ), which is
often quoted in support of his indebtedness to Bede, in reality
proves his entire independence, for glaring discrepancies occur
between the respective narratives. Elsewhere in the Brut Bede
is directly contradicted2 and, in fact, Layamon's assertion of in-
debtedness, as far as Bede is concerned, can be nothing more
1 Vollhardt, Einfluss der lat. geistlichen Litt. eto. , pp. 41 ff.
2 Cf. Layamon, Brut, 412; Bede, 1, 3, etc.
## p. 235 (#255) ############################################
Layamon's Brut
235
than a conventional recognition of a venerable work which dealt
with a kindred subject. Convention rather than fact also lay
behind his statement that he had consulted works in three different
languages.
His debt to Wace, however, is beyond all doubt'. Innumerable
details are common to both works, and, moreover, it is clear that it
is Wace's work rather than Wace's original (Geoffrey of Monmouth's
History of the Kings of Britain) that has been laid under contribu-
tion? . In the first place, Wace and Layamon have certain details in
common which are lacking in the work of Geoffrey; in the matter
of omissions Wace and Layamon frequently agree as opposed to
Geoffrey; while again they often agree in differing from the Latin
narrative in regard to place and personal names. But if Wace's
Brut forms the groundwork of Layamon's work, in the latter there
are numerous details, not accounted for by the original, which
have generally been attributed to Celtic (i. e. Welsh) influences.
Many of these details, however, have recently been shown to be
non-Welsh. The name of Argante the elf-queen, as well as that of
Modred, for instance, point to other than Welsh territory. The
traits added to the character of Arthur are in direct opposition to
what is known of Welsh tradition. The elements of the Arthurian
saga relating to the Round Table are known to have been treated
as spurious by Welsh writers ; Tysilio, in his Brut, for instance,
passes them over. Therefore the explanation of this additional
matter in Layamon, as compared with Wace, must be sought for in
other than Welsh materials.
Hitherto, when Wace's Brut has been mentioned, it has been
tacitly assumed that the printed version of that work was meant,
rather than one of those numerous versions which either remain
in manuscript or have since disappeared. One MS (Add. 32,125.
Brit. Mus. ), however, will be found to explain certain name-forms,
concerning which Layamon is in conflict with the printed Wace.
And other later works, such as the Anglo-French Brut (thirteenth
or fourteenth century) and the English metrical Mort Arthur, both
of which are based on unprinted versions of Wace, contain material
which is present in Layamon, namely, details connected with the
stories of Lear, Merlin and Arthur. Therefore it seems possible
that Layamon, like the authors of the later works, used one of the
variant texts. Further, the general nature of Layamon's additions
1 Cf. post, Chapter XII, pp. 265 ff.
R. Wülker, P. B. B. III, pp. 530 ff.
* For the main points contained in the discussion of Layamon's sources see
Imelmann, Layamon, Versuch über seine Quellen.
## p. 236 (#256) ############################################
236
Early Transition English
appear to be Breton or Norman. The names Argante and Delgan,
for instance, are derived through Norman media; the fight between
Arthur and Frollo is found in the Roman des Franceis (1204) of
André de Coutances. But Layamon seems to stand in yet closer
relation to Gaimar's Rhyming Chronicle, so far as that book can
be judged from the related Münchner Brut. An explanation of
the Carric-Cinric confusion, for instance, would be obtained by
this assumption. The representation of Cerdic and Cinric in
Layamon as one and the same person' might conceivably be
due, not to the account in the Old English Chronicle, but to
some such foreign version as is found in Gaimar (11. 819 ff. ). To
Gaimar, moreover, may probably be attributed several details of
Layamon's style-his tendency to employ forms of direct speech,
his discursiveness, his appeals to the gods and his protestations
as to the truth of his narrative. It is possible that one of the
later versions of Wace may have embodied details taken from
Gaimar. Waurin's Chroniques et istoires (fifteenth century) seems
a compilation of this kind, and it is not impossible that Layamon's
original may have been a similarly compiled work, with, it should
be added, elements taken from contemporary Tristram and Lancelot
poems. In any case, the English Brut is not based on the printed
Brut of Wace, but on one of the later versions of which certain
MSS remain and of which other traces can be found. This par-
ticular version had probably been supplemented by Breton material
introduced through some Norman medium, and, since this supple-
mentary portion is reminiscent of Gaimar, there is reason for
supposing that the particular version may have been mainly a
compilation of the earlier works of Wace and Gaimar.
This view as to sources must modify, in some degree, the estimate
to be formed of Layamon's artistic merits, and must discount the
value of some of the additions formerly ascribed to his imagination
or research. It will also account for certain matters of style already
mentioned. But, when these items have been removed, there still
remains much that is Layamon's own, sufficient to raise his work
far above the rank of a mere translation. The poet's English
individuality may be said to pervade the whole. It appears in the
reminiscences of English popular legend perceived in Wygar, the
maker of Arthur's corselet, and in the sea of Lumond, the “atteliche
pole,” where “nikeres " bathe. His English temperament appears
in the fondness he betrays for maxims and proverbs, which afford
relief from the mere business of the narrative. The poet is still in
1 Cf. 11. 28,867 fi.
## p. 237 (#257) ############################################
Layamon's Brut
237
possession of the ancient vocabulary, with its hosts of synonyms,
though the earlier parallelisms which retarded the movement are
conspicuously absent. His most resonant lines, like those of his
literary ancestors, deal with the conflict of warriors or with
that of the elements. In such passages as those which describe
the storm that overtook Ursula (11, 74), or the wrestling match
between Corineus and the giant (1, 79), he attains the true epic
note, while his words gather strength from their alliterative setting.
His verse is a compromise between the old and the new. With
the Old English line still ringing in his ears, he attempts to regulate
the rhythm, and occasionally to adorn his verse with rime or
assonance. His device of simile was, no doubt, caught from his
original, for many of the images introduced are coloured by the
Norman love of the chase, as when a fox-hunt is introduced to depict
the hunted condition of Childric (II, 452), or the pursuit of a wild
crane by hawks in the fenland to describe the chase after Colgrim
(II, 422). The poet, in general, handles his borrowings with accuracy,
but he has limitations-perhaps shows impatience—as a scholar.
Apart from a totally uncritical attitude-a venial sin in that age-he
betrays, at times, a certain ignorance on historical and geographical
points. But such anachronisms and irregularities are of little
importance in a work of this kind, and do not detract from its
literary merits. Other verbal errors suggest that the work of o
translation was to Layamon not devoid of difficulty. Where Wace
indulges in technical terminology, as in his nautical description of
Arthur's departure from Southampton, Layamon here and else-
where solves his linguistic difficulties by a process of frank omission.
The interest which the Brut possesses for modern readers
arises in part from the fact that much of its material is closely
bound up with later English literature. Apart from the Arthurian
legend here appear for the first time in English the story of Leir
and Kinbelin, Cloten and Arviragus. But the main interest
centres round the Arthurian section, with its haunting story of
a wondrous birth, heroic deeds and a mysterious end. The grey
king appears in a garment of chivalry. As compared with the
Arthur of Geoffrey's narrative, his figure has grown in knightliness
and splendour. He is endowed with the added traits of noble
generosity and heightened sensibility; he has advanced in courtesy;
he is the defender of Christianity; he is a lover of law and order.
And Layamon's narrative is also interesting historically. It is the
work of the first writer of any magnitude in Middle English, and,
standing at the entrance to that period, he may be said to look
## p. 238 (#258) ############################################
238 Early Transition English
before and after. He retains much of Old English tradition; in
addition, he is the first to make extensive use of French material.
And, lastly, in the place of a fast vanishing native mythology, he
endows his countrymen with a new legendary store in which lay
concealed the seeds of later chivalry.
The Owl and the Nightingale, which represents another line
of literary revolt, has come down in two MSS, one dating from the
first, the other from the second, half of the thirteenth century.
Of the two MSS the earlier (Cotton MS) is the more trustworthy;
the scribe of the other has frequently omitted unimportant mono-
syllabic words, regardless of scansion, besides having altered
inflexional endings and made sundry substitutions in the matter
of diction, such alterations are clearly revealed in riming
positions. The authorship is a matter of conjecture; Nicholas
of Guildford, a cleric of Portisham (Dorset), who is mentioned
thrice in the poem, is supposed by some to have been the writer,
but the objections to this view are that the allusions are all in the
third person, and that lavish praise is showered on his name. On
the other hand, since the poem aims incidentally at urging the
claims of Nicholas to clerical preferment, the end may have
justified the means and may account for the unstinted praise
as well as the anonymous character of the work.
