A
#Manuscript:# Worcester Cathedral Library, 174. It consists of sixty-six
leaves of vellum, ‘which had been cut and pasted together to form covers
for a book in the Cathedral archives’ (Catalogue of the Chapter Library,
ed. Floyer and Hamilton, Oxford, 1906). Its contents are (1) an
incomplete copy of Ælfric’s Grammar and Glossary, used by Zupitza for
his edition of the text (Berlin, 1880); (2) the scrap here marked A; (3)
the pieces B and C with five more fragments of the same poem. A
completes the page on which the glossary ends, and B is on the verso of
the leaf. The leaves have been slightly shorn at one side and reduced at
top and bottom, but probably to no great extent: the conjectural
complement, which is here printed within square brackets, is for the
most part fairly obvious, the more so as portions of the lost letters
often remain. The whole MS. is in the same large square hand, but the
pieces in verse, which are written continuously, like prose, are less
carefully executed. The handwriting is of the second half of the twelfth
century, perhaps about 1180 A.D. The Latin headings are not in the MS.
#Editions:# Phillipps, Sir T., Fragment of Ælfric’s Grammar, &c.,
London, 1838; Wright, T., Biographia Britannica Literaria, AS. Period,
p. 59, 60, London, 1842 (omits the last four lines); Varnhagen, H.,
Anglia, iii. pp. 423-25.
#Phonology:# The scribe is mainly faithful to the orthography of his
original, which was in Anglo-Saxon script (as is shown by _Sipum_ for
_Ripum_) and older language. He still uses the rune for _w_. His
spelling wavers between old and new, #ǣ# survives in ilærde, lærden,
læreþ, beside _e_ in ilerde, weren; #ea# persists in wireceastre, but
wincæstre, rofecæstre; the inflection is not levelled in leodan, but
leoden, hoteþ, losiæþ (æ = e). Drihten represents an OE. form in i; #ie#
is _e_ in derne; #ā# is _o_ in hoteþ, _eo_ (= _o_) in leore. OE. #æ# +
#g# is _æi_ in fæire, fæier, sæiþ; #e# + #g# is _ei_ in lorþeines; #ēo#
+ #h# is _i_ in liht; #ēa# + #h#, _eih_ in unwreih. Bocare goes back to
late OE. #bōcre#; #c# is written _ch_ in wisliche; #sć# [š] is still
_sc_ in sceolen.
#Accidence:# The def. article is _s. n. neut._ þet 17, 19; _s. a. f._ þa
5; _pl. n._ þeo 3, 17; _pl. d._ þen 19; _pl. a._ þeo 4. Noteworthy nouns
are the mutation _pl._ bec 7; diȝelnesse, _s. a._ 5; leoden, _pl. n._ 3,
18, leodan, _pl. a._ 15 (weak forms); leore, _pl. n._ 17. The relatives
are þe, þeo 18 (as in L 257, 2999), þet 3: the demonstrative þis, _pl.
n. neut._ 22, þeos, _pl. n. m._ 15, _pl. a. m._ 9 (properly a _sing._
form): possessives, ure 9, 15, 18; heore 16. Glod 16 is a weak preterite
beside strong #glēow#, but the cognate forms in other languages are
weak, and this may be a borrowing from the Norse (NED _s.v._).
French are questiuns, probably its first appearance, and feþ 23, with
its peculiar monophthong (OF. feid in which _d_ was the spirant [ð]);
comp. 8/91 note.
#Dialect:# Middle or Western South.
#Metre:# Alliterative long line, of somewhat rude construction, without
transitional rhymes or assonances. The alliteration extends mostly to
two consonants, sometimes to three, as 5, 17; l. 16 is pure syllabic
verse. The scribe sometimes misplaced the pause stop, as at 9, and
sometimes omitted it.
#Introduction:# In this scrap, some English patriot laments the
wholesale substitution of foreign prelates for English under William the
Conqueror. At the end of 1070 A.D. there were only two native bishops,
Wulfstan at Worcester and Siward at Rochester. This may point roughly to
the time, as the preponderance of names connected with Winchester to the
place, of the composition. The absence of the names of Wulfstan, Bishop
of Worcester (1002-1016 A.D.) and Archbishop of York (1002-1023), the
author of the Homilies; of Wærferth, Bishop of Worcester (872-915),
translator of Pope Gregory’s Dialogues; of the later Wulfstan
(1062-1095), under whose rule there was great activity in the collection
and transcription of Homilies and other literature in English (Keller,
W., Die litterarischen Bestrebungen von Worcester in AS. Zeit, p. 64);
together with the writer’s ignorance of the North, shows that it was not
composed at Worcester. And the mistakes in Sipum 1/11 and heoueshame
1/12 would hardly be made by a Worcester transcriber.
The heading is from Numbers xxvii. 17.
2. #⁊# = and: _ond_ apparently does not occur in the twelfth century.
[#writen#]: Varnhagen supplies _bec_. Comp. ‘þa writen me beoð to
icume,’ L 9131. #awende#. Bede translated into English the Gospel of S.
John and some extracts from Isidore (Baedae Opera Historica, ed.
Plummer, i. pp. lxxv, clxii).
3. #ꝥ . . . þurh#, by which. The preposition separated from its relative
and placed with the verb is common in ME. See Anklam, Das Englische
Relativ im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert, pp. 15-19, 44-6. Comp. in these
texts, _þet . . . bi_, 72/182; _inne_, 84/45, 131/104; _of_, 38/155,
66/96, 116, 117/8, 139/11, 211/476; _on_, 96/53, 179/112; _to_, 142/75,
79, 143/98; _þe . . . embe_, 81/77; _inne_, 11/3, 4; _mide_, 81/79;
_offe_, 85/84; _one_, 83/9, 119/73; _to_, 96/54; _uppe_, 84/71; _þer
. . . in_, 7/59, 54/1, 147/148; _of_, 64/61; _on_, 106/210; _to_, 89/32;
_wið_, 48/300. Similarly _hem . . . to_, 193/564; _þa . . . to_, 96/58.
4. #C[not]ten#: completed by Holthausen, Archiv, cvi. 347. Comp.
‘siȝewulf . . hine befran . . be ȝehwylcum cnottum þe he sylf ne cuþe,’
Interrogationes Sigewulfi, ed. MacLean, 58/12; ‘Ich habbe uncnut summe |
of þeos cnotti cnotten,’ SK 1150, 1; and 202/168. With #unwreih#, comp.
‘Ac Augustinus se wisa us onwreah þas deopnysse,’ AS. Homilien, ed.
Assmann, 5/103; ‘him þa toweardæn þing unwreah ⁊ swytelode,’ Twelfth
Cent. Hom. 98/17; Cursor, 22445. #questiuns#: probably Bede’s In Libros
Regum Quaestiones Triginta, answering questions put by Nothelm (Plummer,
p. cli). But there appears to have been a work known as Bedae
Quaestiones in utrumque Testamentum (Plummer, clv note), and there may
be a reference to such of his commentaries as were replies to the
queries of Acca, Bishop of Hexham. #hoteþ#: Wright supplies _we_ after
_þe_ as in 6, but _hoteþ_ may mean here ‘are called,’ though the passive
sense is commoner in Central than in Early ME.
5. #derne diȝelnesse#. Comp. ‘Þatt dærne diȝhellnesse | Þatt writenn
wass þurrh Moysæn,’ Orm 12945; and 125/296.
6. For Aelfric the Abbot see Skeat in E. E. T. S., O. S. 114, pp.
xxii-xliv. The writer appears not to know his translations of Joshua,
Judges, Esther, and possibly Job. His identification of Aelfric with
Alcuin, who liked to call himself Albinus, is possibly due, as MacLean
suggests, to the former having translated Alcuin’s Sigewulfi
Interrogationes (p. 47, and Anglia, vi. pp. 463, 4).
7. #bocare#. Comp. ‘Beda, se mæra bocere,’ AS. Hom., ed. Assmann,
22/210. [#fif#]: supplied by Varnhagen.
8. #Vtronomius#: probably a blunder, but possibly an original attempt at
abbreviation. Or the writer may have had in mind the explanation given
in De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae, ‘Deuteronomium, hoc est,
iterationem Legis,’ S. Augustini Op., iii. App. p. 13a. Observe that he
places the title next to Exodus; he would know from Jerome’s preface
that it means ‘secunda lex.’ #Numerus#: so Ælfric, ‘on Lyden Numerus and
on Englisc Getel,’ Grein’s Prosa, i. p. 179.
10. #þet weren.# Comp. for the singular of the demonstrative, 80/35:
‘Soðlice ða eagan þæt bioð ða lareowas, & se hrycg þæt sint ða
hiremenn,’ Gregory’s Pastoral Care, ed. Sweet, 28/12; ‘hwet beoð þas vii
ȝeate? Det beoð ure egan,’ OEH i. 127/29. Sometimes the verb also is
singular, as at 76/8. Similarly _hit_, _it_, 117/13, 190/450. #bodeden#:
this verb usually takes an acc. as here, so 15/86; ‘bodian þa soðen
ileafen,’ OEH i. 97/31; but ‘bodiende umbe godes riche,’ id. 95/19.
11. #Wilfrid#, Bishop of York, _d._ 709. #Ripum#: Ripon; Beda’s Inhrypum
(Plummer, i. 183, ii. 104). #Johan of beoferlai#, Bishop of York, _d._
721. He is commonly associated with the foundation of a monastery at
Beverley in Yorkshire, but see Memorials of Beverley Minster, Surtees
Society, 1898, pp. xv-xix. Beverley is Beoforlic in AS. Chron. MS. D 721
(but written about 1070 A.D.); Beoferlic in MS. E; Bevrelie in Domesday
(see Stolze, Zur Lautlehre der AE. Ortsnamen im Domesday Book, p. 28,
and Zachrisson, Anglo-Norman Influence on English Place-Names, p. 152).
#Cuþb[ert]#, Cudberct, Bishop of Lindisfarne, _d._ 687. Dunholm occurs
in AS. Chron. MS. D 1056 as the oldest name; Durham descends from AN.
Dureme. The episcopal mint from Beke 1283 A.D. to Langley 1437 A.D. has
Dunholm, Dunelm, and Dureme indifferently. The seal of Richard de
Marisco (1217-1226) has Dunholmensis. Comp. Zachrisson, 133-5. #Oswald#,
Bishop of Worcester, 962-91, Archbishop of York, 972-91, _d._ 992 (see
Keller, pp. 11-21). For Latin books attributed to him, see Wright,
Biographia, i. pp. 466, 7. Worcester in AS. Charters is Wigeran or
Wiogeran Ceaster, also Wigernaceaster, Wigraceaster; in Domesday,
Wirecestre. #Egwin#, Bishop of the Hwiccas, i.e. see of Worcester;
founder of the Abbey of Evesham, _d._ 717 A.D. For works attributed to
him, see Wright, Biographia, i. p. 227. #heoueshame#: in Domesday
Evesham; in the foundation charter Egwin writes, ‘In quo loco (i.e.
Ethomme) quum beata Virgo Maria cuidam pastori gregum, Eoves nomine,
comparuisset (ob cujus viri sanctitatem eundem locum Eoveshamiam
nuncupavi),’ Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, ed. Macray, p. 18.
#æl[dhelm]#, Abbot of Malmesbury and Bishop of Sherborne, _d._ 709 A.D.
(Plummer’s Bede, ii. pp. 308, 9). William of Malmesbury says in his
Gesta Pontificum, p. 336, ‘nativae quoque linguae non negligebat
carmina; adeo ut, teste libro Elfredi . . . nulla umquam aetate par ei
fuerit quisquam.’ He is said to have translated the Psalms. #Swiþþun#,
Bishop of Winchester, _d._ 862. #æþelwold#, pupil of S. Dunstan, Abbot
of Abingdon, Bishop of Winchester, 963, _d._ 984 A.D. In the Latin Life
by Ælfric as revised by Wulfstan, it is recorded, ‘Dulce namque erat ei
adolescentes et iuvenes semper docere, et latinos libros anglice eis
solvere,’ Acta Sanctorum, August, i. p. 94. His translation of the Rule
of S. Benedict was edited by Schröer in the Bibliothek der AS. Prosa,
ii. Kassel, 1885-8. #Aidan#, Bishop of Lindisfarne, _d._ 651. #Biern#:
Birinus, Bishop of Winchester, _d._ 650. The spelling with _ie_ appears
to be analogic with the _i_-umlaut in such words as #ierre#, and so to
belong to the scribe’s original. #wincæstre#: in the Chronicle, anno
744, Wintanceaster; Venta Civitas in Bede. #[Pau]lin#, Paulinus, the
Missionary Bishop of York, and, after 634 A.D., Bishop of Rochester,
seems more likely than the less-known Cuichelm, Bishop of Rochester,
suggested by Wright. The MS. has _lin_ not _lm_. #rofecæstre#: in AS.
Chronicle, anno 604, Hrofesceaster; ‘in ciuitate Dorubreui, quam gens
Anglorum a primario quondam illius, qui dicebatur Hrof, Hrofæscæstræ
cognominat,’ Beda, i. 85. #Dunston#. S. Dunstan was Bishop of Worcester,
957-9, Bishop of London, 958, 959, Archbishop of Canterbury, 959, _d._
988. #ælfeih#: S. Ælfheah, succeeded Æþelwold as Bishop of Winchester in
984 A.D., became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1006, and was martyred by
the Danes in 1012 A.D. #cantoreburi#: a French spelling, as Canteberi,
10/174; contrast Cantuarabirȝ, 11/4. L has still Cantuarie buri, 94/15;
Cantwareburi, 2821; where O has Cantelburi.
15. #on englisc#, repeating 9. The writer does not mean that all these
produced works in English, but only to contrast them with
French-speaking clerics.
16. Comp. ‘Si ergo lumen, quod in te est, tenebrae sunt, ipsae tenebrae
quantae erunt?’ S. Matt. vi. 23.
17. #nu is#: so Wright and Varnhagen, but read _nu beoþ_; for _beo
lore_, those teachings, is plural.
19. #lorþeines#, teachers, apparently an ἅπ. λεγ., of which the second
element represents OE. #þegn#, servant, disciple. Comp. the usual
‘larþawes,’ 15/82, ‘lorþeu,’ 20/68, ‘lorþeawes,’ 84/61, ‘larðewes,’ OEH
ii. 41/28 (OE. *#lārðēowas#), ‘lareaw,’ OEH i. 241/21 (OE. #lārēow#).
#losiæþ#, in the rarer intransitive use, perish. Comp. ‘ꝥ þa men ne
losien, þe on him ilyfæð,’ Twelfth Cent. Hom. 2/31, 34/1, 38/23; ‘þenne
losiað fele saulen,’ OEH i. 117/18. #forþ mid#, together with, also
with, here in the rare adverbial use. Comp. ‘þenne losiað fele saulen ⁊
he seolf forð mid for his ȝemeleste,’ OEH i. 117/18; ‘& him seolf þer
forð mide,’ L 608. It is common as a preposition, as at 40/176, 77/55,
195/611; ‘his þenegas forð mid him þe he þyder brohte,’ Ælf. Lives, i.
528/645; ‘forswoleȝeð þene hoc forð mid þan ese,’ OEH i. 123/11.
20. ‘Sicut aquila provocans ad volandum pullos suos, et super eos
volitans, expandit alas suas, et assumpsit eum, atque portavit in
humeris suis,’ Deut. xxxii. 11, spoken of God’s care and training of his
people. See Bozon, Contes Moralisés, p. 60, for an elaborate application
of the text.
22. #to worlde asende.# Comp. ‘fram Gode hider on world sended,’ BH
209/23.
23. [#festen# &c.]. Comp. 190/438, 10/154. The sense required is, That
we should put our full trust in him.
_Greek_
ἅπ. λεγ. [hap. leg.]
[_short for ἁπαξ λεγόμενον [hapax legomenon], “something that has
been said only once”, i.e. an otherwise unattested form_]
_Errata_
#Editions:# ... London, 1842 (omits the last four lines);
[_text has : for ;_]
6. For Aelfric the Abbot see Skeat in E. E. T. S., O. S. 114
[E.E.T.S., O.S.]
11. ... Ælfric as revised by Wulfstan
[Wulstan: _spelling “Wulfstan” used everywhere else_]
20. ... Contes Moralisés, p. 60 [Moralises]