Chris Jones
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199278329
- eISBN:
- 9780191707889
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278329.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This book provides the first full account of how major 20th-century poets studied, appropriated, and redeployed Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) poetry in their own work. The book concentrates on the ...
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This book provides the first full account of how major 20th-century poets studied, appropriated, and redeployed Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) poetry in their own work. The book concentrates on the stylistic debts that Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Edwin Morgan, and Seamus Heaney owe to the language and prosody of Old English poetry — and to the prevailing scholarly attitudes towards Old English, which they encountered at university. Both Edwin Morgan, Scotland's First Makar, and Nobel-laureate Seamus Heaney continue to write under the influence of Old English forms, as their latest books bear witness. This book provides the first full account of how Heaney's translation of Beowulf relates to the rest of his oeuvre, and embeds Morgan's work within a wider tradition of Scots who translate and appropriate Old English. The book pays particular attention to ideas of linguistic primitivism, notions of ‘purity’ of the English language, the politics and ethics of translation, and the construction of ‘Englishness’ across a millennium of literary history. The book argues that for 20th-century poets, Old English simultaneously represents a possible origin for the English poetic tradition, and also a site of estrangement. It is this double nature of the material, of Old English as both ‘native’ and ‘other’, that makes it so attractive to a variety of important poets. The book argues that the 20th-century encounter with Old English constitutes ‘an enormous transfer of poetic energy’, one that has a marked and lasting effect on the evolution of poetry in English.Less
This book provides the first full account of how major 20th-century poets studied, appropriated, and redeployed Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) poetry in their own work. The book concentrates on the stylistic debts that Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden, Edwin Morgan, and Seamus Heaney owe to the language and prosody of Old English poetry — and to the prevailing scholarly attitudes towards Old English, which they encountered at university. Both Edwin Morgan, Scotland's First Makar, and Nobel-laureate Seamus Heaney continue to write under the influence of Old English forms, as their latest books bear witness. This book provides the first full account of how Heaney's translation of Beowulf relates to the rest of his oeuvre, and embeds Morgan's work within a wider tradition of Scots who translate and appropriate Old English. The book pays particular attention to ideas of linguistic primitivism, notions of ‘purity’ of the English language, the politics and ethics of translation, and the construction of ‘Englishness’ across a millennium of literary history. The book argues that for 20th-century poets, Old English simultaneously represents a possible origin for the English poetic tradition, and also a site of estrangement. It is this double nature of the material, of Old English as both ‘native’ and ‘other’, that makes it so attractive to a variety of important poets. The book argues that the 20th-century encounter with Old English constitutes ‘an enormous transfer of poetic energy’, one that has a marked and lasting effect on the evolution of poetry in English.
Bettelou Los
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199274765
- eISBN:
- 9780191705885
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274765.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, ...
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This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other non-finite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. In fact, as early as Old English, the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today, and its syntactic behaviour clearly shows that it is already a clause rather than a phrase at this early date. Its spread was largely due to competition with finite subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced. Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The book provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that the infinitive marker to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. It concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs, and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb. The rise of to-infinitival Exceptional Case-Marking constructions is a Middle English innovation, triggered by changes in information structure that were in turn caused by the loss of verb-second.Less
This book describes the historical emergence and spread of the to-infinitive in English. It shows that to + infinitive emerged from a reanalysis of the preposition to plus a deverbal nominalization, which spread first to purpose clauses, then to other non-finite environments. The book challenges the traditional reasoning that infinitives must have been nouns in Old English because they inflected for dative case and can follow prepositions. In fact, as early as Old English, the to-infinitive was established in most of the environments in which it is found today, and its syntactic behaviour clearly shows that it is already a clause rather than a phrase at this early date. Its spread was largely due to competition with finite subjunctive that-clauses, which it gradually replaced. Later chapters consider Middle English developments. The book provides a measured evaluation of the evidence that the infinitive marker to undergoes a period of degrammaticalization. It concludes that the extent to which to gains syntactic freedom in Middle English is due to the fact that speakers began to equate it with the modal verbs, and therefore to treat it syntactically as a modal verb. The rise of to-infinitival Exceptional Case-Marking constructions is a Middle English innovation, triggered by changes in information structure that were in turn caused by the loss of verb-second.
David Clark
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199558155
- eISBN:
- 9780191721342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558155.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature, Anglo-Saxon / Old English Literature
This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often ...
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This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often considered marginal) from a radically different perspective. The introductory chapters first lay out the premises underlying the book and its critical context, then emphasise the need to avoid modern cultural assumptions about both male‐female and male‐male relationships, and underline the paramount place of homosocial bonds in Old English literature. Part II then investigates the construction of and attitudes to same‐sex acts and identities in ethnographic, penitential, and theological texts, ranging widely throughout the Old English corpus and drawing on Classical, Medieval Latin, and Old Norse material. Part III expands the focus to homosocial bonds in Old English literature in order to explore the range of associations for same‐sex intimacy and their representation in literary texts such as Genesis A, Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, and Ælfric's Lives of Saints. During the course of the book's argument, it uncovers several under‐researched issues and suggests fruitful approaches for their investigation. It concludes that, in omitting to ask certain questions of Anglo‐Saxon material, in being too willing to accept the status quo indicated by the extant corpus, in uncritically importing invisible (because normative) heterosexist assumptions in our reading, we risk misrepresenting the diversity and complexity that a more nuanced approach to issues of gender and sexuality suggests may be more genuinely characteristic of the period.Less
This book argues for the importance of synoptically examining the whole range of same‐sex relations in the Anglo‐Saxon period, revisiting well‐known texts and issues (as well as material often considered marginal) from a radically different perspective. The introductory chapters first lay out the premises underlying the book and its critical context, then emphasise the need to avoid modern cultural assumptions about both male‐female and male‐male relationships, and underline the paramount place of homosocial bonds in Old English literature. Part II then investigates the construction of and attitudes to same‐sex acts and identities in ethnographic, penitential, and theological texts, ranging widely throughout the Old English corpus and drawing on Classical, Medieval Latin, and Old Norse material. Part III expands the focus to homosocial bonds in Old English literature in order to explore the range of associations for same‐sex intimacy and their representation in literary texts such as Genesis A, Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Phoenix, and Ælfric's Lives of Saints. During the course of the book's argument, it uncovers several under‐researched issues and suggests fruitful approaches for their investigation. It concludes that, in omitting to ask certain questions of Anglo‐Saxon material, in being too willing to accept the status quo indicated by the extant corpus, in uncritically importing invisible (because normative) heterosexist assumptions in our reading, we risk misrepresenting the diversity and complexity that a more nuanced approach to issues of gender and sexuality suggests may be more genuinely characteristic of the period.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter briefly reviews some of the evidence for the knowledge and use of Old English after the mid-12th century. It then examines the evidence which may indicate whether the tremulous scribe ...
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This chapter briefly reviews some of the evidence for the knowledge and use of Old English after the mid-12th century. It then examines the evidence which may indicate whether the tremulous scribe used external aids such as glossaries and other sources, and if he did, what these sources were. It also considers the scribe's worksheets and cribbed glosses, along with other external sources from which the tremulous scribe culled English-Latin word pairs. In most of the manuscripts, he has occasionally repeated or slightly respelt Old English words in the margin, sometimes accompanied with a Latin gloss. The glossator has repeated or slightly respelt lemmata for a number of different reasons. The main categories distinguished here include: respelling to avoid confusion with a similarly spelt word; repetition which flagged an Old English word unknown to the glossator; repetition which flagged a passage or word which was significant rather than difficult; and repetition which flagged a word pair which was of interest to him.Less
This chapter briefly reviews some of the evidence for the knowledge and use of Old English after the mid-12th century. It then examines the evidence which may indicate whether the tremulous scribe used external aids such as glossaries and other sources, and if he did, what these sources were. It also considers the scribe's worksheets and cribbed glosses, along with other external sources from which the tremulous scribe culled English-Latin word pairs. In most of the manuscripts, he has occasionally repeated or slightly respelt Old English words in the margin, sometimes accompanied with a Latin gloss. The glossator has repeated or slightly respelt lemmata for a number of different reasons. The main categories distinguished here include: respelling to avoid confusion with a similarly spelt word; repetition which flagged an Old English word unknown to the glossator; repetition which flagged a passage or word which was significant rather than difficult; and repetition which flagged a word pair which was of interest to him.
CHRIS JONES
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199278329
- eISBN:
- 9780191707889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278329.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter investigates Seamus Heaney's studies of Old English at the Queen's University of Belfast, drawing on unpublished papers recently deposited there. Noting that Heaney constructs a Romantic ...
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This chapter investigates Seamus Heaney's studies of Old English at the Queen's University of Belfast, drawing on unpublished papers recently deposited there. Noting that Heaney constructs a Romantic primitivist view of Old English, the chapter works chronologically through his oeuvre, observing how this view plays itself out in the poetry. The gothic linguistic texture of North is defended as a deliberate translatorese, drawing on Old English to illustrate the perceived strange likeness between ancient Germanic tribal violence and the contemporary crisis in Ulster. Moving more swiftly through subsequent volumes, the chapter then considers postcolonial arguments that have been put forward regarding Heaney's Hibernicization of Beowulf. Rather than seeing Heaney's translation as an appropriation of an authoritative cultural document by the once-linguistically dispossessed, this chapter argues that it more sensibly fits a narrative observable over the course of Heaney's career, that of coming to terms with a sense of linguistic binarism.Less
This chapter investigates Seamus Heaney's studies of Old English at the Queen's University of Belfast, drawing on unpublished papers recently deposited there. Noting that Heaney constructs a Romantic primitivist view of Old English, the chapter works chronologically through his oeuvre, observing how this view plays itself out in the poetry. The gothic linguistic texture of North is defended as a deliberate translatorese, drawing on Old English to illustrate the perceived strange likeness between ancient Germanic tribal violence and the contemporary crisis in Ulster. Moving more swiftly through subsequent volumes, the chapter then considers postcolonial arguments that have been put forward regarding Heaney's Hibernicization of Beowulf. Rather than seeing Heaney's translation as an appropriation of an authoritative cultural document by the once-linguistically dispossessed, this chapter argues that it more sensibly fits a narrative observable over the course of Heaney's career, that of coming to terms with a sense of linguistic binarism.
CHRIS JONES
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199278329
- eISBN:
- 9780191707889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278329.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter investigates Edwin Morgan's experience of Old English at Glasgow University. It argues that his translation of Beowulf negotiates two opposing theoretical positions, respecting the ...
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This chapter investigates Edwin Morgan's experience of Old English at Glasgow University. It argues that his translation of Beowulf negotiates two opposing theoretical positions, respecting the alterity of Old English while bringing it towards a more familiar contemporary idiom. Morgan's experimentalism with the trope of translatio in its wider sense is related to his futurist sympathies and science-fiction poems. Previous critical emphasis on Morgan as a futurist misrepresents his breadth and complexity, and a view is advanced of Morgan as also a medievalist. His sense of Old English as the root of an incipient Scottish literary tradition leads to a consideration of the linguistic politics of a ‘Scottish Old English’. Translation from Old English into Scots is discussed, not only in the case of Morgan but also Alexander and Tom Scott. Finally, a number of Old English echoes and allusions in Morgan's mature poetry are explicated for the first time.Less
This chapter investigates Edwin Morgan's experience of Old English at Glasgow University. It argues that his translation of Beowulf negotiates two opposing theoretical positions, respecting the alterity of Old English while bringing it towards a more familiar contemporary idiom. Morgan's experimentalism with the trope of translatio in its wider sense is related to his futurist sympathies and science-fiction poems. Previous critical emphasis on Morgan as a futurist misrepresents his breadth and complexity, and a view is advanced of Morgan as also a medievalist. His sense of Old English as the root of an incipient Scottish literary tradition leads to a consideration of the linguistic politics of a ‘Scottish Old English’. Translation from Old English into Scots is discussed, not only in the case of Morgan but also Alexander and Tom Scott. Finally, a number of Old English echoes and allusions in Morgan's mature poetry are explicated for the first time.
S. J. Connolly
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198208167
- eISBN:
- 9780191716546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208167.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
By the early 17th century, the blurred religious allegiances of previous decades were rapidly giving way to a clear confessionalization. The Protestant Church of Ireland had become a colonial ...
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By the early 17th century, the blurred religious allegiances of previous decades were rapidly giving way to a clear confessionalization. The Protestant Church of Ireland had become a colonial institution, in which a clergy overwhelmingly recruited from England ministered to an almost exclusively settler population. Meanwhile, the Catholicism of the Gaelic Irish and Old English was being reorganized along Counter-Reformation lines. Conflict between the government and the Old English reached a peak at the parliament of 1613. A later agreement to trade religious toleration for assistance in resolving the crown's financial difficulties (‘the Graces’) only confirmed the estrangement that now existed. The writings of the growing community of Irish exiles in Catholic Europe reflect the development of a militant Catholic ideology. By contrast, the dominant theme within Ireland itself was the continued attempt to seek an accommodation with the new political and social order.Less
By the early 17th century, the blurred religious allegiances of previous decades were rapidly giving way to a clear confessionalization. The Protestant Church of Ireland had become a colonial institution, in which a clergy overwhelmingly recruited from England ministered to an almost exclusively settler population. Meanwhile, the Catholicism of the Gaelic Irish and Old English was being reorganized along Counter-Reformation lines. Conflict between the government and the Old English reached a peak at the parliament of 1613. A later agreement to trade religious toleration for assistance in resolving the crown's financial difficulties (‘the Graces’) only confirmed the estrangement that now existed. The writings of the growing community of Irish exiles in Catholic Europe reflect the development of a militant Catholic ideology. By contrast, the dominant theme within Ireland itself was the continued attempt to seek an accommodation with the new political and social order.
CHRIS JONES
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199278329
- eISBN:
- 9780191707889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278329.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
The introductory chapter considers several diverging views on the origins of what might be called an ‘English’ poetic tradition, noting that for some critics Old English is not part of such a ...
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The introductory chapter considers several diverging views on the origins of what might be called an ‘English’ poetic tradition, noting that for some critics Old English is not part of such a tradition. It is argued that while Old English is in some respects ‘other’, it is at the same time aboriginally English, and that this paradox is precisely what makes it attractive to several poets at certain moments during the 20th century. Primitivist interest in Old English is likened to other, better-known forms of modernist primitivism. The rediscovery of Old English is briefly situated within its wider historical contexts: a more general medievalism, and the rise of English studies as an academic discipline. The potential breadth of the topic is indicated by cursory mention of some of the figures not studied in depth for reasons of space: J. R. R. Tolkien, David Jones, Basil Bunting, Geoffrey Hill, and Harold Massingham.Less
The introductory chapter considers several diverging views on the origins of what might be called an ‘English’ poetic tradition, noting that for some critics Old English is not part of such a tradition. It is argued that while Old English is in some respects ‘other’, it is at the same time aboriginally English, and that this paradox is precisely what makes it attractive to several poets at certain moments during the 20th century. Primitivist interest in Old English is likened to other, better-known forms of modernist primitivism. The rediscovery of Old English is briefly situated within its wider historical contexts: a more general medievalism, and the rise of English studies as an academic discipline. The potential breadth of the topic is indicated by cursory mention of some of the figures not studied in depth for reasons of space: J. R. R. Tolkien, David Jones, Basil Bunting, Geoffrey Hill, and Harold Massingham.
CHRIS JONES
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199278329
- eISBN:
- 9780191707889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278329.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter presents an account of Auden's experiences of Old English at Oxford, then demonstrates that his early style owes many of its distinctive features to Old English poetry, and that ...
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This chapter presents an account of Auden's experiences of Old English at Oxford, then demonstrates that his early style owes many of its distinctive features to Old English poetry, and that allusions to Old English are more common than has been previously realized. Auden associates Old English with various kinds of anxiety, and in its poetry he finds analogues for the violence of his own century. He redeploys the idiom of Old English when writing of conflict, whether imaginary as in ‘Paid on Both Sides’, or historical as in The Age of Anxiety. Auden also associates Old English with sexual anxiety; an informed reading of ‘The Wanderer’ as a coming-out narrative is contingent on understanding several Old English allusions. Finally, it is argued that Auden's move from an intimate poetic voice to a more public form of address in The Orators, is achieved partly through his development of an Anglo-Saxonist rhetoric.Less
This chapter presents an account of Auden's experiences of Old English at Oxford, then demonstrates that his early style owes many of its distinctive features to Old English poetry, and that allusions to Old English are more common than has been previously realized. Auden associates Old English with various kinds of anxiety, and in its poetry he finds analogues for the violence of his own century. He redeploys the idiom of Old English when writing of conflict, whether imaginary as in ‘Paid on Both Sides’, or historical as in The Age of Anxiety. Auden also associates Old English with sexual anxiety; an informed reading of ‘The Wanderer’ as a coming-out narrative is contingent on understanding several Old English allusions. Finally, it is argued that Auden's move from an intimate poetic voice to a more public form of address in The Orators, is achieved partly through his development of an Anglo-Saxonist rhetoric.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
The 13th-century Worcester scribe known as the ‘tremulous hand’ is well known as a glossator of Old English manuscripts. His shaky, leftward-sloping handwriting is found in at least twenty ...
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The 13th-century Worcester scribe known as the ‘tremulous hand’ is well known as a glossator of Old English manuscripts. His shaky, leftward-sloping handwriting is found in at least twenty manuscripts, most of which are known to have been in Worcester in the medieval period. His work consists mainly of interlinear and marginal glosses to Old English texts which are usually, but not exclusively, religious in nature. Some of the glosses are Middle English, but the vast majority are Latin. The amount of glossing varies a great deal from manuscript to manuscript and text to text: in some texts about one word in four may be glossed, while in others there may be only one or two glosses per page. This book provides a preliminary account of the tremulous scribe's work, in particular, it looks at what characterized his work in the early stages, how his methods changed and developed, and how he made use of sources and external aids.Less
The 13th-century Worcester scribe known as the ‘tremulous hand’ is well known as a glossator of Old English manuscripts. His shaky, leftward-sloping handwriting is found in at least twenty manuscripts, most of which are known to have been in Worcester in the medieval period. His work consists mainly of interlinear and marginal glosses to Old English texts which are usually, but not exclusively, religious in nature. Some of the glosses are Middle English, but the vast majority are Latin. The amount of glossing varies a great deal from manuscript to manuscript and text to text: in some texts about one word in four may be glossed, while in others there may be only one or two glosses per page. This book provides a preliminary account of the tremulous scribe's work, in particular, it looks at what characterized his work in the early stages, how his methods changed and developed, and how he made use of sources and external aids.
HUGH M. THOMAS
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199251230
- eISBN:
- 9780191719134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251230.003.0023
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
For many 19th- and 20th-century theorists and activists, language was crucial to nationalism. Scholars suggest that the linguistic effects of the Norman conquest constituted an important though ...
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For many 19th- and 20th-century theorists and activists, language was crucial to nationalism. Scholars suggest that the linguistic effects of the Norman conquest constituted an important though temporary blow to English identity, and that survival of English was important for survival of Englishness. This chapter argues that whatever connection there was between the English language and English identity, it was fairly weak. The discernible influence of Old English literature after the middle of the 12th century is also negligible. However, it contends that bilingualism was also very important in facilitating the process of cultural assimilation. In particular, England fairly quickly developed into a bilingual society, at least in towns, the aristocracy, and perhaps among the middling sort.Less
For many 19th- and 20th-century theorists and activists, language was crucial to nationalism. Scholars suggest that the linguistic effects of the Norman conquest constituted an important though temporary blow to English identity, and that survival of English was important for survival of Englishness. This chapter argues that whatever connection there was between the English language and English identity, it was fairly weak. The discernible influence of Old English literature after the middle of the 12th century is also negligible. However, it contends that bilingualism was also very important in facilitating the process of cultural assimilation. In particular, England fairly quickly developed into a bilingual society, at least in towns, the aristocracy, and perhaps among the middling sort.
Patrick P. O’Neill
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264508
- eISBN:
- 9780191734120
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264508.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter re-examines the role of the Irish in the origins of the Old English alphabet. There are many theories about the Old English alphabet's origins. These include those contained in Karl ...
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This chapter re-examines the role of the Irish in the origins of the Old English alphabet. There are many theories about the Old English alphabet's origins. These include those contained in Karl Luick's Historische Grammatik and E. Sievers and K. Brunner's Altenglische Grammatik, which both offered the view that the model for the Old English alphabet was the Latin alphabet. But the first work to cover Old English orthography was Alistair Campbell's Old English Grammar, which rejected the notion that the Latin alphabet which underlay the Old English alphabet was the one taught by the Irish.Less
This chapter re-examines the role of the Irish in the origins of the Old English alphabet. There are many theories about the Old English alphabet's origins. These include those contained in Karl Luick's Historische Grammatik and E. Sievers and K. Brunner's Altenglische Grammatik, which both offered the view that the model for the Old English alphabet was the Latin alphabet. But the first work to cover Old English orthography was Alistair Campbell's Old English Grammar, which rejected the notion that the Latin alphabet which underlay the Old English alphabet was the one taught by the Irish.
Bruce Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 1985
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198119357
- eISBN:
- 9780191671159
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198119357.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter distinguishes in Old English the following parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns (including articles), verbs (including infinitives and participles), adverbs, ...
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This chapter distinguishes in Old English the following parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns (including articles), verbs (including infinitives and participles), adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.Less
This chapter distinguishes in Old English the following parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns (including articles), verbs (including infinitives and participles), adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
Michael Lapidge
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263952
- eISBN:
- 9780191734083
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263952.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines study in Britain of Old English during the twentieth century. It explains that the field of Old English, the nature of the language and the corpus of literature, was essentially ...
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This chapter examines study in Britain of Old English during the twentieth century. It explains that the field of Old English, the nature of the language and the corpus of literature, was essentially discovered and defined during the course of the nineteenth century, principally by scholars in Germany and Scandinavia. It highlights the institutional support provided by the British Academy to Old English studies.Less
This chapter examines study in Britain of Old English during the twentieth century. It explains that the field of Old English, the nature of the language and the corpus of literature, was essentially discovered and defined during the course of the nineteenth century, principally by scholars in Germany and Scandinavia. It highlights the institutional support provided by the British Academy to Old English studies.
Carolyne Larrington
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198119821
- eISBN:
- 9780191671210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198119821.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter examines the range and theme of Old English wisdom poetry. It analyses Old English poems which are primarily concerned with imparting wisdom and use the gnome as a structural unit. These ...
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This chapter examines the range and theme of Old English wisdom poetry. It analyses Old English poems which are primarily concerned with imparting wisdom and use the gnome as a structural unit. These include Exeter, Cotton Maxims, and Fortunes of Men. This chapter suggests that Old English poems amalgamate Germanic, tradition, biblical forms, and classical devices in the presentation of wisdom in verse. It contends that Old English poets have taken whatever seemed useful to them from the traditions with which they were familiar and created frameworks around which they could structure the wisdom they wanted to present.Less
This chapter examines the range and theme of Old English wisdom poetry. It analyses Old English poems which are primarily concerned with imparting wisdom and use the gnome as a structural unit. These include Exeter, Cotton Maxims, and Fortunes of Men. This chapter suggests that Old English poems amalgamate Germanic, tradition, biblical forms, and classical devices in the presentation of wisdom in verse. It contends that Old English poets have taken whatever seemed useful to them from the traditions with which they were familiar and created frameworks around which they could structure the wisdom they wanted to present.
S. J. Connolly
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198208167
- eISBN:
- 9780191716546
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208167.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
The defeat of the rebellion of the earl of Desmond opened the way for the first large scale experiment in colonization — the plantation of Munster. Government policy met with less opposition in the ...
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The defeat of the rebellion of the earl of Desmond opened the way for the first large scale experiment in colonization — the plantation of Munster. Government policy met with less opposition in the west, where the composition of Connacht won the support of major landowners, although the local administration also used extreme violence to impose its authority. There was less open resistance than in England to the return to Protestantism under Elizabeth I. However, committed Irish-born Protestants remained a small minority. The descendants of the medieval colonists continued to emphasize their English culture and allegiance. But their anomalous position as Catholic subjects of a Protestant queen, along with disputes over taxation and competition from more recent settlers, led to the emergence of a new defensive sense of identity, reflected in the appearance of the term ‘Old English’.Less
The defeat of the rebellion of the earl of Desmond opened the way for the first large scale experiment in colonization — the plantation of Munster. Government policy met with less opposition in the west, where the composition of Connacht won the support of major landowners, although the local administration also used extreme violence to impose its authority. There was less open resistance than in England to the return to Protestantism under Elizabeth I. However, committed Irish-born Protestants remained a small minority. The descendants of the medieval colonists continued to emphasize their English culture and allegiance. But their anomalous position as Catholic subjects of a Protestant queen, along with disputes over taxation and competition from more recent settlers, led to the emergence of a new defensive sense of identity, reflected in the appearance of the term ‘Old English’.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
At least twenty manuscripts contain evidence of the tremulous scribe's hand. Some of the manuscripts have been glossed by the tremulous hand, but in varying degrees and manners. All of the glossed ...
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At least twenty manuscripts contain evidence of the tremulous scribe's hand. Some of the manuscripts have been glossed by the tremulous hand, but in varying degrees and manners. All of the glossed manuscripts also contain marks updating vowels and consonants and adding word division and punctuation. Five of the manuscripts have collections of Latin-English word pairs on one or more leaves. Occasionally, there are odd doodles in his hand. What he did to each of these manuscripts, and when, is essential to an understanding of his work and interests. This chapter discusses each of these manuscripts indicating which states of the tremulous hand are present, how heavily glossed and annotated the manuscript is, and which texts within the manuscript appear to have been of most interest to him. Other earlier or contemporary glosses and annotations are also considered, along with manuscripts containing Old English which were probably in Worcester in the 13th century but show no evidence of the Worcester scribe's hand.Less
At least twenty manuscripts contain evidence of the tremulous scribe's hand. Some of the manuscripts have been glossed by the tremulous hand, but in varying degrees and manners. All of the glossed manuscripts also contain marks updating vowels and consonants and adding word division and punctuation. Five of the manuscripts have collections of Latin-English word pairs on one or more leaves. Occasionally, there are odd doodles in his hand. What he did to each of these manuscripts, and when, is essential to an understanding of his work and interests. This chapter discusses each of these manuscripts indicating which states of the tremulous hand are present, how heavily glossed and annotated the manuscript is, and which texts within the manuscript appear to have been of most interest to him. Other earlier or contemporary glosses and annotations are also considered, along with manuscripts containing Old English which were probably in Worcester in the 13th century but show no evidence of the Worcester scribe's hand.
Richard Dance
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265864
- eISBN:
- 9780191772016
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265864.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ...
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English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ‘transition’, when (amongst many other things) influence from both Norse and French is increasingly apparent in writing. This article explores the etymologies, semantics and textual contexts of some key words from this crucial time, as a way to think about the evidence for contact and change at the boundary of Old and Middle English, and to illustrate how rich, diverse, challenging and surprising its voices can be. It concludes with a case study of words meaning ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ in Old and early Middle English, concentrating on the vocabulary of the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 343.Less
English vocabulary owes an enormous debt to the other languages of medieval Britain. Arguably, nowhere is this debt more significant than in the 12th century—a complex and fascinating period of ‘transition’, when (amongst many other things) influence from both Norse and French is increasingly apparent in writing. This article explores the etymologies, semantics and textual contexts of some key words from this crucial time, as a way to think about the evidence for contact and change at the boundary of Old and Middle English, and to illustrate how rich, diverse, challenging and surprising its voices can be. It concludes with a case study of words meaning ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ in Old and early Middle English, concentrating on the vocabulary of the manuscript Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 343.
Carolyne Larrington
- Published in print:
- 1993
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198119821
- eISBN:
- 9780191671210
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198119821.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This chapter examines the gnomic voice in Old Norse and Old English elegy. In some elegiac verse in Old Norse, a gnomic element plays a significant part because of its double task of lament and ...
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This chapter examines the gnomic voice in Old Norse and Old English elegy. In some elegiac verse in Old Norse, a gnomic element plays a significant part because of its double task of lament and praise for the dead. Elegy in Old English ranges from personal lament to philosophical consideration of worldly existence. It ranges from elegies that correspond to the Greek goos like Wulf and Eadwacer and The Wife’s Lament to meditative laments like The Wanderer and the The Seafarer.Less
This chapter examines the gnomic voice in Old Norse and Old English elegy. In some elegiac verse in Old Norse, a gnomic element plays a significant part because of its double task of lament and praise for the dead. Elegy in Old English ranges from personal lament to philosophical consideration of worldly existence. It ranges from elegies that correspond to the Greek goos like Wulf and Eadwacer and The Wife’s Lament to meditative laments like The Wanderer and the The Seafarer.
Christine Franzen
- Published in print:
- 1991
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198117421
- eISBN:
- 9780191670954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198117421.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is ...
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One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is therefore of considerable importance to attempt to describe what was happening in this early stage of his work and why he may have switched to glossing in Latin. In order to do so, this chapter considers all of the tremulous hand's early work in Middle English, beginning with his copy of Worcester Cathedral MS F. 174. His marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G provide the best evidence as to how he treated his exemplars in F. 174. This chapter suggests that the marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G are the work of a corrector, preparing the manuscripts to be copied, and that a similar process of updating punctuation, spelling, word division, and vocabulary must underlie F. 174. The tremulous scribe appears to have encountered problems when he attempted to translate standard late West Saxon Old English into Middle English.Less
One important aspect of the tremulous scribe's work is the layer of Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G. This layer is not only in his hand but is his earliest layer of glossing. It is therefore of considerable importance to attempt to describe what was happening in this early stage of his work and why he may have switched to glossing in Latin. In order to do so, this chapter considers all of the tremulous hand's early work in Middle English, beginning with his copy of Worcester Cathedral MS F. 174. His marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G provide the best evidence as to how he treated his exemplars in F. 174. This chapter suggests that the marks and Middle English glosses in MSS C, E, and G are the work of a corrector, preparing the manuscripts to be copied, and that a similar process of updating punctuation, spelling, word division, and vocabulary must underlie F. 174. The tremulous scribe appears to have encountered problems when he attempted to translate standard late West Saxon Old English into Middle English.
