the art

"ond þe þæt selre geceos, ece rædas; oferhyda ne gym"
Beowulf

"choose what is better, the eternal wisdom; heed not the blinding pride"

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Aelfric's Old English Genesis, Part I


Eac swylce seo næddre wæs geapre ðonne ealle ða oðre nytenu ðe God geworhte ofer eorðan. And seo næddre cwæð to ðam wife: "Hwi forbead God eow ðæt ge ne æton of ælcon treowe binnan Paradisum?" Þæt wif andwyrde: "Of ðæra treowa wæstme ðe synd on Paradisum we etað: and of ðæs treowes wæstme þe is onmiddan neorxnawange, God bebead us ðæt we ne æton, ne we ðæt treow ne hrepodon, ði læs ðe we swelton." Ða cwæð seo nædre eft tō ðam wife: "Ne beo ge nateshwon deade, ðeah ðe ge of ðam treowe eton. Ac God wat soðlice ðæt eowre eagan beoð geopenode on swa hwylcum dæge swa ge etað of ðam treowe; and ge beoð ðonne englum gelice, witende ægðer ge god ge yfel." Ða geseah ðæt wif ðæt ðæt treow wæs god to etenne

Moreover, the serpent was more deceitful than all the other beasts that God had prepared over the earth; and the serpent spoke to the woman, "Why did God refuse you, bidding you not to eat of all the trees within Paradise?"  The woman answered, "Of these fruit trees in Paradise we eat, and of this fruit tree, here in the center of eternity, God asked us that we not eat, that we not touch the tree unless we should perish."  Then the serpent spoke again to the woman, "No, you will not die, not at all.  But God truly knows that your eyes will open on the day you eat of the tree, and you will be like an angel, knowing both the good and the evil.  Then the woman saw that it was good to eat of the tree.

translation by Reid Hardaway


Aelfric was an Anglo-Saxon monk from the late 10th century. An accomplished scholar, he wrote in the vernacular, as well as Latin.  He composed homilies, grammars, hagiographies, biblical commentaries, and translations of scripture.  The Old English selection of Genesis from above is ascribed to Aelfric.

Aelfric composed in the native Anglo-Saxon because he was committed to the cause of literacy and enlightenment for the English people.  Interestingly, he did worry that his translations of the Heptateuch would inspire the natives to literally imitate the rituals of the ancient Israelites.  I imagine Aelfric was particularly concerned with the Hebrew Bible's consistent endorsement of blood sacrifice and he felt that, given the Germanic inheritance of the Anglo-Saxons, the local English might be keen on resurrecting gruesome rituals from their pagan past, appealing to these new Christian translations as a convenient justification.

Yet, he was finally convinced of the inherent value of writing in the vernacular.  Five centuries ahead of the Reformation, Aelfric translated parts of the Bible into the local tongue, and he did this with the expressed purpose that it should be understood by every Anglo-Saxon in England, either through reading, or more probably through listening.  Such an impulse might sound a bit too egalitarian for an Anglo-Saxon.  But Aelfric was working within a scholastic tradition formalized by King Alfred.  For a civilization that is often referred to as barbaric, the late Anglo-Saxons were, in reality, committed to expanding literacy and education.

The above selection begins at Genesis 3:1.  While this might be the most familiar passage in all of literature, Aelfric makes some very interesting decisions which reflect tendencies that are, in my opinion, uniquely Anglo-Saxon.  The most obvious is the use of OE englum, when the serpent tells Eve that she will be like an "angel" after eating the fruit.  Of course, every Anglo-Saxon reader would have also read "english"; the words are clearly related etymologically, but in this case they are actually the same.  The dative plural of engel, "angel," and the dative plural of engle, "english," are both englum.  Is the serpent, then, suggesting to Eve that if she eats of the apple she will 'truly' be like 'the english'?  Stay tuned for Part II of this special series, Aelfric's Old English Genesis.

Here is a link to the British Library digitized copy of Cotton MS Claudius B IV, an 11th century manuscript which contains the Old English Hexateuch and number of translations ascribed to Aelfric of Eynsham.  Cotton MS Claudius B IV

Monday, April 23, 2012

the top five greatest translations, in history

George Chapman, Homer's Iliad

Arthur Golding, Ovid's Metamorphoses

C.K. Scott Moncrieff, Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu

David Rosenberg, Genesis, the J author

John Dryden, Vergil's Aeneid

Here are the top five translations in history, according to verba scientiae.  Disagree?  You are welcome to make an alternative suggestion in a comment below.  If your comment gets 5 or more +1s, your suggestion will officially become one of the greatest translations ever, replacing one of the current top 5 greatest translations,

guidelines - in order to be an eligible suggestion, you must provide a link to where the translated work can be read -

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Luna and the leaves


I think everyone should take some time to look at early manuscripts and consider how fortunate we are, as a culture, to have these landmarks of history.  Even well-educated people, too often I believe, are dismissive of early texts because they think one can only encounter a more primitive mind from a more barbaric age.  From my research, I am convinced of the opposite.  These early texts, often, preserve the best of us.  They represent a profound and sincere desire on the behalf of our predecessors to retain knowledge and make it accessible to future generations.

Looking at these manuscripts, and these beautiful illuminations, I am sure you will come to the conclusion that the minds of the authors and scribes are far from primitive.  

"A collaboration between ARTstor and the Bodleian Library to produce 25,000 images from 35mm filmstrip negatives and positive slides.Luna

To my left is a beautiful page from a 15th century Italian translation of Pliny's Natural History.  Pliny's writings were read throughout the Renaissance - the Natural History, in particular, was important as it reinforced the desire within this classical 're-birth' to shift the focus from the vague abstractions of the heavens toward the sublime potential of the world we actually live in.   

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Old English Poetry: The Seafarer





Forþon nu min hyge hweorfeð ofer hreþerlocan,
min modsefa mid mereflode
ofer hwæles eþel hweorfeð wide,
eorþan sceatas, cymeð eft to me
gifre ond grædig, gielleð anfloga,
hweteð on hwælweg hreþer unwearnum
ofer holma gelagu.

For now my mind turns from my body, 
and my soul turns toward the river of the sea,
over the whale's country my soul turns further, 
over that region of the earth, coming again to me 
rapacious and greedy, alone the bird yells,
sharpening the heart, irresistibly, on the whale-road, 
over the flood's wave.

translation by Reid Hardaway


The Seafarer is a beautiful and strange poem.  Of the Exeter manuscript's four major elegies, the Seafarer is unique in its faculty of language and depth of expression.  The poem is a concise and potent meditation on mortality and the frailty of man in nature.   

Ezra Pound estimated that the poem was one of the finest in the 'English' language.  Read his translation here, 'The Poetry Foundation'

I encourage you to post your thoughts or criticisms below, especially if you have studied Old English.



Monday, April 2, 2012

a mysterious ring from medium aevum ,


The craftsmanship is amazing, 90% of the ring is made of pure gold

In Anglo-Saxon archeology, the Staffordshire hoard and the burial site of Sutton Hoo are, by far, the most significant excavations.  But in April 2009, just three months before the discovery of Staffordshire, a small ring was found in Yorkshire by a railway technician who is also a metal detector enthusiast.  The ring's extraordinary and exotic composition makes approximating a date problematic for historians, archeologists, and gemologists alike.    

The inset red glass is clearly inherited from the Anglo-Saxon tradition.  But the prominent sapphire is a mystery, and scholars have suggested India or Sri Lanka as a possible origin.  While we rarely consider the implications, the commitment to nautical voyaging by the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings gave both cultures access to vast trading networks.  
The ring could simply be a piece that was reworked over centuries until finally being lost in a field just south of Yorksire.  But if this artifact suggest a composite of traditions, then we may have to reassess our understanding of the Viking conquests.

Read more here: Rare Ring on Ansax

Ansax.com is a great resource for anyone interested in Anglo-Saxon England - it is a community of scholars who frequently share and discuss the most current research in AS history and literature.