Old Literature

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I. The Beginnings.

1. Characteristics of the earliest Poetry.

BY the time the English settlements in Britain had assumed permanent form, little seemsto have been left from the prior Roman occupation to influence the language and literatureof the invaders. Their thought and speech, no less than their manners and customs, were ofdirect Teutonic origin, though these were afterwards, in some slight degree, modified byCeltic ideas, derived from the receding tribes, and, later, and in a greater measure, by theChristian and Latin elements that resulted from the mission of St. Augustine. Danishinroads and Norman-French invasions added fresh qualities to the national character and toits modes of expression; but, in the main, English literature, as we know it, arose from thespirit inherent in the viking makers of England before they finally settled in this island.

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Of the origins of Old English poetry we know nothing; what remains to us is chiefly the

reflection of earlier days. The fragments that we possess are not those of a literature in themaking, but of a school which had passed through its age of transition from ruderelements. The days of apprenticeship were over; the Englishman of the daysofBeowulfand Widsith, The Ruin andThe Seafarer, knew what he wished to say, and saidit, without exhibiting any apparent trace of groping after things dimly seen orapprehended. And from those days to our own, in spite of periods of decadence, ofapparent death, of great superficial change, the chief constituents of English literatureareflective spirit, attachment to nature, a certain carelessness of art, love of home and

country and an ever present consciousness that there are things worse than deaththesehave, in the main, continued unaltered. Death is better, says Wiglaf, in Beowulf,forevery knight than ignominious life, and, though Claudio feels death to be a fearful

thing, the sentiment is only uttered to enable Shakespeare to respond through the lips ofIsabella, And shamed life a hateful.

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It is, for instance, significant of much in the later history of the English people and oftheir literature, that the earliest poems in Old English have to do with journeyings in adistant land and with the life of the sea. Our forefathers had inhabited maritime regions

before they came to this island; the terror and the majesty and the loneliness of the sea hadalready cast their natural spells on far-travelled seafarers when English literature, aswe know it, opens. The passionate joy of the struggle between man and the forces ofnature, between seamen and the storms of the sea, finds its expression in the relation of thestruggle between Beowulf and the sea monster Grendel, and of the deeds of Beowulf andhis hard-fighting comrades. Though die Nordsee ist eine Mordsee, love of the sea and ofseathings and a sense of the power of the sea are evident in every page ofBeowulf. Thenote is struck in the very opening of the poem, wherein the passing of the Danish kingScyld Scefing, in a golden-bannered ship, is told in lines that recall those in which a later

poet related the passing of an English king, whose barge was seen to pass on and on, andgo

From less to less and vanish into light.

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The life of those whose task it was to wander along the ocean-paths across the ice-cold northern sea, where feet were fettered by the frost, is described inThe Seafarerasa northern fisher of to-day might describe it, could he unlock the word-hoard; Englishand northern also is the spirit of the lines in the same poem wherein is described the spell

cast by the sea on its lovers:For the harp he has no heart, nor for having of the rings,

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Nor in woman is his weal; in the world hes no delight,Nor in anything whatever save the tossing oer the waves!O for ever he has longing who is urged towards the sea.1

These wanderers are of the same blood as the sea kings and pirates of the old sagas,

and their love of nature is love of her wilder and more melancholy aspects. The roughwoodland and the stormy sky, the scream of the gannet and the moan of the sea-mewfind their mirror and echo in Old English literature long before the more placid aspects ofnature are noted, for it is not to be forgotten that, as Jusserand says, the sea of ourforefathers was not a Mediterranean lake.2 The more placid aspects have their turn later,when the conquerors of the shore had penetrated inland and taken to more pastoral habits;when, also, the leaven of Christianity had worked.

II. Early National Poetry.

1. Early National Poems the work of Minstrels.

THE poetry of the Old English period is generally grouped in two main divisions, nationaland Christian. To the former are assigned those poems of which the subjects are drawnfrom English, or rather Teutonic, tradition and history or from the customs and conditionsof English life; to the latter those which deal with Biblical matter, ecclesiastical traditionsand religious subjects of definitely Christian origin. The line of demarcation is not, ofcourse, absolutely fixed. Most of the national poems in their present form containChristian elements, while English influence often makes itself felt in the presentation ofBiblical or ecclesiastical subjects. But, on the whole, the division is a satisfactory one, inspite of the fact that there are a certain number of poems as to the classification of whichsome doubt may be entertained.

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We are concerned here only with the earlier national poems. With one or two possibleexceptions they are anonymous, and we have no means of assigning to them with certaintyeven an approximate date. There can be little doubt, however, that they all belong to timesanterior to the unification of England under King Alfred (A.D. 886). The later national

poetry does not begin until the reign of Aethelstan.

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With regard to the general characteristics of these poems one or two preliminary remarkswill not be out of place. First, there is some reason for believing that, for the most part,they are the work of minstrels rather than of literary men. In twocases, Widsith andDeor, we have definite statements to this effect, and from Bedesaccount of Caedmon we may probably infer that the early Christian poems had a similar

origin. Indeed, it is by no means clear that any of the poems were written down very early.Scarcely any of the MSS. date from before the tenth century and, though they aredoubtless copies, they do not betray traces of very archaic orthography. Again, it is

probable that the authors were as a rule attached to the courts of kings or, at all events, tothe retinues of persons in high position. For this statement also we have no positiveevidence except in the cases ofWidsith andDeor; but it is favoured by the tone of the

poems. Some knowledge of music and recitation seems, indeed, to have prevailed amongall classes. Just as inBeowulfnot only Hrothgars bard but even the king himself is said tohave taken part among others in the recitation of stories of old time, so Bede, in the

passage mentioned above, relates how the harp was passed around at a gathering ofvillagers, each one of whom was expected to produce a song. But the poems which

survived, especially epic poems, are likely to have been the work of professional minstrels,and such persons would naturally be attracted to courts by the richer rewardsboth in

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gold and landwhich they received for their services. It is not only in Old English poemsthat professional minstrels are mentioned. From Cassiodorus (Variarum, II, 40 f.) we learnthat Clovis begged Theodric, king of the Ostrogoths, to send him a skilled harpist. Again,Priscus, in the account of his visit to Attila, 1 describes how, at the evening feast, twomen, whom probably we may regard as professional minstrels, came forward and sang of

the kings victories and martial deeds. Some of the warriors, he says, had their fightingspirit roused by the melody, while others, advanced in age, burst into tears, lamenting theloss of their strengtha passage which bears rather a striking resemblance to Beowulfsaccount of the feast in Hrothgars hall.

It is customary to classify the early national poems in two groups, epic and elegiac. Theformer, if we may judge fromBeowulf, ran to very considerable length, while all the extantspecimens of the latter are quite short. There are, however, one or two poems which canhardly be brought under either of these heads, and it is probably due to accident that mostof the shorter poems which have come down to us are of an elegiac character.

2. Teutonic Epic Poetry.

The history of our national epic poetry is rendered obscure by the fact that there is littleelsewhere with which it may be compared. We need not doubt that it is descendedultimately from the songs in which the ancients were wont to celebrate deeds of famousmen, such as Arminius 2; but, regarding the form of these songs, we are unfortunatelywithout information. The early national epic poetry of Germany is represented only by afragment of 67 lines, while the national poetry of the north, rich as it is, contains nothingwhich can properly be called epic. It cannot, therefore, be determined with certainty,whether the epos was known to the English before the invasion or whether it arose in thiscountry, or, again, whether it was introduced from abroad in later times. Yet the fact is

worth nothing that all the poems of which we have any remains deal with stories relatingto continental or Scandinavian lands. Indeed, in the whole of our early national poetry,there is no reference to persons who are known to have lived in Britain. Kgel put forwardthe view that epic poetry originated among the Goths, and that its appearance in the north-west of Europe is to be traced to the harpist who was sent to Clovis by Theodric, king ofthe Ostrogoths. Yet the traditions preserved in our poems speak of professional minstrels

before the time of Clovis. The explanation of the incident referred to may be merely thatminstrelsy had attained greater perfection among the Goths than elsewhere. UnfortunatelyGothic poetry has wholly perished.

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Although definite evidence is wanting, it is commonly held that the old Teutonic poetry

was entirely strophic. Such is the case with all the extant Old Norse poems, and there is noreason for thinking that any other form of poetry was known in the north. Moreover, intwo of the earliest Old English poems, Widsith andDeor, the strophes may be restored

practically without alteration of the text. An attempt has even been made toreconstructBeowulfin strophic form; but this can only be carried out by dealing with thetext in a somewhat arbitrary manner. InBeowulf, as indeed in most Old English poems,new sentences and even new subjects begin very frequently in the middle of the verse. Theeffect of this is, of course, to produce a continuous metrical narrative, which is essentiallyforeign to the strophic type of poetry. Further, it is not to be overlooked that all thestrophic poems which we possess are quite short. EvenAtlaml, the longest narrative

poem in theEdda, scarcely reaches one eighth of the length ofBeowulf.According to

another theory epics were derived from strophic lays, though never actually composed instrophic form themselves. This theory is, of course, by no means open to such serious
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objections. It may be noted that, in some of the earliest Old Norse poems, e.g.Helgakvi[char]a Hundingsbana II. andHelgakvi[char]a Hi[char]ssonarthe strophescontain only speeches, while the connecting narrative is given quite briefly, in prose. Such

pieces might very well serve as the bases of epic poems. The greater length of the lattermay, then, be accounted for by the substitution of detailed descriptions for the short prose

passages, by the introduction of episodes drawn from other sources and perhaps also bythe combination of two or more lays in one poem. In any such process, however, theoriginal materials must have been largely transformed.

3.Beowulf: Scandinavian Traditions; Personality of the Hero; Origin and Antiquity of thePoem; the Religious Element.

By far the most important product of the national epos isBeowulf, a poem of 3183 lines,which has been preserved practically complete in a MS. of the tenth century, now in theBritish Museum. It will be convenient at the outset to give a brief summary of its contents.

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The poem opens with a short account of the victorious Danish king Scyld Scefing, whoseobsequies are described in some detail. His body was carried on board a ship, piled upwith arms and treasures. The ship passed out to sea, and none knew what became of it (11.I52). The reigns of Scylds son and grandson, Beowulf and Healfdene, are quickly

passed over, and we are next brought to Hrothgar, the son of Healfdene. He builds asplendid hall, called Heorot, in which to entertain his numerous retinue (11. 53100). Hishappiness is, however, destroyed by Grendel, a monster sprung from Cain, who attacksthe hall by night and devours as many as thirty knights at a time. No one can withstandhim, and, in spite of sacrificial offerings, the hall has to remain empty (11. 101193).When Grendels ravages have lasted twelve years, Beowulf, a nephew of Hygelac, king of

the Geatas, and a man of enormous strength, determines to go to Hrothgars assistance. He

embarks with fourteen companions and, on reaching the Danish coast, is directed by thewatchman to Hrothgars abode (11. 194319). The king, on being informed of his arrival,relates how he had known and befriended Ecgtheow, Beowulfs father. Beowulf s tates theobject of his coming, and the visitors are invited to feast (11. 320497). During the

banquet Beowulf is taunted by Hunferth (Unferth), the kings orator, with having failed

in a swimming contest against a certain Breca. He replies, giving a different version of thestory, according to which he was successful (11. 498606). Then the queen (Wealhtheow)fills Beowulfs cup, and he announces his determination to conquer or die. As night draws

on, the king and his retinue leave the hall to the visitors (11. 607665). They go to sleep,and Beowulf puts off his armour, declaring that he will not use his sword. Grendel burstsinto the hall and devours one of the knights. Beowulf, however, seizes him by the arm,which he tears off after a desperate struggle, and the monster takes to flight, mortallywounded (11. 665833). Beowulf displays the arm, and the Danes come to express theiradmiration of his achievement. They tell stories of heroes of the past, of Sigemund and hisnephew Fitela and of the Danish prince Heremod. 3 Then Hrothgar himself arrives,congratulates Beowulf on his victory and rewards him with rich gifts (11. 8341062).During the feast which follows, the kings minstrel recites the story of Hnaef and Finn(11. 10631159), to which we shall have to return later. The queen comes forward and,after addressing Hrothgar together with his nephew and colleague Hrothwulf, thanksBeowulf and presents him with a valuable necklace (11.11601232). This necklace, it isstated (11. 12021214), was afterwards worn by Hygelac and fell into the hands of the

Franks at his death. Hrothgar and Beowulf now retire, but a number of knights settle downto sleep in the hall. During the night Grendels mother appears and carries off Aeschere,

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the kings chief councillor (11. 12331306). Beowulf is summoned and the king,overwhelmed with grief, tells him what has happened and describes the place where themonsters were believed to dwell. Beowulf promises to exact vengeance (11. 13061399).They set out for the place, a pool overshadowed with trees, but apparently connected withthe sea. Beowulf plunges into the water and reaches a cave, where he has a desperate

encounter with the monster. Eventually he succeeds in killing her with a sword which hefinds in the cave. He then comes upon the corpse of Grendel and cuts off its head. Withthis he returns to his companions, who had given him up for lost (11. 13971631). Thehead is brought in triumph to the palace, and Beowulf describes his adventure. The king

praises his exploit and contrasts his spirit with that of the unfortunate prince Heremod.From this he passes to a moralising discourse on the evils of pride (16321784). On thefollowing day Beowulf bids farewell to the king. They part affectionately, and the kingrewards him with further gifts. Beowulf and his companions embark and return to theirown land (17851921). The virtues of Hygd, the young wife of Hygelac, are praised, andshe is contrasted with Thrytho, the wife of Offa, who, in her youth, had displayed amurderous disposition (11. 19221962). Beowulf greets Hygelac and gives him an

account of his adventures. Part of his speech, however, is taken up with a subject which,except for a casual reference in 11. 8385, has not been mentioned before, namely, therelations between Hrothgar and his son-in-law Ingeld, prince of the Heathobeardan.Ingelds father, Froda, had been slain by the Danes and he was constantly incited by an

old warrior to take vengeance on the son of the slayer. Then Beowulf hands over toHygelac and Hygd the presents which Hrothgar and Wealhtheow had given him, andHygelac in turn rewards him with a sword and with a large share in the kingdom (11.19632199).

A long period is now supposed to elapse. Hygelac has fallen, and his son Heardred hasbeen slain by the Swedes. Then Beowulf has succeeded to the throne and reigned

gloriously for fifty years (11. 22002210). In his old age the land of the Geatas is ravagedand his own home destroyed by a firespitting dragon which, after brooding for threehundred years over the treasure of men long since dead, has had its lair robbed by arunaway slave. Beowulf, greatly angered, resolves to attack it (11. 22102349). Nowcomes a digression referring to Beowulfs past exploits, in the course of which we learnthat he had escaped by swimming when Hygelac lost his life in the land of the Frisians.On his return Hygd offered him the throne, but he refused it in favour of the youngHeardred. The latter, however, was soon slain by the Swedish king Onela, because he hadgranted asylum to his nephews, Eanmund and Eadgils, the sons of Ohthere. Vengeancewas obtained by Beowulf later, when he supported Eadgils in a campaign which led to thekings death (11. 23492396). Beowulf now approaches the dragons lair. He reflects on

the past history of his family. Haethcyn, king of the Geatas, had accidentally killed hisbrother Herebeald, and their father, Hrethel, died of grief in consequence. His death wasfollowed by war with the Swedes, in which first Haethcyn and then the Swedish kingOngentheow (Onelas father) were slain. When Hygelac, the third brother, perished

among the Frisians, Daeghrefn, a warrior of the Hugas, was crushed to death by the herohimself (11. 23972509). Beowulf orders his men to wait outside while he enters thedragons barrow alone. He is attacked by the dragon, and his sword will not bite. Wiglaf,

one of his companions, now comes to the rescue; but the rest, in spite of his exhortations,flee into a wood. As the dragon darts forward again Beowulf strikes it on the head; but hissword breaks, and the dragon seizes him by the neck. Wiglaf succeeds in wounding it, andBeowulf, thus getting a moments respite, finishes it off with his knife (11. 25102709).

But the hero is mortally wounded. At his request Wiglaf brings the treasure out of the lair.Beowulf gives him directions with regard to his funeral, presents him with his armour and

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necklace and then dies (11. 27092842.) The cowardly knights now return and are bitterlyupbraided by Wiglaf (11. 28422891). A messenger brings the news to the warriors whohave been waiting behind. He goes on to prophesy that, now their heroic king has fallen,the Geatas must expect hostility on all sides. With the Franks there has been no peacesince Hygelacs unfortunate expedition against the Frisians and Hetware, while the

Swedes cannot forget Ongentheows disaster, which is now described at length. Thewarriors approach the barrow and inspect the treasure which has been found (11. 28913075). Wiglaf repeats Beowulfs instructions, the dragon is thrown into the sea and the

kings body burnt on a great pyre. Then a huge barrow is constructed over the remains of

the pyre, and all the treasure taken from the dragons lair is placed in it. The poem endswith an account of the mourning and the proclamation of the kings virtues by twelve

warriors who ride round the barrow.

Many of the persons and events mentioned inBeowulfare known to us also from variousScandinavian records, especially SaxosDanish History, Hrlfs Saga Kraka, YnglingaSaga(with the poem Ynglingatal) and the fragments of the lost Skildunga Saga. Scyld,the ancestor of the Scyldungas (the Danish royal family), clearly corresponds to Skildr,the ancestor of the Skildungar, though the story told of him in Beowulfdoes not occur inScandinavian literature. Healfdene and his sons Hrothgar and Halga are certainly identicalwith the Danish king Hafdan and his sons Hrarr (Roe) and Helgi; and there can be nodoubt that Hrothwulf, Hrothgars nephew and colleague, is the famous Hrlfr Kraki, the

son of Helgi. Hrothgars elder brother Heorogar is unknown, but his son Heoroweard may

be identical with Hirvar[char]r, the brother-in-law of Hrlfr. It has been plausiblysuggested also that Hrethric, the son of Hrothgar, may be the same person as Hroereker(Roricus), who is generally represented as the son or successor of Ingialdr. The name ofthe Heathobeardan is unknown in the north, unless, possibly, a reminiscence of it is

preserved in Saxos Hothbroddus, the name of the king who slew Roe. Their princes

Froda and Ingeld, however, clearly correspond to Fr[char] (Frotho IV) and his sonIngialdr, who are represented as kings of the Danes. Even the story of the old warrior whoincites Ingeld to revenge is given also by Saxo; indeed, the speaker (Starcatherus) is oneof the most prominent figures in his history. Again, the Swedish prince Eadgils, the son ofOhthere, is certainly identical with the famous king of the Svear, A[char]ils, the son ofttarr, and his conflict with Onela corresponds to the battle on lake Vener betweenA[char]ils and li. The latter is described as a Norwegian; but this is, in all probability, amistake arising from his surname hinn Upplenzki, which was thought to refer to the

Norwegian Upplnd instead of the Swedish district of the same name. The other membersof the Swedish royal family, Ongentheow and Eanmund, are unknown in Scandinavianliterature. The same remark applies, probably, to the whole of the royal family of the

Geatas, except, perhaps, the hero himself. On the other hand, most of the personsmentioned in the minor episodes or incidentallySigemund and Fitela, Heremod,Eormenric, Hama, Offaare more or less well known from various Scandinavianauthorities, some also from continental sources.

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With the exception ofYnglingatal, which dates probably from the ninth century, all theScandinavian works mentioned above are quite late and, doubtless, based on tradition.Hence they give us no means of fixing the dates of the kings whose doings they recordunless one can argue from the fact that Harold the Fairhaired, who appears to have been

born in 850, claimed to be descended in the eleventh generation from A[char]ils. Indeed,we have unfortunately no contemporary authorities for Swedish and Danish history beforethe ninth century. Several early Frankish writings, however, refer to a raid which wasmade upon the territories of the Chattuarii on the lower Rhine about the year 520. The

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raiders were defeated by Theodberht, the son of Theodric I, and their king, who is calledChohilaicus (Chlochilaicus) or Huiglaucus, was killed. This incident is, without doubt, to

be identified with the disastrous expedition of Hygelac against the Franks, Hetware(Chattuarii) and Frisians, to whichBeowulfcontains several references. We need nothesitate, then, to conclude that most of the historical events mentioned inBeowulfare to be

dated within about the first three decades of the sixth century.In Gregory of ToursHistoria Francorum (III, 3) and in the Gesta Regum

Francorum (cap. 19) the king of the raiders is described as rex Danorum; in theLiberMonstrorum, 4 however, as rex Getarum. As Getarum can hardly be anything but acorruption ofBeowulfsGeatas the latter description is doubtless correct. The Geatas are,in all probability, to be identified with the Gautar of Old Norse literature, i.e. the people ofGtaland in the south of Sweden. It may be mentioned that Procopius, a contemporary ofTheodberht, in his description (Goth.II, 15) of Thule,i.e. Scandinavia, speaks of theGtar (Gautoi) as a very numerous nation.

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The hero himself still remains to be discussed. On the whole, though the identification is

rejected by many scholars, there seems to be good reason for believing that he was thesame person as B[char]varr Biarki, the chief of Hrlfr Krakis knights. InHrlfs SagaKraka, Biarki is represented as coming to Leire, the Danish royal residence, fromGtaland, where his brother was king. Shortly after his arrival he killed an animal demon(a bear according to Saxo), which was in the habit of attacking the kings farmyard atYule. Again, according to Skaldskaparml,cap. 44 (from Skildunga Saga), he took partwith A[char]ils in the battle against li. In all these points his history resembles that ofBeowulf. It appears fromHrlfs Saga Kraka that Biarki had the faculty of changing into a

bear. And Beowulfs method of fighting, especially in his conflict with Daeghrefn, may

point to a similar story. On the other hand, the latter part of Biarkis career is quite

different from that of Beowulf. He stayed with Hrlfr to the end and shared the death of

that king. But the latter part of Beowulfs life can hardly be regarded as historical. Indeed,his own exploits throughout are largely of a miraculous character.

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There is another Scandinavian story, however, which has a very curious bearing on theearlier adventures of Beowulf. This is a passage in Grettis Saga (cap. 64 ff.), in which thehero is represented as destroying two demons, male and female. The scene is laid inIceland; yet so close are the resemblances between the two stories, in the character of thedemons, in the description of the places they inhabit and in the methods by which the herodeals with them, as well as in a number of minor details, that it is impossible to ascribethem to accident. Now Grettir seems to be a historical person who died about the year1031. The presumption is, then, that an older story has be become attached to his name.But there is nothing in the account that gives any colour to the idea that it is actuallyderived from the Old English poem. More probably the origin of both stories alike is to besought in a folk-tale, and, just as the adventures were attributed in Iceland to the historicalGrettir, so in England, and, possibly, also in Denmark, at an earlier date they wereassociated with a historical prince of the Gtar. From the occurrence of the localnamesBeowanham and Grendles mere in a Wiltshire charter 5 some scholars haveinferred that the story was originally told of a certain Beowa, whom they have identifiedwith Beaw or Beo, the son of Scyld (Sceldwea) in the West Saxon genealogy. But sincethis person is, in all probability, identical with the first (Danish) Beowulf of the poem, andsince the name Beowa may very well be a shortened form of Beowulf, while the othernames are obscure, the inferenceseems to be of somewhat doubtful value. On the whole

there is, perhaps, more to be said for the view that the association of Beowulf with thefolk-tale arose out of some real adventure with an animal. This, however, must remain

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largely a matter of speculation. The fight with the dragon is, of course, common motive infolk-tales. An attempt has been made to show that Beowulfs adventure has a speciallyclose affinity with a story told by Saxo of the Danish king Frotho I. But the resemblance

between the two stories is not very striking.

With regard to the origin and antiquity of the poem it is impossible to arrive at any

definite conclusions with certainty. From investigations which have been made into itslinguistic and metrical characteristics the majority of scholars hold that it was originallycomposed in a northern or midland dialect though it has been preserved only in WestSaxon formand that it is at least as old as any other considerable piece of Old English

poetry which we possess. The question of antiquity, however, is complicated by the doubtwhich is commonly felt as to the unity of the poem. Moreover, it cannot be denied thatthis feeling of doubt is, at least to some extent, justified. In its present form the poem mustdate from Christian times as it contains a considerable number of passages of distinctlyChristian character. On the other hand, the relationships of the various Danish andSwedish kings can hardly have been remembered otherwise than in a more or lessstereotyped form of words for more than a generation after their lifetime. Hence we are

bound to conclude that the formation of the poem, or, at all events, that of the materialsfrom which it was made up, must have occupied at least the greater part of a century.

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It is generally thought that several originally separate lays have been combined in thepoem, and, though no proof is obtainable, the theory in itself is not unlikely. These laysare usually supposed to have been four in number and to have dealt with the followingsubjects: (i) Beowulfs fight with Grendel, (ii) the fight with Grendels mother, (iii)

Beowulfs return, (iv) the fight with the dragon. In view of the story inGrettis Saga I amvery much inclined to doubt whether it is justifiable to separate the first two incidents.The fight with the dragon, however, is certainly quite distinct, and the part of the poemdealing with Beowulfs reception by Hygelac may also have originally formed the subject

of a separate lay. Some scholars have gone much further than this in their analysis of thepoem. According to one view nearly half of it is the work of interpolators; according toanother the present text is a composite one made up from two parallel versions. It is muchto be doubted, however, whether any really substantial result has been obtained from theseinvestigations into the inner history of the poem. The references to religion seem to

afford the only safe criterion for distinguishing between earlier and later elements. Thus, itis worth nothing that in 11. 175 ff. the Danes are represented as offering heathensacrifices, a passage which is wholly inconsistent with the sentiments afterwardsattributed to Hrothgar. But at what stage in the history of the poem was the Christianelement introduced?

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Certainly this element seems to be too deeply interwoven in the text for us to supposethat it is due to additions made by scribes at a time when the poem had come to be writtendown. Indeed there is little evidence for any additions or changes of this kind. We mustascribe it, then, either to the original poet or poets or to minstrels by whom the poem wasrecited in later times. The extent to which the Christian element is present variessomewhat in different parts of the poem. In the last portion (11. 22003183) the numberof lines affected by it amounts to less than four per cent., while in the section dealing withBeowulfs return (11. 19042199) it is negligible. In the earlier portions, on the otherhand, the percentage rises to between nine and ten, but this is partly due to four long

passages. One fact worth observing is that the Christian element is about equallydistributed between the speeches and the narrative. We have noticed above that, according

to a theory which has much in its favour, epics are derived from mixed pieces, in whichspeeches were given in verse and narrative in prose. If Christian influence had made itself

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felt at this stage, we should surely have expected to find it more prominent in the narrativethan in the speeches, for the latter would, presumably, be far less liable to change.

There is one curious feature in the poem which has scarcely received sufficient attention,namely the fact that, while the poets reflections and even the sentiments attributed to thevarious speakers are largely, though not entirely, Christian, the customs and ceremonies

described are, almost without exception, heathen. This fact seems to point, not to aChristian work with heathen reminiscences, but to a heathen work which has undergonerevision by Christian minstrels. In particular, I cannot believe that any Christian poeteither could or would have composed the account of Beowulfs funeral. It is true that wehave no references to heathen gods, and hardly any to actual heathen worship. But suchreferences would necessarily be suppressed or altered when the courts became Christian.Indeed, there is a fairly clear case of alteration in 11. 175 ff., to which I have alreadyalluded. It may, perhaps, be urged that, if the work had been subjected to such a thoroughrevision, descriptions of heathen ceremonies would not have been allowed to stand. Butthe explanation may be that the ceremonies in question had passed out of use before thechange of religion. In the case of cremation, which is the prevalent form of funeral ritefound in the poem, we have good reason for believing this to be true. Hence, such

passages could not excite the same repugnance among the clergy as they would have donein countries where the ceremonies were still practised.

18

I am disposed, then, to think that large portions at least of the poem existed in epic formbefore the change of faith and that the appearance of the Christian element is due torevision. The Christianity ofBeowulfis of a singularly indefinite and undoctrinal type,which contrasts somewhat strongly with what is found in later Old English poetry. Inexplanation of this fact it has been suggested that the poem was composed or revisedunder the influence of the missionaries from Iona. But is there really any reason forthinking that the teaching of the Irish missionaries would tend in that direction? A more

obvious explanation would be that the minstrels who introduce the Christian element hadbut a vague knowledge of the new faith. Except in 11. 1743 ff., where there seems to be areference toEphesians, vi, 16, the only passages of the Bible made use of are thoserelating to the Creation, the story of Cain and Abel and the Deluge. In the first case (11.90 ff.) one can hardly help suspecting a reference to Caedmons hymn, and the others also

may just as well have been derived from Christian poems or songs as from the Bible itself.In any case, however, the fact noted favours the conclusion that the revision took place atan earlier date.

IV. Old English Christian Poetry.

1. Celtic Christianity.

ONLY two names emerge from the anonymity which shrouds the bulk of Old EnglishChristian poetry, namely, those of Caedmon and Cynewulf; and in the past, practically allthe religious poetry we possess had been attributed to one or other of these two poets. But,as well shall see, the majority of the poems to be considered here should rather be regardedas the work of singers whose names have perished, as folk-song, as manifestations of thespirit of the peoplein the same sense in which the tale of Beowulfs adventuresembodied the aspirations of all valiant thegns, or the epic ofWaldhere summarised the

popular ideals of love and honour. The subject of the Christian epic is indeed, for the mostpart, apparently, foreign and even at times Oriental: the heroes of the Old and New

Testaments, the saints as they live in the legends of the church, furnish the theme. Themethod of treatment hardly differs, however, from that followed in non-Christian poetry;

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the metrical form with rare exceptions is the alliterative line constructed on the sameprinciples as inBeowulf; Wyrd has become the spirit of providence, Christ and Hisapostles have become English kings or chiefs followed, as in feudal duty bound, by hostsof clansmen; the homage paid to the Divine Son is the allegiance due to the scion of anAnglian king, comparable to that paid by Beowulf to his liege lord Hygelac, or to that

displayed by Byrhtnoth on the banks of the Panta; the ideals of early English Christianitydo not differ essentially from those of English paganism. And yet there is a difference.

The Christianity of England in the seventh and eighth centuries, and the Latin influencesbrought in its wake, which inspired the poetry under discussion, was a fusion, acommingling, of two different strains. Accustomed as we are to date the introduction ofChristianity into England from the mission of St. Augustine, we are apt to forget that, priorto the landing of the Roman missionary on the shores of Kent, Celtic missionaries from theislands of the west had impressed upon the northern kingdoms, the earliest home ofliterary culture in these islands, a form of Christianity differing in many respects from themore theological type preached and practised by St. Augustine and his followers. Oswald,

the martyr king of Northumbria, had been followed from Iona, where, in his youth, he hadfound sanctuary, by Aidan, the apostle of the north, to whose missionary enterprise wasdue the conversion of the rude north Anglian tribes. The monastery at Streoneshalh, orWhitby, for ever famous as the home of Caedmon, was ruled by the abbess Hild inaccordance with Celtic, not Roman, usage; and though, at the synod of Whitby in 664, theunity of the church in England was assured by the submission of the northern church toRoman rule, yet the influence of Celtic Christianity may be traced in some of the featuresthat most characteristically distinguish Christian from non-Christian poetry. It would forinstance, be hard to deny that the depth of personal feeling expressed in a poem like The

Dream of the Rood, the joy in colour attested by the vivid painting of blossom and leafin The Phoenix and the melancholy sense of kinship between the sorrow of the human

heart and the moaning of the grey cold waves that make The Seafarera human wail, areelements contributed to English poetry by the Celts. St. Columba had built his monasteryon the surf-beaten shores of the Atlantic, where mans dependence on nature was an ever-

present reality. The Celtic monastery was the home of a brotherhood of priests, and theabbot was the father of a family as well as its ecclesiastical superior. The Christian virtuesof humility and meekness, in which the emissaries of the British church found Augustineso deficient, were valued in Iona above orthodoxy and correctness of religious observance;and the simplicity of ecclesiastical organisation characteristic of Celtic Christianity,differing from the comparatively eleborate nature of Roman organisation and ritual,

produced and simple form of Christianity, readily understood by the unlettered people ofthe north. It is the personal relation of the soul to God the Father, the humanity of Christ,

the brotherhood of man, the fellowship of saints, that the Celtic missionaries seem to havepreached to their converts; and these doctrines inspired the choicest passages of OldEnglish religious poetry, passages worthy of comparison with some of the best work of alater, more self-conscious and introspective age.

2. Changes wrought by the New Spirit.

This subjectivity is a new feature in English literature; for most non-Christian English poetryis sternly epic.Beowulfis a tale of brave deeds nobly done, with but few reflectionsconcerning them. At rare intervals, scattered here and there throughout the poem, we meetwith some touch of sentiment, a foreboding of evil to come, a few words on the inexorable

character of fate, an exhortation to do great deeds so that in Walhalla the chosen warrior mayfare the better, occasionally a half-Christian reference to an all-ruling Father (probably the


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addition of a later and Christian hand); but, as a rule, no introspection checks the even flow ofnarrative: arma virumque cano. When Christianity became the source of poetic inspiration,we find the purely epic character of a poem modified by the introduction of a lyric element.The hero no longer aspires to win gold from an earthly king; his prize is a heavenly crown, to

be won, it may even be, in spiritual conflict; the glories of life on earth are transitory; earthly

valour cannot atone for the stains of sin upon the soul; the beauty of nature, in her fairestaspects, cannot compare with the radiance of a better land; the terror that lurks waiting for theevil-doer upon earth fades away at the contemplation of that day of wrath and mourning whenthe Judge of all the earth shall deal to every man according to his deeds. The early Christian

poet does not sing of earthly love; we have no erotic poetry in pre-Conquest England; but thesentiment that gives life to the poetry of Dante and Milton is not absent from the best of ourearly poets attempts at religious self-expression.

VII. From Alfred to the Conquest.

1. The Chronicle.

It seems permissible to treat the year 901, when king Alfred died, as the dividing linebetween the earlier and later period of Old English literature. 1 According to thisclassification, nearly all the poetry composed in this country before the Norman conquestwould fall within the first period; while the bulk of the prose writings in the vernacularwould be included in the second. It was, indeed, during the tenth and eleventh centuriesthat our language in its Old English stage attained its highest development as a prosemedium. The circumstances of the time were unfavourable to the production of sustained

poems. This may be owing to the gradual break-up of Old English tradition and to theinfluence of another Germanic literature, then at its height, in the English court. The chief

poetical fragments that have survived from these years deal with contemporary events,

and seem to be the outbreak of emotions too strong to be suppressed.

1

Like feelings find their expression also in the prose literature of these centuries, whichsaw not only the rise of the West Saxon kings to full mastery over England, but also thevictories of Dane and Norman, and the quenching of all hope of English rule overEngland until the conquered should absorb the conquerors. There was scarcely a yearduring this period in which the harassed rulers of the kingdom could afford to lay asidetheir arms; though during the time of comparative quiet between the death of Aethelstanand the accession of Aethelred England took an active part in the monastic revival whichwas so marked a feature of contemporary European history. In these times of struggle,letters and learning found, for a time, their grave, and long years of patient struggle wereneeded to revive them.

2

The gloomy tale is nowhere better told than in the Chronicle which, written in simplelanguage, alone marks for more than half a century the continuance of literary activity inEngland

3

The beginning of the Chronicle is usually ascribed to the influence of Alfred, and itcontinues for two and a half centuries after that kings reign, long after the last Englishking had been slain and the old tongue banished from court and school. Its principalrecensions 2 differ from one another not in the main story, but in the attention given tovarious details, and in the length to which they are carried. Owing to the number of handsemployed in its composition, the literary merit is very unequal; sometimes the entriesconsist of a date and the simple statement of an event; at others we find passages of fluent

and glowing narrative, as in the record of the war-filled years from 911 to 924. Theperiod from 925 to 975 is very bare, and such entries as exist relate mostly to church

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matters. It is, however, within this time that the principal poems of theChronicle areinserted. Under 991 is told the story of Anlafs raid at Maldon in which Byrhtnoth fell. In

the years 9751001 the Chronicle is of extreme interest, and the annals for the year 1001are very full. Some time about the middle, or towards the last quarter, of the eleventhcentury the present recension of the Winchester chronicle was transplanted to Christ

Church, Canterbury, and there completed with Canterbury annals, passages beinginterpolated in various places from beginning to end from the chronicle kept at St.Augustines, Christ Church library having been previously burnt. Before this, the notice

taken of Canterbury events was so extremely slight that we do not even hear of themurder of archbishop Aelfh[char]ah (St. Alphege) by the Dances. 3 The MS. known asCott. Tib. A. VI seems to have been originally meant to serve as an introduction tofurther annals, which, however, were never written; and it is apparently a copy of theoriginal Abingdon chronicle (itself a copy of the original Winchester, written atAbingdon), which did not reach beyond 977. The MS. under consideration is shown by amass of internal and external evidence to have been written about 977, the year to whichits annals reach. It may fitly be called theshorterAbingdon chronicle to distinguish it

from thelongerAbingdon chronicle referred to below, with which it has much incommon; 4 both, for example, bodily insert the Mercian annals (sometimes called thechronicle of Aethelflamed). These extend from 902925, and tell, with some detail, of thewarlike feats of the Lady of Mercia. It may be noted, in passing, that these Mercianannals occur in the socalled Worcester chronicle 5 where, however, they are distributed,with some omissions, amongst other matter. These Mercian annals are of the greatestinterest, both in origin and history. Their chronology differs considerably from that ofother chronicles. Perhaps the original document, or some copy of it, in which they werecontained, is to be traced under the record Cronica duo Anglica in theCatalogi vetereslibrorum Ecclesiae Dunelmi, where we also find the record ofElfledes Bocin the same

place. This at once suggests to us the existence of these annals in a book of Aethelflaed,telling of her fight for English freedom. Thus the inscription and record bring us intoclose connection with what may well have suggested and stimulated the heroic poemofJudith6

The (Longer) Abingdon chronicle is so called because, from its references to the affairsof that monastery, it is supposed to have been written there. This longer chronicle is notexpanded from the shorter, nor the shorter extracted from the longer. Both have a numberof independent annals up to the very year 977 where the common original ended. It may

be surmised that the author of the recension under notice found the original Abingdonready up to 977 (when the troubles consequent on Edgars death may have accounted for

many things), and further annals up to 1018, to which he made later additions. The MS.

tells of the election of Siward, abbot of Abingdon, as archbishop of Canterbury in 1044,the appointment of Aethelstan as his successor to the abbacy, Aethelstans death in 1047

and archbishop Siwards return to the monastery after his retirement from office in 1048.

5

In 892, a copy of the southern chronicle was sent to a northern cloister, and there wasrevised with the aid of the text of Bedes Ecclesiastical History.. There seems, also tohave been a northern continuation of BedesHistory, and, from this, were woven into thechroniclers text annals 737806. Fifteen of these annals are wholly, and sixteen party,

Northumbrian. That these annals were taken from some such source seems to be provedby their being found also in other works. The chronicler then followed southern sourcesuntil 904, when he began to weave into his text the book of Aethelflaed, mingling with itsouthern and northern records. From 9831022, he returned to his Abingdon source.After this he struck out on his own line. From the original thus created was copied the

6
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extant MS. commonly known as the Worcester or Evesham chronicle 7 which showsespecial acquaintance with the midlands and north. The close connection betweenWorcester and York is shown by the fact that the archbishop of York is mentioned simplyas the archbishop. The chronicle shows strong feeling on the subject of Godwins

outlawry, and in every way supports that nobleman. Alone amongst the chronicles it tells

the sad tale of the battle of Hastings. The original from which the above chronicle wascopied, seems also to have been the basis for that patriotic Kentish chronicle, now lost,which was the chief source both of the Peterborough chronicle up to 1123 and therescension known as Cott. Dom. A. VIII, 2.

The Peterborough chronicle 8 is the longest of all, extending to the year 1154. In 1116the town and monastery of Peterborough were destroyed by a terrible fire, which leftstanding only the monastic chapterhouse and dormitory, and when, in 1121, therebuilding was completed, the annals contained in this chronicle were undertaken toreplace those lost in the fire. They were based on the lost Kentish chronicle, which musthave been forwarded to Peterborough for that purpose. This original Kentish chronicle isfull of patriotic feeling and shows great knowledge of southern affairs from Canutes

death, the burial of Harold Harefoot (the record of which it alone rightly tells) and theviking raid on Sandwich, to the feuds between English and Norman in the reign of theConfessor. It relates count Eustaces broils with the English of Canterbury and Dover,

and the flight of archbishop Robert, leaving his pallium behind him, an annal recordedwith dangerously schismatic glee. The scribe had lived at the court of William theConqueror, and had, therefore, seen the face of the great enemy of the English. Theentries for the tenth century are very meagre; but from 991 to 1075 they are much fullerand contain, among other contemporary records, the story of the ravages of Hereward.Towards the end of the chronicle, which is written in a somewhat rough and readymanner, occurs the famous passage, so often quoted by historians, telling of the

wretchedness of the common folk during the reign of Stephen and its civil wars.

7

From the lost Kentish chronicle is derived the recension known as F or Cott. DomitianA. VIII, 2, seemingly written by one hand in the twelfth century, and of interest becauseof its mixed use of Latin and English. In this it indicates the approach of the employmentof Latin as the general literary vehicle of English culture. There is great confusion in its

bilingual employment of Latin and English; sometimes English is the original and Latinthe copy, at other times the process is reversed; finally, in some passages, Latin andEnglish become ludicrously mixed. Two other recensions exist as mere fragments: one,of three damaged leaves, in a hand of the eleventh century, is bound up with a copy ofBedesEcclesiastical History 9; and the other 10 consists of a single leaf. Themanuscript to which the former of these fragments belonged was edited by Wheloc in

1644 before it was consumed in the Cottonian fire.

8

The following table adapted from Plummer shows the relations of the various MSS. toeach other, the exrtant MSS. being indicated by initial letters;

9

The Chronicle is of inestimable value as an authority for the history of the time. Theimpression it leaves on the reader is one of almost unrelieved gloom. Records of harryingwith fire and sword occur on almost every page, and, whether the English ealdorment orthe Danes possess the place of slaughter, the wild lawlessness and the contempt for

human life which prevailed during the greater part of the period are plainly visible.Sometimes the chronicler displays bitter indignation at the misgovernment of the country,as when he tells how Aethelred and his ealdormen and the high witan forsook the navy

which had been collected with immense effort by the people and let the toil of all t henation thus lightly perish. But the entries are usually of an entirely impersonal kind; the

10
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horror and desolation, the fiery signs in the heaven, and the plagues that befell men andcattle upon earth, are recorded without comment; such misfortunes were too common tocall for special remark in the days of the long struggle between Dane and Englishman.

It has already been said that this portion of the Chronicle contains several fragments ofverse. These will be noticed later. Here, it may, however, be remarked that some passages

written as prose are based on songs which have been inserted, after some slightmodification, by the scribe; and, towards the end of the Peterborough chronicle, thereoccur some long stretches of rhythmic prose almost akin to the sung verse of the people.These may be either a development of the loose rhythm of Aelfrics prose, or may,

possibly, result from the incorporation of ballads and their reduction to prose. The subjectis, however, still too obscure to admit of any very definite statement on this point, andmost of what has been said on this subject seems far removed from finality.

2. The Monastic Reform.

From this brief description of the manuscripts of the Chronicle we must turn to the

homilists, who showed especial vigour between 960 and 1020. The development reachedin style and in literary tradition is at once apparent; it had its origin, doubtless, in thereligious revival of the tenth century, which emanated from Fleury, and was identified inEngland with the names of Dunstan, Aethelwold and Oswald, the three torches of thechurch.

12

At the beginning of the tenth century, English monasticism and, therefore, the state oflearning in England, were in a deplorable condition, from which all the efforts of kingAlfred had been unable to lift them. There were religious houses, of course, but most ofthese seem to have been in the condition of Abingdon when Aethelwold was appointedabbota place in which a little monastery had been kept up from ancient days, but thendesolate and neglected, consisting of mean buildings and possessing only a few hides.

To the influence of the Benedictine reformers we owe much of the prose literature of thetenth and eleventh centuries. The great bond thus knit once more between Englishliterature and the literature of the continent ensured our share in what was then living ofclassical and pseudo-classical lore.

13

With the accession of Edgar (959) better times dawned. On the death of Odo, Dunstanbecame archbishop, and, in 961 Oswald, Odos nephew, was consecrated to the see ofWorcester. His appointment was followed in 963 by that of Aethelwold, abbot ofAbingdon, to the see of Winchester, and the three bishops set about a vigorousecclesiastical reform. During the reigns of Edgar and his sons no fewer than fortymonasteries for men were founded or restored, and these were peopled chiefly by monks

trained at Abingdon or Winchester.

14

The most famous school of all was that founded at Winchester by Aethelwold, one ofthe most distiguished of the pupils of Dunstan, and himself an enthusiastic teacher, whodid not scorn to explain the difficulties of Donatus and Priscian to the postulants andother youthful frequenters of the Benedictine school. The most important of his scholarswas Aelfric, the greatest prose writer in the vernacular before the Conquest.

15

The inhabitants of the newly restored monasteries naturally required instruction in theBenedictine rule, and to this necessity is due the version of the rule which Aethelwolddrew up under the titleRegularis Concordia Anglicae Nations MonachorumSanctimonialiumque. In the beginning of this he stated that the work had the sanction of

the king, and that it was framed at a council at Winchester. The name of the writer isnowhere given, and, were it not that Aelfric, in hisLetter to the Monks of Eynsham, says

16


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that the source of his information is bishop AethelwoldsDe Consuetudine, and quoteslong passages from theRegularis (evidently the same work), we should be ignorant of theauthorship. 11

But it was not enough to multiply copies and commentaries of the Rule in Latin. Manyof the newly admitted postulants and novices were quite ignorant of that language, and,

therefore, king Edgar further entrusted Aethelwold with the task of translatingtheRule into English, giving him in acknowledgement the manor of Southborne, whichhe assigned to the newly restored monastery at Ely. There are several MSS. containing anOld English version of theRule, and in one of them12 it is followed by a historicalsketch of the monastic revival of the tenth century, which recounts Edgars share in themovement, his refounding of Abingdon and his command to translate into EnglishtheRule. Schrer thinks that this tractate is by the author of the foregoing version oftheRule;but, since the writer calls himself everywhere abbot, and notbishop, if it is

by Aethelwold he must have made it between 959, the year of Edgars accession, and

963, when he became bishop of Winchester.

III. The Beginnings of English Prose.

1. Early English Prose.

EARLY English prose had, of necessity, a practical character. To those who understoodneither Latin nor French all proclamations and instructions, laws and sermons, had to beissued in English, while, for a long time, the official Latin of the accountant and the law clerkhad been very English in kind, even to the insertion of native words with a case-endingappended. With the increasing importance of the commons in the fourteenth century, the

proceedings of parliament itself began to descend to the vulgar tongue, which obtained asignal recognition when three successive parliaments (13624) were opened by English

speeches from the chancellor. Furthermore, a statute, in 1362, ordered the pleadings in the lawcourts to be conducted in English, though the cases were to be recorded in Latin, on theground that French was no longer sufficiently understood. Political sentiment may haveinspired this declaration, which was as much overstated as the plea of two of Henry IVs

envoys that French was, to their ignorant understandings, as bad as Hebrew; for the yearbookscontinued to be recorded in French, and in French not only diplomatic letters but reports toHenry IV himself were written. The use of that tongue, so long the medium of politeintercourse, did not vanish suddenly, but a definite movement which ensured its doom took

place in the grammar schools, after the Black Death, when English instead of French wasadopted as the medium of instruction. John Trevisa, writing in 1385, tells us that this reformwas the work of John Cornwall and his disciple Richard Pencrich, and that, in alle pegramere scoles of Engelond children leve[char] Frensche and construe[char] and lerne[char]an Englische, with the result that they learned their grammar more quickly than children

were wont to do, but with the disadvantage that they conne[char] na more frensche than canhir lift heeleand [char]at is harme for hem and [char]ey schulle passe [char]e see and

travaille in straunge landes. Even noblemen had left off teaching their children French.
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2. Early Translations

Before the close of the fourteenth century, therefore, it could no longer be assumed that allwho wished to read would read French or Latin. There was a dearth of educated clergyafter the Black Death; disaster abroad and at home left little inclination for refinement,

and, when life was reduced to its essentials, the use of the popular speech naturally becameuniversal. Thus, in the great scene of Richard IIs deposition, English was used at the

crucial moments, while, at the other end of the scale, king Richards master cook wassetting down hisForme of Cury for practical people. In the same way, on the continent,Sir John Mandeville was writing in French before 1371 for the sake of nobles and

gentlemen who knew not Latin, and there, as at home, Latin books and encyclopaediaswere so far ceasing to be read that he could venture to plagiarise from the most recent. InEngland, the needs of students, teachers and preachers were now supplied in thevernacular by the great undertakings of John Trevisa, who translated what may be calledthe standard works of the time on scientific and humane knowledgeDe Proprietatibus

Rerumby Bartholomaeus Anglicus and HigdensPolychronicon. These great treatises aretypically medieval, and the former a recognised classic in the universities. The minoritefriar Bartholomaeus, who must have been born an Englishman, was a theological professorof the university of Paris, and hisDe Proprietatibus Rerum, an encyclopaedia of allknowledge concerned with nature, was compiled in the middle of the thirteenth century,

possibly during his residence in Saxony, whither he was sent, in 1231, to organise theFranciscans of the duchy. Ranulf Higden was a monk of St. Werburghs Chester, and

wrote hisPolychroniconabout 1350. It is compiled from many authorities, and embracesthe history of the entire world, from the Creation to Higdens own times; the different

countries are described geographically, and all the favourite medieval legends in thehistories of Persia, Babylon and Rome are introduced. There are many points in which

Higden, Bartholomaeus and the later Sir John Mandeville accord, revealing somecommon predecessor among the earlier accepted authorities; for the object of the medievalstudent was knowledge and no merit resided in originality: he who would introducenovelty did wisely to insert it in some older work which commanded confidence.

Naturally, therefore, translations of books already known were the first prose works to beset before the English public, namely the two great works of Trevisa, and The Travels oSir John Mandeville, a book which, under a thin disguise of pious utility, was really avolume of entertainment.

2

The translators of these works aimed at being understood by a wider class of readers thanthe audience of Chaucer or even ofPiers the Plowman. The style, therefore, thoughsimple, is by no means terse. Where any doubt of the meaning might arise, pairs of words

are often used, after a fashion not unknown to the poets. This usage prevailed during thefollowing centuryand with some reason, for the several dialects of England still differedso much that a southern man could scarcely apprehend what Trevisa calls the scharpe

slitting, frotynge and unschape speech of York. The translators desired only to convey themeaning of their originals and their renderings are extremely free; they omit or expand asthey choose, and this saves early English prose from the pitfall of Latinism, giving it acertain originality, though at the cost of tautology. Trevisa, in the introductiontoPolychronicon, explains to his patron that though he must sometimes give word forword, active for active, passive for passive, yet he must sometimes change the order andset active for passive, or a resoun (a phrase) for a word, but he promises that, in anycase, he will render the meaning exactly. These translations became recognised authorities

among the reading public of the fifteenth century and may reasonably be considered thecorner-stones of English prose. All three were accepted as absolutely veracious; the


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adventures of Mandeville, the legends ofPolychronicon, the fairy-tale science ofquotations or hints on health. The information, all the same, seems to be conveyed with aneye to entertainment; little effort of thought is required in the reader; paragraphs are short,statements definite and the proportion of amusing anecdote is only equalled by the tritemoralising, couched in common-place phrases, which had become a required convention

in a materialist age. Books were distributed to the public by means of professional scribes;but, since there lay no sanctity in exact phraseology, the translators themselves were at themercy of copyists. Cheaper copies were sometimes produced by curtailing the text, ornewer information might be added. TrevisasBartholomaeus was probably brought up todate by many a scribe, and the different MSS. of hisPolychronicon, though unaltered as tothe narrative, present a variety of terms. Mandeville, too, appears in (probably) threedistinct translations, the most popular of which was multiplied in shortened forms. It is,therefore, dangerous to base theories upon the forms found in any one MS.; for we canrarely be sure of having the actual words of the author. Often, though not always, the MS.may be inconsistent with itself, and, in any cas, few MSS. of philological interest exist inmany copies; in other words, they were not popular versions, and, as most of the MSS. are

inconsistent with each other in spelling and in verb-forms, it seems that the general readermust have been accustomed to different renderings of sound. Caxton need hardly have

been so much concerned about the famous egges or eyren.

VII. Chaucer.

1. Chaucers Life.

OF the date of the birth of Geoffrey Chaucer we have no direct knowledge. But indirectevidence of various kinds fixes it between 1328, when his father, John Chaucer, was stillunmarried, and 1346, before which date his own statement, at the Scroope-Grosvenor suitin 1386, of his age as forty years or more would place it. Within this rather wide range,

selection has, further, to be guided by certain facts to be mentioned presently; and, forsome time past, opinion has generally adopted, in face of some difficulties, the date about

1340. John Chaucer himself was a citizen and vinter of London, the son of Robert leChaucer, who, in 1310, was collector of the customs on wine, and who had property atIpswich and elsewhere in Suffolk. In 1349, John was certainly married to an Agnes whosemaiden surname is unknown, who survived him and, in 1367, married again: therefore,unless she was the vintners second wife, she must have been Chaucers mother. The

father seems to have had some link of service with the royal household, and the poet wasconnected with it more or less all his days. Probably he was born in Thames Street,London, where his father had a house at the time of his death in 1366.

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We first hear of Chaucer himself (or, at least, of a Geoffrey Chaucer who is not likely tobe anyone else) in 1357, when he received a suit of livery as member of the household ofEdward IIIs son Lionel (afterwards duke of Clarence), or of his wife Elizabeth de Burgh.

Two years later, he served in France, was taken prisoner at a place called Retters

(alternately identified with Retiers near Rennes, and with Rethel near Reims), but wasliberated on ransom by March 1360the king subscribing 16(=over 200 now) towardsthe sum paid. Seven years later, on a June 1367, Edward gave him an annuity of 20 marksfor life, as to dilectus valettus noster, and he rose to be esquire at the end of the next year.Meanwhile, at a time earlier than that of his own pension, on 12 September 1366, anotherof half the amount had been granted to Philippa Chaucer, one of the damsels of thequeens chamber: and this Philippa, beyond reasonable doubt, must have been the poets

wife. If she was born Philippa Roet or Rouet, daughter of Sir Payn Roet, a Hainault knight,and sister of Katharine Rouet or Swynford, third wife of John of Gaunt, Chaucers

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undisputed patronage by time-honoured Lancaster would have been a matter of course.But we do not know Philippas parentage for certain. There is also much doubt about the

family that Geoffrey and Philippa may have had. The poet directly dedicates, in 1391,hisAstrolabeto little Lewis my son, who was then ten years old; but of this son we hearnothing more. On the other hand, chancellor Gascoigne, in the generation after Chaucers

death, speaks of Thomas Chaucer, a known man of position and wealth in the earlyfifteenth century, as Chaucers son: and this Thomas took the arms of Rouet late in life,

while, in 1381, John of Gaunt himself established an Elizabeth Chaucer as a nun atBarking. Beyond these facts and names nothing is known.

Of Chaucer himselfor, at least, of a Geoffrey Chaucer who, as it is very important toremember, and as has not always been remembered, may not be the same in all casesagood many facts are preserved, though these facts are in very few cases, if any, directlyconnected with his literary position. By far the larger part of the information concernsgrants of money, sometimes connected with the public service in war, diplomacy and civilduties. He joined the army in France again in 1369; and, next year, was abroad on publicduty of some kind. In 1372, he was sent to Genoa to arrange for the selection of someEnglish port as a headquarters for Genoese trade, and must have been absent for a great

part of the twelvemonth between the November of that year and of the next. On St.Georges day 1374, he began to receive from the king a daily pitcher of wine, commuted

later for money. In the following month, he leased the gatehouse of Aldegate from thecorporation, and a month later again, was made controller of customs for wool, etc., in the

port of London, receiving, in this same June, an additional pension of 10 a year fromJohn of Gaunt to himself and his wife. Wardships, forfeitures and other casualties fell tohim, and, in 1377, he went on diplomatic duties to Flanders and to France. In 1378, afterthe death of Edward III and the accession of Richard II, it is thought that he was again inFrance and, later in that year, he certainly went once more to Italy, in the mission to

Bernabo Visconti of Milan. These duties did not interfere with the controllership; to whichanother, that of the petty customs, was added in 1382, and we have record of variouspayments and gifts to him up to the autumn of 1386, when he sat in parliament as knight ofthe shire for Kent, and gave evidence in the Scroope-Grosvenor case.

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Then the tide turned against him. In the triumph of the duke of Gloucester and the eclipseof Gaunt during his absence in Spain, Chaucer lost his controllership; and it would appearthat, in 1387, his wife died. In May 1388, he assigned his pensions and allowances toanother person, which looks like (though it cannot be said certainly to be) a sign offinancial straits in the case of a man whose party was out of favour. But the fall ofGloucester and the return of John of Gaunt brought him out of the shadow again. In July1389, he was made clerk of the works to the king at various places; and, in the next year(when, as part of his new duty, he had to do with St. Georges chapel, Windsor),commissioner of roads between Greenwich and Woolwich. This latter post he seems tohave retained; the clerkship he only held for two years. On 6 September 1390, he fell twicein one day among the same thieves, and was excused robbed of some public money,which, however, he was excused from making good. During parts of this year and the next,he held an additional post, that of the forestership of North Petherton Park in Somerset. In1394 he received from Richard a fresh pension of 20 (say 300) a year. But, judging bythe evidence of records of advances and protections from suits for debt, he seems to have

been needy. In 1398, however, he obtained an additional tun of wine a year from Richard;while that luckless princes ouster and successor, John of Gaunts son, added, in October1399, forty marks to the twenty pounds, making the poets yearly income, besides the tun

of wine, equal, at least, to between 600 and 700 of our money. On the strength of this,


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possibly, Chapter (who had given up the Aldegate house thirteen years before, and whoseresidence in the interval is unknown) took a lease of a house in the garden of St. Mary,

Westminster. But he did not enjoy it for a full year, and dying (according to his tomb,which is, however, of the sixteenth century) on 25 October 1400, was buried inWestminster Abbey, in the chapel of St. Benedict, thus founding Poets Corner. That he

was actually dead by the end of that year is proved by the cessation of entries as to thispensions. Almost every known incident in his life has been mentioned in this summary, forthe traditions of his residence at Woodstock and of his beating a Franciscan friar in Fleetstreet have been given upthe latter perhaps hastily. One enigmatical incident remainsto wit, that in May 1380, one Cecilia de Chaumpaigne gave Chaucer a release de raptumeo.There is, however, no probability that there was anything in this case more romanticor more shocking than one of the attempts to kidnap a ward of property and marry him orher to somebody in whom the kidnapper was interestedattempts of which, curiouslyenough, Chaucers own father is known to have been nearly the victim. Otherwise, there

is namore to seyn, so far as true history goes. And it does not seem necessary to waste

space in elaborate confutation of unhistorical traditions and assertions, which, though in

some cases of very early origin, never had any basis of evidence, and, in most cases, canbe positively disproved. They have, for some decades, passed out of all books of theslightest authority, except as matter for refutation; and it is questionable whether this last

process itself does not lend them an injudicious survival. It will be observed, however,that, in the authentic account, as above given, while it is possible that some of its detailsmay apply to a Geoffrey Chaucer other than the poet whom we honour, there is not onesingle one of them which concerns him as a poetat all. There are, however, one or tworeferences in his lifetime, and a chain, unbroken for a long time, of almost extravagantlylaudatory comments upon his work, starting with actual contemporaries. Though there can

be little doubt that the pair met more than once, Froissarts mention of him is only in

reference to diplomatic and not literary business. But Eustache Deschamps, perhaps, onthe whole, the foremost poet of France in Chaucers time, has left a ballade of the most

complimentary character, though, already anticipating the French habit of looking alwaysat French literature first, it addresses him asgrant translateur, which, beyond doubt, hewas. In a certainly contemporary work of English prose, The Testament of Love, which, forsheer want of careful examination, was long attributed to Chaucer and which is nowdecided to be the work of one Usk, who was executed in 1386 by the Gloucester faction,Chaucer is spoken of with equal admiration, and his work is largely drawn upon. Scogan,another contemporary and a correspondent of his, celebrates him; and a far more important

person than these, the poet Gower, his personal friend, has left a well-known tribute. Thetwo principal poets of the next generation, in England, Occleve and Lydgate, were, the

former certainly, the latter probably, personal friends likewise: and, while both are copiousin laudation, Occleve has left us a portrait of Chaucer illuminated on the margin of one ofhis own MSS. Throughout the fifteenth and early sixteenth century, the chorus of praisefrom poets, Scotish as well as English, continues unabated and uninterrupted. Caxton,though never executing a complete edition, repeatedly prints part of the works and isfollowed by others; and, towards the middle of the sixteenth century, in a passage whichwriters on Chaucer have generally missed, Lilius Giraldus, one of the foremost humanistsod Italy, in a survey of European letters, recognises the eminence of Chaucer in English.


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VII. Chaucer.

2. Canon of Works.

We must, however, now make a further advance, and turn from the Chaucer who figures in

records, and the Chaucer who is eulogised as a poet, to that other sense of Chaucer which

indicates the work, not the manthe work which gained for the man the reputation and theeulogy. Uncritically accepted, and recklessly amplified during more than three centuries, ithas, since the masterly investigations of Tyrwhitt in the latter part of the eighteenth century,

been subjected to a process of severe thinning, on principles which will be referred to again.Of external, or rather positive, evidence of early date, we have some, but not a very greatdealand that not of the most unexceptionable kind. The help of the MSS. is only partial; forno one of them is accepted by anyone as an autograph, and no one of them contains all the

pieces which the severest methods of separation have left to Chaucer. But, in two of thesepieces, which themselves as wholes are undoubted, there are lists, ostensibly by the poet, ofhis own works, and cross-references in other places. The fullest of thesethe list contained inthe palinode or retraction at the end ofThe Parsons Tale and The CanterburyTales generallyhas, indeed, been suspected by some, apparently without any reason, exceptthat they would rather Chaucer had not repented of things of which, as it seems to them, hehad no reason to repent. But, even in case of forgery, the forger would, probably, have takencare to be correct in his attribution. This list contains Troilus; The book [House] of Fame; Thebook of the XXV Ladies [Legend of Good Women]; The book of the Duchess; The book of St.

Valentines day of the Parliament of Birds [Fowls]; The Canterbury Tales themselves, wherethe repentance extends only to those that sounen into sinne";The book of the Lion; and manyothers which he cannot remember, whileBaece is specified as requiring to repentance. Allthese exist except The book of the Lion. Further, in the body of the Tales, in the introductionto The Man of Laws Prologue, Chaucer is mentioned by name with an unmistakably

autobiographical humility, whether serious or humorous; and theLegendis againacknowledged under the general title of the Seintes Legende of Cupyde. Now, intheLegenditself, there is another list of works claimed by the author in which Troilus, The

House of Fame, The book of the Duchess [Death of Blanche], The Parliament of Fowls and

Boece reappear, and The Rose, Palamon and Arcite and divers smaller works named andunnamed are added. This, however, does not exhaust the list of contemporary testimony,though it may exhaust that of Chaucers own definite claim to the works specified. Lydgate,

besides referring to a mysterious Dant in English, which some have identified withTheHouse of Fame, specifies theA B C, Anelida and Arcite, The Complaint of Mars andthe Treatise on the Astrolabe. But there is another witness, a certain John Shirley, who seemsto have passed his first youth when Chaucer died, and not to have died himself till the

fifteenth century was more than half over. He has left us copies, ascribed by himself toChaucer, of the three poems last mentioned as ascribed also by Lydgate, and of the minorpieces entitled The Complaint unto Pity, The Complaint of Venus, Fortune, Truth, Gentilesse,Lack of Steadfastness and theEmpty Purse. The epistles (or envoys) to Scogan and Bukton,the Rosemounde ballade, The Former Age and one or two scraps are also definitely attributedto the poet in early MSS.

VII. Chaucer.


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11. The Canterbury Tales.

That he found what he wanted in the scheme ofThe Canterbury Tales, and that, thoughthese also are unfinished (in fact not half finished according to their apparent design),they are one of the greatest works of literatureeverybody knows. Of the genesis of thescheme itself nobody knows anything. As Dickens says, I thought of Mr. Pickwick: so,

no doubt, did Chaucer think of his pilgrims. It has been suggestedand deniedthatBoccaccio, so often Chaucers immediate inspirer, was his inspirer in this case also, by

the scheme and framework ofThe Decameron. It is, indeed, by no means unlikely thatthere was some connection; but the plan of collecting individually distinct tales, anduniting them by means of a framework of central story, was immemorial in the east; andat least one example of it had been naturalised in Europe, under many different forms, fora couple of centuries, in the shape of the collection known as The Seven Sages. It is notnecessary to look beyond this for general suggestion; and the still universal popularity of

pilgrimages provided a more special hint, the possibilities of which it certainly did notrequire Chaucers genius to recognise. These fortuitous associationsmasses of drift-wood kept together for a time and then separatedoffer almost everything that the artist,desirous of painting character and manners on the less elaborate and more varied scale,can require. Though we have little of the kind from antiquity, Petronius shows us thegerms of the method; and, since medieval literature began to become adult in Italy, it has

been the commonest of the common.

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To what extent Chaucer regarded it, not merely as a convenient vehicle for anything thathe might take a fancy to write, but as a useful one to receive anything of the lessindependent kind that he had already written, is a very speculative question. But thegeneral tendency has been to regard The Knights Tale, that of the Second Nun and,

perhaps, others, as examples of this latter process, while an interesting hypothesis hasbeen started that the capital Tale of Gamelynwhich we find mixed up with Chaucers

works, but which he cannot possibly have writtenmay have been selected by him andlaid by as the subject of rehandling into a Canterbury item. But all this is guesswork; and,perhaps, the elaborate attempts to arrange the tales in a consistent order are a littlesuperfluous. The unquestionable incompleteness of the whole and of some of the parts,the irregular and unsystematic character of the minor prologues and framework-pieces,alike preclude the idea of a very orderly plan, worked out so far as it went in an orderlyfashion. In fact, as has been hinted above, such a thing is repugnant to Chaucers geniusas manifested not merely here but everywhere.

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Fortunately, however, he was able to secure a sufficient number of happy moments todraw the main part of the frameworkThe Prologue, in which the plan of the whole issketched, the important characters delineated and the action launchedwithout gap orlapse. For it would be short-sighted to regard the grouping of certain figures in anundescribed batch as an incompleteness. Some writers of more methodical dispositionwould, probably, have proceeded from this to work out all the framework part, including,

perhaps, even a termination, however much liberty they might reserve to themselves forthe inset tales. But this was not Chaucers way. There have been controversies even as tothe exact number of tales that he originally promises or suggests: and the incident of thecanons yeoman shows that he might very well have reinforced his company in numbers,

and have treated them to adventures of divers kinds. In fact, the unknown deviser ofthe The Pardoner and the Tapster,though what he has produced is quite unlike Chaucerin form, has been much less out of the spirit and general verisimilitude of the whole workthan more modern continuators. But it is most probable that the actual frame-stuffsomuch of it as is genuine (for there are fragments of link in some MSS. which are very

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unlikely to be so)was composed by its author in a very haphazard manner, sometimeswith the tale he had in his mind, sometimes to cobble on one which he had written moreor less independently. The only clear string of connection from first to last is the

pervading personality of the host, who gives a unity of character, almost as great as theunity of frame-story, to the whole work, inviting, criticising, admiring, denouncing, but

always keeping himself in evidence. As to the connection of origin between individualtales and the whole, more hazardous conjectures in things Chaucerian have been madethan that the couplet-verse pieces were all or mostly written or rewritten directly for thework, and that those in other metres and in prose were the adopted part of the family. Butthis can never be known as a fact. What is certain is that the couplets ofThe

Prologue, which must be of the essence of the scheme, and those of most parts of itwhere the couplets appear, are the most accomplished, various, thoroughly masteredverse that we find in Chaucer himself or in any English writer up to his time, while theyare not exceeded by any foreign model unless it be the terza rima of Dante. A mediumwhich can render, as they are rendered here, the manners-painting ofThe Prologue, thecomic monodrama ofThe Wife of Bath and the magnificent description of the temple of

Mars, has handed in its proofs once for all.Whether, however,

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