Table Of ContentON
GEWRITUM
CYTHATH:
MODELS
OF
TRANSLATION
IN
ANGLO-‐SAXON
ENGLAND
A
Dissertation
Presented
to
the
Faculty
of
the
Graduate
School
of
Cornell
University
in
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the
Requirements
for
the
Degree
of
Doctor
of
Philosophy
by
Benjamin
Daniel
Weber
May
2012
©
2012
Benjamin
Daniel
Weber
ON
GEWRITUM
CYTHATH:
MODELS
OF
TRANSLATION
IN
ANGLO-‐SAXON
ENGLAND
Benjamin
Daniel
Weber,
Ph.D.
Cornell
University
2012
This
dissertation
argues
for
a
new
understanding
of
translation
in
Anglo-‐
Saxon
England,
based
on
careful
studies
of
poetry
translated
from
Latin
into
Old
English.
The
traditional
approach
to
Anglo-‐Saxon
translation
focuses
on
the
educational
reforms
of
Alfred
the
Great,
obscuring
to
some
extent
the
variety
and
sophistication
of
Anglo-‐Saxon
responses
to
Latin
literature.
This
project
demonstrates
that
variety
through
close
studies
of
four
Old
English
texts:
the
Phoenix,
Exeter
Book
riddles
35
and
40,
the
Meters
of
Boethius,
and
Judgment
Day
II.
These
studies,
which
occupy
the
individual
chapters
of
the
dissertation,
show
that
the
Alfredian
approach
was
merely
one
among
many
distinct
varieties
of
translation
practiced
during
the
Anglo-‐Saxon
period.
This
project
concludes
by
indicating
some
directions
in
which
scholars
might
focus
their
efforts
to
better
understand
the
dynamic
relationship
of
Old
English
to
Latin
revealed
in
Anglo-‐
Saxon
practices
of
translation.
BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH
Benjamin
D.
Weber
began
his
Ph.D.
in
Medieval
Studies
at
Cornell
in
2006,
after
earning
a
Bachelor's
Degree
in
English
from
Princeton
University
in
2004
and
participating
in
a
two-‐year
postbaccalaureate
program
at
Columbia
University
from
2004-‐2006.
He
continued
to
pursue
his
interest
in
English
and
Latin
literature
through
his
Ph.D.,
focusing
on
Old
English
literature
with
minor
fields
in
Middle
English
and
Medieval
Latin
literature.
His
particular
interests
within
the
field
of
medieval
literature
include
translation,
etymology
and
the
use
of
vernacular
literature
to
negotiate
relationships
to
figures
of
authority.
His
academic
life
has
been
supported
unfailingly
by
his
wife
Naomi,
and
his
free
time
made
immeasureably
richer
by
the
birth
of
his
daughter
Melanie
in
February
of
2011.
ii
i
To
my
best
girls,
Naomi
and
Melanie
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Even
with
a
project
such
as
this,
nominally
the
work
of
a
single
person,
there
are
a
great
many
people
to
thank,
without
whose
help
it
likely
would
have
never
been
completed.
First
are
my
committee
members,
Tom,
Andy
and
Samantha,
whose
constant
guidance,
good
humor
and
willingness
to
help
have
carried
me
since
I
began
my
Ph.D.
I
would
also
like
to
thank
Matt
Spears,
Jessica
Streit,
and
Danielle
Wu
for
their
friendship,
support
and
encouragement.
My
family
deserves
no
less
thanks,
especially
Naomi,
who
was
bold
enough
to
marry
a
scholar,
and
whose
hard
work
and
unconditional
love
have
made
the
last
few
years
of
my
degree
much
less
stressful
and
less
lonely
than
they
otherwise
would
have
been.
Finally,
sincere
thanks
are
due
to
Sifu
Sharif
Bey
and
my
classmates
at
Syracuse
Kung
Fu,
for
giving
me
a
place
where
I
didn't
have
to
try
to
be
smart
all
the
time.
There
are
countless
others,
classmates
and
colleagues,
who
deserve
a
spot
on
this
page,
but
whose
contributions
must
be
ommitted
for
reasons
of
space.
To
all
them,
and
to
everyone
else
who
has
ever
been
there
for
me,
I
give
my
deepest
thanks.
v
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
Introduction:
Alfred's
Shadow
1
Chapter
1:
Non-‐Alfredian
Exegesis
in
the
18
Old
English
Phoenix
Chapter
2:
Translation
and
Intellectual
56
Culture
in
Exeter
Riddles
35
and
40
Chapter
3:
Theory
into
Practice:
the
100
Alfredian
Meters
of
Boethius
Chapter
4:
Judgment
Day
II
and
the
145
Poetics
of
Confession
Conclusion:
Cultures
of
Translation
186
Works
Cited
194
v
i
LIST
OF
ABBREVIATIONS
ASE
Anglo-Saxon
England
ASPR
Anglo-‐Saxon
Poetic
Records,
ed.
Krapp
and
Dobbie,
1931-‐53.
CSEL
Corpus
Scriptorum
Ecclesiasticorum
Latinorum.
Vienna:
Hoelder,
Pichler,
Tempsky,
1886-‐
DCP
De
Consolatione
Philosophiae,
ed.
Moreschini.
Leipzig:
K.G.
Sauer
Verlag,
2000.
De
Ave
De
Ave
Phoenice,
ed.
Brandt
and
Laubmann.
CSEL
xxvii.
Vienna,
1892.
De
Die
De
Die
Iudicii,
ed.
Caie.
The
Old
English
Poem
'Judgement
Day
II':
a
Critical
Edition
with
Editions
of
'De
die
iudicii'
and
the
Hatton
113
Homily
'Be
domes
daege'.
Cambridge:
D.S.
Brewer,
2000.
JDII
Judgment
Day
II,
ed.
Caie.
The
Old
English
Poem
'Judgement
Day
II':
a
Critical
Edition
with
Editions
of
'De
die
iudicii'
and
the
Hatton
113
Homily
'Be
domes
daege'.
Cambridge:
D.S.
Brewer,
2000.
RSB
Regula
Sancti
Benedicti,
ed.
Fry.
The
Rule
of
St.
Benedict
in
Latin
and
English
with
notes
and
thematic
index.
Collegeville:
Liturgical
Press,
1981.
v
ii
Introduction:
Alfred's
Shadow
Alfred
the
Great,
the
celebrated
king
of
Wessex
who
died
in
899,
casts
a
long
shadow
over
Anglo-‐Saxon
literary
history.
According
to
Robert
Stanton,
"he
helped
to
define
an
English
literary
culture
at
a
time
when
Latin
was
the
dominant
high-‐
status
language"
(Stanton,
"Alfred"
116).
Stanton
sees
Alfred's
educational
reforms,
conceived
and
carried
out
in
spite
of
the
constant
threat
of
Viking
invasion,
as
the
precondition
for
the
efflorescence
of
literary
production
that
took
place
in
tenth
and
eleventh-‐century
England.
Stanton
argues
that
case
most
obviously
when
he
states
that
"English
as
a
literary
language
was
born
out
of
a
program
of
translation,
and
defined
itself
largely
in
terms
of
differences
between
itself
and
the
Latin
language"
(Stanton,
"(M)other
Tongue"
33-‐4).
Nicole
Discenza,
author
of
a
recent
book
on
Alfred's
translation
of
Boethius,
supports
Stanton's
assessment
when
she
cites
him
in
support
of
her
claim
that
"Alfred
started
a
process
of
legitimation...that
would
not
be
complete
for
many
centuries"
(Discenza
4).
Discenza
and
Stanton
thus
both
place
Alfred
at
the
forefront
of
translation
in
Anglo-‐Saxon
England,
figuring
him
as
the
first
great
translator
who
appropriated
the
authority
of
Latin
literature
for
the
vernacular,
thus
authorizing
the
use
of
English
for
high-‐status
literature
during
and
after
his
reign.
There
is
some
truth
to
that
claim.
Alfred's
program
of
translation
was
ambitious,
designed
to
address
a
precipitous
decline
in
Latin
learning
Alfred
claims
1
took
place
during
the
ninth
century.1
Alfred's
response
to
that
decline
places
him
squarely
in
the
middle
of
Discenza
and
Stanton's
narrative
of
literary
history
in
Anglo-‐Saxon
England,
a
story
which
begins
with
the
arrival
of
Augustine
of
Canterbury
and
his
missionaries
from
Rome
at
the
end
of
the
sixth
century.
When
they
arrived,
Augustine
and
his
followers
brought
the
Latin
language
and
new
technologies
of
writing
and
bookmaking
with
them.
Though
historical
evidence
from
that
period
is
scarce,
it
seems
that
the
Anglo-‐Saxons
embraced
literacy
and
the
new
religion
with
equal
fervor:
100
years
after
the
missionaries
had
arrived,
Bede
was
nearing
the
completion
of
his
Ecclesiastical
History,
a
monument
of
Latin
learning
and
historical
scholarship.
Bede,
though
he
may
have
been
the
greatest
scholar
in
early
England,
was
hardly
the
only
one.
The
school
of
Theodore
and
Hadrian
at
Canterbury
flourished
during
that
period,
and
the
famous
churchman
and
poet
Aldhelm
began
his
career
during
Bede's
lifetime.
The
celebrated
twelfth-‐century
historian
William
of
Malmesbury
paints
a
colorful
picture
of
seventh-‐century
English
learning
in
his
Gesta
Pontificum:
Populum
eo
tempore
semibarbarum,
parum
divinis
sermonibus
intentum,
statim
cantatis
missis
domos
cursitare
solitum.
Ideo
sanctum
virum,
super
pontem
qui
rura
et
urbem
continuat,
abeuntibus
se
opposuisse
obicem,
quasi
artem
cantitandi
professum.
Eo
plusquam
semel
facto,
plebis
favorem
et
concursum
emeritum.
Hoc
commento
sensim
inter
ludicra
verbis
scripturarum
insertis,
cives
ad
sanitatem
reduxisse;
qui
si
severe
et
cum
excommunicatione
agendum
putasset,
profecto
profecisset
nichil
(V.190)
The
people
in
that
time
were
half-‐barbarian,
scarcely
intent
on
the
divine
services,
accustomed
to
run
home
immediately
after
the
mass
had
been
sung.
So
that
holy
1
See
Stanton,
"King
Alfred"
116-‐17
for
Alfred's
narrative
of
decline,
c.f.
Morrish,
who
argues
that
Alfred
exaggerated
the
decay
of
English
learning
for
political
reasons.
2
Description:This dissertation argues for a new understanding of translation in Anglo-‐. Saxon England, based on careful studies of poetry translated from Latin into Old. English. The traditional approach to Anglo-‐Saxon translation focuses on the educational reforms of Alfred the Great, obscuring to some e
