Chapter XIII: Appendix (3)

[747] Above, p. 59.

[748] 174, 30 ff.; cf. 76, 4 ff. of Tomyris and Cyrus. Here the stratagem in question is mentioned by Orosius, but Alfred expands the hint very luxuriantly.

[749] Above, p. 99.

[750] 188, 8.

[751] Above, pp. 59, 102, 105-6.

[752] 172, 1 ff.; cf. also the account of Anthony’s ships, 246, 7 ff.

[753] Above, p. 113.

[754] 96, 12 ff.; cf. also 98, 12; 146, 17; 88, 3 ff.; 176, 14.

[755] 46, 15 ff.; see above, p. 110.

[756] Cited by Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, ii. 414 (ed. 1862) from private sources.

[757] 74, 22 ff.; 210, 5 ff.; 248, 12 ff.; 290, 11 ff.

[758] 134, 10 ff.

[759] 68, 19 ff.

[760] 178, 9 ff. For Regulus, cf. also Boethius, xvi. § 2 (p. 37).

[761] 190, 17 ff.; 224, 24 ff.

[762] 242, 19. 20. 30 ff.

[763] 34, 34 ff.

[764] 224, 24 ff.

[765] 54, 16 ff. (Phalaris); cf. Boeth. xvi. § 2 (p. 37, Busiris).

[766] 296, 1 ff.; the ironical remark on the loyalty (hlafordhyldo) shown by Rufinus and Stilicho to their master’s children.

[767] 136, 27 ff.

[768] Another change from similar motives is 52, 35 ff.

[769] Below, § 110.

[770] 32, 13 ff.; 58, 7 ff.; see Schilling, p. 56.

[771] The two Scipios, 224, 24 ff.; Sextus Julius Caesar and the Praetor Cneius Pompeius, are confused with the two great rivals of later days, and the whole account of the treatment of the former pair by the Senate is extraordinarily funny, 234, 21 ff.

[772] The most remarkable instance of this is in the account of Alexander’s successors and the territories which fell to their lot, 142, 26 ff. (Oros. iii. 23, 7 ff.).

[773] e.g. 190, 29; 218, 10; 264, 4 (this last may be due to a wrong reading in the Latin text); 271, 17.

[774] 246, 16 ff.

[775] ibid. 32 ff.

[776] 250, 10 ff.

[777] Dr. Schilling has remarked (p. 59) that Alfred in the Orosius never mastered the fact that a Roman might have not merely two but three names. So when there are two consuls with three names each, he either makes three persons out of them with two names each, e.g. 176, 32; 182, 5 &c., or he omits the two last names altogether, e.g. 202, 18; 204, 23 &c. By the time he reached the Boethius he had overcome this difficulty. In two places he says that Marcus was called by another name Tullius, and by a third name Cicero, xviii. § 2, xli. § 3 (pp. 43, 143).

[778] p. 61.

[779] Above, p. 160.

[780] Paul und Braune’s Beiträge, iv. 127.

[781] Ed. 2, p. 196.

[782] Introduction (1890); Dr. Miller further enforced his view in a monograph on the Place Names in the English Bede, Quellen und Forschungen (1896). For a copy of this I was indebted to the writer.

[783] Above, § 98.

[784] Homilies, ed. Thorpe, ii. 116-118.

[785] ibid. 358.

[786] ibid. i. 2.

[787] Prof. Schipper, Gegenwärtiger Stand, &c., p. 6.

[788]

‘He nom þa Englisce boc,
þa makede Seint Beda.’

Laȝamon, i. 2.

[789] ‘liber quem composuit in lingua Saxonica de Gestis Anglorum … cuius copiam habui in Prioratu Canonicorum de Suthwyk,’ Anglia Sacra, i. 183. This is interesting as showing that Saxon studies were not quite extinct even in the fifteenth century. It is also interesting, because we can almost certainly point to the very ‘copia’ used by Rudborne. It is the Cotton MS. Otho B. XI. This is now terribly injured, owing to the great Cottonian fire of 1731. But Wanley (p. 219), who saw it when complete, describes it as ‘exemplum antiquum primitus Eccles. Beatae Mariae de Suwika’ (Southwick, Hants); cited, ed. Miller, I. xvi. Rudborne also cites Alfred’s will, p. 206, though this does not agree with our copies.

[790] In vol. iv of Grein-Wülker’s Bibliothek der angelsächsischen Prosa, 1897-1899.

[791] Gegenwärtiger Stand, &c., u. s. pp. 4, 5.

[792] Ed. Miller, p. xxiii; ed. Schipper, p. xxix.

[793] Above, § 88.

[794] I have shown above, p. 145, that there are certain words characteristic of the earlier recension of the Dialogues which the reviser systematically alters into others, _semninga_ into _færinga_, _tid_ into _tima_, _ongitan_ to _oncnawan_, &c. In the Bede I have noticed 32 instances of _semninga_, not one of _færinga_; 90 of _tid_, none of _tima_; 10 of _ongitan_, 2 of _oncnawan_. I do not pretend that my observations are exhaustive. The following words occur, so far as I know, only in the Bede and in the Dialogues (the references are to the pages and lines of Hecht’s and Miller’s editions respectively):—ágendlíce = proprie, D 264, 26; B 30, 10 (in the sense of ‘arbitrarily’ it occurs C. P. p. 144); allíc = catholicus, D 237, 20; B 312, 31; ancerlíf, D 210, 26; B 364, 30; brícsian, D 343, 37; B 244, 22; camphád, D 298, 8; B 480, 11; drihtenlíc, D 309, 26; B 158, 10; eardunghús, D 185, 16; B 366, 16; efenceasterwaran, D 205, 1; B 62, 20; fordémedness, D 235, 14; B 34, 5; forsettan (in sense of ‘obstruct’) D 258, 28; B 212, 16; fremsumlíce, D 242, 10; B 184, 23; gefeolan, D 336, 23; B 450, 28; gefremedness, D 318, 15; B 32, 7; gewinfullíc, D 222, 9; B 56, 9; gýmeléasness, D 208, 4; B 242, 28; ungebrosnendlíc, D 233, 15; B 378, 4; ungeæhtendlic, D 282, 21; B 84, 12. This list too might be easily extended; and the whole subject of the relation of the two works is well worthy of further examination. No doubt the resemblance is partly due to the similarity of their subject matter. The likeness of the two originals is also very strong in parts; so much so indeed that I think that Bede must, consciously or unconsciously, have modelled his style in the Hist. Eccl. on the Dialogues of Gregory. Still the likeness between the two translations is, I think, greater than one would expect in the case of two perfectly independent translators, and points to their having been produced under similar influences.

[795] e.g. 114, 29; 180, 15; 216, 9; the references are to the E. E. T. S. edition by Dr. Miller.

[796] e.g. 38, 24; 50, 1; 226, 30; 274, 10.

[797] e.g. 36, 17; 122, 33; 190, 22. 30; 266, 32; 294, 23; 406, 21.

[798] e.g. 32, 7; 172, 28; 270, 33.

[799] Instead of the passive the impersonal active form is ordinarily used in Anglo-Saxon; not ‘the land is called Kent,’ but, ‘one calls the land Kent.’ In the Celtic languages the so-called passive really is, in origin, an impersonal active form, which explains the (at first sight) strange phenomenon that the ‘passive’ always takes an accusative after it, see Zimmer, Keltische Studien, No. 8.

[800] e.g. 14, 27: ‘fram deaðes liðe,’ ‘a mortis articulo’ (lið = joint); 32, 8; 128, 14; 214, 17; 269, 9; 274, 11; 278, 2; 294, 7; 308, 22; 336, 24; 370, 4; 462, 7; 478, 33. An interesting instance of taking a metaphorical expression literally occurs 372, 14 (H. E. iv. 29). The original is ‘incubuit precibus antistes’; this is translated ‘ða aðenede se biscop hine in cruce ⁊ hine gebæd,’ ‘the bishop stretched himself in a cross and prayed’; i.e. the translator understands by ‘incubuit’ what the Irish call ‘cros-figil,’ or praying with the body stretched out prostrate on the ground in the form of a cross.

[801] e.g. 282, 23; 294, 23; 450, 13; 482, 9.

[802] Gegenwärtiger Stand, &c., pp. 8-10.

[803] See the parallel texts in Schipper’s edition, pp. 266-270, 273-275.

[804] ibid. 271-272 (= Miller, p. 206). This passage relates to the Easter Controversy.

[805] ibid. 276-285 (= Miller, pp. 210 ff.). Another passage, Schipper, pp. 133-140 (= Miller, pp. 110 ff.), is omitted in two of the younger group of MSS.; but as it is contained in the third, its omission in the two others was probably due to some mutilation of their common original.

[806] Above, § 98.

[807] H. E. i. 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32; ii. 4, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19; v. 21.

[808] H. E. i. 23; iii. 29; the Canons of the Council of Hertford are retained, iv. 5.

[809] ibid. i. 27.

[810] ibid. iv. 20; v. 7, 8, 19; ii. 1, is an exception; here Gregory’s epitaph is translated into prose.

[811] ibid. ii. 2 (a few lines); iii. 3 (part), 4, 17 (part omitted in older recension); 25, 26, 28 (a few lines); v. 21.

[812] Bede, I. xxxix ff.

[813] See Miller, pp. lvii ff.; and cf. the characterisation Aidan as ‘the _good_ bishop,’ 246, 26. One notes too with pleasure the omission of the epithet ‘prudens’ which Bede strangely applies to Coifi’s purely material arguments in favour of Christianity, 134, 23 (H. E. ii. 13).

[814] H. E. i. 2, 6 (this passage about Carausius is omitted also in the Orosius; here the omission causes a serious perversion of meaning, what is said of Carausius in the original being transferred to Maximianus in the translation); 8 (the passage about Arianism in Britain omitted), 9, 10, 11 (much shortened), 17-22; ii. 1 (shortened). In many cases however, in spite of the omission of a chapter, the capitulum belonging to it is retained and translated.

[815] ibid. v. 15-17.

[816] Grundriss, p. 406. This is contested by August Schmidt, u. s. pp. 28 ff.

[817] Chronicle, II. xxi, lxi, lxviii, cxiii.

[818] e.g. 40, 8; 46, 11; 114, 11; 120, 7; 156, 1; 158, 28; 164, 14; 166, 32; 174, 25; 178, 17; 188, 23. 25 (name of Bamborough inserted, which name is nowhere mentioned by Bede); 238, 31; 240, 27 (here the insertion was necessitated by the preceding omission; so at 246, 33); 242, 19; 264, 11; 338, 8. 25; 374, 26; 390, 20; 394, 24. 29; 438, 1. 8; 464, 6.

[819] 166, 10 (the addition of ‘⁊ cyste,’ ‘and kissed it,’ to the account of Aidan blessing Oswald’s bounteous hand); 162, 2; 370, 29; 380, 18; 412, 15; cf. 58, 26; 102, 31; 130, 32; 174, 30 ff.; 184, 34; 232, 19.

[820] 32, 10.

[821] 42, 16.

[822] 246, 26.

[823] e.g. 240, 20; 256, 8; 346, 7; 390, 6; 422, 8; 424, 20; 428, 24; 442, 27. 29; 456, 13.

[824] 382, 19; 422, 15 ff.; 448, 19; 466, 27.

[825] 52, 5. 11; 166, 23; 278, 30.

[826] 144, 9; 186, 33; 216, 23; 448, 10.

[827] 150, 13; 154, 19; 156, 5; 166, 16; 178, 14; 182, 11; 202, 12; 268, 13 (a reference to one of Bede’s teachers); 446, 19 (statement that Daniel was still bishop of Winchester); 472, 23 (the statement that the Britons still retained their incorrect Easter, though all the Celts had submitted before the end of the eighth century; see Bede, I. xxxix). In one case Alfred by inserting the words ‘oð þas tid,’ ‘up to the present time,’ does seem to pledge himself to the truth of the statement in his own day, 176, 20.

[828] 152, 23 (Municipium treated as a proper name); 292, 20; 334, 7; 340, 34; 370, 15.

[829] 118, 7 (_episcopum_ instead of _episcopium_; this misreading is found in some Latin MSS.); 154, 3; and 306, 20 (_troicus_ instead of _tragicus_ or _stragicus_); 242, 31 (_a Deo_ instead of _adeo_); 340, 8 (_de tecto_ instead of _detecto_); 388, 33 (_praeponere_ instead of _proponere_); 436, 26 (_siuimet_ [i.e. _sibimet_] instead of _suimet_).

[830] 4, 2 ff.; 98, 6; 236, 7 ff.; for lesser divergences cf. 178, 22; 258, 15; 388, 6.

[831] e.g. Pope Gregory and the Anglian slave boys, 96, 31; the death of Cædmon, 348, 10.

[832] Const. Hist. i. 70, 71, 111.

[833] I give a list of the more important terms:—heretoga = dux, 148; ealdormen ⁊ heretogan = duces regii, 236; ealdorman, which in some applications is equivalent to heretoga, is a vaguer and more general term, and represents a considerable number of Latin expressions; thus ealdormen = duces, 134, 158, 302; = maiores natu, 136, 158; = maiores, 348, 442, 450; = principes, 198, 240, 316, 334; = satrapae, 414; = subreguli, 298 (_bis_); ealdorman = maior domus regiae, 256 (of Ebroin); þegna aldormon = primus ministrorum, 264; gerefa = praefectus, 194, 256; tun gerefa = uillicus, 344, 414; geþeahteras = consiliarii, 136, 454; witan = consiliarii, 134; = seniores, 452; in gemote heora weotona = in conuentu seniorum, 162; þegn = minister, 134, 146, 158, 196, 294, 462; cf. þinen = ministra, 318; þegnung = ministerium, 196; cwene þegn = reginae minister, 330; cyninges þegn = minister regis, 328; = miles regis, 150; = miles, 222, 302, 326 (_bis_), 418, cf. 436; þegn = miles, 194; gesið = comes, 194, 228, 274, 292, 326, 394; gesiðmann = comes, 22 (_bis_); æðelingas = nobiles, 138, 240, 242 (this is important as showing that æðeling was not restricted, as in later usage, to members of the royal house, though it is used of them, as the following examples show); æðeling (of a king’s brother), 324; se geonga æðeling = regius iuuenis, iuuenis de regio genere, 130, 306; æðelingas þæs cynecynnes = nobiles ac regii uiri, 140; here = hostilis exercitus, 54; = exercitus, 356; fyrd = exercitus, 102; = expeditio, 30; fyrd ⁊ here = bellum, 168, 208; cynelic tun = uilla regia, 140; cyninges bold = uilla regia, 140; ham = uicani, 180; tunscipe = uicani, 416; wiic = mansio, 332, 388; sundorwic = mansio, 262; boclanda æht = praediorum possessiones, 236; heowscipe = familia (hide), 332; hiwisc = familia (hide), 456 (_bis_); hired = domus (household), 144; higna ealdor = pater familiae, 180; geferscipe = domus (household), 264; = clerus, 248, 398; cf. mid his geferum = cum clero suo, cum clericis suis, 364, 402; his preost ⁊ hond þeng = clericus illius, 456; ealdordom = primatus, 368; aldorbiscop = metropolitanus episcopus, 408; regolweard = praepositus, 362; so: prafost ⁊ regolweard, 360; prafost ⁊ ealdorman = propositi 232 (these three examples refer to the prior or provost of a monastery). In the Orosius we have æðelingas = regii iuuenes, 44; ealdorman = praefectus, 60, 84; but the most interesting instance is: Asiam [he] hæfde Romanum to boclande geseald = traditam per testamentum Romanis Asiam, 224; cf. the Soliloquies, p. 164: ‘ælcne man lyst siððan he ænig cotlyf on his hlafordes _læne_ myd his fultume getimbred hæfð, þæt he hine mote hwilum þaron gerestan, … oð þone fyrst þe he _bocland_ ⁊ ece yrfe þurh his hlafordes miltse geearnige.’ At p. 176 of the same work is a passage which perhaps illustrates the date of the use of seals in England, for I do not think there is anything corresponding to it in the original: ‘geþene nu gif ðines hlafordes ærendgewrit ⁊ his insegel to ðe cymð.’ Another interesting passage illustrating the meeting of the Witan, the gathering of the fyrd, the king’s household, &c., is at p. 187: ‘geðenc nu hweðer awiht manna cynges ham sece þer ðær he ðonne on tune byð, oððe his gemot, oððe his fyrd’ &c.; cf. also pp. 200, 204. It is worth noting that the word ‘carcern,’ ‘prison,’ occurs first in Alfred’s Laws (see Schmid, Gesetze, Glossary, s. v.), and is also of frequent occurrence in his works, Past. p. 329; Oros. p. 214; Boeth. i. (pp. 7, 8), xviii. § 4 (p. 45), xxxvii. § 1 (p. 111); Solil. pp. 202, 203. In the Psalter, which is possibly by Alfred, we have mention of the two _shires_ of Judah and Benjamin, ed. Thorpe, p. 113; cf. ibid. 29 for an interesting reference to measurement of land with ropes. In the Dialogues we have the following: geréfa = praefectus, 340; = tribunus, 220; geréfman = primarius, 222; = curialis, 308; geréfscír = locus praefectorum; práfost = praepositus (in monastic sense), 344; ealdorman = comes, 220, 301. An interesting word is wlíte-weorð, literally ‘face-price’ = ransom, 179.

[834] See Stewart’s Boethius, p. 172; Moore, Dante Studies, i. 279-83; it may be noted that Augustine, Orosius, Gregory, Bede, and Boethius, all occur in Alcuin’s catalogue of the York Library, De Sanctis Ebor. vv. 1535 ff. Still more interesting is the fact that Augustine, Orosius, Boethius, Bede, are mentioned within a few lines of one another, Paradiso, x. 118-32.

[835] On Boethius generally, see Boethius, an essay by H. F. Stewart, 1891, a book from which I have learnt much. See also the article on Boethius in Dict. Christ. Biog.

[836] Stewart, p. 54.

[837] ibid., 78.

[838] Mr. Stewart, p. 106, puts it the other way; but I think the above statement does fuller justice to Boethius.

[839] Henry of Huntingdon and Petrarch among others wrote treatises De Contemptu Mundi. Boccaccio, as Mr. Archer reminds me, wrote a treatise De Casibus illustrium uirorum, on which Chaucer’s Monk’s Tale with the same title is founded.

[840] From a poem De Contemptu Mundi by Jacopone; Trench’s Sacred Latin Poetry, 3rd ed., p. 270. The Rhythm of Bernard of Morlaix, from which come ‘Jerusalem the Golden,’ ‘Brief life,’ &c., has the same title.

[841] Stewart, p. 203.

[842] ‘Misimi a leggere quello non conosciuto da molti libro di Boezio, nel quale, cattivo e discacciato, consolato s’ avea,’ Conv. ii. 13. This statement that the book was ‘not known by many’ is curious. On the use of Boethius by Dante, see Dr. Moore, u. s. pp. 282-8, 355, 356.

[843] I have not read this book myself; but More’s great-grandson Cresacre More describes it as ‘a most excellent book, full of spiritual and forcible motives, expressing lively Sir Thomas’ singular resolution to apply all those wholesome medicines to himself,’ Life of Sir T. More, ch. x. ad init.

[844] c. viii, Sedgefield, p. 20; cf. c. vii. § 2, p. 15.

[845] In Memoriam, vi.

[846] Matthew Arnold, Geist’s Grave.

‘Sunt lacrimae rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt.’

[847] On the strength of this, Boethius obtained the honours of saintship, Moore, u. s. p. 282. Dante places Boethius in heaven, but among the theologians in the Sun, Paradiso, x. 124 ff., not among the warriors and martyrs of the Cross in Mars; though he says of his soul—

‘Ed essa da _martiro_
E da esilio venne a questa pace.’

[848] Stewart, p. 33.

[849] Stewart, pp. 1 ff.

[850] ibid., pp. 108 ff.

[851] ‘Uti in Timaeo Platoni nostro placet, in minimis quoque rebus diuinum praesidium debet inplorari,’ Lib. III, Prosa ix.

[852] Vol. xciv, 149 ff.; many of Dr. Schepss’ instances are reproduced in Mr. Sedgefield’s Introduction, pp. xxxi ff. Among the most distinctly Christian interpretations are: the references to the heavenly Jerusalem, c. v. § 1 (p. 11), cf. c. xxxvi. § 2 (p. 105); and to the martyrs, c. xi. ad fin. (p. 26); the beautiful saying that ‘Christ dwelleth in the valley of humility,’ c. xii (p. 27); the Christian application given to the fable of Eurydice, c. xxxv. ad fin. (p. 103); the identification of the rebellion of the giants with Nimrod’s building of the Tower of Babel, c. xxxv. § 4 (p. 99).

[853] Thus the addition in c. xxiv. § 3 (p. 54) on the worth of friends, is a repetition of c. xx. ad fin. (p. 48); the sentence against living a soft life, c. xxxix. § 10 ad fin. (p. 133), anticipates c. xl. § 3 (p. 138); the thought that the temporal prosperity of the good is a foreshadowing of their eternal happiness, c. xxxix. § 11 (p. 134), anticipates c. xl. § 2 (p. 137).

[854] Above, § 87.

[855] c. xvii. pp. 40, 41.

[856] c. vii. § 3 (p. 18).

[857] c. xviii. § 4 (p. 45).

[858] c. xiii. (p. 28).

[859] c. xxx. §§ 1, 2 (p. 69).

[860] c. xxxvi. § 8 (p. 110); c. xli. § 2 (p. 142).

[861] c. xli. § 2 (p. 142).

[862] ibid. § 3 (p. 144).

[863] See note 2, p. 181.

[864] c. vii. § 3 (p. 18).

[865] c. xii. ad fin. (p. 27).

[866] Clarendon Press, 1900.

[867] See pp. 26, 27, 34, 53 (simile of the rivers and the sea, repeated pp. 82, 83, 86); 57 (the wheel, repeated p. 81, and p. 129, where there is a hint of it in the text, which is most elaborately developed under the influence of a commentary); 70, 72, 86 (similes of the stars and of soul and body); 90 (the ingot); 93 (sifting meal); 108 (child riding a hobby-horse); 97 (chink in the door); 117 (scattered like smoke); ibid. (crash of a falling tree); 121 (weak eyes); 144 (steersman foreseeing the tempest).

[868] Cf. Earle, Alfred Jewel, pp. 161 ff.

[869] See especially cc. xxxix-xli; cf. also c. v. § 3, c. xi. § 2, c. xx. ad init.; cf. above, p. 159.

[870] Paradise Lost, ii. 557 ff.

[871] c. xxxix. § 8 (p. 131).

[872] Cf. Dante, Purg. xvi. 70-2.

[873] c. xli. § 2 (p. 142).

[874] ibid.

[875] ibid. § 3 (p. 143).

[876] ibid. (p. 144). Dante has a still more subtle comparison—

‘La contingenza …
Tutta è dipinta nel cospetto eterno.
Necessità però quindi non prende,
Se non come dal viso in che si specchia
Nave che per corrente giù discende.’

Parad. xvii. 37-42.

[877] Sciphere, c. xv (p. 34).

[878] c. xix (p. 46).

[879] c. xxix. § 3 (p. 67); cf. the Orosius translation, pp. 10, 24.

[880] c. xiii (p. 28).

[881] c. xiv. ad init. (p. 29).

[882] c. xxv (p. 57).

[883] See note 2, p. 181.

[884] c. xxix. § 1 (p. 65).

[885] c. xxix. § 1 (p. 65).

[886] c. xxxiv. § 8; cf. Spenser’s musical lines:

‘Sleepe after toyle, port after stormie seas,
Ease after warre, death after life does greatly please.’

Faerie Queene, I. ix. 40; cf. II. xii. 32.

[887] pp. xxv ff.

[888] The statement of the late Liber de Hyda, p. 44, that Werferth translated the Boethius for Alfred, as well as the Dialogues, is totally unsupported, and the style of the two works is as different as possible.

[889] 519 A; he calls it ‘liber Boetii lachrymosus’; he says, however, that Alfred translated other works ‘numero ignoto.’

[890] Otho A. vi, of the tenth century, but much injured in the Cottonian fire of 1731.

[891] Bodl. 180 (2079); early twelfth century. There are also some transcripts and various readings taken by Junius from these two MSS.

[892] Lib. I. metr. 6; Lib. II. metr. 2; Lib. IV. metr. 7. The reason of this omission is probably due to the fact, that in these three instances Alfred’s prose translation omits the formula with which it generally introduces the Metra: ‘Then Wisdom began to sing.’ This has been made an argument against Alfred’s authorship of the Metra. But it is surely quite possible that Alfred, coming back to his work after some time (see below, pp. 189 f.), and making his alliterative version without fresh reference to the Latin, should, in the absence of the usual formula, have overlooked the poetical character of these sections. In one case, Lib. I. metr. 7, the introductory formula is wanting, and yet the section exists in the verse translation. But here the poetical character of the section is much more obvious, and it is followed by a formula which often follows the Metra, ‘then was Wisdom silent for a while,’ c. vii. ad init.; so cc. xvii. ad init., xxiv. ad init., xxxix. §§ 2, 4, xli. § 2. A still more frequent concluding formula is ‘ða ongan he eft spellian.’

[893] Sedgefield, pp. 1, 151.

[894] e.g. Leicht: ‘schon die veränderte Form, die Alliteration und der mit ihr verbundene Stil _mussten_ darauf führen dass neue Gedanken angeregt wurden, wenn der Dichter derselben fähig war,’ cited in Wülker, Grundriss, p. 431. This ‘mussten’ is, to use a favourite formula of German criticism, ‘rein willkürlich.’

[895] So Hartmann, in Wülker, p. 425.

[896] Of Betty Foy he says, ‘I never wrote anything with so much glee’; of Laodamia, ‘It cost me more trouble than almost anything of equal length I have ever written,’ Morley’s edition, pp. 88, 530.

[897] p. 167: ‘Tres Eryci uitulos, et Tempestatibus agnam,’ Aen. v. 772.

[898] The passage occurs both in the Gesta Regum and in the Gesta Pontificum. In the former it runs thus: ‘sensum librorum Boetii de Consolatione planioribus uerbis enodauit, quos rex ipse in Anglicam linguam uertit,’ i. 131; in the latter ‘elucidauit’ is substituted for ‘enodauit,’ and the supercilious words are added: ‘labore illis diebus necessario, nostris ridiculo,’ p. 177. The G. Pont, is later than the G. Regum, see G. R., I. xix.

[899] Grundriss, p. 427.

[900] u. s., p. 159.

[901] u. s., p. 193.

[902] The first edition would probably have no preface of its own, because Alfred regarded it as only a preliminary draft.

[903] Stewart, u. s., p. 202.

[904] c. xxxix. § 4 ad fin. (p. 127). Leicht is absolutely arbitrary when he says: ‘wir dürfen nicht annehmen dass er, als er an seine Prosa-Uebersetzung ging, schon den Plan hatte, später der Form seiner Vorlage insofern mehr Gerechtigkeit widerfahren zu lassen, als er die Metra in das Gewand der angelsächsischen Dichtung kleiden wollte,’ Wülker, p. 430. This is precisely what we may very fairly suppose on the evidence.

[905] In Wülker, Grundriss, p. 426; e.g. ix. 61 (p. 164), xxi. 3, 4 (p. 185), xxvi. 3 (p. 193), xxvii. 30 (p. 198).

[906] The two points in which the Metra are said to show less accuracy than the prose version, viz. the making Ulysses king of Thracia instead of Ithaca, and calling Homer the _friend_ as well as the teacher of Virgil, are possibly merely due to the needs of alliteration, xxvi. 7; xxx. 3 (pp. 193, 203). Almost the only thing in the Metra to which there is nothing corresponding in the prose version is the well-known simile of the egg, xx. 169 ff. (p. 182), and this, though possibly suggested by a commentary, is thoroughly Alfredian. Editors have, I think, unduly prejudiced the question by either omitting the Metra altogether (as Cardale, who merely gives one as a specimen), or printing them as a sort of appendix at the end. It would be fairer to print them in the text in parallel columns with the prose version, an arrangement which would also greatly facilitate the study of them. They have, be it remembered, the authority of the MS. which is by nearly 200 years the more ancient of the two.

[907] On the editions of this work, see above, p. 128, note 4. See also Professor Wülker’s interesting Essay, Paul und Braune, Beiträge, iv. 101 ff., to which I am much indebted; also Grundriss, pp. 415 ff.

[908] Wülker, Beiträge, pp. 119, 120.

[909] ‘Delectabatur et libris S. Augustini, praecipueque his qui de Ciuitate Dei praetitulati sunt,’ Einhard, c. 24.

[910] Above, p. 141.

[911] Grundriss, p. 419.

[912] Above, § 90.

[913] Beiträge, u. s. pp. 129, 130.

[914] Evil is really non-existent, Boethius, xxxv. § 5, xxxvii. § 4 (pp. 100, 114); Blooms, p. 165. God the highest good and happiness, Boet. xxxiv. §§ 2, 5, 6 (pp. 84, 86, 87); Bl. p. 166. God regulates all things with His bridle, Boet. xx. § 1 (p. 49); Bl. p. 168. God gave freedom to men, Boet. xli. §§ 3, 4 (pp. 143, 145); Bl. p. 168. The open door, Boet. xxxv. § 3 (p. 97); Bl. p. 169. Metaphor of the Egg, Boet. Metr. xx. 169 ff. (p. 182); Bl. p. 174 (this has an important bearing on the authorship of the verse translation of the Metra). Calm haven (weather) after storms, Boet. xxxiv. § 8 (p. 89); Bl. p. 179. Metaphor of weak eyes, Boet. xxxviii. § 5 (p. 121); Bl. p. 182. Against a soft life, Boet. xl. § 3 (p. 138); Bl. p. 184. The leech gives different kinds of medicine, Boet. xxxix. § 9 (p. 132); Bl. p. 189. Things lighted by the sun, Boet. xxxiv. § 5 (p. 86); Bl. p. 180. Men and angels immortal, Boet. xlii. (p. 148); Bl. p. 191. Various paths all leading to one end, Boet. xxiv. § 1 (p. 52); Bl. p, 187. The soul released from prison at death, Boet. xviii. § 4 (p. 45); Bl. p. 202. For an analysis of the thought and diction of the ‘Blooms’ as compared with the Boethius, see a good Essay by F. G. Hubbard, Modern Language Notes, ix. 322 ff. My own list was made independently. Mr. Hubbard remarks that in several cases a passage, which is an addition to the original in the ‘Blooms,’ corresponds with a translated passage in the Boethius. This seems to show that the Anglo-Saxon Boethius was one of the sources of the ‘Blooms,’ which must therefore be later than the Boethius. There is a dissertation by Hulme: Die Sprache der altengl. Bearbeitung der Soliloquien, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1894; but it is purely philological. A new edition of the ‘Blooms’ may be expected shortly from Mr. H. L. Hargrove of Yale.

[915] See above, pp. 159, 183-4.

[916] xi. § 2 (p. 26).

[917] pp. 192-5. 198, 199.

[918] See Ebert, Literatur des Mittelalters, i. 240, 241.

[919] Some of these are cited above, p. 194, note 1.

[920] p. 175; cf. p. 179; of this too there is an anticipation in the Boethius, x. ad fin. (p. 23); cf. also the metaphor of the ship in Asser, 492 D [59].

[921] p. 200.

[922] p. 179.

[923] p. 204.

[924] Above, § 88.

[925] I do not, however, regard with some critics the occurrence of military operations in any year as necessarily excluding all literary activity in that year. Considering Alfred’s energy, and the fact that military operations were to a large extent suspended in the winter, the assumption seems to me rather rash; Asser distinctly says that Alfred carried on his studies ‘inter omnia alia mentis et corporis impedimenta,’ 488 D [50]; and Alfred tells how he began the Cura Pastoralis ‘ongemang oðrum mislicum ⁊ manifealdum bisgum ðisses kynerices’; cf. also Boethius, Prose Preface.

[926] W. M. II. lx. ff.

[927] ibid. i. 145; so in 838: ‘Imperator [Louis the Pious] filium suum Karolum armis uirilibus, i.e. ense cinxit, corona regali caput insigniuit,’ Theganus, Vita Hludouici, Pertz, ii. 643.

[928] See Chronicle, ii. 112-4; and add to the references there given, Ramsay, Foundations of England, i. 267; and an interesting little monograph on Alfred’s Boyhood and Death, by W. B. Wildman, Sherborne, 1898.

[929] Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 13. 67.

[930] ‘Pupillorum’; in Ps. ix. 34 (x. 16) ‘pupillo tu eris adiutor’ is paraphrased ‘þu eart fultumiend þara þe nabbað nawðer ne fæder ne modor.’ Cf. the elegy on the death of Charles the Great:—

‘Pater cunctorum orphanorum, omnium
Peregrinorum, uiduarum, uirginum.’

Printed at the end of Einhard’s Life (ed. Pertz, 1863), p. 41.

[931] i. 116.

[932] p. 519 A.

[933] Preface to Pastoral Care.

[934] Henry VI in 1441 did apply to Eugenius IV for Alfred’s canonisation, Bekynton’s Correspondence, i. 118, Rolls Series. I owe this reference to an interesting article in the London Quarterly for January 1902, which only came into my hands after the first three lectures were in type. The author, Mr. W. E. Collins, goes further than I can go in rejecting Asser, but his article is well worthy of attention.

[935] See Pauli, u. s. p. 126; cf. Essays, p. 13.

[936] Heb. xi. 33, 34.

[937] ‘Henry stands with Alfred, Canute, William the Conqueror, and Edward I, one of the conscious creators of English greatness.… If he had been a better man, his work would have been second to that of no character in history; had he been a weaker one than he was, England might have had to undergo for six hundred years the fate of France,’ Stubbs, Benedict of Peterborough, II. xxxiii, xxxvi.

[938] Sermon preached before the University on the Sunday following the death of Her late Majesty; now printed as an appendix to the present volume.

[939] Faust, Part I, Scene iv.

[940] Above, pp. 38, 120, 125-6, 129, 131, 135, 160, 191.

[941] Cf. Lord Rosebery’s inspiring address at Winchester (Humphreys’, Piccadilly).

[942] Iliad, v. 303, 304.

[943] Cited by Ebert, ii. 151.

[944] ‘Usque ad quattuor milia quingenti traditi, et … in loco qui Ferdi [Verden] uocatur, iussu regis omnes una die decollati sunt,’ Einhardi Annales, sub anno 782.

[945] See above, p. 124.

[946] Tennyson, Guinevere.

[947] Above, p. 181.

[948] Hoveden, IV. lxxxi.

[949] Col. iv. 5; cf. 1 Thess. iv. 12.

[950] 1 Pet. ii. 12.

[951] 1 Cor. vii. 10-17.

[952] Matt. xiii. 33; Luke xiii. 21.

[953] John vi. 15.

[954] Luke xii. 14.

[955] Latham, Pastor Pastorum, pp. 403 ff.

[956] Gen. i. 27; Matt. xix. 4; Mark x. 6.

[957] Mark xii. 13 ff. and parallels.

[958] John xix. 11.

[959] Dante, Monarchia, Lib. i; cf. Purg. xxxii. 102:

‘Di quella Roma onde Cristo è Romano,’

though this is not the temporal, but the eternal Rome.

[960] Dante, Purg. x. 82 ff.; Parad. xx. 43 ff.

[961] 2 Cor. i. 4.

[962] 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.

[963] c. lxi.

[964] Ad Philad. c. 6.

INDEX

[The references are to the Pages.]

Abel, _see_ Elias.

‘aedificia,’ special meaning of, in Asser, 46, 47.

Ælfheah, bishop of Winchester (934-51), 56 _n._

Ælfheah, bishop of Winchester, and archbishop of Canterbury, St. Neot
said to have been a friend of (!), 56.

Ælfric, the homilist, not the author of the Anglo-Saxon life of St.
Neot, 55, 56 _n._;
his views on the state of English learning, 82 _n._;
cites the Anglo-Saxon Bede as Alfred’s, but not the Dialogues, 167.

Æthelbald, king of the Mercians, 14.

Æthelbald, king of the West Saxons, 39 _n._;
matter relating to, in Asser, 14;
alleged rebellion of, 16, 76 _n._, 78, 79, 91;
alleged incestuous marriage of, 17, 52, 76 _n._, 80, 87;
governs Wessex in his father’s absence, 75, 79;
obscurity of his reign, 86, 87;
his death, 86;
his share of his father’s property, 90, 91.

Æthelberht, king of Kent, father of Eadbald, 80.

Æthelberht, king of the West Saxons, 39 _n._;
made under-king of Kent, 73-5, 79, 86;
retains Kent on his succession to Wessex, 86;
his struggle against the Danes, 79, 87;
his death, 88;
Alfred’s succession possibly arranged under, 89 _n._;
his share in his father’s property, 90, 91.

Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred, and wife of
Æthelred of Mercia, 35;
translates St. Oswald’s body to Gloucester, 35;
fortifies Worcester, 111;
attends the conference of Chelsea, 111;
military policy of, 111.

Æthelhelm, ealdorman of Wilts., co-operates against the Danes, 116.

Æthelnoth, ealdorman of Somerset, services of, against the Danes, 106,
116;
attacks the Danes at York, 117 _n._

Æthelred, king of the West Saxons, 39 _n._;
matter relating to, in Asser, 14;
his conduct at Ashdown, 16, 93, 94;
Alfred secundarius under, 40, 88-91;
confused with Alfred, and with Aldfrid, 65;
abstains from claiming Kent, 75, 86;
succeeds Æthelberht, 88;
relations of Alfred with, 88;
Burgred asks help of, 88;
marches to Nottingham, 88;
appoints Æthelred to Canterbury, 88 _n._;
his share of his father’s property, 90, 91;
his children, 91;
campaign of, against the Danes, 92-5;
his death, 92, 95;
his character, 95, 96;
interred at Wimborne, 98;
regarded as a martyr, 98 _n._

Æthelred, archbishop of Canterbury, 127;
appointed by Æthelred and Alfred jointly, 88 _n._;
letter of John VIII to, 127;
said to have advised the summoning of Grimbald, 138.

Æthelred, ealdorman of the Mercians, Witenagemóts held by, 13, 14;
husband of Æthelflæd, 35;
translates St. Oswald’s body to Gloucester, 35;
his pressure on the Welsh, 42;
his semi-royal position, 42;
London entrusted to, 109;
fortifies Worcester, 111;
attends the conference of Chelsea, 111;
acts as sponsor to one of Hæsten’s sons, 113;
co-operates with Edward, Æthelnoth, and Æthelhelm against the Danes,
115-6.

Æthelred II, king of the English, Edgar’s reign regarded as a golden age
under, 67.

Æthelweard, son of Alfred, said to have studied at Oxford, 63.

Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, St. Neot said to have been a friend of
(!), 56.

Æthelwulf, king of the West Saxons, 39 _n._;
Athelstan, king of Kent, probably brother of, 6 _n._;
said to have been in holy orders before his accession, 7;
matter relating to, in Asser, 14;
Burgred of Mercia asks help of, 85, 88;
his second marriage with Judith, 17, 78, 80 _n._;
stays at the Court of Charles the Bald, 17, 76, 78;
has a Frankish secretary, 17, 18;
Lupus of Ferrières corresponds with, 18 _n._, 71 _n._;
his liberality, 18 _n._, 71 _n._;
reduces Wales under Burgred, 37, 85;
has a shrine made for relics of St. Aldhelm, 47;
his will, 86, 90, 91, 126;
St. Neot made son of, 6, 55, 57;
letter of Leo IV to, 70, 72;
his visit to Rome, 74-6, 84, 86;
letter of, to Louis the Pious, 74;
divides his dominions, 75, 86;
restores the Schola Saxonum, 76;
his return to England, 78;
alleged rebellion against, _see_ Æthelbald;
his death, 79, 84;
character of his reign, 85;
compared with Louis the Pious, 79, 80;
did not divorce Osburh, 84;
made under-king of Kent by Egbert, 85;
Ealhswith, daughter of, 88;
naval engagement under, 120.

Æthelwulf, ealdorman of Berkshire, defeats Danes at Englefield, 93;
slain, 93.

Alamanni, Charles the Fat, king of, 41.

Alcuin, letter of, to Offa, 136;
services of, to Frankish education, 137.

Aldfrid, king of the Northumbrians, confused with Æthelred, 65.

Aldhelm, St., bishop of Sherborne, Æthelwulf has a shrine made for the
relics of, 47;
Alfred’s admiration for the Saxon poems of, 141.

Alfred the Great, king of the West Saxons, uncritical statements
relating to, 5-9;
not the inventor of shires, 6, cf. 121;
or of chapter-headings, 7;
not brother of St. Neot, 6, 56, 57;
probably nephew of Athelstan, king of Kent, 6;
historical authorities for reign of, 10-68;
laws of, 121-6;
preface to, 11;
relation of, to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 11, 146-7, 173;
reticence of Chronicle as to, 11, 12;
panegyrics of Ethelwerd and Florence on, 12, 197-8;
not fully appreciated in his own day, 13;
his reign poor in charters, 13;
and in saints’ lives, 53;
will of, 14, 90-1, 126;
life of, by Asser, _see_ Asser;
skill of, in hunting, 16, 81, 83;
book of prayers, &c., always carried by, 16, 140;
Eadburh, maternal grandmother of, 16;
mysterious illness of, 16, 25-8, 215;
corresponds with Elias III, patriarch of Jerusalem, 16, 33, 34, 132;
educates a young Dane at Athelney, 16;
relates the story of Eadburh, 16;
imports Grimbald and John the Old Saxon from the Continent, 17, 137;
question of grant of Exeter to Asser by, 18-20, 215;
recovers Exeter from the Danes, 19, 101-2;
Asser enters service of, 19, 36-7, 42, 137;
his protection desired for St. Davids, 19, 42;
Welsh princes commend themselves to, 20, 36, 42, 43;
sends to Asser, 21;
born at Wantage, 22, 70;
legends relating to, 24, 56-9, 62-8, 73 _n._;
foreign relations of, 33, 131-5;
his fondness for Saxon poems, 38, 82, 83;
called ‘king of the Anglo-Saxons’ in Asser, 39;
part of Mercia acquired by, 39;
power of, exaggerated by later writers, 39, 129 _n._;
occupation of London by, 39, 40;
his title of ‘secundarius,’ 40, 88-91;
Anaraut of N. Wales submits and becomes godson to, 42;
his interest in craftsmanship, 46, 47, 130-1;
ideal description of Court of, in Asser, 53, 130;
Danes try to seize, at Chippenham, 59, 102, 162;
withdrawal of, to Athelney, 57-9, 102;
confused with Æthelred, 65;
said to have sent alms to Jerusalem, 65;
false pedigree of, 65;
his alleged division of his time and revenues, 65 _n._, 130;
his fame obscured by Edgar, 67, 129;
date of birth of, 69, 70;
taken to Rome in 853, 70;
again in 855, 75, 76;
his confirmation and unction by Leo IV, 71-4, 76;
story of his learning to read, 81-4;
abstains from claiming Kent, 75, 86, 89;
relations of, with Æthelred, 88;
marches to Nottingham, 88;
joins in appointing Æthelred to Canterbury, 88 _n._;
marriage of, 91;
his year of battles, 92-5;
his accession and his task, 95-7;
question of his election, 91 _n._, 97-8;
his unwillingness to assume power, 97;
sends alms and missions to Rome, 12, 99, 134-5;
and India, 99, 134;
success of, against the Danes at London, 99, 100;
against a Danish fleet, 100;
fortifies Athelney, 102;
his successful campaign of Edington, 102-5, cf. 149, 162;
Guthrum submits and becomes godson to, 103;
importance of his victory, 105;
causes of success of, 105-7;
relieves Rochester, 107, 108;
sends a fleet against the East Anglian Danes, 64, 108;
gains possession of London, 108, 109;
the second founder of London, 109;
military reforms of, 110-2, 121;
holds a conference at Chelsea, 111;
exacts oaths from the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes, 113;
watches and negotiates with the Danes in Kent, 113, cf. 163;
acts as sponsor to one of Hæsten’s sons, 113;
relieves Exeter, 114-5;
restores Hæsten’s wife and sons, 115;
watches, and blockades the Danes on the Lea, 118;
his new ships, 118, 119;
his claim to be the founder of the English navy, 119, 120, cf. 163;
his administration of justice, 124-6;
relations of, to the Witenagemót, 126-7;
to the Church, 127-8;
attempts to revive monasticism, 128-9;
provides for foundation of the New Minster, Winchester, 129;
liberality of, to foreign monasteries, 129;
three ‘Scots’ come to, 131;
educational measures of, 135-40;
writes the Preface to the translation of Gregory’s Dialogues, 142-3;
character of his religious thought, 143-5;
body of scribes maintained by, 146 _n._;
said to have translated part of the Psalter, 147-9;
and the whole of the Bible, 150-1;
other works ascribed to, 151;
his intercourse with strangers, 160;
called ‘England’s darling,’ 161, 210;
his fondness for similes, 182-3;
chronology of his literary works, 137-8, 196;
invests his grandson Athelstan, 196;
death of, 11, 197-8;
buried at Winchester, 198;
lessons of life of, 198-200;
Henry VI applies for canonisation of, 199 _n._;
comparison of, with other sovereigns, 200-2, 210;
no deductions to be made from fame of, 202-3;
his translations valuable as authorities, 10, 11, 155, 164, 174, 181-5;
their educational purpose, 139, 140, 165;
their origin, 140;
the Handbook, 140-1.
_See_ Augustine, Bede, Boethius, Gregory, Orosius.

Alfred Jewel, the, 7, 47.

Aller, Somerset, Guthrum baptised at, 103.

Amazons, organisation of, 110, 163.

Anaraut, son of Rotri Mawr, king of N. Wales, submits to Alfred and
becomes his godson, 42, 71.

Anglia, use of term in Book of Llandaff, 39 _n._

Anglo-Saxons, Alfred called ‘king’ of, 39.

Annals of Asser, or St. Neot, _see_ Neot, St.

Appledore, Kent, Danes entrench themselves at, 112.

Aquitaine, kings of, _see_ Carloman, Louis the Pious.

Arnulf, Emperor, deposes Charles the Fat, 17, 41 _n._;
king of the Eastern Kingdom, 41 _n._;
defeats the Danes on the Dyle, 112.

Arthur, King, Alfred compared with, 104, 210.

Ashdown, Berks., solitary thorn marks the site of, 16, 94;
battle of, and Æthelred’s conduct at, 16, 93, 94.

Asser, bishop of Sherborne, 20, 127;
said to have brought Grimbald to England, 18, 139;
question of his appointment as bishop at Exeter, 18-20;
his reason for entering Alfred’s service, 19, 36;
date of his consecration as bishop uncertain, 19, 20;
called bishop of St. Davids, 20;
mentioned in the Preface to the Pastoral Care, 20, 52, 138, 143 _n._;
question of his illness, 21;
returns to St. Davids, 21;
Alfred sends to, 21;
his agreement with Alfred, 37, 137;
expelled from St. Davids by Hemeid, 42;
suggests the composition of the Handbook, 140;
said to have helped Alfred with the Boethius translation, 188-9.

Asser, life of Alfred attributed to, its composite character, 14, 15;
relation of Simeon of Durham to, 23, 31, 32, 34, 64;
relation of, to Chronicle, 14, 48-51, 93 _n._;
relation of Florence to, 15, 22, 23, 25, 28, 34, 49, 60, 64;
excessive self-assertion off, 15-17;
Frankish element in, 17, 18;
date of, 19, 29-33, 51, 52;
corruption of text of, 21-30;
MSS. of, 22, 32, 33;
Wise’s edition of, 22;
relation of Annals of Asser to, 22;
emendation of text of, 33-5;
Celtic characteristics of, 35-42;
knowledge of South Welsh affairs shown in, 35, 42-4;
does not exaggerate Alfred’s position, 39;
terminology of, in regard to the Carolingian Empire, 40, 41;
probably the work of a single hand, 44-8;
curious meaning of ‘aedificia’ in, 46, 47;
style of, 47, 48;
abrupt termination of, 51, 52;
probably genuine, but to be used with caution, 52, 214;
idealised description of Alfred’s Court in, 53, 130;
used by William of Malmesbury, 62.

Asser, Annals of, _see_ Neot, St.

Athelney, Somerset, unapproachable position of, 35;
Alfred’s withdrawal to, 57-9, 102, 105, 106;
Alfred fortifies, 102;
Alfred moves out of, 102, cf. 162;
monastery of, founded by Alfred, 68, 128;
disorders in, 129, 137;
young Dane educated by Alfred in, 16;
abbot of, _see_ John the Old Saxon.

Athelstan, under-king of Kent, 73;
not identical with St. Neot, 6;
probably Alfred’s uncle, 6;
fights a naval battle, 120 _n._

Athelstan, Mercian priest, chaplain to Alfred, 136.

Athelstan, bishop of Hereford, 137 _n._

Athelstan, king of the West Saxons, panegyrics on, in Chronicle and
Laws, 12;
William of Malmesbury’s special sources for reign of, 62;
investiture of, by Alfred, 196.

Augustine, St., bishop of Hippo, his Soliloquies, 194;
Alfred’s translation of, 10, 11, 128, 191-6;
relation of, to the Boethius translation, 194-5;
not identical with Alfred’s Handbook, 141, 192;
his De Ciuitate Dei, 157;
used by Alfred, 191;
a favourite book with Charles the Great, 191-2;
his De Videndo Deo, used by Alfred, 191.

Augustine, archbishop of Canterbury, complaints of, in regard to Welsh
baptisms, 42.

Bardney, Lincs, St. Oswald’s body removed from, 35.

Basing, Hants, battle of, 93, 95.

Bede, the Venerable, his Eccl. Hist., 8, 157;
style of, influenced by Gregory’s Dialogues, 170 _n._;
his bitterness on the Easter Controversy, 173;
Anglo-Saxon translation of, 8, 166-75;
relation of, to the Orosius translation, 156-9;
to the translation of the Dialogues, 169, 170.

Bel, _see_ Elias.

Benfleet, Essex, Danes fortify themselves at, 113-4;
captured by the English, 115.

Beorhtric, king of the West Saxons, 39 _n._;
Eadburh, wife of, 16, 17;
dies, 802, 17 _n._

Beornred, king of the Mercians, annexes monastic property, 66.

Bergues, dép. Nord, France, St. Winnoc’s body translated to, 35.

Berhtwulf, king of the Mercians, 109.

Berkshire, ealdorman of, _see_ Æthelwulf.

Bernard, Frankish monk, pilgrimage of, to Jerusalem, 132-4.

Bernard of Morlaix, his rhythm De Contemptu Mundi, 178 _n._

Berry, Jehan, duc de, former owner of the Latin-Saxon psalter, 148.

Birinus, bishop of the West Saxons, baptises Cuthred of Wessex, 72.

Boccaccio, his treatise De Casibus illustrium uirorum, 178 _n._

Boethius, his treatment by Theodoric, 178-9;
his Christianity superficial, 180;
his De Consolatione Philosophiae, 8, 177-80;
Alfred’s translation of, 8, 10, 135, 177, 180-5;
its relation to the Orosius translation, 159;
to the Soliloquies, 194-5;
wrongly assigned to Werferth, 185 _n._;
mentioned by Ethelwerd, 185;
question as to Alfred’s authorship of the verse translation of the
Metra in, 185-91, 194 _n._

Boniface, St., the apostle of Germany, 137.

Boulogne, dép. Pas-de-Calais, Danes embark at, 112.

Brecheiniog, South Welsh kingdom, nearly identical with Brecknockshire;
kings of, _see_ Helised, Teudyr.

Bridgenorth, Shropshire, Danes winter at, 118.

Bristol Channel, not a barrier between the Welsh and Cornishmen, 19;
ravaged by Danes, 103.

Britannia, ambiguous use of term by Asser, 36, 37.

Brixton Deverill, Wilts., Alfred musters his forces at, 102.

Brochmail, son of Mouric, joint king of Gwent, submits to Alfred, 42, 44.

Burgred, king of the Mercians, grants land to Cered, 13;
Æthelwulf reduces Wales under, 37, 85, 88;
brother-in-law of Alfred, 53, 88;
asks help of Æthelred and Alfred, 88;
expelled by Danes, 53, 100;
dies at Rome, 98 _n._, 100, cf. 199;
reason for his failure to help Wessex, 99;
imposes taxes to buy off the Danes, 100.

Burgs, construction of, by Alfred, 110, 111.

Burgundy, king of, _see_ Carloman;
count of Upper, _see_ Rudolf.

Buttington, Montgomery, Danes blockaded at, 116.

Cambridge, Danes winter at, 100.

Camden, William, his connexion with the Oxford interpolation in Asser,
24.

Canterbury, archbishops of, _see_ Ælfheah, Æthelred, Augustine, Dunstan,
Parker, Matthew, Plegmund.

Canute, king of England, called ‘king of Germania,’ 41;
reconciled with the English at Oxford, 67;
one of the creators of England’s greatness, 200 _n._

Carl, _see_ Carloman.

Carloman, king of Aquitaine and Burgundy, name correct in Asser, 17;
called ‘Carl’ in Chron., 17;
called ‘king of the Western Franks’ in Asser, 40, 41.

Ceolwulf, king of the Mercians, set up by the Danes, 66, 88, 100;
exactions of, 66;
stripped of part of Mercia, 102.

Cered, receives land from Burgred of Mercia, 13;
Werthryth, widow of, 13;
Cuthwulf, kinsman of, 13.

Charles the Great, Emperor, Eadburh offends, 17;
Liutgarde, wife of, 17 _n._;
Pippin and Charles, sons of, 17;
his fondness for ancient poetry, 38 _n._;
begins a Frankish grammar, 38 _n._;
called ‘king of the Franks’ by Asser, 40;
crowns Louis the Pious, 80 _n._;
divides his dominions, 85;
Frisians serve in navy of, 120 _n._;
his administration of justice, 125;
his legislation, 126 _n._;
his liberality to foreign Christians, 129 _n._;
king of Persia sends a clock to, 131 _n._;
relations of, with Irish princes, 131 _n._;
Pippin, father of, 131;
founds a hospice and library at Jerusalem, 133;
Court school of, 135;
his intercourse with strangers, 160;
his fondness for the De Ciuitate Dei, 191-2;
comparison of, with Alfred, 200-1;
Einhard’s life of, _see_ Einhard.

Charles, son of Charles the Great, unmarried, 17 _n._

Charles the Bald, king of the Franks, 40;
receives Æthelwulf, 17, 76, 78;
Judith, daughter of, 78;
character of, 78;
investiture of, by Louis the Pious, 196 _n._

Charles the Fat, king of the Franks, 40;
deposed by Arnulf, 17, 41 _n._;
called ‘king of the Alamanni,’ 41;
grants West Friesland to Guthfrith, 120 _n._

Charters, fewness of, belonging to Alfred’s reign, 13;
destruction of, by Danes, 13;
Frankish elements in, 18.

Chaucer, his Monk’s Tale founded on Boccaccio, 178 _n._

Chelsea, Middlesex, conference at, 111.

Chester, Danes fortify themselves at, but evacuate, 117.

Chichester, Sussex, abortive Danish attack on, 117.

Chippenham, Wilts., Danes try to seize Alfred at, 59, 61, 102, 162;
captured by Alfred, 103.

Chronicle, Anglo-Saxon, relation of Alfred to, 11, 145-6;
value of, for reign of Alfred, 11-13;
reticence of, as to Alfred, 12, 13;
relation of, to Asser, 14, 48-51, 93 _n._;
to Ethelwerd, 51 _n._, 60;
to Henry of Huntingdon, 60, 61;
to William of Malmesbury, 62;
to Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosius, 146, 157-8;
chronological error in, 50, 104 _n._, 108, 110, 112.

Cirencester, Glouc., Danes retire to, 104.

Clovis, king of the Franks, receives consular insignia from
Constantinople, 72, 73.

Colne, R., Herts, Danes blockaded on, 114-5.

Constantinople, Clovis receives consular insignia from, 72.

Copenhagen, bombardment of, by Nelson, 163.

Cornwall, episcopal supervision of, 18-20;
kings of, 19 (_see_ Dumgarth);
St. Guerier and St. Neot buried in, 26;
not included in Saxonia, 38;
St. Neot settles in, 56.

Corvey, Westphalia, John the Old Saxon, a monk of, 137.

Croyland, Lincs, monastery of, 66, 67;
abbot of, _see_ Ingulf;
monk of, _see_ Tolius.

Cuthbert, St., part played by, in the legends of Alfred, 62.

Cuthred, joint king of the West Saxons, baptised by Birinus, 72.

Cuthwulf, kinsman of Cered, 13;
buys land of Cered’s widow, Werthryth, 13;
charter granted to, 13.

Cynwit, Devon, fort of, surveyed by Asser, 16;
besieged by the Danes, 44;
Danes defeated at, 104.

Danes, generic name for Scandinavian invaders, 87 _n._;
movements of, 12, 49, 75, 87, 88, 92-5, 98-104, 107, 108, 112-8;
destruction of documents by, 13;
division of Mercia by, 24;
Celts take part with, 43, 99;
in Northumbria, 42;
winter in Dyfed, and besiege Cynwit, 44, 51;
monasteries ravaged by, 53, 66, 127, 129;
Burgred expelled by, 53, 100;
try to surprise Alfred at Chippenham, 57-9, 61;
young Dane educated by Alfred at Athelney, 16;
ravages of, 66, 77, 87 _n._, 121, 127, 129, 136, 138;
winter in England, 74, 87;
mobility of, 106, 107.

Dante, his use of Boethius, 179;
his theory of the Empire, 208-9.

Danubium, _see_ Denmark.

David, comparison of Alfred with, 149.

Denmark, called ‘Danubium’ by Asser, 41;
Canute, king of, 41.

Devon, men of, resist the Danes, 103, 104;
ealdorman of, _see_ Odda.

Driffield, Yorks., Aldfrid of Northumbria dies at, 65.

Dubslane, one of three ‘Scots’ who came to Alfred, 131.

Duisburg, on the Rhine, Danes winter at, 40.

Dumgarth, king of Cornwall, drowned in 875, 19.

Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, St. Neot said to have been a monk
under (!), 56.

Durham, Simeon of, _see_ Simeon.

Dyfed, South Welsh kingdom, including Pembrokeshire and part of
Carmarthenshire, Danes winter in, 44, 51, 103;
king of, _see_ Hemeid.

Dyle, R., Belgium, Arnulf defeats the Danes on, 112.

Eadbald, king of Kent, his incestuous marriage, 80.

Eadburh, Alfred’s maternal grandmother, often seen by Asser, 16.

Eadburh, daughter of Offa, and wife of Beorhtric of Wessex, her crimes,
and subsequent misfortunes, 16, 17, 79 _n._;
offends Charles the Great, 17.

Eafa, of Wessex, confused with Offa of Mercia, 66.

Ealhswith, daughter of Æthelwulf, and wife of Burgred of Mercia, 88.

Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, alleged rebellion of, against Æthelwulf,
78, 79.

East Anglia, not included in Saxonia, 38;
Alfred sends fleet to, 64, 108;
relation of, to Wessex, 85;
occupied and conquered by the Danes, 87, 88, 92, 105;
Danes retire to, 104;
Danes of, rebel and are punished, 108, 109;
Alfred exacts oaths and hostages from, 113;
share of, in the campaigns of 893 ff., 113-5, 117-8;
kings of, _see_ Edmund, Guthrum, Sigbert.