Anglo-Saxon Literature Part 9

gif thu gesege theof somud thu urne mid hine ond 18. Si videbas furem simul currebas c.u.m eo et

mid unreht haemderum dael thinne thu settes c.u.m adulteris portionem tuam ponebas

muth thin genihtsumath mid nithe ond tunge thin 19. Os tuum abundavit nequitia et lingua tua

hleothrade facen concinnavit dolum

sittende with broether thinum thu teldes ond 20. Sedens adversus fratrem tuum detrahebas et

with suna moeder thinre thu settes eswic adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum

thas thu dydes ond ic swigade thu gewoendes on unrehtwisnisse 21. Haec fecisti et tacui existimasti iniquitatem

thaet ic waere the gelic quod ero tibi similis

ic threu thec ond ic setto tha ongegn onsiene Arguam te et statuam illa contra faciem

thinre Ongeotath thas alle tha ofer geoteliath tuam (22.) intelligite haec omnes qui obliviscimini

dryhten ne hwonne gereafie ond ne sie se generge Dominum ne quando rapiat et non sit qui eripiat

onsegdnis lofes gearath mec ond ther 23. Sacrificium laudis honorificabit me et illic

sithfet is thider ic oteawu him haelu G.o.des iter est in quo ostendam illi salutare Dei

PSALM LXXVI. (LXXVII.)

Ond smegende ic eam in allum werc.u.m thinum ond 13. Et meditatus sum in omnibus operibus tuis et

in gehaeldum thinum ic bieode in observationibus tuis exercebor

G.o.d in halgum weg thin hwelc G.o.d micel 14. Deus in sancto via tua quis Deus magnus

swe swe G.o.d ur thu earth G.o.d thu the doest sicut Deus noster (15.) tu es Deus qui facis

wundur ana cuthe thu dydes in folc.u.m megen mirabilia solus notam fecisti in populis virtutem

thin gefreodes in earme thinum folc thin tuam (16.) liberasti in brachio tuo populum tuum

bearn filios Israhel et Joseph

gesegun thec weter G.o.d gesegun thec weter ond 17. Viderunt te aquae Deus viderunt te aquae et

on dreordun gedroefde werun niolnisse mengu timuerunt turbati sunt abyssi (18.) mult.i.tudo

swoeges wetre stefne saldun wolcen ond sothlice sonitus aquarum Vocem dederunt nubes et enim

strelas thine thorh leordun stefn thunurrade thinre sagittae tuae pertransierunt (19.) vox tonitrui tui

in hweole in rota

in lihton bliccetunge thine eorthan ymbhwyrfte gesaeh Inluxerunt coruscationes tuae orbi terrae vidit

ond onstyred wes eorthe et commota est terra

in sae wegas thine ond stige thine in wetrum miclum 20. In mari viae tuae et semitae tuae in aquis multis

ond swethe thine ne bioth oncnawen et vestigia tua non cognoscentur

thu gelaeddes swe swe scep folc thin in honda 21. Deduxisti sicut oves populum tuum in manu

mosi ond aaron Moysi et Aaron

These specimens of the Kentish dialect (with the exception of the Epinal Gloss) are of much later date than the times which our narrative has yet reached; and they are only offered as a proximate representation of that which was the first of English dialects to receive literary culture.

This dialect is peculiarly interesting as being that from which the West Saxon was developed; in other words, it is the earliest form of that imperial dialect in which the great body of extant Saxon literature is preserved. But the Kentish did not ripen into the maturer outlines of the West Saxon without the intervention of a third dialect; and in order to appreciate this it is necessary for us to review that more s.p.a.cious culture of which the scene was laid in the country of the Northern Angles.

FOOTNOTES:

[57] "Ecclesiastical History," iii., 18.

[58] Aldhelm speaks of the study of Roman law in connexion with other scholastic studies, as Latin verses and music. But then that was after the new start given to education by Theodore and Hadrian. A century later, Alcuin described the studies at V York in this order,--grammar, rhetoric, law.--Wharton, "Anglia Sacra," ii. 6; Alcuin's poem, "De Pontificibus &c."

[59] They are in Kemble, "Codex Diplomaticus," Nos. 226, 228, 229, 231, 235, 238.

[60] Aldhelm's "Works," ed. Giles, p. 228.

[61] Seventeen consonants and six vowels; made with iron style and erased with the same, or else made with a bird's quill; whatever the instrument, three fingers are the agents; and we can convey answer without delay even in situations where it would be inconvenient to speak.

[62] I have given the _th_, or , or , as in the ma.n.u.script. This is done in the present instance because a peculiar interest attaches to it in the earliest specimens of writing. The frequency of _th_, and the rarity of the monograms, is itself a distinguishing feature. Speaking in general terms of Anglo-Saxon literature, as it appears in ma.n.u.scripts, it might be fairly said that there is no _th_; this sound is represented by or . And of these two, the modified Roman character, , is found to prevail over the native Rune () in the oldest extant writings.

Throughout this little book the _th_ is commonly used, as being most convenient for the general reader.

[63] Transactions of the Philological Society for 1875-6.

CHAPTER V.

THE ANGLIAN PERIOD.

While Canterbury was so important a seminary of learning, there was, in the Anglian region of Northumbria, a development of religious and intellectual life which makes it natural to regard the whole brilliant era from the later seventh to the early ninth century as "The Anglian Period." Not only did the greatest school of the whole island grow up at York, but also one that, with its important library, was for the time the most active and useful in the whole of Western Europe.

The importance of the Anglian period consists in the fact that it belongs not merely to one nation, but that Anglia became for a century the light-spot of European history; and that here we recognise the first great stage in the revival of learning, and the first movement towards the establishment of public order in things temporal and spiritual.

Happily, the period stands out in a good historical light, and the chief elements of its influence are finely exhibited in the persons of representative men or representative groups.