Aerest we bebeadathBe Sunnan dæges weorcum. Gif theow mon wyrce on Sunnan dæg be his hlafordes hase sy he freo and se hlaford sylle thritig (or xxx.) scillinges to wite. Gif thonne se theowa butan his gewitnesse wyrce tholige his hyde oththe his hydgyldes. Gif thonne se frigea thy dæge First of all we command- If a servant man work on command, let him be free and let the (money instead of whipping). From Archæonomia sive de Priscis Anglorum Legibus. 4. Alfred, 849-901. (Handbook, par. 8.) Alfred's works are chiefly translations. Some lines he tells us he interprets 'word for word, and sometimes meaning for meaning;' often adding thoughts of his own. The following is from his Introduction to the translation of Gregory's Pastorale, taken from the copy sent to Bishop Wulfsige. Dis is seo fore-spræc hu S. Gregorius pas boc gedihte, pe man Pastoralem nemnað. Elfred kyning hated gretung Wulfsige bisceop his worðum luflice and freondlice and þe cyðan hate me com swide oft on ge-mynd, hwylce witan geo wæron geond Angel-cyn, ægðer ge godcundra hada ge woruldcundra, and hu gesægliglica tida pa wæron geond Angle-cyn, and hu þa cyningas þe pone anweald hæfdon pas folces, Gode and his ærynd-writum hyrsumodon; and hu hi ægðer ge heora sybbe ge heora sydo, and ge heora anweald innan borde gehealdon and ac ut hira eðel rymdon; and hu This is the preface how S. Gregory made the book that people name Pastorale. Alfred the King greets his worthy bishop Wulfsige, lovingly and friendly, and I bid thee know that it came very often into my memory, what kind of wise men formerly were throughout the English nation, as well of the spiritual degree as of the worldly degree (laics) and how happy times there were through the English nation and how the kings that then had the rule of the people obeyed God and his errand-writers (Evangelists or Epistle-writers); and how they both in their peace and in their customs and their rule held him pa speow, æger ge mid wige ge mid wisdome; and eac pa godcundan hadas hu georne hi wæron æger ge ymbe lara ge ymbe leornunga, and ymbe calle pa peowdomas pi hy Gode sceoldon, and hu man ut on borde wisdome and lare hider on land sohte and hu we hi nu sceoldon ute begitan, gif we hi habban sceoldon, Swa clæne heo was o feallen on Angelcynne swide feawa wæron be- heonan Humbre pe hira þe-nunge cuðon understanden on Englisc, odde fur on an ærend-ge-writ of Ledene on Englisc areccan; and ic wene naht monige be-geondan Humbre næron. Swa feawa heora wæronic furpon anne ænlepne ne mæg gepencan be-suðan Thamise pa pa ic to rice feng. Gode Elmightigum sy panc, we nu ænigne an steal habbað lareowa. For pam ic pe beode,pu do swa ic gelyfe wille, pu pe pissa woruld þinga to pam ge-æmtige, swa pu oftost mæge, þu þone wisdome pe pe God sealde þær þær þu hine befæstan mæge befæst. þone naman anne we lufdon we Cristene wæron, and swide feawa pa þeawas pa ic pa pis eall gemunde pa wundrode ic swide þæra godera witena pe geo wæron geond Angelcyn, and pa bec be fullan ealle ge-leorned hæfdon, hira þa nanne dæl noldon on hira agen ge-peode wendan, ac ic pa sona eft me sylfum andwyrde and cwæð, hi ne wendon ætre men sceoldon swa recelease wurðan and seo lar swa Sofeailan . . . þa ge-munde ic hu seo a wæs æryst on Ebreise gebeode fundon, and eft þu ... ... them at home and also spread their nobleness abroad; and how they then flourished as well in war as in wisdom and also the religious orders how earnest they were both about doctrine and about learning and about all the services that they owed to God, and how people abroad came hither to this land seeking wisdom and learning; and how we now must get them from without, if we must have them. So clean (completely) has ruin fallen on the English nation, that very few were there this side the Humber that could understand their service in English or declare forth an Epistle (an errand-writing) out of Latin into English; and I think that not many beyond Humber were there. So few such were there, that I cannot think of a single one to the south of the Thames when I began to reign. To God Almighty be thanks, that we now have any to teach in stall (any place). Therefore I bid thee that thou do as I believe that thou wilt, that thou who emptiest out to them these worldly things as often as thou mayest that thou bestow the wisdom which God gave thee wherever thou mayest bestow it. .. We have loved only the name of being Christians, and very few the manners When I thought of all this, then I wondered greatly that any of the good wise-men who were formerly in the English nations, and had fully learned all the books, would not translate any part of them into their own native language: but I then soon again answered myself pa Crecas ge-leornodon, þa wendon hi hit on hira agen gepeode ealle, and eac ealle oðra bec and eft Ledenware swa sone siððan hi hit geleornodon hi wendon ealle purh wise wealh stodas on heora agen ge-peode, and eac alle oðra Cristene þeoda sumne dæl hira on hira agen gepeode wendon. For þi me þingð betere gif geow swa þinco, we eác sume bec pa þemed beþyr fysta syn eallum mannum to witanne, we pa on ge-peode wendon pe we ealle ge cnawen mægen, and ge-don swa we swide eade magon mid Godes fultume gif we þa stylnesse habbað, call seo geoguð þe nu is on Angel-cynne freora manna, þara be pa speda hæbben, hi pam befeolan mægen syn to leornunga oð fæste, pa hwile þe hi nanre oðerre note ne mægen, ob fyrst þe hi wel cunnen Englisc gewrit arædan. Lære mon síððan furðor on Leden ge-peode, pa pe man furor læran wille, and to herran hade don wille. and said, they did not think that ever men would become so reckless, and learning so decay... Then I considered how the law was first found in the Hebrew tongue, and after, the Greeks learnt it, then they translated it all into their own tongue and also all other books, and after, the Latin people, as soon as they had learnt it they translated it all through wise interpreters into their own tongue, and also all other Christian people translated some part of them into their own tongues. Therefore it seems to me better if it seems so to you, that we also, some books that be deemed most needful for all men to know, that we translate them into that language that we all can understand, and cause, as we very easily may with God's help, if we have leisure, that all the youth that is now in the English nation of free-men, those that have wealth to maintain themselves may be put to learning, the while they can employ themselves on nothing else, till first they can read well English writing. Afterwards let people teach further in the Latin tongue those whom they will teach further and raise to a higher degree. 5. Laws of Edgar, reigned 959-975, and of Canute, 1017-1035. This is seo gerædnisse the Eadgar cyng mid his witena getheahte gerad (Handbook, par. 8.) God to lofe, and him sylfum to cynescipe and eallum his leodscip to thearf. This is the ordinance that King Edgar by the advice of his wise-men established, to the praise of God, to his own royal honour, and to the welfare of all his people. To these exhortations the Laws of Canute, 1016-1035, add: And gethence swithe georne se the domes gewealdage hwæs he sylf georne thorme he thus cweth, Et dimitte nos debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus. And we forbeodath, that man Cristene men for ealles to ythum huru to deathe, ne forræde; ac elles geræde man frithlice steora, folc to thearf, and ne forspille man for litlum, Godes handgeweorc, and his agenne ceap the he deor geboht, And we forbeodath that man Cristen men ealles to swithe of earthe ne sylle, ne on hæthendome, that man tha sayla ne forfare, the Crist mid his agenum life geboht. Cnutes æ. 6. Hymn of Praise. And in truth let him who administers judgment think in his heart what he himself desires when he says, Forgive us our debts as we forgive. And we forbid that any one Christian man be sentenced to death for what is merely a little thing; but rather let the man be instructed by kindly guidance to the profit of the state. Nor must man be suffered to die, for a littleman, God's handiwork, man whom he himself bought at so dear a price. And we forbid that any one Christian man be completely sent out of the land or into heathendom, lest the man's soul perish, that Christ bought with his own life. Archæonomia, fol. 105. (Handbook, par. 7.) From the Codex Exoniensis: edited by BENJAMIN THORPE, 1842. Thá us geweorthade Se thas world gescóp: Godes Gáest-Sunu! And us gyfe sealde, Uppe mid englum And eác manigfealde Módes snyttru Geond sefan manna. On his módes gemynd, Sum maeg ryne tungla Sum mæg learolice Word-cwide writan. Sum wíges spéde Sum mæg frómlice Sum maeg styled sweord, Sum can wonga begang, Swá se Waldend us, Thy-laes him gylp scéthe, Ofer othre forth. Lines, 119-172. Thrice holy He, The Spirit-son of Deity! He called from nothing into birth Each fair production of the teeming earth; His love bestows on human kind Each varied excellence of mind. To some his Spirit-gift affords The power and mastery of words; So may the wiser sons of earth proclaim, In speech and measured song, the glories of his name. Some the tuneful hand may ply, And loud before the listening throng, Or bid the trump of joy its swelling note prolong. |