Daniel Paul O'Donnell - Bede's Strategy in Paraphrasing 'Cædmon's Hymn'
Daniel Paul O'Donnell - Bede's Strategy in Paraphrasing 'Cædmon's Hymn'
Daniel Paul O'Donnell - Bede's Strategy in Paraphrasing 'Cædmon's Hymn'
in Paraphrasing
Strategy
of Caedmon's
Nunc
laudare
consilium
omnium
culmine
tecti,
(Now
Creator
we must
he
mighty
In sixteen
dehinc
his
praise
counsel,
dmoris Hymn
of Lethbridge
ecclesiastica, Bede
regni
Patris
the Maker
the deeds
of
caelestis,
quomodo
gloriae:
auctor
extitit,
terram Custos
et
Creatoris
potentiam
sit aeternus
ille, cum
Deus,
filiis hominum
caelum
pro
qui primo
humani
generis
the heavenly
the Father
of
eternal
(Cambridge,
of
the Historia,2
University
including
the
two
creauit.
omnipotens
kingdom,
of glory
as a
copies
a Latin
provides
song:
auctorem
was
of all marvels
the Author
and
God,
of
of men
the] roof for the children
[gable
of the human
the earth.1)
Guardian
race, created
is the
heavens
first
debemus
illius, facta
miraculorum
and
University
24 of the Historia
4, Chapter
translation
the power
how He,
and
first
and
of
created
then,
earliest-known
the
since
the
the
al
witnesses
National
Journal
? 2004
of English
and Germanic
by the Board of Trustees
Philology?October
of the University
of Illinois
O'Donnell
418
Library
Nu
scilun
herga
metudaes
mehti,
uerc uuldurfadur?
eci dryctin,
aerist scop
5 He
to hrofae,
hefen
tha middingard,
eci dryctin,
firum
foldu,
hefenricaes
and
uard
his modgithanc,
sue he uundra
gihuaes,
or astelidae.
aeldu
halig
barnum
sceppend;
moncynnaes
aefter tiadae
frea
uard,
allmehtig.4
are traditionally
to 737 (M) and 731 (or 732x746)
dated
(P) on
3- These manuscripts
notes associated
to Bede's final chapter. The va
the basis of chronological
with the capitula
as evidence
chal
for the manuscripts'
date has been vigorously
lidity of these "memoranda"
see R. D. Fulk, A History
For a discussion
and bibliography
of Old English
lenged, however.
C d
Meter (Philadelphia:
Univ. of Pennsylvania
D, and O'Donnell,
Press,
1992), Appendix
mon 'sHymn,
Appendix.
on pal?ographie
are most
to the eighth
Both manuscripts
likely to be ascribed
grounds
(Oxford: Clarendon,
century. See N. R. Ker, Catalogue ofManuscripts
Containing Anglo-Saxon
122 (P) and 25 (M); Pamela Robinson,
1990), articles
Catalogue ofDated and Datable Manu
in Cambridge Libraries (Cambridge:
Brewer,
(M); and Matti Kilpi?
1988)
scripts c. 737?1600
Material
Connected
and Leena Kahlas-Tarkka,
Ex ?nsula Lux: Manuscripts
and Hagiographical
a
with Medieval England,
Joint Exhibition Organized byHelsinki University Library and theNation
2001 )
al Library ofRussia
Univ. Library/The
National
(Helsinki: Helsinki
Library of Finland,
accounts
of the dating of P and M include M. B. Parkes, The Scriptorium ofWear
(P). Other
"On the
pp. 5-11; O. S. Arngart,
(Jarrow: St. Paul's Rectory,
1982), especially
mouthjarrow
D. H. Wright,
of Early Bede Manuscripts,"
Studia Neophilologica,
45 (1973),
47-52;
Dating
"The Date of the Leningrad
E. A. Lowe, "AKey
Bede," Revue B?n?dictine, 71 ( 1961 ), 265-73;
on the Leningrad
to Bede's
12 (1958),
Some Observations
Bede," Scriptorium,
Scriptorium:
"An Autograph
of the Venerable
Bede?" Revue B?n?dictine, 68 (1958),
1-20; Lowe,
200-2;
Bernhard
"Die Hofbibliothek
Karls des Grossen,"
in Karl der Grosse: Lebenswerk und
Bischoff,
2d ed. (D?sseldorf:
Nachleben,
II, 56
Braunfels,
Schwann,
3 vols., ed. Wolfgang
1965-1967),
Rosenkilde
and Bagger,
Blair, The Moore Bede, EEMF, 9 (Copenhagen:
57; and Peter Hunter
!959)
to these two manuscripts,
An extraordinary
is often attributed
and especially
P.
accuracy
See, for example,
Fulk, A History of Old English Meter, p. 427; Parkes, The Scriptorium ofWear
O'Brien
Visible Song: Transitional
O'Keeffe,
mouth-Jarrow, p. 5; and Katherine
Literacy in Old
Studies
in Anglo-Saxon
Cam
[CSASE], 4 (Cambridge:
English Verse, Cambridge
England
of the accuracy
of P,
bridge Univ. Press,
1990), p. 33. For a recent review of the evidence
see Daniel
Paul O'Donnell,
"The Accuracy
of the St. Petersburg
Bede," Notes and Queries,
247 (2002),
4-6.
text of C dmon 's
from the vernacular
4. All quotations
Hymn used in this article are from
me in the summer of 1998 for Cced
P. They are based on a new transcription
prepared
by
mon's Hymn. Punctuation,
word division,
and line division
have been silently modernized.
The translation
ismy own. P has been chosen for this article because
of its early date and its
close association
with Bede's
and the
Parkes, Ker, Wright,
(see, in particular,
scriptorium
articles by Lowe cited above).
to M, which differs
It has been preferred
from
insignificantly
to have been more
it appears
it is orthographically
P, because
carefully
copied and because
Bede 'sStrategy
we5 must
honor
(Now
and his
the Creator,
nal Lord,
established
the Guardian
of
the kingdom
of the Father
the work
intent,
of each
the beginning
of heaven,
of glory?as
419
the might
of
he, the eter
of wondrous
the holy
things. He,
as a roof for the children
of men;
first made
heaven
then the Guard
Creator,
the Lord
the eternal
ian of mankind,
afterwards
Lord,
appointed
almighty,
the land, for men.)
the middle
earth,
The
poem
relationship
is
problematic.6
between
On
Bede's
the
one
Latin
hand,
translation
the
two
texts
clearly
are
related.
is nearly
For the first five lines of the Old English, Bede's
"paraphrase"
there are some slight differences
in word order, and
word for word. While
while the two texts use terms for God that differ somewhat in connotation,
Bede's
version
nevertheless
in the corresponding
supplies
an
equivalent
for
almost
every
word
Old English.7
420
Table
'Donnell
1: Correspondences
between
dmons
lines
Hymn
1-5
and
Bede's
Para
auctor
extitit
phrase8
Old
English
scilun
Latin
la
Nu
hefenricaes
2a
metudaes
3a
sue he uundra
4a
eci dryctin
or astelidae
5a
potentiam
et consilium
facta Patris
gihuaes
On
the
other
omnium
illius
gloriae
ille
Deus9
miraculorum
qui primo
filiis hominum
the
hand,
debemus
regni caelestis
Creatoris
quomodo
cum sit aeternus
he asrist scop10
aeldu barnum
laudare
auctorem
mehti
b
b
Nunc
herga
uard
between
relationship
the
two
is con
versions
freer
siderably
poem. Eight
text
nacular
no
have
Orchard
has
in
Where
noted,
lines
1-5,
Bede's
organization,12
hexameter
cadences,
culmineto
scan
there
moreover,
or metrical
Latin
in Bede's
equivalent
correctly:
paraphrase
his version
including
caelumpro
one
Latin;
sion, culmine"(as
a marked
is also
no
shows
of
one
culmine
ver
in Bede's
word
the
last
in tone.11
difference
ornamentation
obvious
four
lines
that
contains
the
requires
humani
tecti, Gustos
three
presence
generis,
of
and
omnipotensP
in or
8. Underlining
in the Old English
column
indicates
that a word has been moved
omitted
from Bede's paraphrase.
In the Latin column,
is used to mark passag
underlining
es in which Bede has added
to or significantly
recast the syntax of the Old English.
Similar,
"Mir
in Orchard,
tables appear
"Poetic Inspiration,"
p. 412; Schwab,
though not identical,
"Miracles Revisited,"
acles," p. 13; Schwab,
p. 30; and Schwab, Caedmon, pp. 21-22.
recasts the syntax of the Old English. The significance
9. This section of the paraphrase
in his table that aeternus Deus corresponds
of the change
is discussed
below. Orchard
suggests
to halig sceppend (1. 6b). That this is incorrect
is suggested
by the fact that the two epithets
text of his essay, more
sentences
texts. In the main
in different
in their respective
appear
to line 6b in Bede's
over, Orchard
translation,
argues that there is "no precise
counterpart"
his own table (p. 412).
tables indicate
that she under
Schwab's
apparently
contradicting
stands aeternus Deus as a translation
of eci dryctin.
10. Scop in this line is translated,
(1. 8b), by creauitvX the end of Bede's
together with tiad
paraphrase.
11. See Orchard,
"Poetic Inspiration,"
p. 413 and n. 59.
as a whole
can be understood
as rhythmic hexam
12. Schwab argues that the paraphrase
eter verse. Doing
so requires us to
as it now stands,
in the translation
ignore several words
verse that, unlike
scans
and produces
to by Orchard,
the cadences
however,
pointed
poorly.
See Schwab,
and Caedmon, pp. 29-30,
"Poetic In
and cf. Orchard,
"Miracles," pp. 13-14,
"Beda e l'inno di Caedmon,"
Studi Medievali,
p. 413 and n. 59, and B. Luiselli,
spiration,"
H
(!973)>
1013"36
"Poetic
13. Orchard,
Inspiration,"
p. 413,
and Schwab,
"Miracles,"
p.
13.
Bede's Strategy
Table
between
2: Correspondences
Ccedmons
Hymn
lines
caelum
pro
6-9
and
421
Para
Bede's
phrase14
Old
Latin
English
to hrofse
hefen
6a
b halig sceppend
7a tha middingard
b
moncynnaes
8a eci dryctin
uard
culmine
dehinc
terram
Custos
humani
tecti
generis
b aefter tiadae15
9a
firum
foldu
frea allmehtig.
b
creauit
omnipotens
text
vernacular
intermediate
rhythmic
that
Latin
the
must
paraphrase
be
an
from
adapted
translation:
considerazioni
pare
queste
possibile,
trovato
che Beda
abbia
l'ipotesi
gi? pronta
sia
limitato
ad inserirla
nella H [istoria]
quindi
come
Dopo
tale
prospettare
gi? detto,
e che
traduzione
r?tmica
si
E [eclesi?stica]
(una traduzione
essere
a
che potrebbe
addirittura
la prima
trascrizione
anteriore
??iYLnno,
? esametri
? ritmici
caso
in
In ogni
d?lia
traduzione
gli
volgare??).
quella
sua scuola.
sono
n? di Beda
n? d?lia
latina non
D'altra
sarebbe
parte,
degni
a citare una versione
strano
si sia limitato
che Beda
anziehe
latina del canto
una
prep?rame
fede
prestar
in volgare,
dall'originale
Cuthberti
circa
direttamente
quanto
dice
specialmente
il suo interesse
l'Epistola
se si deve
per
Tarte
germ?nica.16
po?tica
In more
recent
two versions
translation
years,
Kevin
of the Hymn
from
Bede's
Kiernan
has
to suggest
Latin
rather
used
the
differences
English
between
the
text is a back
its source:
the "Hymn"
show that Bede would
have been
able to "paraphrase"
glosses
. . .But if Bede
of Caedmon's
for word.
this version
actually
paraphrased
of the
translate
for two-thirds
by phrase
"Hymn," why did he precisely
phrase
... ? It seems
of verse
and
then
leave out
three half-lines
poem
especially
to omit
for him
the new epithets
for God,
and
strange
haleg scepen and frea,
The
word
to eliminate
all
the
alliteration,
the most
salient
feature
of
the
verse.
It is
in or
in the Old English
column
indicates
that a word has been moved
14- Underlining
is used to mark passag
In the Latin column,
from Bede's paraphrase.
omitted
underlining
es in which Bede has added
recast the syntax of the Old English.
to or significantly
no literal equivalent
in Bede's
both elements
for line 8b is found
15.While
paraphrase,
are preserved:
the last line of
tiad , like scop (1. 5a), is translated by creauitm
of the half-line
to line 7a.
the paraphrase;
after is translated, with tha (1. 7a), by dehinc in the equivalent
16. Schwab, Caedmon, p. 30. See also Schwab,
"Miracles," pp. 13-14, and "Miracles Revis
ited," p. 30.
42 2
O'Donnell
to appreciate
how
his translation.
difficult
think
the inclusion
of these
might
things
take the position,
that an
instead,
enterpris
we
maker
translated
Bede's
Latin
into Old
ing Anglo-Saxon
myth
English,
can see that he (or she) translated
all of Bede's
Latin version
and, compelled
a few half-lines
added
and provided
the necessary
allit
by the meter,
boldly
eration.17
would
spoil
most
The
recent
differences
poem
between
English
sentence
Latin
proposed
text and
in
change
vernacular
surviving
translation
assumes
Orchard,
by Andy
strategy
on
that
the
of
the
versions
Bede's
part
midway
from
the omissions
semantic
between
and
the Old
disparities
the Latin,
it is notable
that the Latin
for
the
second
equivalents
can in some
sense be considered
of the Old English
since
"poetic,"
can be scanned
to fit a Latin
caelum pro
hexameter.
So the phrases
apart
and
several
culmine
Bede's
his adaptation
Quite
lines
indicate
through
stand,
there
solution,
Bede
If we
generis,
within
as well
as the
the Latin
term
hexameter
can, as they
omnipotens,
line. The
fact that
is no
in the Old
for culmine
(line 6a) only under
equivalent
English
more
so since none
nature
of the Latin
of the
the
version,
"poetic"
scans
the first sentence
of the Old English
with
in a
phrases
equating
the
manner
for hexameters,
the
of the very first
suitable
with
exception
possible
debemus
Nunc
laudare
for a rhythmical
hexame
(a perfect
ending
phrase,
was
a
to lend his version
Bede
wished
flavour,
ter) ....
yet
Clearly,
"poetic"
a metrical
to
translation.18
unwilling
simply
produce
None
of
these
solutions
is entirely
satisfactory.
In
Schwab's
two
case,
are left unsolved: why Bede would choose to use such a poor
problems
rhythmic intermediary rather than work with the Old English directly, and
to do so, he would then ruin the meter of this inter
why, having decided
mediary
by making
a number
of minor
nonmetrical
additions:
cum
sit and
Bede's Strategy
423
first
er's strategy in translating Bede's text: Why, faced with unambiguous
his
in
line
of
Latin
the
(Nunc
person plural morphology
"original"
opening
debemus laudare), would he decide to adopt the very unusual pronoun-less
five earliest manu
construction
(M? sculon her?an) found in the Hymns
own
set
his
would he choose
he
could
alliteration,
scripts?20Why, assuming
to translate Bede's Biblical Latin tagfiliis hominem with the rare formula
barnum
aelda
of
instead
(eleven
the
or
occurrences)
far more
the
translation
usual
nonce
collocation
monna
barnum
eordu
barnum
out
(100
of
102
Bede's
almost
with
paraphrase
word-for-word
he
would
accuracy,
de
his
give
of
prosa
the
on
in
flavour"
"'poetic'
lines
Orchard's
while
not
revise
the Kunst
Iwould
between
observations
there
not
did
it in step with
the
concerning
he
6-9,
closing
In this article,
the relationship
Building
translation
Bede's
Latin.
is a
in
change
literal
As we
shall
see,
the
and
accuracy
two
"flavour"
lie in Caedmon's
text
vernacular
be
to changes
is not really
by pointing
translation
tone
in
change
of
Old
dmon
's
of line 5, particu
Hymn itself changes style significantly at the beginning
handles
variation.
Bede's
reflects this
in
the
it
way
poetic
paraphrase
larly
at
moment
the
in
itself
less
literal
Caedmon's
original by becoming
change
the
ornamental
well. Variation
sees
Caedmon
literary
quality
variation
is a central
as a
preeminent
of Caedmon's
increases.
feature
But
there
is another
of Old English
Anglo-Saxon
to an
work
poet.
audience
poetic
factor
as
Anxious
that
at work
he
could
the
not
as
"
a discussion
of the apparently
20. See Mitchell,
C dmon 's
Hymn, Line i," for
unparalleled
is found inmanuscripts
The fact that this construction
construction.
form of the pronoun-less
recension
of the Hymn
to one West-Saxon
and one Northumbrian
(see above, n.
belonging
that it is legitimate Old English.
5) suggests
inMachine Readable Form (TEI Com
21. Figures based on The Complete Corpus of Old English
di Paolo Healey,
edition
file], ed. Antonette
[Computer
patible Version), 2d TEI-conformant
Text Archive,
etal.
(Oxford: Oxford
1994).
see Fred C. Robinson,
in Old English
Po
of Variation
"Two Aspects
22. For a discussion,
on Old English
Univ.
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
etry," in his The Tomb of Beowulf and Other Essays
Press,
1993), pp. 71-86.
O'Donnell
424
sume would be familiar with the original text or language, Bede uses hex
ameter cadences
in his paraphrase of the poem's last four lines to give his
a sense
reader
of
the
original
the
effect
Rather
audience.23
vernacular
an
than
have
would
poem
problem,
inexplicable
had
on
its
trans
Bede's
tered
the
choices
one
from
poetry
translating
he makes
in
translating
his
understood
Anglo-Saxon
to another.
language
Caedmon's
native
we
text,
how one
In examining
evidence
uncover
intellectually
signifi
poetry.24
HYMN
THE STRUCTUREOF CMDMON'S
commentators
have pointed
As numerous
out, the Old
into two main rhetorical
C dmon 'sHymn can be divided
clauses
theme,
The
each.25
exhorting
the
desirable;
first
section,
men
to worship
lines
second,
This
the more
of
the
earth
God
contains
beginning
with
1-4,
and explaining
a more
states
why
leisurely
the
text of
of two
poem's
is
this praise
summary
of
the
the
In
the heavens
for men.
is reflected
two-part division
expansive
5-9,
lines
comprising
English
sections
lines
5-9,
the
in the poem's
clauses
constituent
are
syntactically
moreover,
by
their
use
of
verbs
that
are,
broadly
speaking,
Bede's Strategy
("created,"
on
the
other
the
can
distinction
and
mood:
In
1. 8b).
scop
lines
1-4,
clauses
constituent
its main
seen
be
two
the
of
is subordinate
of
in tense
agree
established,"
("appointed,
tense
and
and
subject,
relationship
clause
mood,
subject,
similar
tiadce
hand,
the second
verbial:
the
and
1. 5a)
same
to the
refer
synonymous,
425
is ad
it in
from
verb.
nouns
in the way
and
refer
pronouns
ring to God are used in the course of the Old English poem. In the first
to God either
references
four lines, there is very little syntactic apposition:
The
differ in case or are associated with different aspects of the Godhead.
first
in
epithet
the
poem,
uard
1. lb),
("Guardian,"
is accusative
singular
and refers to God the Father; the second, third, and fourth references,
metud s ("Creator," 1. 2a), his (1. 2b), and uuldurfadur
("Father of glory,"
1.3a), are all genitive singular but modify nouns describing different parts
of God's
and
person
work.26
we
when
Only
come
to
the
sin
nominative
In
apposition.
this
two
the
case,
forms
considerably
syntactically
have
same
the
verb. Lines
5-9,
In
variation.
apposite
referent
this
are
and
in contrast,
show
the
section,
words
which
word-groups
share
a common
referent
and
occur
which
BEDE'S
In translating
Bede
tails,
begins
sets
of
his
out
STRATEGY
IN TRANSLATING
Ccedmon 's
Hymn
to
source.
reproduce
He
is,
his paraphrase
DMON'S
HYMN
the
general
indeed,
with a note
quite
sense,
emphatic
rather
than
about
ecclesiastica,
the
this
specific
practice.
only
are discussed
in Hupp?,
in detail
to the Godhead
26. References
Howlett,
as Howlett,
have argued,
It is possible,
work on the Hymn.
Ball, and Mitchell
n. 5.
the nominative
subject of scilun (1. 1). See above,
plural neuter
"Two Aspects,"
p. 73.
27. Robinson,
de
He
the sensus
and Schwab's
to read uerc as
O'Donnell
426
of
ties
and concludes
of the poem
ad uerbum
poetry
translating
to another:
language
non autem
ordo
sensus,
ipse uerborum,
enim
carmina,
?eque
possunt
quamuis
optime
sui decoris
ad uerbum
sine detrimento
linguam
est
Hic
the difficul
about
reminder
one
from
ille canebat;
in aliam
dormiens
quae
ex alia
conposita,
ac
dignitatis
transferri.
he sang as he
of the words
which
is the sense but not
the order
(This
to translate
well composed,
For it is not possible
verse, however
literally
some
and dignity.28)
one
loss of beauty
to another
with
language
slept.
from
to God
references
eci
tive
phrase,
aeternusDeus
in Caedmon's
dryctin
he
("since
(1. 4a),
is the
original
as
part
eternal
of
see
God";
above,
nomina
second
the
by recasting
a new
subordinate
cum
clause,
Table
In
1).
the
sit
last
clauses
More
take
ous appositive
er
than
5 and
in this
part
of
the
the first
retains
6, Bede
the
translates
poem's
nominative
epithet,
strategy
Table
has
second
2).
on
the
numer
section. Rath
the
eliminates
Bede
poem
the second,
first
above,
(see
this
verb
effect
elements
recasting,
main
is the
however,
by simply deleting
lines
their
creauitas
dramatic,
repetition
term in each
sequence:29
of
he
the
clause,
moncynnces
(1. 7b),
(1. 5a,
in
trans
In lines 7
as Custos
hu
the second epithet, eci dryctin (1. 8a), and retains only the
mani, eliminates
final adjective of the third, frea allmehtig (1. 9b):30
He
halig
sceppend;
tha middingard,
eci dryctin,
moncynnaes
aefter tiadae
firum
frea
foldu,
These
the most
from
omissions
obvious
almost
caelum
filiis hominum
pro
qui primo
terram Custos
culmine
tecti, dehinc
creauit.
humani
omnipotens
generis
barnum
scop aeldu
to hrofae,
aerist
hefen
uard,
allmehtig.
of repetitive material
seeming
inconsistency
word-for-word
accuracy
that
characterizes
loose rendition
translation:
his
the
version
change
of the
Bede 'sStrategy
of lines 1-4, Bede is able to translate all but one of the original
text without
the only
thets in the vernacular
repeating himself;
cannot
427
six epi
time he
the "redun
without
he eliminates
original
repetition,
as a subordinate
far
clause.
The
the
epithet
offending
dancy"
by recasting
more
in the
last five
in con
variation
ornamental
lines,
poem's
frequent
to eliminate.
to
In addition
him with more
material
trast, provides
collaps
translate
the
three
pairs
the
retaining
explains
why
one
after
line
the
second
first
the
singular
in each
reference
in Bede's
the change
section
of
the
to God.
appositive
sequence,
nominative
in line 6,
in Caedmon
to God
reference
until
line
lines
insistence
moreover,
section
singular
come
His
to begin
appears
ornamental
doesn't
poem
also in these
creauit, Bede
references
translation
the more
of
beginning
poem:
original
of nominative
Bede
6b,
in
is able
second
of
part
necessary
rically
that
observation
Bede
rial Bede
Old
Old
also
English
that
partially
for an
from
poem,
poetic
Latin hexameter
had
his most
makes
these
style.
mimics
audience
to
own
Orchard's
are
paraphrase
relevant.31
to
essential
relevant
in the met
is where
the
an important
restricted
lines from
The
sense
mate
the
of
feature
of
as ornamental
passages
the ornamental
able
This
represent
the
recasting
Bede
cadences,
in the
poem's
does
of his
"redundancy"
culmine.
significant
lines, while
nevertheless
In
superfluous
cadences
hexameter
removes
English
or add
poem,
otherwise
the
to the equivalent
which
the
but
appreciate
effect
Caedmon's
the
vernacular
variation
would
have
original.32
"Poetic
p. 413.
31. Orchard,
Inspiration,"
has arisen
in recent years as to why Bede
should
32. Considerable
controversy
scholarly
ecclesias
omit the original Old English of C dmon 's
Hymn from the main body of his Historia
in Cuthbert's
since his own Death Songis quoted
Latin epistle on Bede's death.
tica, especially
of the problem,
For discussion
'Blame Poem',"
see, among others, Biggs, "Deor's Threatened
'Caedmon's Hymn',"
and Allen J. Frantz
pp. 157-58;
p. 304 and n. 38; Kiernan,
"Reading
Old English,
and Teaching the Tradition
en, Desire for Origins: New Language,
(New Brunswick,
Epistle has been edited by Dobbie, Manu
NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1990), p. 146. Cuthbert's
and Mynors,
Bede's Ecclesiastical History, pp. 580-87.
and Colgrave
Hymn,
scripts of C dmon 's
to differences
to pay sufficient
in genre and in
attention
This debate
fails, to my mind,
the two Latin works: Cuthbert's
tended audiences
between
is, in the first instance,
epistle
in his final words; what these
for readers who knew its subject and were interested
intended
Bede's Historia
central to the text's purpose.
words were is, therefore,
ecclesiastica, on the other
a mi
church and political
is a work of Anglo-Saxon
(in which Caedmon
hand,
history
plays
could be assumed
audience?few
of whom
nor part) aimed a general European
intellectual
or share any real aesthetic
interest in even the best of its poetry.
to understand
Old English
intense
it seems
interest from modern
While
the Caedmon
scholars,
chapter has attracted
of Bede's work for very many mem
that itwould have been the primary attraction
doubtful
audience.
bers of his original
O'Donnell
428
The fact that these cadences are found in the work of several significant
Christian Latin poets and, in one case at least, echoed in the Aeneid?3 only
adds to the effect. As William D. McCready has shown, Bede devoted con
siderable
greater
ison
attention
claim
with
secular
letters.34
et
Bede
schematibus
authors
ace
for
to De
tropis,
non-Christian
schematibus,
to demonstrate
the
career
his
throughout
literature
Christian
had
In his
rhetorical
in his
excerpts
Bede
moreover,
aesthetic
quality
De
works,
substitutes
frequently
or
equal
in compar
arte m?trica
and De
to
demonstrating
to aesthetic
excellence
passages
sources.
As
these
makes
of Christian
he
the
from
notes
pref
as much
substitutions
literature
as
Christian
in the
to
propagate
its doctrine:
causa decoris aliter quam
in Scripturis
Solet
ordo uerborum
aliquoties
uulgaris
uia dicendi
inueniri. Quod
habet figuratus
Graece
schema
uocant,
grammatici
nos
recte
uel figuram
habitum
uel
formam
nominamus,
per hoc
quia
... Et
et ornatur
modo
uestitur
oratio.
Graeci
quodam
quidem
gloriantur
se
siue troporum
fuisse
Sed ut cognoscas,
di
repertores.
figurarum
omnes
haec
uoluerint
fili, cognoscant
qui
legere
quia sancta Scrip
non
tura ceteris
omnibus
solum
est, uel
auctoritate,
scripturis
quia diuina
et antiquitate
et
ad
uitam
ducit
sed
aeternam,
utilitate,
ipsa praeemi
quia
net
mihi
collectis
de ipsa exemplis
ostendere
dicendi,
positione
placuit
quia
nihil
siue troporum
huiusmodi
schematum
ualent
saecularis
praetendere
talium
lectissime
eloquentiae
magistri,
quod
non
in ilia praecesserit.
in
to find
usual
word
order
that, for the sake of embellishment,
(It is quite
manner
in a figured
written
is frequently
fashioned
different
compositions
use the Greek
term "sche
from
The
that of ordinary
grammarians
speech.
or
we
for this practice,
it a "manner,"
ma"
whereas
label
"form,"
correctly
. . .
or adorned.
it
is in some way clothed
because
"figure,"
through
speech
on
or tropes. But,
The Greeks
themselves
invented
these figures
having
pride
in order
to read
that you and all who wish
this work may
child,
my beloved
know
cause
surpasses
in usefulness
all other
because
writings
it leads
not
merely
to eternal
in authority
life, but also
be
for
Evidence
for the distinction
is to be seen in
between
letter and Bede's History
Cuthbert's
the pronouns
used to refer to the English
in the two works.
In Cuthbert's
Epistle,
language
as being doctus in nostris carminibus
Bede
is described
in our song") and to have
("learned
. . .
sung in nostra
lingua ("our language"; Bede's Ecclesiastical History, ed. and trans. Colgrave
In Bede's
account
and Mynors,
of Caedmon's
is
Caedmon
however,
p. 580).
inspiration,
as singing
in sua, id est Anglorum,
described
lingua ("his own, that is the English,
language";
and Mynors,
Bede's Ecclesiastical History, p. 414; I have modified
transla
Colgrave
Colgrave's
tion to reflect the Latin more
closely).
culmine tecti is found in the Aeneid (IV. 186 and with slight variation,
33. Caelumpro
II.695),
to the Heliand
the preface
De laudibus virginum (1.
(1. 6), and with some variation, Aldhelm's
a
Vita S. Cuthberti (1. 334). Humani
metrical
2) and Bede's
generis is likewise
commonplace
for example,
are discussed
in Aldhelm's
Carmen de uirginitate
in
found,
(1. 84). Examples
"Poetic Inspiration,"
Schwab,
"Miracles," pp. 13-14, and Orchard,
p. 413, note 59.
Miracles and the Venerable Bede, Studies and Texts,
118 (Toronto: Pon
34. W. D. McCready,
tifical Institute of Mediaeval
Studies,
1994), especially
pp. 12-13.
Bede's Strategy
its age
artistic
and
not
not
did
which
composition,
from Holy
collected
examples
age have
first
appear
in Holy
to demonstrate
chosen
of
teachers
that
Writ
us with
to furnish
able
been
I have
of
any
secular
these
by
429
means
of
in any
eloquence
and
figures
tropes
Writ.35)
Bede is talking primarily about the Bible in this passage, but the thought
is in keeping with his views on Christian literature more generally, an opin
in the case of the De schematibus by his use of three quota
ion suggested
Christian writings as examples alongside his Bib
tions from nonscriptural
his most
lical examples.36 In telling Caedmon's
story, and in paraphrasing
famous
the Historia
in
poem
Bede
ecclesiastica,
the
places
herdsman
poet
into the same exalted company as the Christian Latin poets he quotes in
the hexameter
his rhetorical works. By substituting
cadences, particularly
those shared with the great Christian and pagan poets, for Caedmon's orig
inal
its
supersedes
perhaps
Bede
translation,
extent
the
audience
English-speaking
indeed,
in his
variation
vernacular
to which
work
and,
adapts
as well.
predecessors
poetic
to a non
demonstrates
Caedmon's
above
uments.37
poetic
practice
if any,
classifications,
tion
this
is one
of
very
few
of
contemporary
concerns
discussion
important
left
no
their methods
vernacular
verse,38
performance
accounts
explicit
our
knowl
of
and
and
account
the metri
or the generic
of composition,
Bede's
they
recognized.
accounts
of
nonfiction
the
for
implications
audiences
Anglo-Saxon
has
if correct,
argument,
edge of Anglo-Saxon
poetic
Anglo-Saxon
of
the
poet
and
the
production
one
of
only
reception
two
of
Caed
recep
in which
surviving
Series Lati
Corpus Christianorum
35- Bede, De schematibus et tropis i, ed. Calvin Kendall,
by Gussie Hecht Tannenhaus,
1975), pp. 142-43. Translation
123A (Turnhout: Brepols,
inMedieval Rhetoric, ed. Joseph Miller
in Readings
(Bloo
Figures and Tropes,"
"Concerning
Indiana Univ. Press,
1973), p. 97.
mington:
and the Venerable Bede, pp. 12-13.
Miracles
36. McCready,
verse can be
Old English
involved
in identifying
of the problems
37. A careful discussion
The Composition of Old English Poetry, CSASE 20 (Cambridge:
found in H. Momma,
Cambridge
Univ. Press,
pp. 1-7.
1997). See, in particular,
can
and reception
of vernacular
of surviving accounts
poetic production
38. A discussion
CT:
Oral Poetry: A Study of the Traditions
in Jeff Opland,
be found
(New Haven,
Anglo-Saxon
on pp. 106-20. Although
is discussed
of Caedmon
Yale Univ. Press, 1980). Bede's description
his
on uncovering
of oral composition,
evidence
is
focussed
discussion
primarily
Opland's
See
and reception.
of vernacular
if not all accounts
work covers most
composition
poetic
Oral Poet," Bulletin of theJohn Rylands
also Roberta
Frank, "The Search for the Anglo-Saxon
na,
University
Library,
75
(1993),
11?36.
43 o
O'Donnell
Old English
tus
stitution
carminibus
of Latin
constitutes
Saxon
though
final
four
five,
Bede
lines
his
provides
Latin
have
section
of
provides
Caedmon's
nature
the
and aesthetic
currence
quality
the
period.
But Bede's
as for what
Germanic"
modern
ally
cal
importance
translation
in
This
as a central
As
A.
H.
element
Smith
of
he
an
for what
of Caedmon's
and
his
dryctin,
use
of
poem's
Bede
with
associates
of
to Old
implicit
the
in this
discussions
otherwise
true
in
poem
moreover,
poets,
variation
us with
uard, frea,
especially
of the Hymn,
Caedmon's
epithets,
discussions
significance.41
of appositive
is as significant
particularly
the
quality
modern
confirming
provides
of Caedmon's
work?an
is
great
superlative
also
translation
it does.
understood
to
In addition
work might
it adapts. By including
the
by
the
read
modern
process,
to understand
able
used
of
indication
plays inAnglo
what Caedmon's
literary tradition
cadences
poem
an
work.
Bede's
poetry,
the aesthetic
were
who
of the vernacular
in the
rec
contemporary
ornamental
highly
first
less ornamental
his
than
sub
variation
appositive
for
Caedmon's
for understanding
to audiences
context
us with
translating
fashion
poetic
readers
(and,
careful
Bede's
important
poetry.
By
in a far more
then
evidence
implicit,
in claiming
song"),40
for Caedmon's
cadences
of the aesthetically
vernacular
in our
("learned
hexameter
important,
ognition
is correct
If Cuthbert
poem.39
in nostris
the
English
on
comment
oc
unparalleled
of
"traditional
to describe
these
aesthetic
epithets
and
God.
In
is usu
histori
suggests,
account
Bede 'sStrategy
[I]n Caedmon's
ty for only half
time when
a century
to Christian
Northumbria
these
been
had
431
to Christiani
converted
is, however,
No
allusion
importance.
of Caedmon's
ness"
on
order,
its smoothness,
cantly,
mon's
in his
vocabulary
of Caedmon's
ination
account
of
praise
tic value;
the
the
faithfulness
to devote
praise
its sources.
more
puts
concerned
More
signifi
to Caed
attention
programmatic
of
rendering
Bede's
or
"fresh
concentrates
he
is primarily
any
repetition,
para
to the
Hymn
particular
to his
In contrast
translation.
or
life
in Bede's
dis
and
verbal
of Caedmon's
shared
anywhere
own
propagan
of Hild
propriety,
not
appear
does
Bede
Bede's
and
in the mouths
indirectly
with
that Bede
ismade
diction.
its sweetness,
account
in Bede's
nothing
to suggest
of his Hymn
phrase
phrases
could
poetry
in later Old
belonging
elim
the
poet's
It also
poetry.43
one
ignores
occurrence
of
(a second
dryctin
verse
original
Bede's
translation
device:
while
connotations
its first
appearance
gy
for
reveals
this
evidence
striking
eliminates
etic" tone
shows
Latin
of
for
equivalent
verbal
as
echoes
structural
on
occasion,
its
second
auctorem
dryc
his
similar
translation
with
founder")
("author,
both
suggests
considered
carefully
the poem
for readers
paraphrasing
he understood
the
how
original
ornamental
lation
usual
("guardian,"
use
Caedmon's
translates
guardianship,
uses
a form,
together,
was
's
Hymn
the
notes,
of
quite
connotations.
Taken
Ccedmon
hides
Bede
of
different
(as Green
tin is dominus).^
the
element
use
of
syntactic
Poems,
42. Smith, Three Northumbrian
43. See Green,
Carolingian Lord, pp.
44. Green,
Carolingian Lord, p. 298.
apposition.
rev. ed.
265-69,
that
Historia
his
in
and
lines
In contrast
5-9.
His
read
its use
trans
a more
adopts
the Old
of
strate
ecclesiastica
In Bede's
to have been
appears
lines in which
translation
and
text.
vernacular
of the Hymn
of those
Bede's
production
of the Latin
variation,
appositional
particularly
this variation
programmatically
in its rendition
heaviest
that
English
to modern
"po
poem
read
1978),
p.
15.
432
O'Donnell
ers, however,
Caedmon's
Bede
vocabulary:
Caedmon's
paraphrasing
to have been
appears
his
translation
terms
for God
no
from
consistent
of
in
attitude
the
removing
evidence
of repeated epithets and verbal echoes in lines lb and 7b, and 4a and 8a.
it shows a drastic change in tone and accuracy approximately
Although
two-thirds
and
of
surviving
the way
vernacular
through,
copies
the
relationship
of the poem
between
is not
Bede's
nearly
paraphrase
as
puzzling
as
text.