It exhibits, also, something of that new growth which was to compensate for the loss of flection. And it already bears marks of that French influence which was so largely to affect the whole complexion of the language. I quote from the last Annal in the Saxon Chronicle of Peterborough:—

1154. On is gr wrd e King Stephan ded and bebyried er his wif and his sune wron bebyried t Faures feld, et minstre hi makeden . a e King was ded, a was e eorl beionde s . and ne durste nan man don oer bute god for e micel eie of him . a he to Engle land com . a was he under fangen mid micel wurtscipe . and to king bletcd in Lundene on e Sunnen di be foren midwinter di . and held r micel curt.

In this year was King Stephen dead and buried where his wife and his son were buried at Feversham, the minster he made. When the King was dead, then was the earl beyond sea, and no man durst do other than good for the great awe of him. When he came to England, then was he received with great worship, and consecrated king in London on the Sunday before Christmas Day; and he held there a great court.

Here, then, at the very latest, we must close the canon of Anglo-Saxon literature. And here our subject branches in two; we have to follow with a brief glance what happened in two divergent lines of succession. As when, in the early mountainous course of some growing river, a broken hill has fallen across its bed, the old water-way is choked, and the descending waters make new channels to the right and to the left; so it was with the fortunes of our native language and literature after the Norman Conquest. The stream of largest volume was the spontaneous and popular utterance which amused in hall and taught in church; the lesser stream was the artificial maintenance of Anglo-Saxon literature which went on in the old seats of religion and learning.

The Norman Conquest brought in a vast body of romantic literature. Heroic or entertaining tales in a ballad form were at that time highly popular; and a peculiar talent for this sort of narrative was developed in France and among the Normans. The oldest French romances were those of which the central figure was Charles the Great. It was one of these, the "Song of Roland," that animated the conquering Normans at Senlac. According to high authorities, it was in the next generation after the Conquest that the "Chanson de Roland" took that final epic form which now it bears, and probably the poet's home was in England.[150] For a long time the speech of the upper society was wholly French. The two languages quickly met one another in the market, and in all the necessary business of life; but in respect of literature they long stood apart. Such was the state of things in this island during the time in which the Carling cycle prevailed. With that cycle the English language never came into contact at all in its palmy days; and the few Carling poems that exist in English are of later date, and are of a mixed nature. When at length, towards the close of the twelfth century, a literary intercourse had sprung up between the two languages, the hero of popular song was no longer Charles, but Arthur. In the English poetry of Layamon (1205), founded upon the French of Robert Wace, we see the story of Arthur in that early stage where it still purports to be history rather than romance. Layamon represents the first great step from the old literature to the new; and he is the first to give an English home to that ideal king who was to be the chosen theme of Spenser and of Tennyson. We will quote the death of Arthur and his funeral cortge:—

THE PASSING OF ARTHUR.

Line 28,582.

Tha nas ther na mare, i than fehte to laue, of twa hundred thusend monnen, tha ther leien to-hawen; buten Arthur the king one, and of his cnihtes tweien. Arthur wes forwunded wunderliche swithe. Ther to him com a cnaue, the wes of his cunne; he wes Cadores sune, the eorles of Cornwaile. Constantin hehte the cnaue; he wes than kinge deore. Arthur him lokede on, ther he lai on folden, and thas word seide, mid sorhfulle heorte. Constantin thu art wilcume, thu weore Cadores sune: ich the bitache here, mine kineriche: and wite mine Bruttes, a to thines lifes: and hald heom alle tha la{gh}en, tha habbeoth istonden a mine da{gh}en: and alle tha la{gh}en gode, tha bi Vtheres da{gh}en stode. And ich wulle uaren to Aualun, to uairest alre maidene; to Argante there quene, aluen swithe sceone: and heo scal mine wunden, maiken all isunde, al hal me makien, mid halewei{gh}e drenchen. And seothe ich cumen wulle to mine kineriche: and wunien mid Brutten, mid muchelere wunne.

Then was there no more in that fight left alive, out of 200,000 men, that there lay cut to pieces; but Arthur the King only and two of his knights. Arthur was wounded dangerously much. There to him came a youth who was of his kin; he was son of Cador, the earl of Cornwall. Constantine hight the youth; to the king he was dear. Arthur looked upon him, where he lay on the ground, and these words said, with sorrowful heart. Constantine thou art welcome thou wert Cador's son: I here commit to thee, my kingdom; and guide thou my Britons aye to thy life's cost; and assure them all the laws, that have stood in my days: and all the laws so good, that by Uther's days stood. And I will fare to Avalon, to the fairest of all maidens; to Argante the queen, elf exceeding sheen: and she shall my wounds, make all sound; all whole me make, with healing drinks. And sith return I will, to my kingdom: and dwell with Britons, with mickle joy.

fne than worden, ther com of se wenden, that wes an sceort bat lithen, sceouen mid vthen: and twa wimmen therinne, wunderliche idihte: and heo nomen Arthur anan, and aneouste hine uereden, and softe hine adun leiden, and forth gunnen hine lithen.

Even with these words, lo came from sea wending, that was a short boat moving, driving with the waves: and two women therein, of marvellous aspect: and they took Arthur anon, and straight him bore away and softly down him laid, and forth with him to sea they gan to move away.

Tha wes hit iwurthen, that Merlin seide whilen; that weore unimete care, of Arthures forth-fare.

Then was it come to pass what Merlin said whilome; that there should be much curious care, when Arthur out of life should fare.

Bruttes ileueth {gh}ete, that he beo on liue, and wunnie in Aualun, mid fairest alre aluen: and lokieth euere Bruttes {gh}ete, whan Arthur cume lithen.

Britons believe yet, that he be alive, and dwelling in Avalon with the fairest of all elves: still look the Britons for the day of Arthur's coming o'er the sea.

In this poetry there is a new vein of popularity. Since we left the primary poetry we have been on the track of a literature whose spring was in book-learning. A foreign erudition had thrown the lore of the native minstrel into the shade. But some relics of domestic material reappear with the new gush of popular song in the 13th century. Among the mass of stories which fill that time, we find here and there an old English tale, and sometimes it is a translation back from the French. The romance of King Horn is one of these. The names of the personages, and the general course of the plot—the Saracens notwithstanding—are essentially Saxon. There are lines which are almost pure Saxon poetry, and there are incidents that recall the Beowulf.

The story is as follows:—Horn was the son of the King of Suddene; he was of matchless beauty, and he had twelve companions, among whom two were specially dear to him; they were Athulf and Fikenild, the best and the worst. The land was conquered by Saracens, who slew the king, but sent off Horn and his twelve in a ship to perish at sea. They came to a land where the king was Aylmar, who thus addressed them:—

Whannes beo {gh}e, faire gumes, That her to londe beoth icume, Alle throttene Of bodie swithe kene.

"Whence be ye, fair gentlemen, that here to land are come? All thirteen of body very keen. By him that made me, so fair a band saw I at no time; say what ye seek?" Horn tells his story, and Aylmar likes him, and bids Athelbrus, his steward, teach him woodcraft, and the harp and song, and also to carve and be cupbearer:—

Bifore me to kerve And of the cupe serve.

The Princess Rymenhild falls in love with Horn, and this is an occasion to prove the loyalty of Athulf. She orders Athelbrus to send Horn to her; but he, fearing the consequences, and being specially responsible for Horn, sends Athulf instead. Athulf finds that the princess has been deceived, and declares at once that he is not Horn. When at length Horn does meet Rymenhild, he points out to her the inequality of his rank. She gets her father to knight him. She also gives him a ring, in which the stones are of such virtue that if he looks on them and thinks of her he need fear no wounds:—

The stones beoth of suche grace That thu ne schalt in none place Of none duntes beon of drad.

He rides forth in search of adventures to prove his knighthood. He falls in with a crew of Saracens, slays 100 of them, and brings the head of the master Saracen on the point of his sword to the king, where he sits in hall among his knights, and presents it in acknowledgment of his dubbing (compare p. 130 above). Fikenild tells Aylmar of Horn's love for his daughter, and Aylmar banishes Horn. Departing, he promises Rymenhild to return in seven years or she shall be free to marry another. He leaves the faithful Athulf behind to look after Rymenhild.

He arrives at the court of King Thurston, and there he calls himself Cutberd. The land is infested by pagan invaders. Cutberd slays a giant and many of the Saracens who were with him. Thurston offers him his daughter and the kingdom with her. Cutberd tells the king that it must not be so, but that he will claim his reward when he has relieved the king of all his troubles, which will be at seven years' end (compare p. 131 above).

Meanwhile, Rymenhild is sought in marriage by King Modi, and the day is fixed. In her distress she sends in all directions to seek Horn; her messenger finds Horn and delivers his message, but he never returns to the princess, because he is drowned. Now Horn tells King Thurston his story, and entreats his help. He adds that he will provide a worthy husband for his daughter, namely, Athulf, one of the best and truest of knights. Thurston assembles his men and they go with Horn. Horn leaves them under the wood while he goes towards the palace. He meets a palmer and changes clothes with him. In the palace he takes his place with the beggars, and when Rymenhild rises to offer wine to the guests he gets speech of her and lets her see the ring she had given him. This leads to a full recognition and the betrothal of Horn with Rymenhild. Such is the tale of King Horn.

But, of all the old native stories that crop up in this later time, the most remarkable is the "Lay of Havelok the Dane," a large subject which we can only just indicate here.[151]

Of the learned branches a good deal continued unbroken by the Conquest. Such was mostly the case with Homilies and Lives of saints, and Poetry of the allegorical and instructive kind.

In the Exeter Song-book we saw pieces that had been taken from the old book "Physiologus." This allegorical poetry retained its place through all the changes.[152] Here is a passage from the "Whale," in the language of the thirteenth century:—

Wiles that weder is so ille, the sipes that arn on se fordriven (loth hem is deth, and lef to liven) biloken hem and sen this fis; an eilond he wenen it is. Thereof he aren swithe fagen, and mid here migt tharto he dragen, sipes onfesten, and alle up gangen. Of ston mid stel in the tunder wel to brennen one this wunder, warmen hem wel and heten and drinken; the fir he feleth and doth hem sinken, for sone he diveth dun to grunde, he drepeth hem alle withuten wunde.

These examples may suffice to represent that new literature which began to rise after the violent removal of the old. They do not belong to the history of Anglo-Saxon literature except indirectly as a foil and a contrast. They show how ready were new forms to take the place of the old. But while the English language was thus following the natural and spontaneous course of its development, there still survived a powerful interest in the old classical Englisc. The seat of this literature was in the old monasteries, which became strongholds of ancient culture and tradition. The old books were perused and re-copied, and a scholarly knowledge of the old language was made an object of study. This was sustained not only by sentiment, and curiosity, and literary taste, but also by a sense of corporate interest. The titles of the old monasteries to their lands were wholly or very largely contained in Saxon writings, and these grew in importance with the growing habits of documentary legality under Norman rule. A language which was at once native and recondite, far more recondite than the Latin of the ordinary scholar, could not but be impressive as a documentary medium. The number of extant Saxon books and deeds which were either originally composed after the Conquest, or at least re-copied and re-edited, is quite enough to prepare us to receive what Matthew Parker said in the Latin preface to his edition (1574) of "Asser":—

"Furthermore; inasmuch as the medium of many legal documents and venerable memorials and royal charters preserved in archives, dating, some before, some after, the coming of the Normans into England, is Saxon both in language and in writing, I will advise all who study the institutions of this realm, to undergo the slight and insignificant labour which is necessary to make themselves masters of this language. If they will but do this, they will doubtless make discoveries daily, and will bring to light things which now lie hidden and remote; yea, they will without effort clear up the intricacies and perplexities of a great number of things. And in ages past there were societies of religious persons who were ordered by our forefathers for this work, that some among them might be trained in the knowledge of this tongue, and might transmit the same in succession to those who came after. To wit, in Tavistock Abbey, in the county of Devon, and in many other fraternities (within my memory) this was an established thing; to the end, as I suppose, that acquaintance with a literature whose language is antiquated might not perish for lack of use."

Thus we see that in the centuries between the Conquest and the Reformation the old ENGLISC was a recognised subject of study; and that it enjoyed, as the Latin did, the honours of an ancient language which was too much esteemed to be allowed to perish. And, therefore, it was said above that the Anglo-Saxon language and literature never died out; for the knowledge of it was kept up till the time when, through the general Revival of learning, new motives were supplied for its diligent study, and the very man in whom the new movement is impersonated is he who testifies that the study had lasted down to a time within his own memory.

FOOTNOTES:

[145] Written and illustrated with miniatures by order of elwold, Bishop of Winchester, A.D. 963-984. Hexameter verses in a superior style of penmanship, namely, the old Latin rustic, record the history of the book, and give the scribe's name as Godeman, perhaps the Abbot of Thorney, who began A.D. 970. The illuminations are engraved in "Archologia," xxiv.

[146] The "Leofric Missal," edited by F.E. Warren, B.D., Clarendon Press, 1883.

[147] Particulars may be found in my "English Plant Names from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century," Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1880.

[148] The medical treatises have been collected in three volumes (Rolls Series) by Mr. Cockayne, under the title of "Saxon Leechdoms."

[149] There are four copies of it in the Cotton Library, and one in Cambridge University library; some also in other collections. It has been printed from a Cotton manuscript written, the editor says, about A.D. 990. "Popular Treatises on Science," edited by T. Wright, 1841.

[150] "La Chanson de Roland," par Lon Gautier, ed. 7 (1880), Introduction.

[151] This poem, of which there are many external traces, had long been given up as lost, was deplored by Tyrwhitt and by Ritson, and was accidentally discovered in a Bodleian manuscript, latent amidst legends of saints. From this unique MS. it was edited by Sir F. Madden; and again (1868) by the Rev. W.W. Skeat, who says in his preface:—"There can be little doubt that the tradition must have existed from Anglo-Saxon times, but the earliest mention of it is presented to us in the French version of the Romance.... The story is in no way connected with France; ... From every point of view, ... the story is wholly English," p. iv.

[152] An old English Miscellany, containing a "Bestiary," &c., ed. R. Morris (E.E.T.S.), 1872, p. 17. The "Phisiologus" is quoted in Chaucer, apparently from this very "Bestiary"; and Dr. Morris says that scraps of it are found even in Elizabethan writers. I add a translation of the piece quoted:—"Whilst that weather is so bad, the ships that are driven about on the sea (death is unwelcome, men love to live) look about them and see this fish; they ween it is an island. They are very glad of it, and with all their might they draw towards it, make the ships fast, and all go ashore. With stone and steel and tinder they make a good fire on this monster, and warm themselves well, and eat and drink; the whale feels the fire and makes them sink, for he quickly dives to the bottom, he kills them all without wound."



INDEX.

Abgar, Lay of, 241

Abingdon Chronicle, 32, 173

lfric, Abbot, 23, 40, 67, 207, 213, 221, 245 Bata, 40

lfheah, Archbishop, 224

thelberht, 81

thelred's Laws, 164

thelweard, 183, 220

thelwold, Bishop, 25, 51, 181, 207, 219, 243

Aidan, Bishop, 99

Alcuin, 23, 99, 117

Aldhelm, 21, 53, 86

Alfred, 15, 24, 186 ff., 207, 244

Alfred Jewel, 49

Alfred's Laws, 154 ff.

Andreas, the, 90, 233 f.

"Anglo-Saxon," 206

Apollonius of Tyre, 18, 212

Apuleius, 245

Architecture, 52

Arnold, Thomas, 121, 136

Arthur, 59, 249

Arundel Marbles, 48

Ashburnham House, 32

Ashmolean Museum, 49

Asser, 43, 183, 187, 256

Athelstan's Laws, 159

Augustine, Archbishop, 52

Avitus, Bishop, 14

Ballads, the, 145 ff.

Baron, Dr., 221

Beda, 21, 64, 81, 102 ff., 204, 245

Benedict of Nursia, 15 of Aniane, 209

Beowulf, the, 32, 45, 58, 68, 71, 120 ff., 225

Biscop, Benedict, 86, 99

Blickling Homilies, 47, 139, 213 ff.

Blume, Dr., 46

Bodleian Library, 34

Boethian Metres, 71, 202 ff.

Boethius, 14, 201 ff.

Boniface (Winfrid), 21

Bosworth, Dr., 44, 226

Bradford-on-Avon, 53

Buckley, Professor, 40

Burials, Saxon, 55

Byrhtnoth, 217

Cdmon, 14, 22, 39, 68, 99, 111

Csar, 62

Camden, William, 43, 183

Canons of lfric, 67, 220

Canterbury, 20, 79, 98

Carling Romances, 248

Cenwalh, 180

Ceolfrid, Abbot, 102

Charles the Great, 187, 248

Chaucer, 27, 242, 254

Chronicles, the, 20, 22, 61, 169 ff.

Cockayne, Oswald, 245

Colman, Bishop, 99

Conybeare, 45

Cotton Library, 32, 245

Cotton, Sir Robert, 31, 35

Coxe, Henry Octavius, 39, 40

Cuthbert, St., 99, 104

Cynewulf, 226 ff.

Danihel, Bishop, 21

Dasent, Sir George, 68

Day, John, 35, 42

Days of the Week, 73

Dialogues, Gregory's, 16, 36, 193 ff. of Solomon, &c., 210 ff.

Dietrich, Professor, 208, 227, 240

Documents, Legal, 167

Dunstan, Archbishop, 25, 43, 207, 219

Durham Ritual, 111, 243

Eadmer, 52

Ebert, Adolf, 103, 118

Edda, the, 65

Eddi, 21, 99

Edwin, King, 98

Egbert, Archbishop, 21, 99

Elene, the, 90, 234 ff.

Epinal Gloss, 91, 97

Ettmller, Ludwig, 121, 134

Eusebius of Csarea, 241 of Emesa, 216

Evesham, 69

Exeter Book, 29, 88, 225 ff., 254.

Eynsham, 220

Felix, Bishop, 80

Florence, 184

Floriacum, 25

Frankish Art, 51 Graves, 56

Freeman, E.A., 54, 141, 184, 206

Futhorc, the, 239

Gibson, Edmund, 45

Gildas, 60

Glossaries, 90

Godeman, 243

Gospels in A.-S., 73, 205, 208

Gough, Richard, 39

Gregory the Great, 15, 20, 85 of Tours, 18, 19, 85

Grein, Dr., 121, 135, 208, 220, 239.

Grettir, Saga of, 137

Grimbald, 187

Grimm, Jacob, 46, 73, 153

Grundtvig, Dr., 121

Guthlac, St., 227, 232

Guthrum, 156, 159

Hadrian, Abbot, 21, 85

Harley, Robert, 34

Hatton, Lord, 36

Havelok the Dane, 254

Heliand, the, 22, 23, 68, 116

Henry of Huntingdon, 184

Heyne, Moritz, 121

Hickes, George, 44

Hickey, E.H., 144

Higden, 185

Hild, Abbess, 100

Homilies of lfric, 74, 102, 214 ff. of Wulfstan, 222 ff. see Blickling.

Horn, Romance of, 251 ff.

Hugo Candidus, 229

Illuminated Books, 51

Ine's Laws, 151

Inscriptions, 47

Irish Teachers, 86

Isidore of Seville, 85

Jarrow, 103

Jerome, 217

Jewellery, 49

John of Saxony, 187

Joscelin, 43

Judith, the, 225

Juliana, St., 227, 232

Junius, Franciscus, 37, 44, 112

Kemble, J.M., 90, 121, 154, 210, 226, 228, 239

Kentish Dialect, 84, 90, 97 Laws, 80

Lambarde, William, 150

Lanferth, 219

Lappenberg, J.M., 46, 169

Laud, Archbishop, 34

Laws, the, 66, 150 ff.

Layamon, 27, 249

Leofric, Bishop, 28, 244 Missal, 29, 243

Lumby, Professor, 103

Lindisfarne, 117 Gospels, 33, 51, 111

Macray, W.D., 34

Madden, Sir F., 254

Maidulf, 86

Maine, Sir H., 154, 163

Marshall, Dr., 44

Matthew Parker, 29, 42, 256

Mayor, Professor, 103

Metcalfe, F., 44

Milton, John, 14, 112, 115, 232

More, Bishop, 41, 101

Morfil, W.R., 148

Morley, Henry, 134

Morris, Dr. R., 222, 254

Mllenhof, Dr. Karl, 134

Napier, Arthur, 222

Nicodemus, Gospel of, 209

Northumbria, 21

Northumbrian Dialect, 111

Notker, 15

Odin, 75

Odo, Archbishop, 25, 219

Orm, 27

Orosius, 13, 204

Oswald, Bishop, 219

Palgrave, Sir Francis, 152, 164

Panther, the, 231

Parker, Archbishop, 29, 42, 256

Parker, J.H., 54

Parker Library, 44, 244

Pastoral Care, the, 16, 36, 188 ff.

Paulinus, Bishop, 98

Pauli, Reinhold, 169

Paulus Diaconus, 23

Pericles (Shakespeare), 18

Peterborough Chronicle, 26, 36, 178, 181, 184

Phoenix, the, 9, 227, 230

Physiologus, the, 215, 231, 254

Pilate, Acts of, 209

Plegmund, Archbishop, 187

Psalter (Kentish), 94 (Poetical), 90, 208

Rawlinson, Richard, 38, 45

Riddles, 87, 240

Robert of Jumiges, 244

Rochester Book, 26

Ruined City, the, 140

Rule of St. Benedict, 40

Runes, 78, 111, 226, 238

Runic Poem, 239

Rushworth, John, 38

Ruthwell Cross, 111

Sanders, W. Basevi, 41

Schaldemose, 121

Schmid, Reinhold, 150

Scott, Sir Walter, 150, 228

Sculpture, 55

Sievers, Edouard, 116

Sigeric, Archbishop, 217

Simeon of Durham, 177, 184

Simposius, 10, 240 {Transcriber's note: Symposius and Simphosius in text}

Skeat, Professor, 44, 111, 218, 254

Smaragdus, 23

Solomon and Saturn, 209 ff.

Somner, William, 44

Spell, 75

Spelman, Sir Henry, 43, 44 Sir John, 44

Spenser, Edmund, 136, 249

St. Augustine's, Canterbury, 20, 35

Stallybrass, J.S., 70

Stephens, Professor George, 47, 111, 117, 241

Stubbs, Professor, 162, 183, 185

Sweet, Mr., 33

Swithun, St., 69, 218, 219

Tacitus, 62

Tavistock, 256

Tennyson, Alfred, 136, 147, 249

Theodore, Archbishop, 21, 85, 100

Thorkelin, G.J., 45, 121

Thorney, 243

Thorpe, Benjamin, 46, 121, 150, 208, 222

Thwaites, Edward, 220

Trial by Jury, 163 ff.

Vercelli Book, 46, 90, 225, 233 ff.

Vigfusson, Dr. Gudbrand, 138

Wace, Robert, 27, 249

Walahfrid Strabo, 23

Waldhere (Fragment), 47

Wanley, Humphrey, 45

Warren, F.E., 244

Watson, R. Spence, 113

Wearmouth, 102

Weland, 58, 70

Werfrith, Bishop, 36, 187, 189, 193

Westwood, Professor, 30, 39, 51

Whale, the, 231, 255

Wheloc, Abraham, 43, 150

Whitby, 99

Widsith, the, 148

Wilfrid, 99, 100

Wilkins, Bishop, 150

Willebrord, 99

William of Malmesbury, 185

Winchester Chronicle, 171, 178

Winfrid (Boniface), 21, 99

Winton Book, 26

Woden, 66

Worcester Chartulary, 26 Chronicle, 32, 173

Wordsworth, Canon, 48

Wright, Thomas, 183, 226, 245

Wlcker, Professor, 112, 140

Wulfstan, Archbishop, 224

Wulstan, Latin poet, 219

York, 21

Zeuner, Rudolf, 33

Zupitza, Julius, 41

THE END.

* * * * *

WYMAN AND SONS, PRINTERS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON, W.C.



CORRIGENDA.

{Transcriber's note: These corrections have been made in the transcribed text, except the first, which refers to a page heading.}

Page 103, Heading, for "Anglican" read "Anglian."

" 115, line 22, for "vora" read "wora."

" 150, " 23, for "Lombarde" read "Lambarde."

" 154, " 16, for "History" read "history."

" 208, " 12, for "translations" read "translation."