Daniel Anlezark

Poisoned places: the Avernian tradition in Old English poetry

Abstract Scholars have long disputed whether or not Beowulf reflects the influence of Classical Latin literature. This essay examines the motif of the ‘poisoned place’ present in a range of texts known to the Anglo-Saxons, most famously represented by Avernus in the Aeneid. While Grendels mere presents the best-known poisonous locale in Old English poetry, another is found in the dense and enigmatic poem Solomon and Saturn II. The relationship between these poems is discussed beside a consideration of the possibility that their use of the ‘Avernian tradition’ points to the influence of Latin epic on their Anglo-Saxon authors.

Gregory the Great: Reader, Writer and Read

An episode unique to the late ninth-century Life of Gregory the Great by John the Deacon reports a famine that occurred in the year of Gregory’s death; a hostile party blamed the lavish generosity of the late pope for Rome’s suffering. The fury of the people was roused and they set out to burn Gregory’s books. However, the deacon Peter, Gregory’s familiarissimus , intervened to dissuade them, telling the people that Gregory’s works were directly inspired by God. As proof he asked God to take his life, and promptly dropped dead. This episode is not found in the earlier accounts of Gregory’s life: the brief account in the mid seventh-century Liber pontificalis , the early eighth-century Life by an anonymous monk of Whitby, and the mid eighth-century account by Paul the Deacon. Doubtful as John the Deacon’s account of the exchange between Peter and the mob may be, it does tell us something about the status of Gregory and his works in the mid 870s, when Pope John VIII commissioned the new hagiography. Gregory the Great became one of the most widely read authors of the Middle Ages, and even in his lifetime some of his works were eagerly sought after. With his popularity and influence Gregory not only added to the body of Christian literature, but also made a lasting contribution to the debate over what kinds of works it was appropriate for Christians to read. This essay will survey his works and discuss his ideas on reading and literature, and on the establishment of a Christian literary canon. The influence of Gregory’s works and ideas will be examined in relation to one particular medieval nation - Anglo-Saxon England. As the instigator of the Anglo-Saxon mission, Gregory enjoyed a great reputation as an author in Anglo-Saxon England, where his ideas on literature and society had a lasting impact.

Which Books are “Most Necessary” to Know? The Old English Pastoral Care Preface and King Alfred’s Educational Reform

ABSTRACT Over the past millennium and more, a range of literary translations have been attributed to Alfred the Great (d. 899). Modern confidence in an Alfredian corpus rests on the interpretation of the king’s Preface to the Old English version of Gregory I’s Pastoral Care, where Alfred announces a programme of translating those books “most necessary for all people to know”. Since the twelfth century, this phrase has been assumed to refer to those works that later writers and copyists have attributed to Alfred. This article argues that the phrase “books most necessary to know” refers to the books of scripture—unsurprising in medieval context—and is ultimately derived from Augustine of Hippo’s De doctrina christiana. Alfred’s plan to translate scripture for the young to read aligns his programme of national and Church reform with earlier attempts to renew English education.

Understanding numbers in London, British Library, Harley 3271

Abstract London, British Library, Harley 3271 is a composite manuscript designed for use in teaching Latin, and contains Ælfrics Grammar beside other pedagogical works. The book also contains a large number of miscellaneous items, and fourteen scribal hands. Many of the texts point to the usual interests of the Anglo-Saxon scholar in computus and prognostics, while others suggest an interest in the tradition of numerical notes. The items written by Scribe C, the only one whose stints are spread throughout the blank space of the composite volume, point to a combined interest in education, numbers and the Jewish people.