From Caedmon to
Caxton
Thomas Honegger
t.m.honegger@gmx.de
http://www.
db-thueringen.de/
content/top/
index.xml
History of English
The Latin Influence 11
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Early influences (600-900 AD): new
concepts need to be expressed in new
words
domestic life: cap, sock, silk, chest,
mat, lentil, pear, radish, oyster, lobster,
mussel, fennel, lily, myrrh
schooling: school, master, grammar,
verse, gloss, notary
The Latin Influence 12
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Later influences (900-1100 AD):
of learned nature, due to Benedictine
Reform
Flowering of monastic culture (8th &
9th centuries) cut short in Northumbria
and Mercia due to Viking invasion.
In the aftermath, monastic discipline
and culture suffered from neglect =>
The Latin Influence 13
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Benedictine Reform in the 10th century.
Strict observance of the Benedictine
Rule
‘ora et labora’!
chastity, obedience, poverty
effects: improvement of education and
monastic discipline
The Latin Influence 14
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New vocabulary:
learning and science: history, paper,
pumice, ginger, camel, tiger, cancer,
paralysis, plaster
religion: apostle, cell, cloister, creed,
demon, dirge, font, idol, prophet,
synagogue etc.
missing: words of everyday life
The Latin Influence 15
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strategies to express new concepts:
loans
loan-translations
disciple vs. leorning-cniht
patriarch vs. heahfaeder
martyr vs. throwere [‘sufferer‘]
saint vs. halga
baptism vs. fulluht
The Latin Influence 16
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fulluht-baeth?
fulluht-nama?
adaptation of existing terms: Hel > hell
Germanic mythological
worldview
Asgard
(Home of the gods)
Midgard
(Home of men)
Hel
(Home of the dead, underworld)
The Ruthwell Cross (c. 750)
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The Berwick Cross
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The Ruthwell Cross (south)
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The Ruthwell Cross (south)
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The Ruthwell Cross (south)
Mary Magdalene anointing Jesus's feet:
"+ A[ttulit alaba]STRUM UNGUENTI &
STANS RETRO SECUS PEDES EIUS
LACRIMIS COEPIT RIGARE PEDES EIUS
& CAPILLIS CAPITIS SUI TERGEBAT,"
"+ She brought an alabaster box of ointment
and standing behind beside His feet she began
to wash His feet with her tears, and she wiped
[them] with the hairs of her head"
The Ruthwell Cross (south)
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The Ruthwell Cross (south)
Jesus healing the blind man:
"+ ET PRAETERIENS VIDI[t hominem
caecum] A NATIBITATE ET S[anavit eum ab
infirmitate],
"+ And passing by He saw a man blind from
birth, and He healed him from [his] infirmity"
The Ruthwell Cross (north)
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The Ruthwell Cross (north)
Christ upon the Beasts:
"IHSX.S [or IHS XPS (Howlett 75)] IUDEX
AEQUITATIS BESTIAE ET DRACONES
COGNOUERUNT IN DESERTO
SALVATOREM MUNDI,”
"Jesus Christ the Judge of Justice. Beasts and
dragons acknowledged in the desert the Saviour
of the world."
The Ruthwell Cross (north)
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The Ruthwell Cross (north)
Paul and Anthony:
"+SCS PAULUS ET A[ntonius duo eremitae
(from Howlett 75)] FREGERUNT PANEM IN
DESERTO,"
"Saints Paul and Anthony, two hermits, broke
bread in the desert."
The Ruthwell Cross (east)
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The Ruthwell Cross (east)
+ Ondgeredæ Hinæ God Almehttig.
πa He walde on galgu gistiga
modig fore allæ men
buga ic ni dorstæ
ac scealde fæstæ standa.
He stripped himself there, God almighty,
when he willed to climb the gallows,
bloody in front of all the people.
I did not dare to give way
but had to stand fast.
Ahof ic riicnæ Kyninc,
Heafunæs Hlaford, hælda ic ni dorsæ.
Bismæradu unket men ba ætgadre; ic wæs miπ
blodi bistemid,
bigoten of πæs Guman sida siππan He His gastæ
sendæ.
I raised up the powerful King,
the Lord of Heaven. I did not dare to topple.
They humiliated us both together.
I was soaked with blood, poured forth,
gotten from the side of the Man when He gave up
his ghost.
The Ruthwell Cross (west)
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Dekompre ssor „TIFF (LZW)“
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The Ruthwell Cross (west)
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The Ruthwell Cross (west)
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"+ Krist wæs on rodi.
Hweπræ πer fusæ fearran kwomu
æππilæ til anum: ic πæt al biheald.
Saræ ic wæs miπ sorgum gidrœfid; hnag ic
πam secgum til handa."
Christ was on the Cross.
But diligent and noble men came there from
afar
to the lonely one. All this I witnessed.
I was sorely oppressed by anxieties, nonetheless
I bowed to the hands of the men ...
.................. Miπ strelum giwundad
alegdun hiæ Hinæ limwœrignæ; gistoddun him
æt His licæs heafdum;
bihealdun hiæ πer Heafunæs Dryctin; ond He
Hinæ πer hwilæ restæ.
.... wounded by sharp points.
They laid down the man weary of limb. They
stood at his body’s head.
Then they gazed upon the Lord of heaven; and
He rested Himself for a while ...
The Dream of the Rood
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The entire poem is to be found in the
Vercelli Book (West Saxon dialect)
Example of ‘heroic Germanic
Christianity’
Then I saw the Lord of mankind hasten
with much fortitude, for he meant to
climb upon me. I did not dare then,
against the word of the Lord, to give
way there or to break when I saw the
earth’s surfaces quake.
The Dream of the Rood
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The young man, who was the almighty
God, stripped himself, strong and
unflinching. He climbed upon the
despised gallows, courageous under
the scrutiny of many, since he willed to
redeem mankind. I quaked then, when
the man embraced me.
The Latin Influence 16
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Effects of the Latin influence:
some 450 Latin words appear in English
writings before the end of the OE period.
integration of most elements into the
language => became active elements
themselves
martyr => gemartyrian = ‘to martyr’;
martyrhad or martyrdom = ‘martyrdom’