- Patrizia Lendinara is emeritus Professor of Germanic Philology at the University of Palermo. She has published extens... morePatrizia Lendinara is emeritus Professor of Germanic Philology at the University of Palermo. She has published extensively on a variety of Germanic languages and literatures, including Old English, Old Frisian, and Gothic. She has also studied the lexical interferences between Germanic and Latin and Romance languages (Prestiti germanici in romeno 1979). Part of her work on glosses has been republished by the Variorum in Ags. Glosses and Glossaries (1999). She is the co-editor of several volumes including Form and Content of Instruction in the Light of Contemporary Ms. Evidence (2007); Rethinking and Recontextualizing Glosses: New Perspectives in the Study of Late Ags. Glossography ( 2011), and Hagiography in Ags England: Adopting and Adapting Saints’ Lives into OE Prose (2014). She is member of the editorial board of Anglo-Saxon England (CUP), the advisory board of the series Dumbarton Oaks Med. Library (Harvard), Quaderni di Palazzo Serra, Genova, and Neuropaideia. Didattica, lIngue e culture, Aracne, Roma.edit
The 1127 annal of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle features an intriguing parallel between Henry of Poitou and a drone in a beehive. The unbecoming behaviour of Henry, appointed as the abbot of Peterborough by King Henry I, finally ended up with... more
The 1127 annal of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle features an intriguing parallel between Henry of Poitou and a drone in a beehive. The unbecoming behaviour of Henry, appointed as the abbot of Peterborough by King Henry I, finally ended up with his withdrawal from the abbey. This metaphorical employment of the apian imagery had no counterpart in Old English literature; however, this negative image of the drone, as synonymous with an idle and predatory person, who contributes nothing to the hive and lives off the works of the others, derives from an ancient literary tradition that began with Hesiod. The drone simile, which was used in twelfth-century England as a symbol of immoderate pillage taking place within the walls of a monastery, has not garnered much critical attention and remains overlooked. Beginning with such unexamined passage of the Chronicle, this article traces the interpretation of the apian imagery as a symbol of natural corruption of human society, earthly towns, and monastic communities.
Research Interests: Aristotle, Animal Behavior, Old English Literature, Middle English literature and culture, Enthomology, and 10 moreOld English Language and Literature, Hesiod, Old English, Peterborough Chronicle, Stingless Bees, Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Honey Bees, Drones, Shakespearean literature, and Topos Analysis
Nella tradizione garganica rappresentata dalLiber de apparitione sancti Michaelis in monte Gargano (o Apparitio), la cui diffusione in Inghilterra è illustrata nel saggio. Michele è il protettore degli abitanti di Siponto che porta alla... more
Nella tradizione garganica rappresentata dalLiber de apparitione sancti Michaelis in monte Gargano (o Apparitio), la cui diffusione in Inghilterra è illustrata nel saggio. Michele è il protettore degli abitanti di Siponto che porta alla vittoria col favore delle forze della natura, mentre nella parte iniziale del testo, dove comunica la sua presenza, l’arcangelo protegge un animale e, nella terza, di carattere devozionale, fa emergere la sua funzione iatrica nelle guarigioni operate dall’acqua della grotta.
Nell’esaminare la letteratura in inglese antico, osservando anche in controluce quella irlandese, dove tanto spazio è accordato alla figura dell’arcangelo Michele e dove si materializzano altri ambiti di azione, come la battaglia con il drago, è emersa, in più di un caso, la necessità di ovviare al disallineamento di alcuni riferimenti a Michele nella Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (= BHL), per cui si propongono, nelle conclusioni, revisioni e aggiunte.
Nell’esaminare la letteratura in inglese antico, osservando anche in controluce quella irlandese, dove tanto spazio è accordato alla figura dell’arcangelo Michele e dove si materializzano altri ambiti di azione, come la battaglia con il drago, è emersa, in più di un caso, la necessità di ovviare al disallineamento di alcuni riferimenti a Michele nella Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina (= BHL), per cui si propongono, nelle conclusioni, revisioni e aggiunte.
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Research Interests: Middle English, Anglo-Norman literature and culture, Middle English literature and culture, Anglo-Norman history, Glossematics, and 7 moreLatin Glossaries, Scholia, History of Scholarship, Anglo-Norman, Anglo-Norman England, Early Modern and Middle English Literature and Culture, Glossed Manuscripts, Location of Glosses, and Bilingual Glossary
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London, British Library, Cotton Julius A. vi contains a version of the anonymous poem which celebrates the translatio studii and the seven liberal arts: 'Ad mensam Philosophiae'. The poem was copied on folio 90r–v, which was originally... more
London, British Library, Cotton Julius A. vi contains a version of the anonymous poem which celebrates the translatio studii and the seven liberal arts: 'Ad mensam Philosophiae'. The poem was copied on folio 90r–v, which was originally blank, following a rhythm attributed to Peter
Damian: O genitrix. Both poem and rhythm were added to the manuscript at the end of the eleventh century. The matching of these two works – both much downsized – on the last folio of a hymnary is intriguing. Also remarkable is the selection of the lines copied in Julius A. vi, which has no counterpart in the other versions of Ad mensam Philosophiae, as well as the erasure of some words in the poem. The same is true of O genitrix, which, compared to all the other versions of
this rhythm, features a lower number of strophes and exclusive variant readings. The joint occurrence of the two texts may help shed light on the route by which both compositions travelled to England.
Damian: O genitrix. Both poem and rhythm were added to the manuscript at the end of the eleventh century. The matching of these two works – both much downsized – on the last folio of a hymnary is intriguing. Also remarkable is the selection of the lines copied in Julius A. vi, which has no counterpart in the other versions of Ad mensam Philosophiae, as well as the erasure of some words in the poem. The same is true of O genitrix, which, compared to all the other versions of
this rhythm, features a lower number of strophes and exclusive variant readings. The joint occurrence of the two texts may help shed light on the route by which both compositions travelled to England.
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Il saggio prende in esame i lavori di Maria Vittoria Molinari dedicati alla poesia antico inglese, mettendo in risalto il suo approccio e l'orientamento della sua critica letteraria
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The essay takes into examination the development of the editions of Old English texts since the seventeenth century, to focus on the issues of the last twenty years of the twentieth century. In the second part of the essay, the most... more
The essay takes into examination the development of the editions of Old English texts since the seventeenth century, to focus on the issues of the last twenty years of the twentieth century.
In the second part of the essay, the most relevant editions of Old English texts published in the last twenty years are taken into esamination.
In the second part of the essay, the most relevant editions of Old English texts published in the last twenty years are taken into esamination.
Research Interests: Medieval Studies, Old English Literature, Ecdotics, Old English Poetry, Old English Language and Literature, and 4 moreOld English, Middle English, Old Norse poetry and prose, Paleography and editions of medieval manuscripts vs. print-culture editions of medieval texts, Manuscript studies, codicology, palaeography, medieval paper, Chaucer, circulation of texts and books, history of the book, electronic editing and digital humanities, and Ecdotica
One of the earliest Lives of Saints written in England is the anonymous Life of Saint Cuthbert, which was soon followed by the two Lives written by Bede. These three works will be examined with respect to the typologies of food miracles... more
One of the earliest Lives of Saints written in England is the anonymous Life of Saint Cuthbert, which was soon followed by the two Lives written by Bede. These three works will be examined with respect to the typologies of food miracles involving Cuthbert, which are either narrated in all the three Lives or are found in only one of these works (see the Appendix for a synoptic list). Food miracles are reported in the Bible and occur in numerous medieval hagiographies and other texts concerning the life and deeds of a saint. The food miracles which involve Cuthbert are apparently routine events, but in three instances they also reveal his power of foreknowledge. Cuthbert providentially receives food before taking his vows and when he is a monk at Melrose and Ripon. In these episodes, food is bestowed upon Cuthbert, who is portrayed as a rather passive recipient. On the other hand, the food miracles that take place during his hermitage on Inner Farne, including those occurring in the days of his last retreat to this small island, are enacted by Cuthbert. As will become evident, the nature of the miracles changes in parallel with the steps of his life. The variation in typology, as well as the difference within the same kind of food miracle, account for the complexity of this saintly figure.
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http://www.ec-aiss.it/monografici/ 27_politiche_della_cucina.php
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It is a long time since Bruno Güterbock put forward the suggestion that a compilation of biblical glosses, which occurs in five manuscripts, was, for some portions, a work by John Scottus. Such an attribution did not rest, until now, on... more
It is a long time since Bruno Güterbock put forward the suggestion that a compilation of biblical glosses, which occurs in five manuscripts, was, for some portions, a work by John Scottus. Such an attribution did not rest, until now, on any firmer ground than the initials IO or IOH which preface the glosses in three of the known manuscripts. It is on such initials and their interpretation that the attribution to John Scottus (and, respectively, for the glosses prefaced by AI or HAI, to Haimo of Auxerre), accepted by several scholars, has been built up and rests. The evidence I want to put forward here is offered by a gloss which vouches for the authorship of John Scottus and proves that, by the eleventh century – that is by the time in which the first part of Barberini lat. 477 was written –, John Scottus was credited with the composition of glosses to words of the Bible. The gloss under examination is to be found in one of the glossaries of Vatican City, BAV, Barberini lat. 477 (54v6-8)
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The earliest lists of animal names paired with the verbs indicating their distinctive cries date from Late Antiquity and one of them has long been attributed to Suetonius. A short list, the contents and structure of which was repeated... more
The earliest lists of animal names paired with the verbs indicating their distinctive cries date from Late Antiquity and one of them has long been attributed to Suetonius. A short list, the contents and structure of which was repeated again and again with small variations over a long period of time, is included in the Laterculus of Polemius Silvius. In the case of Basel, Universitätsbibliothek, B XI.8, the poem on fol. 41v is in fact a versification of Polemius's list in dactylic hexameters. The lists of Voces animantium also took the form of poetical compositions such as the 'De cantibus avium' (AL no. 733) or the 'Carmen de philomela' (incipit 'Dulcis amica veni …'); lines based on animal names and their sounds also occur within longer poems. The short poetical compositions facilitated easy memorisation and were sometimes accompanied by interlinear glosses in the vernacular.
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The Tretiz of Walter of Bibbesworth exerted quite an influence on literature over the two centuries that followed its composition. It served as the basis for two long works in French – accompanied by a full translation in English – which... more
The Tretiz of Walter of Bibbesworth exerted quite an influence on literature over the two centuries that followed its composition. It served as the basis for two long works in French – accompanied by a full translation in English – which were employed as learning tools, while its effect was evidently felt in a number of bilingual (or trilingual) glossaries, such as the Glossary in Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 (120). Later French language learning tools circulating well into the fifteenth century also display a working knowledge of the Tretiz.
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Il glossario del ms. Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 (120) presenta due occorrenze di schūpe, una forma secondaria di medio inglese hēpe ‘cinorrodo, frutto della rosa canina’. Schūpe ricomparirà, molto più avanti, in uno dei primi... more
Il glossario del ms. Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 (120) presenta due occorrenze di schūpe, una forma secondaria di medio inglese hēpe ‘cinorrodo, frutto della rosa canina’. Schūpe ricomparirà, molto più avanti, in uno dei primi dizionari inglesi, il Catholicon anglicum. La forma che ricorre per la prima volta nel glossario presenta la stessa evoluzione fonetica della consonante iniziale di una serie di toponimi e di voci dialettali come shoop. Il glossario del St John’s College, E.17, con la sua doppia occorrenza di schūpe, aggiunge un tassello importante alla distribuzione cronologica e diatopica dello sviluppo di [ʃ-] in medio inglese.
ABSTRACT: The glossary in Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 (120) features two occurrences of schūpe, a by-form of Middle English hēpe ‘rose hip’. Schūpe will occur again, much later, in one of the first English dictionaries, the Catholicon anglicum. The by-form which occurs for the first time in this glossary features the same sound-change of the initial consonant as a few place names and modern dialect forms such as shoop. The glossary in St John’s College, E.17, with its double occurrence of schūpe, adds one more piece to the puzzle of the chronological and diatopic distribution of the Middle English development of [ʃ-] forms.
ABSTRACT: The glossary in Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 (120) features two occurrences of schūpe, a by-form of Middle English hēpe ‘rose hip’. Schūpe will occur again, much later, in one of the first English dictionaries, the Catholicon anglicum. The by-form which occurs for the first time in this glossary features the same sound-change of the initial consonant as a few place names and modern dialect forms such as shoop. The glossary in St John’s College, E.17, with its double occurrence of schūpe, adds one more piece to the puzzle of the chronological and diatopic distribution of the Middle English development of [ʃ-] forms.
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L’agiografia è un potente veicolo di propaganda e i testi agiografici medievali forniscono una chiave di lettura anche riguardo ai temi dell’etnia e dell’identità dei popoli germanici. Per quanto riguarda il mondo germanico riveste... more
L’agiografia è un potente veicolo di propaganda e i testi agiografici medievali forniscono una chiave di lettura anche riguardo ai temi dell’etnia e dell’identità dei popoli germanici. Per quanto riguarda il mondo germanico riveste particolare rilievo il culto di quei santi che appaiono più strettamente legati alle formazioni politiche che vanno emergendo in Europa occidentale. Si tratta di culti sostenuti dalle autorità non solo ecclesiastiche ma anche e soprattutto civili, dai sovrani e dai loro entourage. Non si tratta in ogni caso di movimenti prodromici alla affermazione di culti sovraregionali o all’introduzione del concetto di patrono nel senso pieno del termine. I casi presi in esame riguardano santi la cui venerazione esula dallo stretto localismo che spesso connota i culti medievali e sono legati anche alla venerazione per gli apostoli e al titolo – eminentissimo – di apostolo conferito a un santo che ha promosso o svolto azioni di evangelizzazione su larga o piccola scala. Il titolo di apostolo conferito a un santo assume più di una valenza e diventa strumento di affermazione di una élite politica strettamente legata a quella religiosa. Fattori di ordine politico determinano la fortuna del culto, ma possono anche ostacolarlo, come nel caso di Agostino, inviato da papa Gregorio in Britannia e giunto nell’isola nel 597. La vicenda del culto di Agostino, che non riesce mai a decollare, nonostante una moderata fortuna goduta a partire dall’VIII sec. e un certo successo alla fine del periodo anglosassone con un culmine all’indomani della Conquista Normanna riflette le preoccupazioni e le ‘costruzioni’ medievali riguardo a lingua, etnia e società.
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Nella parte settentrionale dell’Inghilterra viveva una popolazione celtica nota come i Pitti. Dei Pitti (lat. Picti ) parlano non solo gli storici latini ( come Cesare o Pomponio Mela), ma, anche poeti come Claudiano (IV sec.).... more
Nella parte settentrionale dell’Inghilterra viveva una popolazione celtica nota come i Pitti. Dei Pitti (lat. Picti ) parlano non solo gli storici latini ( come Cesare o Pomponio Mela), ma, anche poeti come Claudiano (IV sec.). Partendo da Plinio, l’immagine dei ‘Britanni’ dal corpo dipinto di blu si diffonde: dalle descrizioni non è chiaro se si tratta di veri e propri tatuaggi o di colori cerimoniali di guerra. La tintura usata si diceva fosse ricavata dal guado (isatis tinctoria), che conferiva ai volti e ai corpi dei guerrieri pitti il colore azzurro. Erodiano parla anche di disegni di animali che ricoprono tutto il corpo dei Pitti che, per questo non indossano abiti. Una Cronaca (Chronica de origine antiquorum pictorum) parla invece chiaramente di tatuaggi incisi con una punta di ferro. Una minuziosa descrizione di come i Pitti si tatuassero il corpo è offerta di Isidoro di Siviglia nelle Etymologiae (XIX.xxiii.7). La descrizione di un popolo che si era opposto tante volte e, spesso, con successo, ai Romani presenta tutti gli stilemi della rappresentazione del guerriero ‘barbaro’ dal corpo possente nudo e ricoperto di tatuaggi/disegni.
Molti secoli più tardi, nel periodo elisabettiano, un artista inglese, John White, viene inviato in quella che è l’attuale Virgina con l’incarico di ritrarre uomini e terre del ‘Nuovo Mondo’ e esegue una serie di acquerelli che rappresentato i ‘nativi’. Gli Indiani hanno il corpo seminudo e recano disegni sulle braccia. Le immagini molto simili ad opera dello stesso White, incise da Theodor de Bry (e pubblicate nel 1585), raffigurano invece i Pitti, presentati come i primi abitanti dell’Inghilterra, nudi e tutti coperti di tatuaggi, dando, questa volta, voce agli stereotipi della contrapposizione tra le diverse rappresentazioni contemporanee dell’origine e della composizione del popolo inglese.
Molti secoli più tardi, nel periodo elisabettiano, un artista inglese, John White, viene inviato in quella che è l’attuale Virgina con l’incarico di ritrarre uomini e terre del ‘Nuovo Mondo’ e esegue una serie di acquerelli che rappresentato i ‘nativi’. Gli Indiani hanno il corpo seminudo e recano disegni sulle braccia. Le immagini molto simili ad opera dello stesso White, incise da Theodor de Bry (e pubblicate nel 1585), raffigurano invece i Pitti, presentati come i primi abitanti dell’Inghilterra, nudi e tutti coperti di tatuaggi, dando, questa volta, voce agli stereotipi della contrapposizione tra le diverse rappresentazioni contemporanee dell’origine e della composizione del popolo inglese.
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There is no complete account of the transmission of Alcuin’s poems, which is apparently quite unpredictable if not random. The circulation of a number of short compositions, which accompany his treatises and his letters, and their... more
There is no complete account of the transmission of Alcuin’s poems, which is apparently quite unpredictable if not random. The circulation of a number of short compositions, which accompany his treatises and his letters, and their circulation together, is so far uncharted. Particularly intriguing is the manuscript tradition of “O vos, est aetas,” a poem in seven distichs, in which young men are encouraged to learn rhetoric and to cultivate virtue. The poem generally occurs in connection with two prose works by Alcuin, the De dialectica (henceforth DD) and the Disputatio de rhetorica et virtutibus (henceforth DR). It may be copied either between the two treatises, before the prologue poem of the DD, “Me lege, qui veterum” (carm. 77), as in the edition of André Duchesne, or at the end of the DR, as in the edition of Frobenius Forster. It may also be copied before, after, or between the so-called pseudo-Alcuinian Schemata. The poem also occurs independently of the two Alcuinian treatises and takes different forms in the many manuscripts that preserve it. “O vos” does not always occur in its complete form (14 lines) and there are versions which feature only a part of its couplets, arranged in different combinations.A close inspection of the tradition of the poem and its collocation within the manuscripts that preserve it yields a different picture from the accepted one. The instances in which the poem occurs independently from the prose works by Alcuin are much more numerous than the data of the Clavis imply, and those in which the poem is not copied out completely are much less frequent than surmised by Wallach and other scholars. In his still standard edition, Ernst Dümmler chose to publish the entire poem (as carm. 80.1), alongside another piece, “Qui, rogo, civiles” (carm. 80.2), which is indeed the usual prologue of the DR. This choice, however, needs some consideration, the more so as it is hardly supported by the manuscript tradition. A close inspection of the tradition of the poem and its collocation within the manuscripts that preserve it yields a different picture from the accepted one. The instances in which the poem occurs independently from the prose works by Alcuin are much more numerous than the data of the Clavis imply, and those in which the poem is not copied out completely are much less frequent than surmised by Wallach and other scholars. In his still standard edition, Ernst Dümmler chose to publish the entire poem (as carm. 80.1), alongside another piece, “Qui, rogo, civiles” (carm. 80.2), which is indeed the usual prologue of the DR. This choice, however, needs some consideration, the more so as it is hardly supported by the manuscript tradition.
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Figura etymologica is the name given to the rhetorical figure in which two or more different words with the same etymology occur near to each other within one sentence, often within one clause. This figure (henceforth f.e.) intensifies... more
Figura etymologica is the name given to the rhetorical figure in which two or more different words with the same etymology occur near to each other within one sentence, often within one clause. This figure (henceforth f.e.) intensifies the semantic strength of a sentence or passage, by highlighting the affinity in meaning of its components. Classical Latin poets employed the figure rarely, but their usages include a number of telling examples, e.g. “voce vocans Hecaten” (Aen VI.247), “ire iter” (Georg IV.108). F.e. plays an important role in the rhetoric framework of biblical literature and it often put translators to the test. The different versions of the Bible all feature a number of effective instances of this figure of speech. Let it suffice to quote a few examples from the Vulgate: “Et ait illis: desiderio desideravi” (Lc 22.15), “ut dilectio qua dilexisti me” (Io 17.26) and “et servierunt creaturae potius quam creatori” (1 Rom 1.25).
Antique rhetoric did not distinguish between f.e. and paronomasia and understood by annominatio not only the connection of a word with one of its compounds or of its cognates, but also the use of homophones or quasi-homophones within the same clause. All these figures exceed conventional verbal boundaries and are all based on an organic change to the body of a word, which is founded in the linguistic system (on the contrary, inorganic change collides with the linguistic system and generates an estrangement effect).
Antique rhetoric did not distinguish between f.e. and paronomasia and understood by annominatio not only the connection of a word with one of its compounds or of its cognates, but also the use of homophones or quasi-homophones within the same clause. All these figures exceed conventional verbal boundaries and are all based on an organic change to the body of a word, which is founded in the linguistic system (on the contrary, inorganic change collides with the linguistic system and generates an estrangement effect).
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The Brokmerbref and the Emsigo Compensation Tariff concerning arson provide a number of occurrences of the word krocha, otherwise unrecorded in Old Frisian, in the meaning ‘coal pan’. Yet the Modern Frisian dialect words denote different... more
The Brokmerbref and the Emsigo Compensation Tariff concerning arson provide a number of occurrences of the word krocha, otherwise unrecorded in Old Frisian, in the meaning ‘coal pan’. Yet the Modern Frisian dialect words denote different sorts of cooking pots either earthen or metal and apparently do not support the specialized meaning of the Old Frisian. Coal pans were quite common in medieval times, however, and the legal provisions under examination provide both homely and lively descriptions of arson, possibly based on actual cases. Medieval iconography of the devil as arsonist – portrayed with a coal pan in his hand – assists the interpretation of krocha, which goes back to Richthofen, and adds a further negative tinge to the crime of arson, harshly sanctioned by Old Frisian laws.
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Che i versi degli animali costituiscano un insieme di segni e come tale possono essere studiati non era sfuggito a Umberto Eco (1985). Piccole raccolte di 'voci' di animali, ma anche di elementi della natura come il vento e altri... more
Che i versi degli animali costituiscano un insieme di segni e come tale possono essere studiati non era sfuggito a Umberto Eco (1985). Piccole raccolte di 'voci' di animali, ma anche di elementi della natura come il vento e altri soggetti, circolano dall'antichità sia in greco sia in latino. Sotto il nome di 'Voces variae animantium' va una produzione vasta e eterogenea dove i terionimi sono accompagnati dal caratteristico verso. Usati dai grammatici a scopo esemplificativo, le voces compaiono intensamente-e incidentalmente o meno-in prosa e in poesia, specialmente nel medioevo. Riunite in lunghe liste, sono testimoniate da numerosi manoscritti medievali e continuano a essere copiate fino alla prima età moderna. Non si sa nulla di preciso della lista maggiormente citata, pubblicata da Reifferscheid come fragm. 161 e attri-buita a Svetonio, se non che non si tratta, con buona probabilità, di un passo di Svetonio. Le liste indipendenti testimoniano un interesse di tipo enciclopedico. In-dubbia anche la funzione didattica, comunque intesa, che si materializza in vari modi, che dettano la forma dei testi volti a insegnare la terminologia degli animali e dei rispettivi versi. Tanto resta da fare per definire la tipologia delle 'Voces variae animantium', che assumono molteplici forme e che registrano una drastica diminuzione e un diminuito favore con l'avvento delle lingue volgari. All'interno dei nuovi codici linguistici sembrano venire meno i pre-supposti delle elencazioni di voces e va ricreata l'eufonia dalle onomatopee che funzionava in latino. Stringhe di terionimi mantengono la loro vitalità solo nelle filastrocche destinate al pubblico infantile.
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Una farmacopea anglosassone e alcuni glossari che risalgono allo stesso periodo menzionano tra le piante l'Iris illyrica. L'Herbarium anglosassone ripete le parole di Dioscoride e descrive le qualità della pianta originaria dell'Illiria,... more
Una farmacopea anglosassone e alcuni glossari che risalgono allo stesso periodo menzionano tra le piante l'Iris illyrica. L'Herbarium anglosassone ripete le parole di Dioscoride e descrive le qualità della pianta originaria dell'Illiria, nota per i fi ori, che assomigliano all'iride per la varietà dei colori, e per la forma parti-colare delle foglie. L'iris di cui parlano questi testi viene da un paese lontano, tra le tante terre remote a Oriente delle Isole britanniche, da una regione vicina alla Grecia che era rinomata per le sue erbe medicinali e cosmetiche. Mentre l'Herbarium tralascia il nome in volgare dell'iris, i due glossari an-glosassoni la chiamano hwatend, una parola che si può ricollegare a un passag-gio della descrizione dioscoridea. Per quanto riguarda la pianta, solo un codice dell'Herbarium, il ms. London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius C.iii, ha una il-lustrazione dell'iris che ha subito notevoli danni e si è conservata solo in parte (f. 36ra), mentre gli altri manoscritti sono privi di illustrazioni; nello stesso codice, così come per altre piante, è stato lasciato uno spazio bianco al posto del nome in volgare che di regola segue quello in latino. La fama di cui la ricca farmacopea dell'Illiria aveva goduto nell'antichità non era venuta meno col tempo e aveva raggiunto terre molto lontane nell'occidente dell'Europa. A una pianta dai colori e dalle proprietà non comuni come l'iris fa-cevano da sfondo le coste dei Balcani con la loro bellezza e la loro pericolosità. Da quei porti partivano uomini di cui si celebrava l'audacia e le cui gesta sareb-bero state parimenti circondate da un alone di mistero. 1 Le colonie greche sulla costa illirica offrono un caso interessante di rappresentazione letteraria e sono ri-cordate sovente per fi ori come l'iris che fornivano la materia prima ai produttori 1 Shakespeare ambienterà Twelfth Night in Illiria, luogo di intrighi e di avventure, e il nome di Ragusa (Argosy, Ragosy) e dei suoi pirati (Rhagozin) risuonerà in altri suoi lavori teatrali.
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The essay takes into examination the words for ‘sailor’ in the Germanic languages, with particular regard to those going under the sobriquet of North Sea Germanic languages. The research begins with the lida of Maxims I and his safe... more
The essay takes into examination the words for ‘sailor’ in the Germanic languages, with particular regard to those going under the sobriquet of North Sea Germanic languages. The research begins with the lida of Maxims I and his safe return home. As with OE lida and līðend, nomina agentis from verbs of motion turn out to be among the most frequent formations for ‘sailor’, both in OE and many other Germanic languages. The research does not yield a common stock of Germanic words, but for the cognates of OE scipmann and sǣmann, that, however, are not recorded in all the Germanic languages. As to the līðend-compounds, their occurrence in more than one language might be due to the influence of OE models on both OS and OHG poetry. On the other hand, it emerges that the same (morphologic and semantic) patterns are constantly drawn upon. This produces a number of the words for ‘sailor’, revealing a process of invention of ever new compounds that apparently moves along traditional lines.
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Adam of Balsham owes his fame to the Ars disserendi or Ars dialectica which he wrote in 1132; but he is also the author of an Oratio de utensilibus ad domum regendam pertinentibus, which takes the form of a letter addressed by Adam to... more
Adam of Balsham owes his fame to the Ars disserendi or Ars dialectica which he wrote in 1132; but he is also the author of an Oratio de utensilibus ad domum regendam pertinentibus, which takes the form of a letter addressed by Adam to a certain Anselm. The addressee of the Oratio has not been identified yet, and this is only the first of an interesting chain of interconnected problems presented by the fictitious letter written by Adam, which offers valuable insights on the contemporary society on both sides of the Channel. Most importantly, the Oratio is an intriguing and little-known example of contextualized lexicography, which deserves to be studied for what it can tell about the level of the knowledge of Latin in the twelfth century.
The work purports to describe a visit paid by Adam of Balsham to his home estate and has been taken, by Manitius and the editors of the work, as apparent evidence of a trip back to England, after a number of years spent in France. The letter, far from being the faithful report of a journey, is just the means for a clever scholar such as Adam to reply to Anselm's criticism, mocking, in his turn, contemporary personages and vogues. The single descriptions of the castle and its surroundings are made up by long strings of uncommon Latin words, building up lengthy sentences, which are correct from a grammatical point of view, but redundant and at times meaningless. Contrived in this way the letter is a shrewd reply to a remark made against Adam: as can be gathered from his prefatory remarks, Anselm had reproached him for using too plain language. Adam retorts with a display of unusual terms, such as phala 'tower' or tholus 'dome', to mention just the first two words of the Oratio ('Phalae tolum cillentibus radiis …'). To be properly understood the charge raised against Adam should be set in the context of the many quarrels which sprang up between the masters of Paris (and other French towns) in the first part of the twelfth century, as some remarks in the letter show. We are now unable to recover all the elements of the contest, which saw Adam pay back his adversaries with such a shrewd and caustic reply, but we are left with an interesting piece of lexical bravura which can still be unravelled and expounded.
The work purports to describe a visit paid by Adam of Balsham to his home estate and has been taken, by Manitius and the editors of the work, as apparent evidence of a trip back to England, after a number of years spent in France. The letter, far from being the faithful report of a journey, is just the means for a clever scholar such as Adam to reply to Anselm's criticism, mocking, in his turn, contemporary personages and vogues. The single descriptions of the castle and its surroundings are made up by long strings of uncommon Latin words, building up lengthy sentences, which are correct from a grammatical point of view, but redundant and at times meaningless. Contrived in this way the letter is a shrewd reply to a remark made against Adam: as can be gathered from his prefatory remarks, Anselm had reproached him for using too plain language. Adam retorts with a display of unusual terms, such as phala 'tower' or tholus 'dome', to mention just the first two words of the Oratio ('Phalae tolum cillentibus radiis …'). To be properly understood the charge raised against Adam should be set in the context of the many quarrels which sprang up between the masters of Paris (and other French towns) in the first part of the twelfth century, as some remarks in the letter show. We are now unable to recover all the elements of the contest, which saw Adam pay back his adversaries with such a shrewd and caustic reply, but we are left with an interesting piece of lexical bravura which can still be unravelled and expounded.
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The essay takes into account all the Old English rendering of the Latin tabernaculum and tentorium.
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Hanc sententiam latini sermonis olim Ælfricus abbas composuit; qui meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic addidi appendices. By using these words to introduce one of the Latin dialogues in Oxford, St... more
Hanc sententiam latini sermonis olim Ælfricus abbas composuit; qui
meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic
addidi appendices.
By using these words to introduce one of the Latin dialogues in Oxford, St John's College 154, Ælfric Bata confirms the authorship not only of his own colloquy but also of that of Ælfric, his teacher. He acknowledges the close relationship between the two texts, one of which, his own, is based on and amplifies the earlier one.
Ælfric composed several didactic works; for use in the school he wrote a Grammar, a Glossary and a Colloquy, three works designed to complement each other. These enjoyed a great success, as is witnessed by the several manuscripts in which they are preserved. The Colloquy, in particular, survives in three copies, one of which is the version of St John's College 154, rewritten by Ælfric Bata. A comparison between Ælfric's Colloquy and Ælfric Bata's illustrates the technique used in the composition of the former Colloquy: the work of the pupil throws light on the work of the master, and clarifies many points in Ælfric's Colloquy that might otherwise be unclear. If it is true that Ælfric Bata made extensive use of Ælfric's Glossary, it is also true that Ælfric himself made extensive and conscious use of his own Glossary. In some cases further confirmation of the interconnections between Ælfric's didactic works is supplied by the Grammar, the first and most important of this group of works. That Ælfric's Glossary and Ælfric's Colloquy are complementary is, in my view, undeniable, whether we examine the Latin text, or the Old English interlinear glosses. A comparison between the Glossary on the one hand and Ælfric's and Ælfric Bata's colloquies on the other will also bring out the need to reassess the works of Ælfric Bata, who was able to exploit the full potentiality of his master's work.
meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic
addidi appendices.
By using these words to introduce one of the Latin dialogues in Oxford, St John's College 154, Ælfric Bata confirms the authorship not only of his own colloquy but also of that of Ælfric, his teacher. He acknowledges the close relationship between the two texts, one of which, his own, is based on and amplifies the earlier one.
Ælfric composed several didactic works; for use in the school he wrote a Grammar, a Glossary and a Colloquy, three works designed to complement each other. These enjoyed a great success, as is witnessed by the several manuscripts in which they are preserved. The Colloquy, in particular, survives in three copies, one of which is the version of St John's College 154, rewritten by Ælfric Bata. A comparison between Ælfric's Colloquy and Ælfric Bata's illustrates the technique used in the composition of the former Colloquy: the work of the pupil throws light on the work of the master, and clarifies many points in Ælfric's Colloquy that might otherwise be unclear. If it is true that Ælfric Bata made extensive use of Ælfric's Glossary, it is also true that Ælfric himself made extensive and conscious use of his own Glossary. In some cases further confirmation of the interconnections between Ælfric's didactic works is supplied by the Grammar, the first and most important of this group of works. That Ælfric's Glossary and Ælfric's Colloquy are complementary is, in my view, undeniable, whether we examine the Latin text, or the Old English interlinear glosses. A comparison between the Glossary on the one hand and Ælfric's and Ælfric Bata's colloquies on the other will also bring out the need to reassess the works of Ælfric Bata, who was able to exploit the full potentiality of his master's work.
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Hanc sententiam latini sermonis olim Ælfricus abbas composuit; qui meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic addidi appendices. 0. Introducendo con queste parole uno dei... more
Hanc sententiam latini sermonis olim Ælfricus abbas composuit; qui
meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic
addidi appendices.
0. Introducendo con queste parole uno dei dialoghi in latino del ms. Oxford, St. John’s College 154, Ælfric Bata sancisce la paternità non solo del proprio colloquio ma anche di quello di Ælfric, suo maestro, dichiarando il rapporto di dipendenza tra i due testi, uno dei quali, il suo, riprende ed amplia quello precedente. Il raffronto tra i due colloqui, redatti entrambi con lo stesso scopo, permette di evidenziare la tecnica di composizione del Colloquio di Ælfric. L’operato dell’allievo getta luce su quello del maestro e chiarisce molti aspetti ancora oscuri del Colloquio di Ælfric. Se Ælfric Bata infatti fece largamente ricorso al Glossario di Ælfric, anche lo stesso Ælfric si rifece considerevolmente, e consapevolmente, visto l’impiego didattico del colloquio, al proprio glossario. In taluni casi un’ulteriore conferma della stretta connessione tra le opere didattiche di Ælfric verrà dalla Grammatica, il primo e il più importante di questo gruppo di lavori. Dal confronto tra il Glossario e i due colloqui emergerà anche la necessità di rivalutare l’operato di Ælfric Bata che seppe sfruttare l’opera del suo maestro in tutta la sua potenzialità. La complementarietà del Glossario e del Colloquio si impone, a mio avviso, oltre che per il testo in latino, per la glossa interlineare anglosassone, anche in questo caso contrariamente a quanto si afferma generalmente, se pure nei termini che chiarirò più avanti.
meus fuit magister, sed tamen ego Ælfric Bata multas postea huic
addidi appendices.
0. Introducendo con queste parole uno dei dialoghi in latino del ms. Oxford, St. John’s College 154, Ælfric Bata sancisce la paternità non solo del proprio colloquio ma anche di quello di Ælfric, suo maestro, dichiarando il rapporto di dipendenza tra i due testi, uno dei quali, il suo, riprende ed amplia quello precedente. Il raffronto tra i due colloqui, redatti entrambi con lo stesso scopo, permette di evidenziare la tecnica di composizione del Colloquio di Ælfric. L’operato dell’allievo getta luce su quello del maestro e chiarisce molti aspetti ancora oscuri del Colloquio di Ælfric. Se Ælfric Bata infatti fece largamente ricorso al Glossario di Ælfric, anche lo stesso Ælfric si rifece considerevolmente, e consapevolmente, visto l’impiego didattico del colloquio, al proprio glossario. In taluni casi un’ulteriore conferma della stretta connessione tra le opere didattiche di Ælfric verrà dalla Grammatica, il primo e il più importante di questo gruppo di lavori. Dal confronto tra il Glossario e i due colloqui emergerà anche la necessità di rivalutare l’operato di Ælfric Bata che seppe sfruttare l’opera del suo maestro in tutta la sua potenzialità. La complementarietà del Glossario e del Colloquio si impone, a mio avviso, oltre che per il testo in latino, per la glossa interlineare anglosassone, anche in questo caso contrariamente a quanto si afferma generalmente, se pure nei termini che chiarirò più avanti.
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London, British Library, Harley 1002 è un codice miscellaneo il cui contenuto è descritto da David Thomson . Il manoscritto comprende, tra l’altro, ai ff. 31-81, un trattato di ortografia disposto in ordine alfabetico: nello spazio bianco... more
London, British Library, Harley 1002 è un codice miscellaneo il cui contenuto è descritto da David Thomson . Il manoscritto comprende, tra l’altro, ai ff. 31-81, un trattato di ortografia disposto in ordine alfabetico: nello spazio bianco rimasto tra le lettere R e S del testo sono stati copiati cinque gruppi di versi in inglese, seguiti dalla rispettiva versione in latino (ff. 72r-72v) . I versi appartengono a una categoria di strumenti didattici altrimenti documentata nei codici inglesi del XIV e XV sec., ma che, almeno nel caso dei primi due esercizi, è interpretata con libertà e messa in atto con una certa capacità. Sia il primo componimento, ‘Today in the dawnyng I hyrde þo fowles syng’, in cui si elenca una dozzina di uccelli sia il secondo, ‘At my howse I have a jaye’, dove si menzionano le voci di nove animali, traggono spunto dagli elenchi di ‘Voces variae animantium’. Anche il terzo, ‘Hit ys in heruyst carte to clater’, muove dalla stessa materia, mentre il quarto, ‘When the clot klyngueth’, celebra, secondo moduli consueti, il ritorno della bella stagione e il quinto, ‘Whatt for ryght’, è di genere gnomico. I componimenti mostrano attenzione per la rima e le traduzioni in latino non contengono errori. ‘At my howse I have a jaye’ introduce un elemento di novità rispetto alle versificazioni di ‘Voces animantium’, in quanto a fare il verso di tanti animali è la ghiandaia, come già in un indovinello anglosassone. L’esame dei versi di Harley 1002 permette anche di chiarire la natura di componimenti simili attestati nei codici del XIV e XV sec., che vedono protagonisti gli animali ma non solo.
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When we look for literary witnesses of the veneration of Augustine and his fellow missionaries who arrived in England at the behest of pope Gregory I, we immediately realise how meagre these witnesses are. The members of the ‘Roman... more
When we look for literary witnesses of the veneration of Augustine and his fellow missionaries who arrived in England at the behest of pope Gregory I, we immediately realise how meagre these witnesses are. The members of the ‘Roman mission’ apparently inspired a limited amount of interest among Anglo-Saxon writers both in the vernacular and in Latin. No lives of Augustine, Justus or Mellitus or any of the other missionaries have come down from the Anglo-Saxon period. No account of their deeds is preserved, except for the few instances examined below.
To explain the absence of hagiography associated with Augustine we must bear in mind a number of factors which shaped the hagiographical landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. Hagiographies celebrating English saints did not exist until the late seventh century, although the Latin lives composed in England in the early eighth century attest to the growing popularity of native saints like Cuthbert and Guthlac, Ceolfrith and Wilfrid. Latin lives of English saints involved in the continental mission such as Boniface and Willibrord were composed in the same century. On the other hand, the cult of Augustine and his fellow missionaries did not get off the ground for several centuries. The community of Canterbury did not even record the year of the death of Augustine, who died between 604 and 609.
Augustine was overshadowed by other saintly figures, including his contemporary pope Gregory who was deeply involved with English affairs. Bede who is the main source of information on the 597 mission, did not offer a fully drawn portrait of either Augustine or any other monk, and left an opaque image of these men and their deeds. That this was done to highlight the role of the pope, would oversimplify the intention of Bede, who was the foremost hagiographer of the early Anglo-Saxon period. Some interest for Augustine began to develop in the late eighth and early ninth century when he gradually secured a place for himself in liturgical calendars. With the tenth-century Reform, the cults of English local saints were established, such as Swithun, or revived, such as Æthelthryth, and their lives were recorded in the vernacular, but neither Augustine nor Paulinus benefited from this renewed interest except for a few fragmentary accounts.
As far as Augustine is concerned, the available data show a growing liturgical interest in this saint in both Canterbury houses by the eleventh century; evidence of his cult is also provided by contemporary texts from Winchester and by calendars, litanies and liturgical texts from other Anglo-Saxon centres. The turning point, both for Augustine and a number of his fellow monks, is represented by the 1091 translation of their bodies into the church of St Augustine’s abbey and the cycle of works composed for the occasion by Goscelin of Saint-Bertin. This achievement is to an extent the result of the internal conflict going on at Canterbury and of larger issues involving the English Church. Fostered by literary works rather than by popular piety, Augustine’s popularity would not enjoy an enduring success, and the twelfth century ‘apostle of the English’ would not win either national renown or special veneration in the following centuries.
To explain the absence of hagiography associated with Augustine we must bear in mind a number of factors which shaped the hagiographical landscape of Anglo-Saxon England. Hagiographies celebrating English saints did not exist until the late seventh century, although the Latin lives composed in England in the early eighth century attest to the growing popularity of native saints like Cuthbert and Guthlac, Ceolfrith and Wilfrid. Latin lives of English saints involved in the continental mission such as Boniface and Willibrord were composed in the same century. On the other hand, the cult of Augustine and his fellow missionaries did not get off the ground for several centuries. The community of Canterbury did not even record the year of the death of Augustine, who died between 604 and 609.
Augustine was overshadowed by other saintly figures, including his contemporary pope Gregory who was deeply involved with English affairs. Bede who is the main source of information on the 597 mission, did not offer a fully drawn portrait of either Augustine or any other monk, and left an opaque image of these men and their deeds. That this was done to highlight the role of the pope, would oversimplify the intention of Bede, who was the foremost hagiographer of the early Anglo-Saxon period. Some interest for Augustine began to develop in the late eighth and early ninth century when he gradually secured a place for himself in liturgical calendars. With the tenth-century Reform, the cults of English local saints were established, such as Swithun, or revived, such as Æthelthryth, and their lives were recorded in the vernacular, but neither Augustine nor Paulinus benefited from this renewed interest except for a few fragmentary accounts.
As far as Augustine is concerned, the available data show a growing liturgical interest in this saint in both Canterbury houses by the eleventh century; evidence of his cult is also provided by contemporary texts from Winchester and by calendars, litanies and liturgical texts from other Anglo-Saxon centres. The turning point, both for Augustine and a number of his fellow monks, is represented by the 1091 translation of their bodies into the church of St Augustine’s abbey and the cycle of works composed for the occasion by Goscelin of Saint-Bertin. This achievement is to an extent the result of the internal conflict going on at Canterbury and of larger issues involving the English Church. Fostered by literary works rather than by popular piety, Augustine’s popularity would not enjoy an enduring success, and the twelfth century ‘apostle of the English’ would not win either national renown or special veneration in the following centuries.
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Il saggio studia l'uso dell'aggettivo ags. wynlic nell'omelia di Ælfric sulle Nozze di Cana, rilevando un uso intenzionale di questo aggettivo dal significato 'di vino', che rimanda all' ags. wynlic 'meraviglioso'. L'omelia e' studiata... more
Il saggio studia l'uso dell'aggettivo ags. wynlic nell'omelia di Ælfric sulle Nozze di Cana, rilevando un uso intenzionale di questo aggettivo dal significato 'di vino', che rimanda all' ags. wynlic 'meraviglioso'.
L'omelia e' studiata in rapporto ad altre omelie di Ælfric.
L'iconografia medievale delle Nozze di Cana è messa a confronto con la rappresentazione dell'episodio biblico nell'omelia.
L'omelia e' studiata in rapporto ad altre omelie di Ælfric.
L'iconografia medievale delle Nozze di Cana è messa a confronto con la rappresentazione dell'episodio biblico nell'omelia.
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The essay explores the role of theft in Anglo-Saxon society, studying in particular the charms, the laws, and the homilies. A section of the essay is devoted to the legend of the two thieves who were crucified with Christ and its... more
The essay explores the role of theft in Anglo-Saxon society, studying in particular the charms, the laws, and the homilies. A section of the essay is devoted to the legend of the two thieves who were crucified with Christ and its circulation in England
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Incontri e interferenze di motivi nibelungici nell'Inghilterra anglosassone tarda.
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This is the first thorough study of a text occurring in two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The Latin source of the Old English text preserved in mss. London, BL, Stowe 944 and London, BL, Egerton 3314, fols. 9-72 + Cotton Caligula A xv, fols.... more
This is the first thorough study of a text occurring in two Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The Latin source of the Old English text preserved in mss. London, BL, Stowe 944 and London, BL, Egerton 3314, fols. 9-72 + Cotton Caligula A xv, fols. 120-53 (Cameron B.12.10) was unknown. The essay provides evidence for the OE text being a translation of a Latin text on liturgical questions. This discovery allows understanding the very nature of the OE work, fosters its correct classification and provides a rationale for its collocation in the two Anglo-Saxon mss. Conceived as a dialogue between pope Damasus and Jerome on the hour of the mass, the OE text turns out to be a translation of one of the short pseudo-epigraphical writings on liturgical questions, which circulated abundantly both on the Continent and in England. The dialogue occurs in several medieval canonical collections on the Continent and might have had its origin in the early Carolingian period. In the course of its transmission, the Latin took different forms, at a certain point of its tradition, incorporated additional material, growing into an altogether different work. The text under analysis is the only version attested in medieval England and one of the few in a vernacular language. It opens with an inquiry from Damasus to Jerome about what hour of the day mass should be celebrated. Jerome answers by reminding Damasus of the decision of the First Council of Nicaea and declares that mass should not be celebrated after the third hour on Sundays, whereas, on the other holy days, no celebration should take place in the fifth, sixth and seventh hour. Different provisions are presented for ferial days. A brisk reply from Damasus to Jerome concludes the dialogue. The Old English text is edited anew and translated into modern English.
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La differenza tra pseudoepigrafo e apocrifo tende ad oscurarsi, specialmente nella letteratura critica in lingua inglese, dove si assiste ad un uso sinonimico dei due termini; anche l’aggettivo pseudonimo e i suoi derivati si... more
La differenza tra pseudoepigrafo e apocrifo tende ad oscurarsi, specialmente nella letteratura critica in lingua inglese, dove si assiste ad un uso sinonimico dei due termini; anche l’aggettivo pseudonimo e i suoi derivati si sovrappongono a pseudoepigrafo in varie occasioni. In realtà la distinzione tra i tre aggettivi è chiara e affonda le radici in contesti storici ben precisi e imprescindibili. Di contro, l’intera problematica della ‘non autenticità’ di un testo si gioca su molti piani ed è una di quelle categorizzazioni che assumono valori differenti nel tempo e nello spazio, con connotazioni che vanno, ad ampio raggio, da negative a positive, da ironiche a celebrative.
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Pope Gregory I and Pope Damasus character and works in Anglo-Saxon England
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On Old English net, max and other terms for ‘net’] Il saggio prende in esame tutte le occorrenze di due parole dell’antico inglese, col significato di ‘rete’, net e max. Numerose sono le occorrenze di net e dei suoi composti; la voce, di... more
On Old English net, max and other terms for ‘net’]
Il saggio prende in esame tutte le occorrenze di due parole dell’antico inglese, col significato di ‘rete’, net e max. Numerose sono le occorrenze di net e dei suoi composti; la voce, di origine ie, ricorre in tutte le lingue germaniche antiche. La voce max ha invece un numero limitato di occorrenze ed è priva di confronti diretti in ambito germanico. Ricorre tre volte in antico inglese, tutte nel Colloquio di Ælfric. Si studiano anche gli altri termini per ‘rete’ in antico inglese, le loro accezioni e le loro continuazioni in medio inglese.
Il saggio prende in esame tutte le occorrenze di due parole dell’antico inglese, col significato di ‘rete’, net e max. Numerose sono le occorrenze di net e dei suoi composti; la voce, di origine ie, ricorre in tutte le lingue germaniche antiche. La voce max ha invece un numero limitato di occorrenze ed è priva di confronti diretti in ambito germanico. Ricorre tre volte in antico inglese, tutte nel Colloquio di Ælfric. Si studiano anche gli altri termini per ‘rete’ in antico inglese, le loro accezioni e le loro continuazioni in medio inglese.
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The essay takes into examinationt the features of style and content of Old English poetry of the eventh century
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La parola inglese antico sot, voce mutuata dal francese antico, di tarda e rara attestazione, è studiata in tutte le sue occorrenze, che vanno da alcune omelie di Ælfric, dove la parola affianca o sostituisce termini sinonimici usati... more
La parola inglese antico sot, voce mutuata dal francese antico, di tarda e rara attestazione, è studiata in tutte le sue occorrenze, che vanno da alcune omelie di Ælfric, dove la parola affianca o sostituisce termini sinonimici usati dall’autore, a glossari e glosse interlineari. Al pari del lat. mediev. sottus, ia. sot ricorre, con connotazioni ludiche, all’interno di giochi di parole e in componimenti satirici: questa collocazione illumina sull’etimologia del lat. mediev. sottus e del francese antico sot. Correda l’articolo un censimento di tutti i più antichi prestiti dal francese antico presenti nei testi anglosassoni, fino al XII sec.
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On Bede, De die iudicii and its Old English translation. On the technique of translation
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the essay points out the presence of a motif in several OE homilies and elsewhere
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. In un dibattito dedicato alle culture della guerra era quasi d’obbligo un intervento sulla rappresentazione della guerra nel mondo germanico, aggettivo che verrà però usato per indicare unicamente la fase più antica e, almeno... more
. In un dibattito dedicato alle culture della guerra era quasi d’obbligo un intervento sulla rappresentazione della guerra nel mondo germanico, aggettivo che verrà però usato per indicare unicamente la fase più antica e, almeno inizialmente, comune, della compagine culturale germanica.
1. Nella ricerca di opere che offrissero delle rappresentazioni della guerra, l’indagine è stata ulteriormente limitata all’Inghilterra dell’Alto Medioevo. La letteratura anglosassone, sia quella composta in volgare che quella, altrettanto vasta, scritta in latino, offre una serie di testimonianze di guerre di vasto raggio, di battaglie e di scontri minuti, così come dell’esistenza di una classe di guerrieri o meglio di una classe i cui membri svolgevano questo ruolo nella società germanica. Le persone cui era demandata l’attività militare facevano parte della classe aristocratica e rappresentavano i diretti continuatori del comitatus, un’istituzione di cui parlava già Tacito nei capitoli XIII e XIV della Germania. L’aggregazione di una banda di guerrieri (comites) intorno ad un capo (princeps) nasce da una libera scelta: i seguaci stipulano con il capo una sorta di patto, per cui questi protegge e mantiene il comes guerriero, dispensandogli doni di varia natura; da parte sua il comes combatte per accrescere la fama e, sul piano concreto, la potenza e la ricchezza del suo capo. Va anche sottolineato - perché questi caratteri ritorneranno puntualmente nei testi che verranno presi in esame più avanti - la natura della relazione fortemente gerarchica tra i membri del comitatus e l’indipendenza di questo organismo dai legami di sangue, a vantaggio invece di un rapporto intertribale, per cui un capo aggregava intorno a se guerrieri di etnie diverse e che provenivano anche da paesi lontani.
Nonostante il lasso di tempo che intercorre tra l’opera di Tacito, nella quale un’istituzione, non strettamente germanica, come quella del comitatus si presenta all’inizio della sua evoluzione e le prime notizie storiche sui germani dislocati nelle loro sedi, alla fine delle Völkerwanderungen, è possibile seguire lo sviluppo di tale organismo militare nell’età delle migrazioni (quando costituisce la base del tipo di sovranità che in tale periodo si afferma) e quindi nell’organizzazione sociale della classe aristocratica guerriera (di cui rappresenta l’elemento centrale) dei nuovi regni barbarici. Il comitatus svolge un ruolo fondamentale nell’affermazione di un potere politico individuale e autoritario: il capo del comitatus, che in genere viene da una famiglia nobile e illustre, riesce ad affermare il prestigio personale mediante azioni di guerra.
Wormald ha dimostrato come la società anglosassone, nei secoli VI - VIII, offra prove dell’esistenza di una classe di guerrieri, molto prima che tale categoria trovi una sua legittimazione nella società feudale del continente. La figura del guerriero ha un rilievo e un ruolo nella società anglosassone. Esempi in questo senso ci vengono forniti da opere di carattere storico come la Historia ecclesiastica gentis anglorum di Beda dove si narra come Re Oswine di Deira (642/4 - 651), grazie alla sua munificenza, attirasse al suo servizio nobili da ogni parte del paese (HE III, cap. XIV) o da agiografie come la Vita di Wilfrid di Eddi Stefano, dove si dice delle scorrerie di un nobile in esilio che capitanava una banda armata (‘nobiles quidam exules cum exercitu’ cap. LXVII).
1. Nella ricerca di opere che offrissero delle rappresentazioni della guerra, l’indagine è stata ulteriormente limitata all’Inghilterra dell’Alto Medioevo. La letteratura anglosassone, sia quella composta in volgare che quella, altrettanto vasta, scritta in latino, offre una serie di testimonianze di guerre di vasto raggio, di battaglie e di scontri minuti, così come dell’esistenza di una classe di guerrieri o meglio di una classe i cui membri svolgevano questo ruolo nella società germanica. Le persone cui era demandata l’attività militare facevano parte della classe aristocratica e rappresentavano i diretti continuatori del comitatus, un’istituzione di cui parlava già Tacito nei capitoli XIII e XIV della Germania. L’aggregazione di una banda di guerrieri (comites) intorno ad un capo (princeps) nasce da una libera scelta: i seguaci stipulano con il capo una sorta di patto, per cui questi protegge e mantiene il comes guerriero, dispensandogli doni di varia natura; da parte sua il comes combatte per accrescere la fama e, sul piano concreto, la potenza e la ricchezza del suo capo. Va anche sottolineato - perché questi caratteri ritorneranno puntualmente nei testi che verranno presi in esame più avanti - la natura della relazione fortemente gerarchica tra i membri del comitatus e l’indipendenza di questo organismo dai legami di sangue, a vantaggio invece di un rapporto intertribale, per cui un capo aggregava intorno a se guerrieri di etnie diverse e che provenivano anche da paesi lontani.
Nonostante il lasso di tempo che intercorre tra l’opera di Tacito, nella quale un’istituzione, non strettamente germanica, come quella del comitatus si presenta all’inizio della sua evoluzione e le prime notizie storiche sui germani dislocati nelle loro sedi, alla fine delle Völkerwanderungen, è possibile seguire lo sviluppo di tale organismo militare nell’età delle migrazioni (quando costituisce la base del tipo di sovranità che in tale periodo si afferma) e quindi nell’organizzazione sociale della classe aristocratica guerriera (di cui rappresenta l’elemento centrale) dei nuovi regni barbarici. Il comitatus svolge un ruolo fondamentale nell’affermazione di un potere politico individuale e autoritario: il capo del comitatus, che in genere viene da una famiglia nobile e illustre, riesce ad affermare il prestigio personale mediante azioni di guerra.
Wormald ha dimostrato come la società anglosassone, nei secoli VI - VIII, offra prove dell’esistenza di una classe di guerrieri, molto prima che tale categoria trovi una sua legittimazione nella società feudale del continente. La figura del guerriero ha un rilievo e un ruolo nella società anglosassone. Esempi in questo senso ci vengono forniti da opere di carattere storico come la Historia ecclesiastica gentis anglorum di Beda dove si narra come Re Oswine di Deira (642/4 - 651), grazie alla sua munificenza, attirasse al suo servizio nobili da ogni parte del paese (HE III, cap. XIV) o da agiografie come la Vita di Wilfrid di Eddi Stefano, dove si dice delle scorrerie di un nobile in esilio che capitanava una banda armata (‘nobiles quidam exules cum exercitu’ cap. LXVII).
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The battle of Brunanburh had ‘a distinctive place among the events which made for the ultimate unity of England’, as Sir Frank Stenton has remarked. The battle fought at Brunanburh in the late summer or early autumn of 937 saw the... more
The battle of Brunanburh had ‘a distinctive place among the events which made for the ultimate unity of England’, as Sir Frank Stenton has remarked. The battle fought at Brunanburh in the late summer or early autumn of 937 saw the triumph of Athelstan and his brother Edmund over a confederacy which consisted of the Danes of Dublin led by Olaf and the Scots under Constantine. The battle was certainly the best known event of Athelstan’s reign, but two years later, when he died and Edmund was crowned king, Olaf Guthfrithson regained the kingship of York and cancelled the political consequence of the victory of 937. The historical event was celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by a mannered panegyric on king Athelstan, but it was not so with later generations, as the battle fired the imagination of the English writers, who kept telling about the fight between Athelstan and Olaf for centuries, in Latin, French and English, expanding on the bare kernel of the battle fought in 937, somewhere in the north of England, and reshaping the narrative to suit the tastes of ever new audiences.
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La battaglia combattuta a Brunanburh – una località non più identificabile dell’Inghilterra settentrionale – alla fine dell’estate o all’inizio dell’autunno del 937, segnò la vittoria di re Athelstan e suo fratello Edmondo contro una... more
La battaglia combattuta a Brunanburh – una località non più identificabile dell’Inghilterra settentrionale – alla fine dell’estate o all’inizio dell’autunno del 937, segnò la vittoria di re Athelstan e suo fratello Edmondo contro una temibile confederazione di nemici, i danesi di Dublino, capeggiati da Olaf Guthfrithson, gli scozzesi con a capo Costantino e altri gruppi minori. La battaglia, celebrata con un manierato panegirico nella Cronaca, è rimasta uno degli episodi più famosi della storia anglosassone e, per secoli, il combattimento tra Athelstan e Olaf è stato riproposto, in veste sempre nuova e diversa, in latino, in francese e in inglese
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Anglo-Latin literature, its features, main works and authors. Also the relationship with Old English literature
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L’articolo presenta tre opere di Ælfric: Grammatica, Glossario e Colloquio, inquadrandole nella temperie della Riforma benedettina inglese. Studia i rapporti tra Æthelwold e Ælfric; il ruolo del vogare e del latino nella Riforma; gli... more
L’articolo presenta tre opere di Ælfric: Grammatica, Glossario e Colloquio, inquadrandole nella temperie della Riforma benedettina inglese. Studia i rapporti tra Æthelwold e Ælfric; il ruolo del vogare e del latino nella Riforma; gli interessi didattici di Ælfric e la concezione della ‘grammatica’ in Inghilterra anglosassone.
Anche se non possediamo dati tali da permette di affermare che Ælfric abbia concepito Grammatica, Glossario e Colloquio per un loro impiego congiunto, la tradizione manoscritta delle tre opere punta in questa direzione e testimonia l’utilità pedagogica di un uso abbinato per lo meno della Grammatica e del Glossario, formalizzando un loro legame, anche se intervenuto in un tempo successivo alla composizione delle due opere da parte di Ælfric.
Anche se non possediamo dati tali da permette di affermare che Ælfric abbia concepito Grammatica, Glossario e Colloquio per un loro impiego congiunto, la tradizione manoscritta delle tre opere punta in questa direzione e testimonia l’utilità pedagogica di un uso abbinato per lo meno della Grammatica e del Glossario, formalizzando un loro legame, anche se intervenuto in un tempo successivo alla composizione delle due opere da parte di Ælfric.
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Whilst working on the idiosyncratic choices of the interlinear glosses to the Salisbury Psalter, I came across a cluster of Latin words meaning ‘protector’ and ‘protection’, whose renderings are quite distinctive. The cumulative picture... more
Whilst working on the idiosyncratic choices of the interlinear glosses to the Salisbury Psalter, I came across a cluster of Latin words meaning ‘protector’ and ‘protection’, whose renderings are quite distinctive. The cumulative picture obtained by extending the research to the whole corpus of interlinear psalter glosses in Old English has allowed me to gather a number of data of general interest as far as the typology of interlinear glosses in the vernacular is concerned. With regards to the words under examination, the translation choices of the psalter glosses produced in England up to the twelfth century do not reproduce dialectal variation and depend, only in part, on the different dates of the vernacular apparatuses. However, the rendering of protector and another few interconnected words offer interesting insights into the attitude of the glossators and the degree of freedom allowed within the constraints of an interlinear gloss.
There was a well-established tradition of glossing the psalter in early England, and the glossator usually stuck closely to the tradition to which their version belonged. Departures and substitutions are however likely—the more-so in case of words with a figurative use such as protector, adiutor, and refugium—and a study of the continuous glosses to the psalter in the vernacular offers a relevant benchmark against which to analyse the challenges posed by the Latin biblical text, with its multiple levels of meaning and subtle nuances.
There was a well-established tradition of glossing the psalter in early England, and the glossator usually stuck closely to the tradition to which their version belonged. Departures and substitutions are however likely—the more-so in case of words with a figurative use such as protector, adiutor, and refugium—and a study of the continuous glosses to the psalter in the vernacular offers a relevant benchmark against which to analyse the challenges posed by the Latin biblical text, with its multiple levels of meaning and subtle nuances.
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In this volume, Anglo-Saxon scholars from different disciplines – Old English and Anglo-Latin literature and linguistics, palaeography, history, runology, numismatics and archaeology – explore what are here called ‘micro-texts’, i.e. very... more
In this volume, Anglo-Saxon scholars from different disciplines – Old English and Anglo-Latin literature and linguistics, palaeography, history, runology, numismatics and archaeology – explore what are here called ‘micro-texts’, i.e. very short pieces of writing constituting independent, self-contained texts. Such texts have survived in large numbers from the Anglo-Saxon period on all kinds of materials (e.g. parchment, stone, garments or coins), in the form of epigraphic inscriptions in runes and/or the Latin alphabet, or – in manuscripts – as colophons, scribbles or various kinds of notes or glosses. For the first time, these micro-texts are here studied in their forms and communicative functions, their pragmatics and performativity.
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In Anglo-Saxon England, there was a well-established tradition of Psalter interpretation and scholarship. The text of the Psalter is accompanied by a continuous interlinear gloss in Old English In several manuscripts. Both the Roman and... more
In Anglo-Saxon England, there was a well-established tradition of Psalter interpretation and scholarship. The text of the Psalter is accompanied by a continuous interlinear gloss in Old English In several manuscripts. Both the Roman and Gallican versions of the Psalter were provided with OE glosses, and it is possible to identify a clear web of relationships between these glossed Psalters. Two groups emerge: group α (Psalters A, B, C), with B and C independently derived from A, and group δ, where D is the prototype of most Psalters of a later date (Psalters D, F, G, H, J, K, L). The essay takes into examination the Salisbury Psalter (K), whose Latin text follows the Gallicanum, which, by the middle of the tenth century, had ousted the Romanum in England. K used either D (whose Latin text is Roman) or a copy quite close and faithful to D. The essay seeks to redress the balance between the two Psalter glosses (D and K) by highlighting the merits of K and identifying its main features. The omission of several glosses in K is not haphazard but finds a justification in the difference between Romanum and Gallicanum. The gloss of K has an internal coherence and its individual quality becomes evident on a closer study of the relationship between these renderings and their respective Latin lemmata. K features a number of innovations, exclusive interpretations as well as a penchant for some OE words. Evident is also a trend to simplifying and using the same OE word in all the occurrences of a set Latin term.
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One may wonder whether it is correct or not to include Old English glosses and glossaries in the tradition of the historical lexicography of English. There are indeed many differences between the Anglo-Saxon compilations of glosses (and... more
One may wonder whether it is correct or not to include Old English glosses and glossaries in the tradition of the historical lexicography of English. There are indeed many differences between the Anglo-Saxon compilations of glosses (and the either continuous or occasional interlinear glosses in Old English) and the first bilingual dictionaries of the fifteenth century, not to mention the following monolingual compilations. However, if, on the one hand, the various kinds of glossing practiced in the Anglo-Saxon period cannot be described as lexicography tout court, on the other hand, it would seem inappropriate not to take into account the whole of this period, i.e. the first six centuries of the English language. What is more, glosses occupy a considerable proportion of the Old English corpus: 24% of the surviving corpus of Old English is represented by interlinear glosses to Latin texts and the vernacular items of glossaries amount to another 1%. Within this 25% of the corpus, occasional glosses play an important role as far as lexical experimentation is concerned; moreover, they provide a valuable source for the alphabetical glossaries, where they often resurface (think of the number of glosses to Aldhelm’s prose De virginitate in the First Cleopatra Glossary).
Two momentous periods in Anglo-Saxon history will be studied. Firstly, the scholarly and teaching activity of archbishop Theodore at Canterbury and the group of glossaries emanating from his endeavour. Secondly, the glossing tradition, as it was carried out at Æthelwold’s school at Winchester, when the practice of glossing exerted a considerable influence on the ‘standardization’ of the lexicon. As a result of the conscious practice of the intellectual elite, Old English holds a unique position within the early medieval European vernaculars. In both periods glosses and glossaries played an important role and contributed to the normalization of the Old English language. This role only declines with the Norman conquest.
Two momentous periods in Anglo-Saxon history will be studied. Firstly, the scholarly and teaching activity of archbishop Theodore at Canterbury and the group of glossaries emanating from his endeavour. Secondly, the glossing tradition, as it was carried out at Æthelwold’s school at Winchester, when the practice of glossing exerted a considerable influence on the ‘standardization’ of the lexicon. As a result of the conscious practice of the intellectual elite, Old English holds a unique position within the early medieval European vernaculars. In both periods glosses and glossaries played an important role and contributed to the normalization of the Old English language. This role only declines with the Norman conquest.
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In A-S England any person striving for a good degree of literacy needed grammatical knowledge to read and master Latin. The whole schooling process was mostly dedicated to attain and improve Latin literacy, which, in turn, was necessary... more
In A-S England any person striving for a good degree of literacy needed grammatical knowledge to read and master Latin. The whole schooling process was mostly dedicated to attain and improve Latin literacy, which, in turn, was necessary to interpret literary texts, first of all the Bible.
Like in other countries in the Middle Ages, grammar occupied a central position and was a most necessary discipline concerned, not only with literacy (ratio recte scribendi et loquendi), but also with all the aspects of a literary text (scientia interpretandi). In both England and Ireland, which were non-Romance speaking areas, proficiency in Latin could have been acquired not just by means of one of the grammars devised for Latin-speaking countries, but by combining the study of grammatical tracts and lists of exempla (such as the Declinationes nominum and the Coniugationes verborum, which often circulated separately), with the reading of set texts, likely accompanied by glosses. This new and wider sense given to grammar was responsible for the creation of a specific type of manuscripts where artes and auctores formed a coherent collection. It also influenced the lay-out of manuscripts in which the auctores were usually accompanied by interpretational frames in the form of glosses.
Like in other countries in the Middle Ages, grammar occupied a central position and was a most necessary discipline concerned, not only with literacy (ratio recte scribendi et loquendi), but also with all the aspects of a literary text (scientia interpretandi). In both England and Ireland, which were non-Romance speaking areas, proficiency in Latin could have been acquired not just by means of one of the grammars devised for Latin-speaking countries, but by combining the study of grammatical tracts and lists of exempla (such as the Declinationes nominum and the Coniugationes verborum, which often circulated separately), with the reading of set texts, likely accompanied by glosses. This new and wider sense given to grammar was responsible for the creation of a specific type of manuscripts where artes and auctores formed a coherent collection. It also influenced the lay-out of manuscripts in which the auctores were usually accompanied by interpretational frames in the form of glosses.
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The Old English glosses to the Gospels in London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero D.iv represent one of the largest interlinear apparatuses to a single Latin text in the vernacular. However, about one thousand words of the Latin text are... more
The Old English glosses to the Gospels in London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero D.iv represent one of the largest interlinear apparatuses to a single Latin text in the vernacular. However, about one thousand words of the Latin text are left unglossed both in the Gospels and the prefatory material. The largest number of omissions concern proper names (personal names, place-names and ethnonyms), but also words such as camelus or ventilabrum were left unglossed whether always or just sometimes. This paper investigates the number and the distribution of these unglossed terms as well as their nature.
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Le glosse si collocano all’intersezione delle due attività cui è dedicato il convegno di Spoleto, leggere e scrivere; esse costituiscono anche un punto d’incontro tra lingue diverse e tradizioni letterarie di differente matrice. Queste... more
Le glosse si collocano all’intersezione delle due attività cui è dedicato il convegno di Spoleto, leggere e scrivere; esse costituiscono anche un punto d’incontro tra lingue diverse e tradizioni letterarie di differente matrice. Queste confluenze saranno prese in esame partendo da esempi ripresi da una produzione glossografica molto ampia, cioè quella anglosassone, intendendo con questo termine le glosse in anglosassone (o antico inglese) e in latino presenti nei codici vergati in Inghilterra fino a tutto l’XI secolo. Per quanto riguarda le glosse bilingui – cioè le chiose in anglosassone apposte a un testo in latino o abbinate a un lemma in latino di un glossario –, quella inglese è la produzione più vasta nella fase antica dei volgari germanici.
La glossa è sicuramente un prodotto della lettura, secondario, quindi (secondo una delle possibili interpretazioni del rapporto tra lettura e scrittura), rispetto a un testo che qualcuno ha letto – e ricorda – o legge in un dato momento, per interesse, dovere o necessità, forse anche per preparare una lezione.
Se lo scopo di almeno una parte dell’attività glossografica anglosassone è ancora oggetto di discussione, è fuori dubbio che le glosse nascono come reazione alla lettura di un testo e che a un testo sono comunque legate (con alcune eccezioni di cui si dirà più avanti) da una relazione che il processo di copiatura successiva interrompe in parte o del tutto – in quei casi, alquanto numerosi, in cui il lemma è stato rescisso dal testo insieme alla sua chiosa – ma non riesce a cancellare.
La glossa è sicuramente un prodotto della lettura, secondario, quindi (secondo una delle possibili interpretazioni del rapporto tra lettura e scrittura), rispetto a un testo che qualcuno ha letto – e ricorda – o legge in un dato momento, per interesse, dovere o necessità, forse anche per preparare una lezione.
Se lo scopo di almeno una parte dell’attività glossografica anglosassone è ancora oggetto di discussione, è fuori dubbio che le glosse nascono come reazione alla lettura di un testo e che a un testo sono comunque legate (con alcune eccezioni di cui si dirà più avanti) da una relazione che il processo di copiatura successiva interrompe in parte o del tutto – in quei casi, alquanto numerosi, in cui il lemma è stato rescisso dal testo insieme alla sua chiosa – ma non riesce a cancellare.
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The only bilingual item of MS Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 is a short glossary with French lemmata and English interpretamenta, copied in the upper part of f. 126r. The Middle English entries feature a number of rare words,... more
The only bilingual item of MS Cambridge, St John’s College, E.17 is a short glossary with French lemmata and English interpretamenta, copied in the upper part of f. 126r. The Middle English entries feature a number of rare words, including a few hapax legomena. In other instances, that of the St John’s glossary is the first occurrence of the word ever attested in Middle English. Hence, the little studied glossary reveals itself to be a treasure-trove for the lexicographer. Moreover, whereas the number of borrowings from French is limited to two words, the glossary contains several loanwords from Old Norse. This feature might help locate the glossary, whose origin, as well as that of the entire codex, is unknown.
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The essay takes into examination the interlinear glosses in Old Frisian in the fragment of Psalter in ms. Groningen, Universiteitsbibliotheek 404. This is the oldest medieval Frisian fragmentary codex to survive and contains verses of... more
The essay takes into examination the interlinear glosses in Old Frisian in the fragment of Psalter in ms. Groningen, Universiteitsbibliotheek 404. This is the oldest medieval Frisian fragmentary codex to survive and contains verses of Psalms XVII, XXVII, and XVIII, accompanied by glosses in the vernacular. This essay is the first lengthy study specifically devoted to the typology of the glosses themselves and their peculiarities (within the field of interlinear glosses). On close inspection, the OF glosses show a large internal coherence and individual quality. As far as the lexicon is concerned, the glosses feature a series of words belonging to the juridical lexicon, whereas other word-choices betray a keen attention to building techniques and buildings themselves. In a number of instances, it is evident that the glossator has tried to reproduce the structure of the Latin word, in general a verb. Among the other relevant features is the glossator’s penchant for simplifying the language of the Latin Psalms, toning down the biblical speech. A feature, which seems typical of this fragmentary gloss, is the use of periphrasis instead of a single word to render a particularly complex lemma of the Latin. The omission of a number of renderings seems intentional and is carried out regularly. The choice to include in the text only the most relevant information helps to explain the most striking feature of these in-text glosses (as far as unglossed words are concerned): the omission of the demonstrative and possessive adjectives. The renderings of the Psalters are compared with other interlinear glosses to the Psalter, i.e. those in Old English. The essay has been reviewed by the Scientif Committee of the Journal "Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik” and the editorial board of the volume published by Rodopi (Amsterdam/New York), which features the contributions of the twenty-plus international authors and is devoted to Old Frisian philology. The book is a monographic number of the Journal “Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik”.
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A certain 'Descidia Parisiacae polis', which can safely be identified with the work of Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés now commonly known as the Bella Parisiacae urbis, is listed among the books given by Æthelwold to the monastery of... more
A certain 'Descidia Parisiacae polis', which can safely be identified with the work of Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés now commonly known as the Bella Parisiacae urbis, is listed among the books given by Æthelwold to the monastery of Peterborough. We shall never know if Æthelwold's gift corresponds to any of the surviving manuscripts of Abbo's poem – though probably does not – but the inventory gives evidence of the popularity of this work in England. In the following pages I shall consider the genesis and successive fortune of Abbo's poem and provide a new assessment of the value of the Bella Parisiacae urbis. This assessment is a necessary first step to the understanding of the reason for the success of this poem – and specifically of its third book – in England, as is witnessed by the number of English manuscripts containing the Latin text and by the Old English gloss which was added to this small, intriguing work.
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The process through which glossaries came into being can sometimes still be seen and studied in surviving manuscripts, and in such cases it provides a valuable index to the way in which Latin texts were studied in medieval schools. This... more
The process through which glossaries came into being can sometimes still be seen and studied in surviving manuscripts, and in such cases it provides a valuable index to the way in which Latin texts were studied in medieval schools. This is the case with an unprinted glossary in London, BL, Cotton Domitian i. The glossary is mainly made up of words taken from bk III of the Bella Parisiacae urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a work which was widely studied in English schools in the tenth and eleventh centuries, above all because of its unusual vocabulary. We know that Abbo drew the unusual vocabulary in his poem from pre-existing glossaries such as the Liber glossarum and the Scholica graecarum glossarum; but he also took from these works the interlinear glosses which he provided for the difficult words in bk III of his poem, and these in turn are found, with little variation, in all of the manuscripts which preserve the poem. Now under the rubric 'Incipiunt glosę diuersę' in Cotton Domitian i are collected some two hundred lemmata from bk III of the poem, followed in each case by one or more glosses; on examination these glosses are found to be identical with those which accompany the text in other manuscripts. The glossary in Domitian i thus provides a working model of how a glossary was compiled, and is a further witness to the popularity of Abbo's poem in Anglo-Saxon England.
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Glossaries were the natural storehouses of learning all through the Middle Ages. Composed in different ways, these compilations collected items from Classical, Late Antique and Medieval texts, as well as from big encyclopaedias such as... more
Glossaries were the natural storehouses of learning all through the Middle Ages. Composed in different ways, these compilations collected items from Classical, Late Antique and Medieval texts, as well as from big encyclopaedias such as Isidore’s Etymologiae. A number of large glossaries, circulating in multiple copies both in Anglo-Saxon England and on the Continent, contributed to spreading the knowledge of a number of set works and authors, from the Bible to Jerome, from Vergil to Aldhelm. These works were ransacked to pick up words used with a peculiar turn of meaning, archaisms, neologisms and loanwords (but also more common words). Now made into the entries of glossaries, these words lived lives of their own, but still preserved echoes of their former contexts and occurrences, which they contributed to repropose and keep alive.
One of these glossaries, the Scholica Graecarum glossarum, seems to have met the needs of both Carolingians and Anglo-Saxons, in that its entries offered a wealth of information on the Greek language and on the works in which the words originally occurred. However, these needs existed not only in the later Anglo-Saxon period, but also in much more recent times. In the sixteenth century, after centuries of neglect, a number of classicists took a renewed interest in glosses and scholia, along with the works of lexicographers such as Varro and of authors such as Plautus and Petronius. One of these classicists was Joseph Justus Scaliger, whose renewed use and study of the Scholica as a repository of erudition is revealing for both the past and the present. With his huge knowledge, Scaliger was capable of shedding new light on old lexical mysteries and of bringing to life precious gems of past learning. It will be the object of this essay to address for the first time the content of the ‘Liber glossarum’ put together by Scaliger, which features so many analogues with medieval lexical storehouses. The more so because Scaliger behaved exactly as his medieval counterparts, eagerly picking up ‘learned’ words and collecting them as a tool to get to the heart of Classical literature, the very bedrock of all subsequent learning.
One of these glossaries, the Scholica Graecarum glossarum, seems to have met the needs of both Carolingians and Anglo-Saxons, in that its entries offered a wealth of information on the Greek language and on the works in which the words originally occurred. However, these needs existed not only in the later Anglo-Saxon period, but also in much more recent times. In the sixteenth century, after centuries of neglect, a number of classicists took a renewed interest in glosses and scholia, along with the works of lexicographers such as Varro and of authors such as Plautus and Petronius. One of these classicists was Joseph Justus Scaliger, whose renewed use and study of the Scholica as a repository of erudition is revealing for both the past and the present. With his huge knowledge, Scaliger was capable of shedding new light on old lexical mysteries and of bringing to life precious gems of past learning. It will be the object of this essay to address for the first time the content of the ‘Liber glossarum’ put together by Scaliger, which features so many analogues with medieval lexical storehouses. The more so because Scaliger behaved exactly as his medieval counterparts, eagerly picking up ‘learned’ words and collecting them as a tool to get to the heart of Classical literature, the very bedrock of all subsequent learning.
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The essay takes into examination two glosses which feature in the large apparatus of Latin glosses which accompanies the poem Bella Parisiacae urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in ms. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, lat. 13833. The... more
The essay takes into examination two glosses which feature in the large apparatus of Latin glosses which accompanies the poem Bella Parisiacae urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in ms. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, lat. 13833.
The two glosses are 'gumfanon' glossing vestem pictam at line 17 and welcus glossing strabo at line 54.
The two glosses are 'gumfanon' glossing vestem pictam at line 17 and welcus glossing strabo at line 54.
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ll saggio prende in esame i due apparati che accompagnano il Libro III dei Bella Parisiacae urbis di Abbone di San Germano. Per quanto riguarda le glosse in latino che corredano il testo di Abbone in tutti i mss., queste si possono... more
ll saggio prende in esame i due apparati che accompagnano il Libro III dei Bella Parisiacae urbis di Abbone di San Germano. Per quanto riguarda le glosse in latino che corredano il testo di Abbone in tutti i mss., queste si possono ricondurre a glossari come il Liber glossarum e gli Scholica graecarum glossarum, ma anche ad altri glossari come Abolita, Abstrusa e pseudo-Filosseno. Le glosse in anglosassone alla versione in prosa del testo latino elaborata in Inghilterra nel X secolo sono invece originali e si devono a un autore che mira prevalementemente a fare comprendere e memorizzare i numerosi vocaboli, spesso di rara occorrenza (tra cui figurano molti prestiti dal greco, neologismi e arcaismi)del III Libro dei Bella di Abbone. Le scelte del glossatore sono tutte accurate e rivelano l'esistenza di un piano complessivo di glossatura che si appalesa nell'uso di parole semplici e composte, semplici e derivate, composti che condividono uno dei due membri e cosi' via.
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The essay takes into examination the entries of the glossary known as 'Scholica Graecarum glossarum' which feature the influence of the 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' by Martianus Capella. These entries are a secondary accretion to... more
The essay takes into examination the entries of the glossary known as 'Scholica Graecarum glossarum' which feature the influence of the 'De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii' by Martianus Capella. These entries are a secondary accretion to the original glossary. The comparison between the entries of the 'Scholica' and the commentary to the 'De Nuptiis' by Remigius of Auxerre prove his dependence on the glossary.
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The entire textual transmission of a late ninth-century poem, the Bella Parisiacae urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, is indissolubly tied with glosses and glossaries. The peculiarity of its composition as well as its large... more
The entire textual transmission of a late ninth-century poem, the Bella Parisiacae urbis by Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, is indissolubly tied with glosses and glossaries. The peculiarity of its composition as well as its large circulation makes this poem a perfect case study for the role and development of medieval glossography. The essay is divided into three sections devoted to the relationship between the poem and the products of medieval glossography: 1. glossaries were a source of Abbo’s poem, which in turn was, from the very outset, provided with glosses; 2. in England the third book of Abbo’s poem became a source of glossaries itself, and, 3. in the course of its transmission, Abbo’s poem tended to cluster alongside a number of less studied and still unprinted glossaries. The three sections also deal with the main typologies of medieval glossaries and their changing nature, moving from large-size Continental glossaries to the small-scale Anglo-Saxon compilations of glossae collectae and, finally, to the larger and advanced glossaries of the late Anglo-Saxon period. Glosses represent one tangible approach to the works circulating in the Middle Ages and are closely connected with the practice of learning.
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The essay takes into examination and provides an edition of a batch of glosses drawn from Book I of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. The two glossaries are contained in ms. Paris, BNF, lat. 7530, ff. 302v-303v and Vatican City, Biblioteca... more
The essay takes into examination and provides an edition of a batch of glosses drawn from Book I of the Metamorphoses of Ovid.
The two glossaries are contained in ms. Paris, BNF, lat. 7530, ff. 302v-303v
and Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, lat. 1471, ff. 157rb-157vb.
The Paris version contains 86 Ovidian glosses in sequence
The two glossaries are contained in ms. Paris, BNF, lat. 7530, ff. 302v-303v
and Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, lat. 1471, ff. 157rb-157vb.
The Paris version contains 86 Ovidian glosses in sequence
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Negli ultimi decenni la crescente attenzione per l’aspetto sociale della lingua, anche relativamente al periodo antico e medievale, ha avuto come conseguenza uno spostamento di interesse verso testi che non appartengono all’ambito... more
Negli ultimi decenni la crescente attenzione per l’aspetto sociale della lingua, anche relativamente al periodo antico e medievale, ha avuto come conseguenza uno spostamento di interesse verso testi che non appartengono all’ambito letterario in senso stretto, come la prosa scientifica o i manuali catechetici e didattici. Per lo studioso di lingue e culture germaniche questo allargamento d’orizzonte assume particolare importanza, ma, mentre la ricerca si rivolge con sempre maggiore frequenza alla Fachliteratur e sembra concordare sull’esistenza di una categoria testuale definita Gebrauchstext, si è ancora lontani da una definizione soddisfacente e univoca di questa ultima tipologia, come risulta anche dalla varietà terminologica impiegata.
Il saggio prende in esame la tipologia dei glossari per soggetti anglosassone e gli Hermeneumata pseudo-Dositheana che al loro interno comprendeva dei glossari tematici (divisi per capitoli) per vedere se anche entrambi questi componimenti possano essere definiti dei Gebrauchstext.
Il saggio prende in esame la tipologia dei glossari per soggetti anglosassone e gli Hermeneumata pseudo-Dositheana che al loro interno comprendeva dei glossari tematici (divisi per capitoli) per vedere se anche entrambi questi componimenti possano essere definiti dei Gebrauchstext.
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For the period extending up to the beginning of the twelfth century, the Plan for a Dictionary of Old English provides an essential catalogue of all the glossaries with bilingual entries – Latin-Old English (listed in section D of the... more
For the period extending up to the beginning of the twelfth century, the Plan for a Dictionary of Old English provides an essential catalogue of all the glossaries with bilingual entries – Latin-Old English (listed in section D of the volume) – as well as the continuous or occasional interlinear glosses in Old English that accompany Latin texts copied in manuscripts written in England (listed in section C). For information about all the manuscripts, some of which contain only one gloss in Old English, the Plan refers the reader to Ker's catalogue. This contains a description of the contents of each manuscript and provides information about its dating, origin and provenance.
It is unlikely that any other glossaries with interpretamenta in Old English will be discovered. Manuscripts containing Old English have repeatedly been the object of thorough study ever since the times of Elizabeth I and Matthew Parker. There might, it is true, still be one or two small discoveries that would complete our knowledge of scattered glosses: a gloss that escaped the attention of the earliest editors, or one lurking in a hitherto unpublished text. These, however, would be additions of only slight importance.
The situation is quite different when we turn to the activity of glossators in Latin in the British Isles from the eighth century to the end of the eleventh century. Helmut Gneuss is engaged in drawing up a catalogue of manuscripts written in England or brought into the country up to the year 1100. With the publication in 1981 of what is modestly called 'a preliminary list', he conferred legitimacy on a new approach to culture in the British Isles. This kind of approach, which has become increasingly evident for a number of years, gives appropriate importance to works in Latin as well. Glossators were extremely active in the field of Anglo-Latin. They compiled glossaries and provided interlinear glosses both to works composed by English authors, often anonymous, and to Latin works brought in from abroad and circulating in the British Isles. There still remains much to be done in this field: the work of cataloguing is incomplete; many texts, including several glossaries, are as yet unpublished; others may well be discovered in the next few years.
But even in the case of work carried out by glossators in the vernacular, which was mentioned at the beginning of this article, the present state of research can hardly be defined as satisfactory. Many, if not all, glossaries ought to be re-edited according to criteria that will be put forward later, and the same can be said for interlinear glosses. A radically different approach would be needed in these cases, for despite the specific features that distinguish glossaries and glosses from a literary text, they are not of merely lexicographical interest: they provide precious cultural evidence that in some cases allows an author to reveal himself with all his idiosyncrasies. Above all, it would be necessary to carry out a completely new study of the relationship between lemma and interpretamentum: the latter is often, particularly in bilingual entries, interpreted somewhat simplistically as a mere translation. In this case too, much insight can be derived from comparison with Latin-Latin material, where the easy shortcut of defining the gloss as a more or less correct translation into the vernacular is to be ruled out. The glossator had his own personal interpretation and, contrary to what used to be asserted, only rarely made mistakes; he selected and reworked his material, following models and using sources which were not those of the text he was glossing. Furthermore, there is the question of transmission. Decontextualized entries in a glossary were exposed to every possible kind of corruption. This is another reason why one must approach glosses with a greater degree of thoroughness and a wide range of skills and, above all, in a spirit that is at once dedicated and unbiased.
It is unlikely that any other glossaries with interpretamenta in Old English will be discovered. Manuscripts containing Old English have repeatedly been the object of thorough study ever since the times of Elizabeth I and Matthew Parker. There might, it is true, still be one or two small discoveries that would complete our knowledge of scattered glosses: a gloss that escaped the attention of the earliest editors, or one lurking in a hitherto unpublished text. These, however, would be additions of only slight importance.
The situation is quite different when we turn to the activity of glossators in Latin in the British Isles from the eighth century to the end of the eleventh century. Helmut Gneuss is engaged in drawing up a catalogue of manuscripts written in England or brought into the country up to the year 1100. With the publication in 1981 of what is modestly called 'a preliminary list', he conferred legitimacy on a new approach to culture in the British Isles. This kind of approach, which has become increasingly evident for a number of years, gives appropriate importance to works in Latin as well. Glossators were extremely active in the field of Anglo-Latin. They compiled glossaries and provided interlinear glosses both to works composed by English authors, often anonymous, and to Latin works brought in from abroad and circulating in the British Isles. There still remains much to be done in this field: the work of cataloguing is incomplete; many texts, including several glossaries, are as yet unpublished; others may well be discovered in the next few years.
But even in the case of work carried out by glossators in the vernacular, which was mentioned at the beginning of this article, the present state of research can hardly be defined as satisfactory. Many, if not all, glossaries ought to be re-edited according to criteria that will be put forward later, and the same can be said for interlinear glosses. A radically different approach would be needed in these cases, for despite the specific features that distinguish glossaries and glosses from a literary text, they are not of merely lexicographical interest: they provide precious cultural evidence that in some cases allows an author to reveal himself with all his idiosyncrasies. Above all, it would be necessary to carry out a completely new study of the relationship between lemma and interpretamentum: the latter is often, particularly in bilingual entries, interpreted somewhat simplistically as a mere translation. In this case too, much insight can be derived from comparison with Latin-Latin material, where the easy shortcut of defining the gloss as a more or less correct translation into the vernacular is to be ruled out. The glossator had his own personal interpretation and, contrary to what used to be asserted, only rarely made mistakes; he selected and reworked his material, following models and using sources which were not those of the text he was glossing. Furthermore, there is the question of transmission. Decontextualized entries in a glossary were exposed to every possible kind of corruption. This is another reason why one must approach glosses with a greater degree of thoroughness and a wide range of skills and, above all, in a spirit that is at once dedicated and unbiased.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
For the period extending up to the beginning of the twelfth century, the Plan for a Dictionary of Old English provides an essential catalogue of all the glossaries with bilingual entries – Latin-Old English (listed in section D of the... more
For the period extending up to the beginning of the twelfth century, the Plan for a Dictionary of Old English provides an essential catalogue of all the glossaries with bilingual entries – Latin-Old English (listed in section D of the volume) – as well as the continuous or occasional interlinear glosses in Old English that accompany Latin texts copied in manuscripts written in England (listed in section C). For information about all the manuscripts, some of which contain only one gloss in Old English, the Plan refers the reader to Ker's catalogue. This contains a description of the contents of each manuscript and provides information about its dating, origin and provenance.
It is unlikely that any other glossaries with interpretamenta in Old English will be discovered. Manuscripts containing Old English have repeatedly been the object of thorough study ever since the times of Elizabeth I and Matthew Parker. There might, it is true, still be one or two small discoveries that would complete our knowledge of scattered glosses: a gloss that escaped the attention of the earliest editors, or one lurking in a hitherto unpublished text. These, however, would be additions of only slight importance.
The situation is quite different when we turn to the activity of glossators in Latin in the British Isles from the eighth century to the end of the eleventh century. Helmut Gneuss is engaged in drawing up a catalogue of manuscripts written in England or brought into the country up to the year 1100. With the publication in 1981 of what is modestly called 'a preliminary list', he conferred legitimacy on a new approach to culture in the British Isles. This kind of approach, which has become increasingly evident for a number of years, gives appropriate importance to works in Latin as well. Glossators were extremely active in the field of Anglo-Latin. They compiled glossaries and provided interlinear glosses both to works composed by English authors, often anonymous, and to Latin works brought in from abroad and circulating in the British Isles. There still remains much to be done in this field: the work of cataloguing is incomplete; many texts, including several glossaries, are as yet unpublished; others may well be discovered in the next few years.
But even in the case of work carried out by glossators in the vernacular, which was mentioned at the beginning of this article, the present state of research can hardly be defined as satisfactory. Many, if not all, glossaries ought to be re-edited according to criteria that will be put forward later, and the same can be said for interlinear glosses. A radically different approach would be needed in these cases, for despite the specific features that distinguish glossaries and glosses from a literary text, they are not of merely lexicographical interest: they provide precious cultural evidence that in some cases allows an author to reveal himself with all his idiosyncrasies. Above all, it would be necessary to carry out a completely new study of the relationship between lemma and interpretamentum: the latter is often, particularly in bilingual entries, interpreted somewhat simplistically as a mere translation. In this case too, much insight can be derived from comparison with Latin-Latin material, where the easy shortcut of defining the gloss as a more or less correct translation into the vernacular is to be ruled out. The glossator had his own personal interpretation and, contrary to what used to be asserted, only rarely made mistakes; he selected and reworked his material, following models and using sources which were not those of the text he was glossing. Furthermore, there is the question of transmission. Decontextualized entries in a glossary were exposed to every possible kind of corruption. This is another reason why one must approach glosses with a greater degree of thoroughness and a wide range of skills and, above all, in a spirit that is at once dedicated and unbiased.
It is unlikely that any other glossaries with interpretamenta in Old English will be discovered. Manuscripts containing Old English have repeatedly been the object of thorough study ever since the times of Elizabeth I and Matthew Parker. There might, it is true, still be one or two small discoveries that would complete our knowledge of scattered glosses: a gloss that escaped the attention of the earliest editors, or one lurking in a hitherto unpublished text. These, however, would be additions of only slight importance.
The situation is quite different when we turn to the activity of glossators in Latin in the British Isles from the eighth century to the end of the eleventh century. Helmut Gneuss is engaged in drawing up a catalogue of manuscripts written in England or brought into the country up to the year 1100. With the publication in 1981 of what is modestly called 'a preliminary list', he conferred legitimacy on a new approach to culture in the British Isles. This kind of approach, which has become increasingly evident for a number of years, gives appropriate importance to works in Latin as well. Glossators were extremely active in the field of Anglo-Latin. They compiled glossaries and provided interlinear glosses both to works composed by English authors, often anonymous, and to Latin works brought in from abroad and circulating in the British Isles. There still remains much to be done in this field: the work of cataloguing is incomplete; many texts, including several glossaries, are as yet unpublished; others may well be discovered in the next few years.
But even in the case of work carried out by glossators in the vernacular, which was mentioned at the beginning of this article, the present state of research can hardly be defined as satisfactory. Many, if not all, glossaries ought to be re-edited according to criteria that will be put forward later, and the same can be said for interlinear glosses. A radically different approach would be needed in these cases, for despite the specific features that distinguish glossaries and glosses from a literary text, they are not of merely lexicographical interest: they provide precious cultural evidence that in some cases allows an author to reveal himself with all his idiosyncrasies. Above all, it would be necessary to carry out a completely new study of the relationship between lemma and interpretamentum: the latter is often, particularly in bilingual entries, interpreted somewhat simplistically as a mere translation. In this case too, much insight can be derived from comparison with Latin-Latin material, where the easy shortcut of defining the gloss as a more or less correct translation into the vernacular is to be ruled out. The glossator had his own personal interpretation and, contrary to what used to be asserted, only rarely made mistakes; he selected and reworked his material, following models and using sources which were not those of the text he was glossing. Furthermore, there is the question of transmission. Decontextualized entries in a glossary were exposed to every possible kind of corruption. This is another reason why one must approach glosses with a greater degree of thoroughness and a wide range of skills and, above all, in a spirit that is at once dedicated and unbiased.
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Il saggio segnala per la prima volta e analizza dal punto di vista linguistico e letterario una omissione ex homoeoteleuto nelle glosse interlineari ai Vangeli di Lindisfarne (Gv. 4.13-14)
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Si prendono in esame le glosse interlineari in inglese antico al terzo libro dei Bella Parisiacae urbis di Abbone di San Germano, attestate da due manoscritti anglosassoni. Le scelte del glossatore sono valutate alla luce delle difficoltà... more
Si prendono in esame le glosse interlineari in inglese antico al terzo libro dei Bella Parisiacae urbis di Abbone di San Germano, attestate da due manoscritti anglosassoni. Le scelte del glossatore sono valutate alla luce delle difficoltà insite nel testo latino di Abbone, particolarmente complesso, specialmente dal punto di vista del lessico, analizzando, in particolare la resa, di analogium, anabola, abacus, abaso, baccaulus, choraula e uxorius. Le rispettive glosse anglosassoni sono esaminate nell’economia dell’intera glossatura e valutate alla luce dell’uso didattico della versione interlineare in volgare.
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L’articolo prende in esame per la prima volta una glossa in antico alto tedesco, niunouga ‘lampreda’ (alla lettera ‘la nove occhi’, presente nel ms. Erfurt, Univers.B, Dep. Erf. CA 8° 8, f. 127r, mai segnalata nei repertori.
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Il saggio prende in esame gli interpretamenta di due glosse analoghe che ricorrono una nel Glossario di AElfric e l'altra nel Glossario (a soggetto) di Anversa e Londra. I due glossari sono tra loro imparentati. Le due rese in... more
Il saggio prende in esame gli interpretamenta di due glosse analoghe che ricorrono una nel Glossario di AElfric e l'altra nel Glossario (a soggetto) di Anversa e Londra. I due glossari sono tra loro imparentati. Le due rese in anglosassone che sono consimili non hanno corrispondenza in altri glossari o testi coevi.
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Although a large proportion of the Old English linguistic legacy which has survived – defying time, fire and men – is made up of Latin texts with interlinear glosses written in the vernacular and of a great many glossaries where Latin... more
Although a large proportion of the Old English linguistic legacy which has survived – defying time, fire and men – is made up of Latin texts with interlinear glosses written in the vernacular and of a great many glossaries where Latin lemmata are followed by Latin or Old English interpretamenta, this body of writings has seldom received its due attention and is still far from being fully understood.
There are many texts with interlinear glossing in Old English, and a distinction is to be drawn at the outset between them and the glossaries whose origin lies in the Old English period; then, too, between those in the former category which have a continuous gloss and those which have only scattered glosses, added to explain certain words in the text. The reasons behind such isolated glosses, whose frequency can vary from a few items to thousands for the same text (as in the case of the prose De virginitate of Aldhelm), are still unclear. Their unpredictability involves not only the frequency of the glosses themselves, but also the choice of the words in the text to be rendered in Old English. In some cases only difficult Latin words seem to be chosen – their selection being based on their rarity – but there seem to be other unpredictable reasons behind other kinds of glossing.
Interdependence between various groups of manuscripts is to be taken into account and is undeniable in the case of the glosses to the Psalters, the Hymnals and the Monastic Canticles, as also for occasional glosses to certain texts (e.g. the Brussels, BR 1650 and the Oxford, Digby 146 glosses to the prose De virginitate). An intricate nexus of relationships connects the majority of the Old English glossaries and extends to the Continent, while other bonds tie the works of authors like Aldhelm to glossaries. During the span of the Old English period Classical and Late Latin texts are glossed, glosses are gathered and arranged in glossaries in some sort of alphabetical order, to be utilized again by Old English authors. Monolingual Latin glossaries as well as Greek-Latin ones are supplied with Old English renderings and reshaped to meet new and ever-changing needs. Some texts are glossed to supply practical demands, others are rendered in Old English for educational purposes or as a result of private reading – and a demarcation line between these various uses is not always easy to draw.
The mainsprings of glossarial activity, which underlie the Old English glosses accompanying Latin texts which circulated in England during this period and occasioned the compilation of glossaries, have been insufficiently explored. When dealing with an interlinear gloss or with a glossary entry we expect to be confronted by the juxtaposition of a Latin word and an Old English counterpart, which was meant to be its vernacular translation. This expectation is evidently a simplification, in so far as it sets glosses in a sort of vacuum; yet it has been the prevailing attitude toward glosses, not only Old English but also Old Saxon and Old High German, and the presupposition of many an edition and word-study and of their lexicographical exploitation.
The glossator's choice of an Old English rendering for a Latin lemma was influenced by various factors and implied a certain degree of freedom which is worth investigating. Excluding all the various types of errors (whose frequency and range the glossarial technique heightened and enlarged), it is undeniable that every glossator struggled to achieve a correct rendering of the Latin text or of the single Latin item which made up a glossary entry. Ingenious devices, such as the use of secret script (dots, interchange of letters, etc.), are seldom employed to disguise the Old English renderings and this in itself says something about the aim of the glossator and of his glosses. At the same time, however, correctness and clarity are both subject to variation, according to the cultural milieu of the glossator: the level of his knowledge of Latin, his opportunity of drawing on an older tradition and his access to other aids. On the other hand, the lexical choices of a glossator could be conditioned by his intended audience – when there was one – as may be assumed at least in the case of continuous interlinear glossing. The 'addressees' of glosses can, in theory at least, be held responsible for the Old English glosses accompanying a text as much as the glossator who glossed the work in question. But the destination of a gloss is only one aspect of its nature and falls within a larger category which can be called the 'typology of the glossed text'. This typology should be explored in order to understand the lexical choices implicit in any gloss. In my view, it can help to account for some of the discrepancies which can be observed in comparing the Old English renderings of the same Latin word in different contexts, whenever it is possible to eliminate other variant factors (e.g. dialectal or chronological variations). In order to ascertain the validity of this assertion – and, more generally, to verify the conditions which could, did or did not, influence the choice of a certain Old English rendering – I have selected a number of Latin words and have checked all their occurrences in the texts included in A Plan for the Dictionary of Old English, under the headings C and D.
There are many texts with interlinear glossing in Old English, and a distinction is to be drawn at the outset between them and the glossaries whose origin lies in the Old English period; then, too, between those in the former category which have a continuous gloss and those which have only scattered glosses, added to explain certain words in the text. The reasons behind such isolated glosses, whose frequency can vary from a few items to thousands for the same text (as in the case of the prose De virginitate of Aldhelm), are still unclear. Their unpredictability involves not only the frequency of the glosses themselves, but also the choice of the words in the text to be rendered in Old English. In some cases only difficult Latin words seem to be chosen – their selection being based on their rarity – but there seem to be other unpredictable reasons behind other kinds of glossing.
Interdependence between various groups of manuscripts is to be taken into account and is undeniable in the case of the glosses to the Psalters, the Hymnals and the Monastic Canticles, as also for occasional glosses to certain texts (e.g. the Brussels, BR 1650 and the Oxford, Digby 146 glosses to the prose De virginitate). An intricate nexus of relationships connects the majority of the Old English glossaries and extends to the Continent, while other bonds tie the works of authors like Aldhelm to glossaries. During the span of the Old English period Classical and Late Latin texts are glossed, glosses are gathered and arranged in glossaries in some sort of alphabetical order, to be utilized again by Old English authors. Monolingual Latin glossaries as well as Greek-Latin ones are supplied with Old English renderings and reshaped to meet new and ever-changing needs. Some texts are glossed to supply practical demands, others are rendered in Old English for educational purposes or as a result of private reading – and a demarcation line between these various uses is not always easy to draw.
The mainsprings of glossarial activity, which underlie the Old English glosses accompanying Latin texts which circulated in England during this period and occasioned the compilation of glossaries, have been insufficiently explored. When dealing with an interlinear gloss or with a glossary entry we expect to be confronted by the juxtaposition of a Latin word and an Old English counterpart, which was meant to be its vernacular translation. This expectation is evidently a simplification, in so far as it sets glosses in a sort of vacuum; yet it has been the prevailing attitude toward glosses, not only Old English but also Old Saxon and Old High German, and the presupposition of many an edition and word-study and of their lexicographical exploitation.
The glossator's choice of an Old English rendering for a Latin lemma was influenced by various factors and implied a certain degree of freedom which is worth investigating. Excluding all the various types of errors (whose frequency and range the glossarial technique heightened and enlarged), it is undeniable that every glossator struggled to achieve a correct rendering of the Latin text or of the single Latin item which made up a glossary entry. Ingenious devices, such as the use of secret script (dots, interchange of letters, etc.), are seldom employed to disguise the Old English renderings and this in itself says something about the aim of the glossator and of his glosses. At the same time, however, correctness and clarity are both subject to variation, according to the cultural milieu of the glossator: the level of his knowledge of Latin, his opportunity of drawing on an older tradition and his access to other aids. On the other hand, the lexical choices of a glossator could be conditioned by his intended audience – when there was one – as may be assumed at least in the case of continuous interlinear glossing. The 'addressees' of glosses can, in theory at least, be held responsible for the Old English glosses accompanying a text as much as the glossator who glossed the work in question. But the destination of a gloss is only one aspect of its nature and falls within a larger category which can be called the 'typology of the glossed text'. This typology should be explored in order to understand the lexical choices implicit in any gloss. In my view, it can help to account for some of the discrepancies which can be observed in comparing the Old English renderings of the same Latin word in different contexts, whenever it is possible to eliminate other variant factors (e.g. dialectal or chronological variations). In order to ascertain the validity of this assertion – and, more generally, to verify the conditions which could, did or did not, influence the choice of a certain Old English rendering – I have selected a number of Latin words and have checked all their occurrences in the texts included in A Plan for the Dictionary of Old English, under the headings C and D.
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The search for the source of a lemma in a glossary is somewhat different from a similar investigation in the case of a literary text: the recovery of the original context to which the lemma belonged can provide indispensable clues not... more
The search for the source of a lemma in a glossary is somewhat different from a similar investigation in the case of a literary text: the recovery of the original context to which the lemma belonged can provide indispensable clues not only about the gloss itself but also about the aims of the glossator and, more generally, about the cultural climate of which this gloss was a product. However, once the glosses have been removed from their original contexts and rearranged in a new order in the various alphabetical sections of a glossary, the identification of sources proves to be a difficult, if not impossible, task. It is much easier to work on so-called glossae collectae, i.e. those glossaries where the lemmata have not been rearranged in alphabetical order, but appear in the same order as they occurred in the work from which they were taken. The analysis of certain glossaries of this type, compiled in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, has made it possible to identify and, therefore, to study a particular type of gloss which can be defined as 'secondary', since only the lemma of the 'primary' gloss is traceable to a definite text, while the lemma of the 'secondary' gloss has been taken from the original interpretamentum of the 'primary' gloss.
'Secondary' glosses are a typical reflex of the way in which a medieval glossator worked. They spring from his effort to clarify the Latin lemma by means of an interpretation either in Latin or the vernacular.
'Secondary' glosses are a typical reflex of the way in which a medieval glossator worked. They spring from his effort to clarify the Latin lemma by means of an interpretation either in Latin or the vernacular.
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Si studiano quelle che vengono denominate 'glosse secondarie'. Glosse cioè il cui interpretamentum non è presente nel testo da cui sono riprese le voci di un 'batch', di una serie di glossae collectae o di un glossario. Le glosse... more
Si studiano quelle che vengono denominate 'glosse secondarie'. Glosse cioè il cui interpretamentum non è presente nel testo da cui sono riprese le voci di un 'batch', di una serie di glossae collectae o di un glossario.
Le glosse ‘secondarie’ sono una formazione caratteristica del modo di procedere del glossatore medievale e traggono origine dal suo sforzo di chiarificare il lemma latino, mediante una resa in latino o in volgare.
Nel caso di interpretamentum composto da una frase o in ogni caso di una certa lunghezza, questo poteva suddividersi in due (o più) lemmi di cui soltanto uno, il superordinato o arcilessema, è riconducibile al testo glossato, mentre l’altro, in genere in relazione di iponimia, costituisce, almeno in origine, una variazione secondaria, nata dalle esigenze didattiche del glossatore o da uno sfoggio erudito delle sue conoscenze.
Fin quando i lemmi, di cui si è vista la filiazione, vengono copiati a distanza ravvicinata nel corpo di un glossario non alfabetizzato è possibile individuare la loro dipendenza e ricondurre la glossa o le glosse ‘secondarie’ al medesimo contesto del lemma principale.
Le glosse ‘secondarie’ sono una formazione caratteristica del modo di procedere del glossatore medievale e traggono origine dal suo sforzo di chiarificare il lemma latino, mediante una resa in latino o in volgare.
Nel caso di interpretamentum composto da una frase o in ogni caso di una certa lunghezza, questo poteva suddividersi in due (o più) lemmi di cui soltanto uno, il superordinato o arcilessema, è riconducibile al testo glossato, mentre l’altro, in genere in relazione di iponimia, costituisce, almeno in origine, una variazione secondaria, nata dalle esigenze didattiche del glossatore o da uno sfoggio erudito delle sue conoscenze.
Fin quando i lemmi, di cui si è vista la filiazione, vengono copiati a distanza ravvicinata nel corpo di un glossario non alfabetizzato è possibile individuare la loro dipendenza e ricondurre la glossa o le glosse ‘secondarie’ al medesimo contesto del lemma principale.
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A new essay, which opens the volume of reprinted (and in some instances) translated essays.
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Various examples of teratological literature, that is, literature concerned with monsters and unnatural creatures, are found in the Anglo-Saxon period: two such works were brought together in London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A. xv, which in... more
Various examples of teratological literature, that is, literature concerned with monsters and unnatural creatures, are found in the Anglo-Saxon period: two such works were brought together in London, BL, Cotton Vitellius A. xv, which in addition to Beowulf and Judith contains Old English versions of the Letter of Alexander to Aristotle and the Wonders of the East. Both works are translations from Latin and both have complex and remote origins, though the latter, whose Latin text (De rebus in Oriente mirabilibus) is preserved in two manuscripts written in England, might also be an Insular recasting of previous Latin texts. It is even more likely that the Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus had an Anglo-Saxon origin, even though none of the manuscripts in which the treatise has been transmitted was copied in the British Isles.
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Il saggio contiene la prima edizione di un breve glossario del ms. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 163. Il glossario comprende 92 lemmi, lat.-lat. o lat.-ags.
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The meaning of a group of Old English glosses pertaining to the word occa has puzzled scholars for a long time. In the beginning, interest was focused principally on the Old English rendering of occa, that is fealh, but now that this... more
The meaning of a group of Old English glosses pertaining to the word occa has puzzled scholars for a long time. In the beginning, interest was focused principally on the Old English rendering of occa, that is fealh, but now that this problem has been solved, there is still some light to be shed on the Latin word occa itself, and on the source from which all the Old English glosses derive, namely the works of Aldhelm. All the lemmata such as occa and occas which occur in the Anglo-Saxon glossaries go back to his works and originate in interlinear glosses which were subsequently sorted and gathered to form glossaries. There is still uncertainty about the meaning of the word occa in the works of Aldhelm, and the question still remains to be answered of why he chose to use this word in three different works and whence he drew it. What I want to suggest for the word occa is a single meaning which fits all the Aldhelmian contexts (and matches the Old English gloss, fealh and the corresponding verb fealgian).
Aldhelm uses occa in three different works: in one of the Carmina ecclesiastica, in the Carmen de virginitate and in the prose treatise De virginitate. If my interpretation of the meaning of occa is correct, it may also shed light on the relationship between the three works. The most important of the three occurrences is, in my opinion, that in the Carmina ecclesiastica IV.ii (on an altar dedicated to St Paul) where the results of Paul’s apostolate are described in these terms: ‘De quo sacra seges mundi succrevit in occa’ (line 4). Ehwald pointed to what, in his opinion, was an unusual meaning of the Latin word occa, noting that (here and in the prose and verse De virginitate) ‘occa ab Aldhelmo usurpatur simili sensu ac "terra arata, arvum"’. In fact the word used by Aldhelm is not Lat. occa ‘harrow’, but a variant form of Med. Lat. olca, which is a loan-word from Celtic and means something like ‘fallow-field, ploughed field’. The choice of the word is particularly appropriate to describe the world as ready to receive the word of God, in that the preaching of the apostle has metaphorically succeeded in breaking the hardness of men’s hearts, and the fallowing has prepared the fields in readiness for sowing.
Aldhelm uses occa in three different works: in one of the Carmina ecclesiastica, in the Carmen de virginitate and in the prose treatise De virginitate. If my interpretation of the meaning of occa is correct, it may also shed light on the relationship between the three works. The most important of the three occurrences is, in my opinion, that in the Carmina ecclesiastica IV.ii (on an altar dedicated to St Paul) where the results of Paul’s apostolate are described in these terms: ‘De quo sacra seges mundi succrevit in occa’ (line 4). Ehwald pointed to what, in his opinion, was an unusual meaning of the Latin word occa, noting that (here and in the prose and verse De virginitate) ‘occa ab Aldhelmo usurpatur simili sensu ac "terra arata, arvum"’. In fact the word used by Aldhelm is not Lat. occa ‘harrow’, but a variant form of Med. Lat. olca, which is a loan-word from Celtic and means something like ‘fallow-field, ploughed field’. The choice of the word is particularly appropriate to describe the world as ready to receive the word of God, in that the preaching of the apostle has metaphorically succeeded in breaking the hardness of men’s hearts, and the fallowing has prepared the fields in readiness for sowing.
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A gloss is, by definition, the matching of two words: the lemma and its interpretamentum. When confronted with the entry of an Anglo-Saxon glossary such as 'Aquila: earn' (Quinn 1956: 15, 1), modern lexicographers can safely add one... more
A gloss is, by definition, the matching of two words: the lemma and its interpretamentum. When confronted with the entry of an Anglo-Saxon glossary such as 'Aquila: earn' (Quinn 1956: 15, 1), modern lexicographers can safely add one further occurrence to the entries of their dictionaries – compilations which, in some respects, are similar to the old ones – by inverting the order of the words which compose a gloss (once in a glossary) and state that Old English earn means 'aquila', that is 'eagle'. But things are not always that easy and it cannot be safely assumed that an interpretamentum is the correct rendering of its lemma. As far as a vernacular rendering is concerned, a gloss should not be readily taken as a translation of its Latin lemma, and can be regarded as a translation only on the grounds of further evidence, such as the context of the glossary in which the entry occurs and the comparison with related glosses of other glossaries. I will illustrate these general points by examining two different entries in the first glossary in Cambridge, CCC 144; a study of this compilation shows that several entries are in need of critical interpretation and this has led me to make the following observations.
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Glosses constituted a meeting-point between Latin culture and the Germanic world, a moment when the two civilizations came face to face. The latter attempted to set up a relationship with the former and build a bridge across to it.... more
Glosses constituted a meeting-point between Latin culture and the Germanic world, a moment when the two civilizations came face to face. The latter attempted to set up a relationship with the former and build a bridge across to it. Consequently, the glossator sought not only to understand and then record the meaning of a more or less obscure word, but also to interpret the text in which this word occurred. His aim was to send forth an echo of the word, selecting it from among many others either for teaching purposes or simply for personal enjoyment. That these and other reasons, such as an interest in compiling or writing encyclopedias, were the basis of medieval glossarial activity is often overlooked: the characteristic approach to glosses is almost exclusively a linguistic one. This has led to the treatment of interlinear glosses in isolation from the contexts in which they occur and, where a text contains glosses in both Latin and the vernacular, or where a glossary, as frequently happens, alternates monolingual and bilingual interpretamenta, only the Old English glosses and their Latin lemmata have normally been printed. Such an approach prevents one not only from studying the glossator's choices and the reasons behind them, but also from making a correct interpretation of the Old English word if it is divorced from its original context. Furthermore, such an approach does not allow the structure of glossaries to be properly understood: it obscures the relationships between the individual items that make up the glossaries and hinders the identification of their sources.
The glossary presented in this article, like many others, contains lemmata with interpretamenta in Old English which have been previously published together with other lemmata glossed in Latin, which still await publication. However, only through comprehensive examination of all the items has it been possible to determine its nature and identify its sources. The short glossary copied out on one of the last folios of Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 163 has hitherto been described as a selection of items drawn from Aldhelm, but on examination it has turned out to consist rather of a series of glossae collectae from various sources which can be traced back to the family of the Leiden Glossary. These glosses provide unique evidence of the Leiden family in that they are contained in a manuscript written, unlike nearly all the others, in England during the Anglo-Saxon period.
The glossary in Bodley 163 is composed in all of ninety-two items and was copied out in the same hand on the recto of the first page of a bifolium (250-1) at the end of the manuscript. It is a composite manuscript, consisting of three parts. The first part (1-227), written in Caroline minuscule dating from the beginning of the eleventh century, contains a copy of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and the poem De abbatibus by Ædiluulf; the second part (228-49), which dates from the beginning of the twelfth century, contains, among other things, a version of the Historia Brittonum; the third part, on fols. 250-1, contains the glossary, datable to about the middle of the eleventh century, together with the beginning of a sermon in Latin for the Feast of St John (250v) and a booklist (251r), both written in a later hand. Both the contents of this list and a note on fol. 250v suggest that the manuscript was written at Peterborough, where, according to T.A.M. Bishop, the scribe who copied out Bede's text was working. His hand has been identified in other manuscripts as well
The glossary presented in this article, like many others, contains lemmata with interpretamenta in Old English which have been previously published together with other lemmata glossed in Latin, which still await publication. However, only through comprehensive examination of all the items has it been possible to determine its nature and identify its sources. The short glossary copied out on one of the last folios of Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 163 has hitherto been described as a selection of items drawn from Aldhelm, but on examination it has turned out to consist rather of a series of glossae collectae from various sources which can be traced back to the family of the Leiden Glossary. These glosses provide unique evidence of the Leiden family in that they are contained in a manuscript written, unlike nearly all the others, in England during the Anglo-Saxon period.
The glossary in Bodley 163 is composed in all of ninety-two items and was copied out in the same hand on the recto of the first page of a bifolium (250-1) at the end of the manuscript. It is a composite manuscript, consisting of three parts. The first part (1-227), written in Caroline minuscule dating from the beginning of the eleventh century, contains a copy of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and the poem De abbatibus by Ædiluulf; the second part (228-49), which dates from the beginning of the twelfth century, contains, among other things, a version of the Historia Brittonum; the third part, on fols. 250-1, contains the glossary, datable to about the middle of the eleventh century, together with the beginning of a sermon in Latin for the Feast of St John (250v) and a booklist (251r), both written in a later hand. Both the contents of this list and a note on fol. 250v suggest that the manuscript was written at Peterborough, where, according to T.A.M. Bishop, the scribe who copied out Bede's text was working. His hand has been identified in other manuscripts as well
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The essay takes into examination a group of glosses whose interpretamentumi is Old English fahame.
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Nella tarda antichità e nel medioevo, la categoria del mostruoso è declinata prevalentemente al maschile. Letteratura e iconografia medievale offrono un numero minimo di mostri al femminile e le due opere teratologiche composte... more
Nella tarda antichità e nel medioevo, la categoria del mostruoso è declinata prevalentemente al maschile. Letteratura e iconografia medievale offrono un numero minimo di mostri al femminile e le due opere teratologiche composte nell’Inghilterra anglosassone, il Liber monstrorum e le Meraviglie dell’Oriente, non fanno eccezione. Esclusive del Liber sono le sirene, un mostro letterario il cui comportamento è legittimato della fonte, mentre ‘Le donne barbute’ e ‘Le donne mostruose’ ricorrono nel Liber I.22 e 18 e nelle Meraviglie §§ 26 e 27. Va rilevata, in entrambi i casi, l’assenza di una nominazione specifica. Come per le sirene, si tratta di ibridi. Le prime hanno caratteri e comportamenti maschili (la barba, la caccia e le belve usate al posto dei cani) e femminili (le mammelle, seppure nascoste dalla barba, e la cura delle fiere). Le seconde hanno zanne di cinghiale, zoccoli e una coda bovina, ma, al contempo, presentano attributi tipici – e tutti oltre misura – della bellezza fisica, come un candido incarnato, i capelli che arrivano ai piedi e un’altezza notevole. Nella loro descrizione è evidente la preoccupazione degli autori delle versioni in anglosassone. Per la loro bellezza, le donne dalla chioma fluente costituiscono una minaccia e rappresentano il mostro più terribile che un uomo possa incontrare. La rappresentazione medievale del mostruoso accentua la dicotomia tra uomo e donna e i casi presi in esame dimostrano l’affermarsi di una categorizzazione sempre più rigida e autoritaria.
In late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the category of monstrous people included mainly male monsters. Medieval literature and iconography feature a very limited number of female monsters and the two teratological works composed in Anglo-Saxon England, the Liber monstrorum and the Marvels of the East, are no exception. Exclusive of the Liber is a literary monster such as the Siren, whose appearance and behaviour is legitimized by the sources. The two relevant female monsters included in both works are the ‘Bearded women’ and the ‘Monstrous women’ (Liber I.22 and 18; Marvels §§ 26 e 27). It should be noted that, in both cases, these monsters do not bear a specific name. As in the case of the Sirens, they are hybrids. The former ones have both male (the beard) and female traits (the breast, though hidden by the beard) and behaviour: they go hunting with wild beasts as dogs, which they nurture lovingly. The other kind of monstrous women have animal traits: boar’s tusks, hooves and ox-tails, but, at the same time, they are tall, with a fair complexion and hair down to the heels. They hence possess – to the highest degree – the physical traits to be considered attractive. Their description betrays the anxiety of the authors of the Old English versions of the Marvels. Owing to their seduction potential, the women with long hair are the most fearsome monster a man could run into. The male-female dichotomy is emphasized throughout in the medieval representation of monstrosity and the cases at issue prove the emergence of a stiffer and more authoritarian sort of categorization.
In late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the category of monstrous people included mainly male monsters. Medieval literature and iconography feature a very limited number of female monsters and the two teratological works composed in Anglo-Saxon England, the Liber monstrorum and the Marvels of the East, are no exception. Exclusive of the Liber is a literary monster such as the Siren, whose appearance and behaviour is legitimized by the sources. The two relevant female monsters included in both works are the ‘Bearded women’ and the ‘Monstrous women’ (Liber I.22 and 18; Marvels §§ 26 e 27). It should be noted that, in both cases, these monsters do not bear a specific name. As in the case of the Sirens, they are hybrids. The former ones have both male (the beard) and female traits (the breast, though hidden by the beard) and behaviour: they go hunting with wild beasts as dogs, which they nurture lovingly. The other kind of monstrous women have animal traits: boar’s tusks, hooves and ox-tails, but, at the same time, they are tall, with a fair complexion and hair down to the heels. They hence possess – to the highest degree – the physical traits to be considered attractive. Their description betrays the anxiety of the authors of the Old English versions of the Marvels. Owing to their seduction potential, the women with long hair are the most fearsome monster a man could run into. The male-female dichotomy is emphasized throughout in the medieval representation of monstrosity and the cases at issue prove the emergence of a stiffer and more authoritarian sort of categorization.
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Il saggio prende in esame le due versioni in anglosassone delle Meraviglie dell'Oriente e le due versioni in latino dello stesso testo mettendole a confronto per individuare la tipologia delle variazioni. Particolare spazio e' dedicato... more
Il saggio prende in esame le due versioni in anglosassone delle Meraviglie dell'Oriente e le due versioni in latino dello stesso testo mettendole a confronto per individuare la tipologia delle variazioni. Particolare spazio e' dedicato alla iconografia dei 3 manoscritti e al rapporto tra testo e immagine
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La cosiddetta Lettera di Fermes, in una delle sue versioni in latino note in Inghilterra, è stata tradotta in inglese antico, all’interno delle Meraviglie dell’Oriente. Due codici anglosassoni conservano la traduzione in volgare e due il... more
La cosiddetta Lettera di Fermes, in una delle sue versioni in latino note in Inghilterra, è stata tradotta in inglese antico, all’interno delle Meraviglie dell’Oriente. Due codici anglosassoni conservano la traduzione in volgare e due il testo in latino nella versione su cui è esemplata la traduzione in inglese antico, con un ricco apparato iconografico a corredo del testo. Si analizzano anche le versioni continentali della Lettera e i loro rapporti con la Epistola Alexandri e il vasto materiale letterario legato alla figura di Alessandro il Macedone. Si illustra come Lettera di Fermes abbia influenzato anche il Liber monstrorum, la cosiddetta Lettera del Prete Gianni, alcune mappae mundi medievali e le opere di Tommaso di Cantimpré e Gervasio di Tilbury.
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L’interesse per il/ e l'approccio al ‘mostruoso’ nell’Inghilterra medievale è messo a confronto con aspetti del successivo colonialismo così nella letteratura inglese.
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the topos of the ‘crocodile’s tears’ from its origin to the Middle Ages; including the Physiologus and The Marvels of the East]
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On the monsters in the middle ages and their iconography
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The Old English Marvels of East and their source, an insular version of the Letter of Fermes, describe a mysterious kind of monster, with several feature, the donestri
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The essay explores the several 'phantastic' beeings included in medieval Bestiaries, looking at their sources, changes, distribution and iconography.
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Il saggio è dedicato alla storia di uno dei popoli fantastici, i panoti e della loro dislocazione immaginaria nel corso dei secoli.
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I trattati teratologici che circolano nell’Inghilterra anglosassone e l’apparato iconografico che accompagna uno di questi, le Meraviglie dell’Oriente, offrono una messe di esempi per la circolazione di temi, motivi e immagini nel... more
I trattati teratologici che circolano nell’Inghilterra anglosassone e l’apparato iconografico che accompagna uno di questi, le Meraviglie dell’Oriente, offrono una messe di esempi per la circolazione di temi, motivi e immagini nel Medioevo germanico. Le Meraviglie e la Lettera di Alessandro arrivano in Inghilterra in una versione latina e sono tradotti in anglosassone, mentre il Liber monstrorum, di cui possediamo solo il testo latino, è verosimilmente un prodotto insulare, ma, anche in questo caso, buona parte, se non la quasi totalità del contenuto del trattato, viene dal continente, Francia o Germania che dir si voglia, regioni che rappresentano però solo l’ultima tappa di un viaggio molto lungo, da un luogo d’origine remoto e posto ad Oriente, come si conviene per tutto quello che di meraviglioso circola nel Medioevo germanico, sul piano della narrazione, da un lato, popolando l’immaginario degli uomini di lettere e del loro pubblico, e, dall’altro, sul piano reale della trasmissione delle opere di questo contenuto che giungono nelle Isole britanniche.
Del trattato teratologico, al quale è stato dato il titolo di Meraviglie, i codici medievali inglesi conservano sia la versione in latino sia quella in anglosassone, sicuramente posteriore, almeno per quanto riguarda la composizione. La versione anglosassone è contenuta in due codici: il ms. London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius B. v, vol. I (ff. 78v-87v) e il ms. London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A. xv (ff. 98v-106v). La versione del ms. Tiberius è quella più completa e comprende trentasei capitoli in latino, seguiti, ognuno, dalla traduzione in anglosassone e accompagnati dalle illustrazioni che sono generalmente inserite dopo le due versioni del testo. Il secondo manoscritto, il ms. Vitellius, presenta unicamente la traduzione in anglosassone che differisce, in alcuni punti, da quella del ms. Tiberius; questa versione consta di soli trentadue capitoli, in quanto omette, oltre alle prime tre righe del cap. 5, i capp. 33-36 (manca pure quello che nel ms. Tiberius è diventato il cap. 37 delle Meraviglie, un passo su Iannes e Iambres, che non fa però parte del testo, almeno nella fase preinsulare o protoinsulare). Le due versioni in anglosassone rappresentano due stadi diversi di una sola opera, la traduzione in volgare di un testo arrivato in Inghilterra nella sua versione in latino: nulla sappiamo di un possibile originale in greco, ma la nascita di quest’opera teratologica, inizialmente in forma epistolare, è indubbiamente remota e la sua trasmissione complessa. Il testo latino delle Meraviglie del ms. Tiberius non è l’originale né della versione anglosassone contenuta nello stesso codice, né di quella del ms. Vitellius.
Il testo latino delle Meraviglie del ms. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 614 (2144), ff. 36r-51v, è una copia di quello del ms. Tiberius (per quanto riguarda i capp. 1-36 e l’episodio di Iannes e Iambres), anche le illustrazioni discendono da quelle del ms. Tiberius.
Del trattato teratologico, al quale è stato dato il titolo di Meraviglie, i codici medievali inglesi conservano sia la versione in latino sia quella in anglosassone, sicuramente posteriore, almeno per quanto riguarda la composizione. La versione anglosassone è contenuta in due codici: il ms. London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius B. v, vol. I (ff. 78v-87v) e il ms. London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A. xv (ff. 98v-106v). La versione del ms. Tiberius è quella più completa e comprende trentasei capitoli in latino, seguiti, ognuno, dalla traduzione in anglosassone e accompagnati dalle illustrazioni che sono generalmente inserite dopo le due versioni del testo. Il secondo manoscritto, il ms. Vitellius, presenta unicamente la traduzione in anglosassone che differisce, in alcuni punti, da quella del ms. Tiberius; questa versione consta di soli trentadue capitoli, in quanto omette, oltre alle prime tre righe del cap. 5, i capp. 33-36 (manca pure quello che nel ms. Tiberius è diventato il cap. 37 delle Meraviglie, un passo su Iannes e Iambres, che non fa però parte del testo, almeno nella fase preinsulare o protoinsulare). Le due versioni in anglosassone rappresentano due stadi diversi di una sola opera, la traduzione in volgare di un testo arrivato in Inghilterra nella sua versione in latino: nulla sappiamo di un possibile originale in greco, ma la nascita di quest’opera teratologica, inizialmente in forma epistolare, è indubbiamente remota e la sua trasmissione complessa. Il testo latino delle Meraviglie del ms. Tiberius non è l’originale né della versione anglosassone contenuta nello stesso codice, né di quella del ms. Vitellius.
Il testo latino delle Meraviglie del ms. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 614 (2144), ff. 36r-51v, è una copia di quello del ms. Tiberius (per quanto riguarda i capp. 1-36 e l’episodio di Iannes e Iambres), anche le illustrazioni discendono da quelle del ms. Tiberius.
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La letteratura teratologica delle isole Britanniche conta alcuni esempi già nella fase antica, due dei quali sono riuniti nel ms. London, BL Cotton Vitellius A. xv, che contiene, oltre al Beowulf ed alla Giuditta, la versione in... more
La letteratura teratologica delle isole Britanniche conta alcuni esempi già nella fase antica, due dei quali sono riuniti nel ms. London, BL Cotton Vitellius A. xv, che contiene, oltre al Beowulf ed alla Giuditta, la versione in anglosassone della Lettera di Alessandro e quella delle Meraviglie dell'Oriente. 1 Le opere sono entrambe traduzioni dal latino ed hanno un'origine complessa e remota, 2 anche se la seconda, 3 il cui testo latino (De rebus in Oriente mirabilibus) è documentato da due manoscritti redatti in Inghilterra, 4 potrebbe anche 1 Il ms. comprende anche un'omelia su s. Cristoforo. La presenza di due opere teratologiche, di un'omelia dedicata ad un santo dalle dimensioni fuori della norma, nonché del Beowulf, con le sue numerose creature mostruose, e della Giuditta, dove Oloferne viene descritto come un essere dalla sovrumana malvagità, non è casuale vd. K. Sisam, The Compilation of the "Beowulf" Manuscript, in, Studies in the History of Old English Literature. rist. riv. Oxford 1962, pp. 65-97. 2
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Secondo una definizione, l’indovinello è un gioco costituito da un testo, sia esso orale o scritto. Nessun dubbio sulla natura ludica di questa che, nella interpretazione di André Jolles, rappresenta una delle forme semplici del sapere... more
Secondo una definizione, l’indovinello è un gioco costituito da un testo, sia esso orale o scritto. Nessun dubbio sulla natura ludica di questa che, nella interpretazione di André Jolles, rappresenta una delle forme semplici del sapere umano. Radicati nella cultura orale e popolare, gli indovinelli attingono alla sfera più remota del sapere; sono associati a sfide mortali (l’indovinello posto dalla Sfinge a Edipo), a dimostrazioni di potere (il quesito con cui Sansone sfida gli invitati al suo matrimonio: Gdc. 14.12-18), a certami sapienziali (non solo quello di Salomone e la regina di Saba, ma anche quello di Odino e re Heiðrekr) o a contesti saturnalizi. Hanno una doppia natura, folklorica e letteraria, tra cui intercorrono relazioni complesse e mutevoli. Il medioevo ha visto la trasformazione degli indovinelli in un genere letterario con una propria codificazione, secondo un processo che è giunto a compimento nella letteratura latina, da un lato, e in quella bizantina, dall’altro, con antologie, inizialmente molto simili alle raccolte di epigrammi della tarda antichità e generalmente autoriali. Oltre a assumere una veste poetica, nel medioevo, l’indovinello è entrato nell’orbita del cristianesimo, divenendo strumento di rivelazione esegetica e mezzo di insegnamento nella rinnovata scuola medievale.
Gli indovinelli in esame sono componimenti poetici, spesso originali. Si tratta di indovinelli-testo, che partecipano della tradizione poetica in anglosassone. Quello del Codice Exoniense rappresenta il gruppo di indovinelli in volgare più antico d’Europa, destinato a rimanere tale ancora per molto tempo. Visto che il saggio riguarda l’Inghilterra medievale non opererò distinzioni terminologiche tra enigmi e indovinelli – anche perché queste non assumono particolare rilievo nella produzione scritta medievale –, ma mi riferirò a questi componimenti – che ho studiato, a più riprese, nel corso degli anni – come indovinelli.
Gli indovinelli in esame sono componimenti poetici, spesso originali. Si tratta di indovinelli-testo, che partecipano della tradizione poetica in anglosassone. Quello del Codice Exoniense rappresenta il gruppo di indovinelli in volgare più antico d’Europa, destinato a rimanere tale ancora per molto tempo. Visto che il saggio riguarda l’Inghilterra medievale non opererò distinzioni terminologiche tra enigmi e indovinelli – anche perché queste non assumono particolare rilievo nella produzione scritta medievale –, ma mi riferirò a questi componimenti – che ho studiato, a più riprese, nel corso degli anni – come indovinelli.
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All the occurrences of Old English bearu 'grove' are taken into examination with the aim to individuate the collocations and the connotations of the word (which occurs both in poetry, prose and the glosses). Special attention is devoted... more
All the occurrences of Old English bearu 'grove' are taken into examination with the aim to individuate the collocations and the connotations of the word (which occurs both in poetry, prose and the glosses). Special attention is devoted to the occurrences in the Exeter Book riddles and the compound bearunaes, which is a hapax.
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The essay investigates the meaning, connotations and use of the Old English adjective wlanc in the Riddles of the Exeter Book.
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Riddle n. 17 of the Exeter Book is read as containing allusion to the devil shooting arrows against men. The riddle also portrays the fortress where Christians hide seeking safety from the archi- tempter's assault. The rune B written... more
Riddle n. 17 of the Exeter Book is read as containing allusion to the devil shooting arrows against men. The riddle also portrays the fortress where Christians hide seeking safety from the archi- tempter's assault. The rune B written on the margin of the folio where the riddle is copied might allude to the devil as bana.
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The essay studies the topos of the 'poculum mortis' and its use in Riddle no. 23 of the Exeter Book
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The essay takes into wxamination Riddle no. 8 of the Exeter Book. The data in favour of a solution 'nightingale' are analyzed and upgraded.
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Bibliografia degli indovinelli del Codice Exoniense (alla data)
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Review of Williamson, Old English Riddles
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This study of the compounds occurring in H.D.’s Trilogy does not aim to discover new meanings in a work that has been so often studied and so widely appreciated. Its purpose is rather to attempt to discover some linguistic features whose... more
This study of the compounds occurring in H.D.’s Trilogy does not aim to discover new meanings in a work that has been so often studied and so widely appreciated. Its purpose is rather to attempt to discover some linguistic features whose systematic analysis may contribute to the elucidation of the Trilogy. The sections of the three books that constitute the single long poem Trilogy cannot be examined in isolation: instead one must keep in mind the relationship between the parts and note recurrent elements.
H.D. spent the years of the Second World War in London where she had returned, at the outbreak of the conflict, to stay with her daughter in a flat in Lowndes Square. The separate parts of the Trilogy, The Walls Do Not Fall, Tribute to the Angels and The Flowering of the Rod were published respectively in 1944, 1945 and 1946. The devastation of the war, its meaning and the conversion of this experience into hope form the matter of the Trilogy, which has been termed ‘one of H.D.’s most coherent and ambitious poetic narratives’. The poems show her indebtedness to Denis de Rougemont and Sigmund Freud as well as her continued interest in myth and classical themes.
There are many compounds in the poems, indeed so many that they are a significant feature of the Trilogy. Here H.D. uses the hyphen to bind syntactic groups (for example, lost-god, water-about-to-be-changed-to-wine), to separate prefixes and suffixes (for example, un-named, fruit-less), and to create daring syllabifications and misspellings (for example, O-sir-is and O-Sire-is). According to H.D. every word, if subjected to long examination, will yield new meanings, and this is what she seems to have intended when she bound and divided the words of her poems. The use of the hyphen both to join syntactic groups and to separate the elements of compounds is a device to be found in her prose as well. In the Trilogy, as elsewhere, she uses a number of compounds that are not recorded in English dictionaries, such as art-craft, fishing-net, and star-whirlpool. But well-known compounds may also have multiple meanings that contribute to the significance of the poems.
H.D. spent the years of the Second World War in London where she had returned, at the outbreak of the conflict, to stay with her daughter in a flat in Lowndes Square. The separate parts of the Trilogy, The Walls Do Not Fall, Tribute to the Angels and The Flowering of the Rod were published respectively in 1944, 1945 and 1946. The devastation of the war, its meaning and the conversion of this experience into hope form the matter of the Trilogy, which has been termed ‘one of H.D.’s most coherent and ambitious poetic narratives’. The poems show her indebtedness to Denis de Rougemont and Sigmund Freud as well as her continued interest in myth and classical themes.
There are many compounds in the poems, indeed so many that they are a significant feature of the Trilogy. Here H.D. uses the hyphen to bind syntactic groups (for example, lost-god, water-about-to-be-changed-to-wine), to separate prefixes and suffixes (for example, un-named, fruit-less), and to create daring syllabifications and misspellings (for example, O-sir-is and O-Sire-is). According to H.D. every word, if subjected to long examination, will yield new meanings, and this is what she seems to have intended when she bound and divided the words of her poems. The use of the hyphen both to join syntactic groups and to separate the elements of compounds is a device to be found in her prose as well. In the Trilogy, as elsewhere, she uses a number of compounds that are not recorded in English dictionaries, such as art-craft, fishing-net, and star-whirlpool. But well-known compounds may also have multiple meanings that contribute to the significance of the poems.
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Un gruppo di scrittori, tra cui Hilda Doolittle, l’autrice del romanzo Bid Me to Live, vede mutare la propria vita in seguito allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale. Scritto nel 1927, ma pubblicato nel 1960, il romanzo che narra tali... more
Un gruppo di scrittori, tra cui Hilda Doolittle, l’autrice del romanzo Bid Me to Live, vede mutare la propria vita in seguito allo scoppio della prima guerra mondiale. Scritto nel 1927, ma pubblicato nel 1960, il romanzo che narra tali vicende, è stato rivisto più volte, prima di essere dato alle stampe. Julia Ashton (nella realtà H. D.) ne è la protagonista principale; è possibile identificare anche gli altri personaggi: Rafe Ashton, il marito di Julia, è Richard Aldington, marito della scrittrice; Bella Carter, l’altra donna amata da Rafe, è Dorothy York; Vane, il musicista con cui Julia partirà per la Cornovaglia, è Cecil Gray, da cui H. D. avrà una figlia, Perdita. Rico, infine, lo scrittore che insieme a sua moglie Else giunge a Londra e si unisce al gruppo, è D. H. Lawrence.
Ambientato in larga parte a Londra, nel corso della prima guerra mondiale, BMTL non è un racconto di guerra, ché anzi la guerra gioca apparentemente un ruolo modesto all’interno della narrazione, le cui pagine registrano echi limitati della guerra ‘esterna’, ma si concentrano piuttosto sulla guerra che si combatte, entro le mura di casa, anzi dentro una sola stanza, tra Julia e suo marito. BMTL narra inoltre altre guerre in atto tra i personaggi del racconto e infine, muovendosi per cerchi concentri, descirve i conflitti che scuotono l’animo della protagonista.
Un esame del lessico del romanzo ed in particolare di alcuni campi semantici, come quello della guerra, dei suoi strumenti e delle sue manifestazioni, può contribuire a chiarire il peso che la stessa autrice voleva dare agli eventi bellici, dosando e limando il suo linguaggio, di cui non perde mai il controllo.
Ambientato in larga parte a Londra, nel corso della prima guerra mondiale, BMTL non è un racconto di guerra, ché anzi la guerra gioca apparentemente un ruolo modesto all’interno della narrazione, le cui pagine registrano echi limitati della guerra ‘esterna’, ma si concentrano piuttosto sulla guerra che si combatte, entro le mura di casa, anzi dentro una sola stanza, tra Julia e suo marito. BMTL narra inoltre altre guerre in atto tra i personaggi del racconto e infine, muovendosi per cerchi concentri, descirve i conflitti che scuotono l’animo della protagonista.
Un esame del lessico del romanzo ed in particolare di alcuni campi semantici, come quello della guerra, dei suoi strumenti e delle sue manifestazioni, può contribuire a chiarire il peso che la stessa autrice voleva dare agli eventi bellici, dosando e limando il suo linguaggio, di cui non perde mai il controllo.
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La riflessione linguistica sul suo codice di comunicazione primario in quanto poetessa/scrittrice, cioè la lingua, è una costante dell’opera di H. D. Una tale meditazione assume due diversi aspetti, estrinsecandosi nelle riflessioni sulla... more
La riflessione linguistica sul suo codice di comunicazione primario in quanto poetessa/scrittrice, cioè la lingua, è una costante dell’opera di H. D. Una tale meditazione assume due diversi aspetti, estrinsecandosi nelle riflessioni sulla lingua espresse dai personaggi dei suoi romanzi e in quanto H. D. stessa ci dice nelle sue poesie. In realtà questi due momenti sono due facce della stessa medaglia, visto che nei due tipi di produzione di questa autrice ritroviamo le stesse problematiche, le stesse immagini, spesso le stesse parole e visto che a riflettere sulla lingua, ad esempio in Bid Me to Live, è sempre Julia Ashton, cioè H. D. e non gli altri personaggi, che pure sono poeti/scrittori come Rafe (= Richard Aldington) o Rico (= D. H. Lawrence).
Americana, trasferitasi in Inghilterra e poi in Svizzera, viaggiatrice per e corrispondente con paesi/uomini lontani, H. D. dimostra una profonda consapevolezza delle variazioni linguistiche, delle varietà diastratiche - anche se poi usa regolarmente un solo registro, quello elevato - e diatopiche, come la diversità tra inglese e americano. Su questa demarcazione, una delle più sfuggenti, almeno per chi non si occupi specificamente di linguistica, si interroga ancora una volta Julia Ashton in Bid Me to Live: ‘I could sit on the porch-steps— do you say porch in England?’ (p. 173).
Americana, trasferitasi in Inghilterra e poi in Svizzera, viaggiatrice per e corrispondente con paesi/uomini lontani, H. D. dimostra una profonda consapevolezza delle variazioni linguistiche, delle varietà diastratiche - anche se poi usa regolarmente un solo registro, quello elevato - e diatopiche, come la diversità tra inglese e americano. Su questa demarcazione, una delle più sfuggenti, almeno per chi non si occupi specificamente di linguistica, si interroga ancora una volta Julia Ashton in Bid Me to Live: ‘I could sit on the porch-steps— do you say porch in England?’ (p. 173).
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Two volumes in honour of Maria Amalia D’Aronco. The former edited by S. Serafin, the latter by P. Lendinara. The latter volume includes 30 essays on Germanic languages and literatures, including Old English. The volume also contains a... more
Two volumes in honour of Maria Amalia D’Aronco. The former edited by S. Serafin, the latter by P. Lendinara. The latter volume includes 30 essays on Germanic languages and literatures, including Old English. The volume also contains a bibliography of the of M.A. D’Aronco
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Scientific Commitee: Letizia Vezzosi; Adele Cipolla; Ian Cornelius; Carla Cucina; Loredana Teresi; Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara; Alessandro Zironi; Maria Grazia Cammarota; Rosella Tinaburri. INDICE / CONTENTS CLAUDIO... more
Scientific Commitee: Letizia Vezzosi; Adele Cipolla; Ian Cornelius; Carla Cucina; Loredana Teresi; Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara; Alessandro Zironi; Maria Grazia Cammarota; Rosella Tinaburri.
INDICE / CONTENTS
CLAUDIO CATALDI
A Study of the Alfredian verse prefaces and epilogues (pp. 1-22)
IAN CORNELIUS
Some corrections to the notation of verse structure in two recent editions of Middle English alliterative poems (pp. 23-41)
ROBERT D. FULK
Metrical and formal considerations in the textual criticism of the Vercelli Book (pp. 43-65)
NELSON GOERING
Atlakviða, reversal, and theories of Germanic alliterative metre (pp. 67-93)
NORIKO INOUE
Eurhythmic dips in Middle English alliterative verse (pp. 95-119)
MIKAEL M. MALES
The earliest Old Norse metrics (pp. 121-144)
NICHOLAS MYKLEBUST
Counting time in Old English meter (pp. 145-170)
DAVID O’NEIL
Syntax and metrical evolution in the medieval English Alliterative tradition (pp. 171-191)
BIANCA PATRIA
The many virtues of the strange Type Eε. Metre, Semantics and intertextuality in dróttkvætt (pp. 193-221)
MICHAEL SCHULTE
Runica Metrica. Die Metrische Gestalt der älteren Runeninschriften und ihre Grundeinheit der Proto-Langzeile (pp. 223-248)
GJERTRUD STENBRENDEN
The emergence of affricates in English: alliterative and other verse evidence (pp. 249-278)
ELENCO DEGLI AUTORI / LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS (pp. 279-280)
VOLUMI PRECEDENTI / PREVIOUS VOLUMES (pp. 281-282)
INDICE / CONTENTS
CLAUDIO CATALDI
A Study of the Alfredian verse prefaces and epilogues (pp. 1-22)
IAN CORNELIUS
Some corrections to the notation of verse structure in two recent editions of Middle English alliterative poems (pp. 23-41)
ROBERT D. FULK
Metrical and formal considerations in the textual criticism of the Vercelli Book (pp. 43-65)
NELSON GOERING
Atlakviða, reversal, and theories of Germanic alliterative metre (pp. 67-93)
NORIKO INOUE
Eurhythmic dips in Middle English alliterative verse (pp. 95-119)
MIKAEL M. MALES
The earliest Old Norse metrics (pp. 121-144)
NICHOLAS MYKLEBUST
Counting time in Old English meter (pp. 145-170)
DAVID O’NEIL
Syntax and metrical evolution in the medieval English Alliterative tradition (pp. 171-191)
BIANCA PATRIA
The many virtues of the strange Type Eε. Metre, Semantics and intertextuality in dróttkvætt (pp. 193-221)
MICHAEL SCHULTE
Runica Metrica. Die Metrische Gestalt der älteren Runeninschriften und ihre Grundeinheit der Proto-Langzeile (pp. 223-248)
GJERTRUD STENBRENDEN
The emergence of affricates in English: alliterative and other verse evidence (pp. 249-278)
ELENCO DEGLI AUTORI / LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS (pp. 279-280)
VOLUMI PRECEDENTI / PREVIOUS VOLUMES (pp. 281-282)
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Simonetta Battista, Continuità e innovazione nell’Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog di Copenaghen p. 1 Nathanael Busch, Il controllo di autorità come sfida per la filologia. FrequentlyAsked Questions p.19 Elisa Cugliana – Joris... more
Simonetta Battista, Continuità e innovazione nell’Ordbog over det norrøne
prosasprog di Copenaghen p. 1
Nathanael Busch, Il controllo di autorità come sfida per la filologia. FrequentlyAsked Questions p.19
Elisa Cugliana – Joris J. Van Zundert, A Computational Turn in Digital Philology p. 43
Giulia D’Agostino, Language Resources for Old High German and Old Saxon:An Assessment p. 73
Mirella De Sisto, Final Devoicing in Dutch Medieval and Renaissance Texts:
A Preliminary Study on Orthographic Variation p. 99
Riccardo Ginevra – Francesco Mambrini, The Old Norse FrameNet (ONoFN): Developing a New Digital Resource for the Study of Semantics and Syntax within a Medieval Germanic Tradition p. 119
Pierandrea Gottardi, Sull’utilità e i problemi di un’edizione lemmatizzata. Un caso esempio offerto da Roman de Horn, King Horn e Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild p. 141
Omar Khalaf, A Computer-Assisted Collation of Earl Rivers’ Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers p. 171
Elisabetta Magnanti, Handwritten Text Recognition in Medieval Germanic Manuscripts:The Peterborough Chronicle as a Case Study p. 193
Paola Peratello, The Digital Edition of SKB A 120 in the Menota Archive
p. 217
prosasprog di Copenaghen p. 1
Nathanael Busch, Il controllo di autorità come sfida per la filologia. FrequentlyAsked Questions p.19
Elisa Cugliana – Joris J. Van Zundert, A Computational Turn in Digital Philology p. 43
Giulia D’Agostino, Language Resources for Old High German and Old Saxon:An Assessment p. 73
Mirella De Sisto, Final Devoicing in Dutch Medieval and Renaissance Texts:
A Preliminary Study on Orthographic Variation p. 99
Riccardo Ginevra – Francesco Mambrini, The Old Norse FrameNet (ONoFN): Developing a New Digital Resource for the Study of Semantics and Syntax within a Medieval Germanic Tradition p. 119
Pierandrea Gottardi, Sull’utilità e i problemi di un’edizione lemmatizzata. Un caso esempio offerto da Roman de Horn, King Horn e Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild p. 141
Omar Khalaf, A Computer-Assisted Collation of Earl Rivers’ Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers p. 171
Elisabetta Magnanti, Handwritten Text Recognition in Medieval Germanic Manuscripts:The Peterborough Chronicle as a Case Study p. 193
Paola Peratello, The Digital Edition of SKB A 120 in the Menota Archive
p. 217
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Cibo e salute nelle tradizioni germaniche medievali / Food and Health in the Germanic Middle Ages. Cibo e salute costituiscono due necessità universali al centro della vita e dell’attività umana quotidiana tanto oggi, quanto nel... more
Cibo e salute nelle tradizioni germaniche medievali / Food and Health in the Germanic Middle Ages.
Cibo e salute costituiscono due necessità universali al centro della vita e dell’attività umana quotidiana tanto oggi, quanto nel Medioevo. Nell’ambito degli studi medievistici questi temi possono essere affrontati da prospettive e con metodologie diverse.1 Altrettanto variegate sono le possibilità di studio di questi temi offerti da una scienza quale la filologia germanica in Italia per sua natura aperta alla multidisciplinarità e alla comparazione di tradizioni diverse. Lo studio dei primi testi nelle lingue germaniche può, infatti, contribuire significativamente alla conoscenza delle abitudini alimentari, della cultura del cibo, del concetto di salute, del rapporto tra salute e malattia e delle pratiche terapeutiche nel Medioevo non solo attraverso lo studio di fonti dirette appartenenti alla Fachliteratur (libri di cucina, ricettari, testi di dietetica, Tischzuchten,2 trattati di medicina e chirurgia, formule magiche e benedizioni di guarigione), ma anche attraverso la lettura critica di passi riferiti a banchetti e momenti conviviali,3 al digiuno, alla malattia e alla ricerca della salute contenuti nei testi letterari, giuridici, omiletici e agiografici.
Contribuiti di Maria Giovanna Arcamone; Sarah Baccianti; Chiara Benati; Daniela Fruscione; Elvira Glaser; Claudia Händl; Norbert Kössinger; Patrizia Lendinara; Almut Mikeleits-Winter; Laura Poggesi; Carla Riviello, Letizia Vezzosi.
Cibo e salute costituiscono due necessità universali al centro della vita e dell’attività umana quotidiana tanto oggi, quanto nel Medioevo. Nell’ambito degli studi medievistici questi temi possono essere affrontati da prospettive e con metodologie diverse.1 Altrettanto variegate sono le possibilità di studio di questi temi offerti da una scienza quale la filologia germanica in Italia per sua natura aperta alla multidisciplinarità e alla comparazione di tradizioni diverse. Lo studio dei primi testi nelle lingue germaniche può, infatti, contribuire significativamente alla conoscenza delle abitudini alimentari, della cultura del cibo, del concetto di salute, del rapporto tra salute e malattia e delle pratiche terapeutiche nel Medioevo non solo attraverso lo studio di fonti dirette appartenenti alla Fachliteratur (libri di cucina, ricettari, testi di dietetica, Tischzuchten,2 trattati di medicina e chirurgia, formule magiche e benedizioni di guarigione), ma anche attraverso la lettura critica di passi riferiti a banchetti e momenti conviviali,3 al digiuno, alla malattia e alla ricerca della salute contenuti nei testi letterari, giuridici, omiletici e agiografici.
Contribuiti di Maria Giovanna Arcamone; Sarah Baccianti; Chiara Benati; Daniela Fruscione; Elvira Glaser; Claudia Händl; Norbert Kössinger; Patrizia Lendinara; Almut Mikeleits-Winter; Laura Poggesi; Carla Riviello, Letizia Vezzosi.
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Scientific Committee: Concetta Giliberto – Coordinatore -; Rolf H. Bremmer Jr; Carmela Rizzo; Verio Santoro; Loredana Teresi. Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara – Direttore responsabile - ; Alessandro Zironi; Maria Grazia... more
Scientific Committee: Concetta Giliberto – Coordinatore -; Rolf H. Bremmer Jr; Carmela Rizzo; Verio Santoro; Loredana Teresi.
Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara – Direttore responsabile - ; Alessandro Zironi; Maria Grazia Cammarota; Rosella Tinaburri.
Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara – Direttore responsabile - ; Alessandro Zironi; Maria Grazia Cammarota; Rosella Tinaburri.
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Scientific Committee: Marco Battaglia (Coordinator); Maria Grazia Cammarota; Fulvio Ferrari; Norbert Kössinger ; Alessandro Zironi
Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara (Editor-in-chief); Verio Santoro; Marina Buzzoni; Letizia Vezzosi
Editorial Board: Patrizia Lendinara (Editor-in-chief); Verio Santoro; Marina Buzzoni; Letizia Vezzosi
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Contributi di Maria Adele Cipolla, Anna Cappellotto, Antonio Caravella, Elisa Cugliana, Fulvio Ferrari, Claudia HÄndl, Norbert KÖssinger, Lorenzo Lozzi Gallo, Francesco Pacia, Claudia Rosenzweig, Francesco Sangriso, Max Siller, Letizia... more
Contributi di Maria Adele Cipolla, Anna Cappellotto, Antonio Caravella, Elisa Cugliana, Fulvio Ferrari, Claudia HÄndl, Norbert KÖssinger, Lorenzo Lozzi Gallo, Francesco Pacia, Claudia Rosenzweig, Francesco Sangriso, Max Siller, Letizia Vezzosi
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Testi tedeschi dalla metà del XIV sec. alla Riforma
German Texts from the Mid-Fourteenth Century to the Reformation
per i titoli dei saggi vedi il pdf
German Texts from the Mid-Fourteenth Century to the Reformation
per i titoli dei saggi vedi il pdf
La poesia religiosa inglese antica - Old English Religious Poetry -
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Le lingue del Mare del Nord - The North Sea Languages
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Studies and profiles in memory of Piergiuseppe Scardigli (1933-2008), professor of Germanic philology at the University of Florence.
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La Prosa Anglosassone-Old English Prose
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The ABBO OF FLEURY entry for SASLAC
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The sub-entry for 'ABBO OF SAINT-GERMAIN' for SASLAC
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John Tiptoft (Tibetot) stammte aus einer anglo-normannischen Familie. Er wurde im Jahre 1427/8 in Everton geboren und besuchte das Balliol College, Oxford. 1449 wurde er zum Grafen von Worcester erwählt. Sein ganzes Leben lang hielt JT... more
John Tiptoft (Tibetot) stammte aus einer anglo-normannischen Familie. Er wurde im Jahre 1427/8 in Everton geboren und besuchte das Balliol College, Oxford. 1449 wurde er zum Grafen von Worcester erwählt. Sein ganzes Leben lang hielt JT eine wichtige Rolle in den höchsten Ämtern von England. In den zeitgenößischen Quellen waren seine Grausamkeiten-vielleicht zu übertriebendargestellt worden (-> Book of Howth; Warkworths Chronicle, Mirror for Magistrates; The Infamous End of the Lord Tiptoft) und galten ihm der Beiname von 'the butcher of England'. Im Jahre 1470 wurde er zum Tode verurteilt. JT war ein gebildeter Literat und Patron: er war ein großer Sammler von Handschriften, die der Universität von Oxford übergelassen wurden. Während seines Aufenthalt in Italien (1458-61) hörte er die Vorlesungen von Argyropoulus in Florenz und studierte in Padua und in Ferrara bei Guarino, der, seinerseits, bei Chrysoloras (der war an der Spitze vom 'New Learning'->) studiert hatte. Er hielt in Rom eine Rede vor dem Papst Pius II. JT besuckt auch das heilige Land mit R. Sanseverino (der bezählte die Reise im Viaggio in Terra Santa). Sein Werk besteht, außer aus ämtlichen Dokumenten und einige Briefen, aus Übersetzungen. Mit Sicherheit verfasste JT die Übersetz. von Ciceros De amicitia und Buonaccorso von Montemagnos Controversia de nobilitate (The Declamacion of Noblesse). Beide waren 1481 von Caxton gedruckt worden.
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Una bibliografia completa degli scritti di Piergiuseppe Scardigli
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La produzione scientifica, relativa alla 'Filologia germanica', di Gemma Manganella, che oggi ricordiamo, si estende per un arco di quindici anni, che va dal 1956 al 1971, seguita, a distanza di cinque anni, dalle voci del Dizionario... more
La produzione scientifica, relativa alla 'Filologia germanica', di Gemma Manganella, che oggi ricordiamo, si estende per un arco di quindici anni, che va dal 1956 al 1971, seguita, a distanza di cinque anni, dalle voci del Dizionario critico della letteratura tedesca, apparso nel 1976. Le tredici voci del Dizionario-denominazione estremamente riduttiva per lavori dei cui meriti si dirà più avanti-, che erano state elaborate negli anni precedenti, riprendono i fili dell'intera produzione della Prof. Manganella e rappresentano il frutto di una splendida maturità scientifica, degli epigoni, per una volta perfetti, di tanto lavoro di ricerca. La tipologia della produzione scientifica di Gemma Manganella è singolare, ancora più singolare se la si giudica da una prospettiva attuale, se la si paragona alla produzione di molti studiosi contemporanei. Dei tempi ho detto: quindici anni estremamente produttivi, densi di operosità scientifica, che vedono il compimento di ricerche maturate negli anni precedenti, nei quali si era dedicata precipuamente alla lingua e alla letteratura tedesca. Dei luoghi si fa presto a dire. Tutte le sue opere, ad eccezione del Dizionario sono apparse a Napoli, per i tipi della Liguori o, per conto dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale (a cura del Rag. Gallo), negli Annali, per i quali tanta energia venne profusa da Gemma Manganella. Ma quella della Prof. Manganella non può dirsi una produzione provinciale/ locale, ché la sua preparazione e il suo istinto la portavano sempre a guardare a quanto accadeva nel mondo scientifico italiano ed internazionale. Il lavoro a monte delle sue pubblicazioni era svolto in Germania, nelle biblioteche di Tübingen, München e Heidelberg o in Inghilterra, a Cambridge e a Londra, con una scelta che anticipa di molti anni, in tempi privi di fondi 40% o 60%, quella che ora è divenuta per molti un'abitudine. Da questa consuetudine con l'estero vennero a Gemma Manganella una serie di amici e corrispondenti, quali Johannes Rathofer, i cui saggi sono apparsi sugli Annali. Anche in questa sua apertura all'estero degli Annali della sezione germanica, che hanno ospitato sin da principio contributi di studiosi stranieri in lingua originale, la Prof. Manganella si è mossa autonomamente.
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A bibliography of Old English Maxims I and II to the date.
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A bibliography of the Old English Charms to the date of publication
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In the volume of Irina Dumitrescu, the word ‘education’ is given the widest possible meaning; five case studies are examined, yet the volume also traces a remarkable and personal history of teaching and learning in Anglo-Saxon England.... more
In the volume of Irina Dumitrescu, the word ‘education’ is given the widest possible meaning; five case studies are examined, yet the volume also traces a remarkable and personal history of teaching and learning in Anglo-Saxon England. The interplay between the main text and the notes, which each reader of the book is invited to follow methodically (for how unpleasant it can be to switch from page to page), demonstrates how Irina Dumitrescu masters English literature with both texts and authors (as well as the relevant bibliographical background) and might well have produced a larger ‘pedagogical’ reading of Anglo-Saxon literature. She has chosen not to pursue this wider path, for the moment at least.
What the pages of this volume in fact investigate is how two essentially different activities as teaching and learning – which are indeed complementary and destined to meet, the more-so in the narrative – were portrayed in a number of very different literary genders. The analysis of how various sorts of teaching and learning events were performed in the Anglo-Saxon milieu of the literary texts under examination allows Irina Dumitrescu to sketch her own history of what happened in England as regards the subject of the book but also, on a larger scale, in Anglo-Saxon culture in general. Dumitrescu is not only fully conversant with the latest approaches to Anglo-Saxon literature but also with the various milestones of literary criticism. She draws solidly on the reading proposals of a large number of contemporary scholars. When in disagreement she is never hard on previous scholarship, whose merits she is quick to acknowledge, readily putting forward her distinctions. The author’s powers of summary are evident in the main text and the notes.
What the pages of this volume in fact investigate is how two essentially different activities as teaching and learning – which are indeed complementary and destined to meet, the more-so in the narrative – were portrayed in a number of very different literary genders. The analysis of how various sorts of teaching and learning events were performed in the Anglo-Saxon milieu of the literary texts under examination allows Irina Dumitrescu to sketch her own history of what happened in England as regards the subject of the book but also, on a larger scale, in Anglo-Saxon culture in general. Dumitrescu is not only fully conversant with the latest approaches to Anglo-Saxon literature but also with the various milestones of literary criticism. She draws solidly on the reading proposals of a large number of contemporary scholars. When in disagreement she is never hard on previous scholarship, whose merits she is quick to acknowledge, readily putting forward her distinctions. The author’s powers of summary are evident in the main text and the notes.
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Ten years after her PhD dissertation and following a number of essays devoted to different aspects of the manuscript, Tracey-Anne Cooper has published the volume Monk-Bishops and the English Benedictine Reform Movement: Reading London,... more
Ten years after her PhD dissertation and following a number of essays devoted to different aspects of the manuscript, Tracey-Anne Cooper has published the volume Monk-Bishops and the English Benedictine Reform Movement: Reading London, BL, Cotton Tiberius A. iii in Its Manuscript Context. To deal with London, Cotton Tiberius A. iii (henceforth T) in its entirety is a daunting task, and the author is to be praised for making available a detailed survey of most of the manuscript contents. Cooper also takes a new stand on the date of the codex as well as on the beneficiary of the collection. Whereas in the past the exact nature of the manuscript proved hard to define, scholars have gradually assumed the existence a guiding thread connecting its different texts. In 1997, Helmut Gneuss surmised that T was a reference book compiled for an archbishop who was also a monk concluding that “the collection is not as haphazard and incoherent as may appear at first sight” (in Of the Making of Books [1997]).
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Sotto il titolo convenzionale di Navigatio sancti Brendani va il racconto della lunga navigazione di Brendano alla ricerca della Terra repromissionis sanctorum. Brendano e i suoi compagni raggiungono la meta dopo aver navigato per sette... more
Sotto il titolo convenzionale di Navigatio sancti Brendani va il racconto della lunga navigazione di Brendano alla ricerca della Terra repromissionis sanctorum. Brendano e i suoi compagni raggiungono la meta dopo aver navigato per sette anni, compiendo un periplo fondato sul calendario liturgico e celebrando la Pasqua sul dorso di Iasconio e il Natale nell'isola della comunità di sant'Ailbe. Giovanni Orlandi aveva dedicato a questa opera una monografia nel 1968 (Navigatio sancti Brendani I. Introduzione) e numerosi articoli tra il 1983 e il 2006; aveva lavorato assiduamente all'edizione della Navigatio, studiando e collazionando i suoi tanti testimoni. Alla sua morte, nel 2007, il materiale raccolto in quarant'anni di ricerca comprendeva la collazione di circa cento codici. Rossana Guglielmetti ha continuato a lavorare all'edizione, concludendo il lavoro di Orlandi. Il volume è quindi innanzitutto un modello di impegno e di scienza che ha portato a compimento un progetto così significativo, ma anche e specialmente un esempio di condivisione di ideali scientifici e di collaborazione nel senso più alto del termine. A Rossana Guglielmetti si deve la recensio di tutti i codici finora noti, 141 manoscritti che datano dal X al XV sec. Il progetto editoriale prevede che al volume del 2014, concepito come editio minor e destinato ad un pubblico più ampio, segua un altro volume con l'editio maior. Il libro si apre con una vasta introduzione (xiii-ccli) dedicata agli aspetti storico-letterari della Navigatio. I rapporti tra i codici e la loro classificazione in cinque famiglie sono affrontati con grande maestria e cura filologica, dando ragione dello stemma codicum proposto (cxxxii-ccxx) e motivando le scelte operate in sede di constitutio textus. La recensio dei codici dimostra come tutti discendano da un solo archetipo, ω, già contraddistinto da lacune e errori di omissione (cxcii-ccii). Il testo è accompagnato da una traduzione a fronte in italiano che, pur mantenendo lo stile dell'originale, risulta di gradevole lettura (1-112); seguono un commento (114-184) e gli indici (186-215). L'edizione conserva la divisione in capitoli di Selmer (1959) e il volume, che accantona definitivamente tale edizione, si caratterizza per la misura con cui ne confuta scelte editoriali e conclusioni. Il volume ribadisce-ma non mai a sufficienza-lo scarto temporale tra il contesto cui apparteneva Brendano e i primi testimoni della Navigatio che risalgono al X sec. In questo arco di tempo vanno tenuti distinti almeno quattro momenti: la figura storica di Brendano, la sua agiografia, la Navigatio e i primi codici che la conservano. Brendano, abate di Clonfert, è nato nell'ultimo quarto del V sec. e morto nel 577 (secondo gli Annali dell'Ulster); la vicenda della Navigatio riflette piuttosto la condizione dell'Irlanda dell'VIII sec., che vede una diversa forma di monachesimo e, sul piano letterario, uno sviluppo di generi letterari autoctoni che, nel contenuto, conservano tracce del paganesimo celtico.
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Review of the volume
P.G. Scardigli - T. Gervasi, Avviamento all’etimologia inglese e tedesca, Firenze 1978
P.G. Scardigli - T. Gervasi, Avviamento all’etimologia inglese e tedesca, Firenze 1978
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Fulvio Ferrari e Massimiliano Bampi sono gli editori del volume che raccoglie le relazioni tenute al convegno svoltosi presso l'Università di Trento dal 15 al 17 dicembre 2008: i saggi sono disposti secondo l'ordine degli interventi al... more
Fulvio Ferrari e Massimiliano Bampi sono gli editori del volume che raccoglie le relazioni tenute al convegno svoltosi presso l'Università di Trento dal 15 al 17 dicembre 2008: i saggi sono disposti secondo l'ordine degli interventi al simposio. Come si spiega nell'introduzione, il convegno-e ora il volume-vogliono fare il punto sul dibattito "sui modi e le finalità della pratica ecdotica" (p. 7), apertosi ufficialmente-se è dato usare questo termine-venti anni addietro e partito dalla costatazione, ormai largamente accolta, che ogni testo, in particolare il testo medievale, è un prodotto instabile e soggetto a continue modificazioni che lo adattano ai contesti dove è accolto. Nelle intenzioni degli editori e di una parte degli autori, con la parola storicità si intende la natura del testo in quanto appartenente al divenire storico, ma, al contempo e con una visione più strettamente filologica, la collocazione e la caratterizzazione storica del testo, così come è rispecchiata o dovrebbe essere rispecchiata in una edizione. Ulteriore argomento di buona parte dei saggi è, più che il ruolo delle tecnologie informatiche, considerate ormai un assodato strumento della rinnovata pratica ecdotica, la progettazione e la sperimentazione di nuove tecniche, come pure la presentazione di progetti ecdotici in fieri basati su testimoni unici o singolarmente assunti. Il movimento di opinione della medievistica mondiale, autodefinitosi 'New Philology' o 'Material Philology', di cui il volume di Ferrari e Bampi analizza i risultati, è spesso messo in relazione col libro di Bernard Cerquiglini (Éloge de la variante. Histoire critique de la philologie, Parigi 1989), che è più volte citato nei saggi in esame. Nel 1990, un gruppo di studiosi statunitensi di filologia romanza aveva dedicato alla disamina delle metodiche ecdotiche correnti un numero speciale di "Speculum" (65/1 [1990]), curato da Stephen G. Nichols. Le pratiche della filologia medievale, che Nichols definiva anacronistiche perché sviluppatesi sotto l'impulso del nazionalismo politico e del positivismo scientifico, erano già state oggetto di un numero monografico della "
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Viene qui ripubblicata, con qualche modifica, una serie di saggi sulla fiaba scritti da Cristina Lavinio tra il 1982 e il 1992; nella breve introduzione che precede i sette capitoli che formano il volume si suggerisce al lettore un... more
Viene qui ripubblicata, con qualche modifica, una serie di saggi sulla fiaba scritti da Cristina Lavinio tra il 1982 e il 1992; nella breve introduzione che precede i sette capitoli che formano il volume si suggerisce al lettore un percorso tra le singole, compiute, esposizioni dei saggi originali, legati da un tema comune molto generale, come spesso accade in questo tipo di raccolte. Anche il titolo, 'la magia della fiaba', che accosta due parole dotate di tanta polisemanticità, è ammiccante ed elusivo, ma non certo descrittivo del contenuto del libro. Con 'magia' la Lavino sembra alludere più alla 'malia', all' 'incanto' delle fiabe (vd., ad esempio, introd. p. xiv), che non ad una categoria di fiabe, come quelle di magia, oggetto privilegiato di tante analisi.
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‘Review of P.G. Schmidt, Die Vision des Bauern Thurkill, Leipzig 1987’, «Schede Medievali» 17 (1989), pp. 569-570.
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‘Review of P. Dinzelbacher - D.R. Bauer (edd.), Religiöse Frauenbewegung, Köln – Wien 1988’, «Schede Medievali» 18 (1990), pp. 168-169.
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R.H. Bremmer Jr, A Bibliographical Guide to Old Frisian Studies
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‘Review of W. Verbeke et al. (edd.), The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle Ages, Leuven 1988’, «Schede Medievali» 18 (1990), pp. 205-207.
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‘Review of M.-L. Ollier, Masques et déguisements dans la littérature médiévale, Montréal 1988’, «Schede Medievali» 18 (1990), pp. 189-191.
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P.J. Cosijn, Notes on Beowulf, introd., transl., and annot. by R.H. Bremmer Jr et al., Leeds 1991
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‘Review of W. Hofstetter, Winchester und der spätaltenglische Sprachgebrauch, München 1987’, «Schede Medievali» 17 (1989), pp. 523-524.
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‘Review of G. Kratzmann - E. Gee, The Dialoges of Creatures Moralysed. A Critical Edition, Leiden 1988’, «SchMed» 20-21 (1991), pp. 212-213.
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Review of B. Murdoch, The Fall of Man in the Early Middle High German Biblical Epic, Göppingen 1972,
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‘Review of R. H. Bremmer Jr, The Fyve Wyttes. A Late Middle English Devotional Treatise, Amsterdam 1987’, «Schede Medievali» 17 (1989), pp. 509-510.
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‘Review of P.W. Tax, Notker der Deutsche, Boethius, “De Consolatione Philosophiae” Buch I/II, III, IV/V’, Tübingen 1986-1988-1990, «SchMed» 22-23 (1992), pp. 230-231.
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Review of Å.V. Ström - H. Biezais, Germanische und Baltische Religion, Stuttgart 1975,
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Review of Heldensage und Heldendichtung ed. H.Beck
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‘Rec. a V. Edden, Richard Maidstone’s Penitential Psalms ed. from Bodl. MS Rawlinson A 389, Heidelberg, 1990’, SchMed 22-23 (1992), pp. 208-210.
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Review of the book by M.D. Cherniss, Ingeld and Christ. Heroic Concepts and Values in Old English Christian Poetry.
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Studies on Late Antique and Medieval Germanic Glossography and Lexicography in Honour of Patrizia Lendinara, Pisa: ETS 2018,
http://www.edizioniets.com/scheda.asp?n=9788846754172
http://www.edizioniets.com/scheda.asp?n=9788846754172
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A bibliography of Patrizia Lendinara (essays, reviews, edited books and editorial activity) to 2018.
It also lists the dissertations followed by Patrizia Lendinara.
It also lists the dissertations followed by Patrizia Lendinara.
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“Emozioni, passioni, visioni, sogni in contesti di crisi: riflessioni al tempo del coronavirus” Università di Palermo, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici Ciclo di seminari (attività F, II semestre) aa. 2019-2020; 29 maggio 2020
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L'evento rientra nelle iniziative di formazione e aggiornamento del personale della scuola organizzate dall'Università degli Studi di Milano.
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A joint international project Netherlands -Italy (Leiden - Prof. Rolf H. Bremmer jr., Groningen - Prof. Kees Dekker and Palermo - Prof. Patrizia Lendinara) – ‘Storehouses of wholesome learning: accumulation and dissemination of... more
A joint international project Netherlands -Italy (Leiden - Prof. Rolf H. Bremmer jr., Groningen - Prof. Kees Dekker and Palermo - Prof. Patrizia Lendinara) – ‘Storehouses of wholesome learning: accumulation and dissemination of encyclopaedic knowledge in the early middle ages’ – which has received a four-year founding by the NWO (via the Netherlands Research School for Medieval Studies) and the University of Palermo.
1. Foundations of Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. - Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning 1), Leuven, Peeters, 2007
2 Practice in Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. e Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 2), Leuven, Peeters, 2010
3. Limits to Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Concetta Giliberto and Loredana Teresi (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 3), Leuven, Peeters, 2011.
4. Fruits of Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. and Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 4), Leuven, Peeters, 2012.
1. Foundations of Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. - Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning 1), Leuven, Peeters, 2007
2 Practice in Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. e Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 2), Leuven, Peeters, 2010
3. Limits to Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Concetta Giliberto and Loredana Teresi (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 3), Leuven, Peeters, 2011.
4. Fruits of Learning: The Transfer of Encyclopaedic Knowledge in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Rolf H. Bremmer Jr. and Kees Dekker (Mediaevalia Groningana, Storehouses of Wholesome Learning, 4), Leuven, Peeters, 2012.