Anglo-Saxon Literature Part 10

There is Paulinus, the fugitive missionary from Kent, who made the first rapid evangelisation of the northern country; King Edwin and his court form a well-displayed group between the old darkness and the coming light, as they consult and compare the two; Oswald, returning from exile to be king, and bringing with him the Scotian type of Christianity; Aidan, the first Scotian bishop of Lindisfarne, and the model of pastors; Wilfrid, the champion of Roman unity, confronting Colman at the synod of Whitby before Oswy, the presiding king, on the absorbing question of the time; Wilfrid appealing to Rome against Theodore; and yet again, Wilfrid, the first Anglo-Saxon missionary; Biscop Baducing (Benedict Biscop), the founder of abbeys, the traveller, the introducer of arts from abroad; Caedmon, the cowherd, the divinely-inspired singer and the father of a school of English poetry; Cuthberht, the shepherd-boy, abbot, bishop, hermit, and finally the national saint of Northumbria; Willebrord and the two Hewalds, and all the glorious band of missionaries and martyrs; Winfrid (Boniface), the crown of them all, apostle of Germany, and martyr; Beda, the teacher and historian; Ecgberct and Alberct, successively archbishops of York, acknowledged presidents of Western learning; Alcuin, the bearer of Anglian learning to the Franks, and the organiser of schools for the future ages.

After Aldhelm, the first Englishman who appeared as an author was aeddi, better known as Eddius Stepha.n.u.s. He was the friend and companion of Wilfrid in his contentions and troubles, and, after his death, he wrote a biography of him in Latin. This book is of great value as an authority, and as ill.u.s.trating the history of the later seventh and early eighth century. Wilfrid died in 709, the same year as Aldhelm.

Wilfrid was the master-spirit of this age. He represented the best aims of his nation; he understood the needs of the time; he worked for them, and he suffered for them. With an overbearing spirit, fantastic too often in his conduct, he saw what was needed--he saw the necessity for unity with Rome. This was a necessity, not for one country alone, but for the whole West at that time. Protestant writers have looked at Wilfrid through a distorting medium. Nowhere, perhaps, is there more need to allow for difference of times than in estimating Wilfrid. He had great faults; he quarrelled with the best men; but, on the other hand, Theodore, the most important of all his adversaries, sought reconciliation at last, and accused himself of injustice. Wilfrid initiated the German missions; he impressed on that great field of Saxon activity the policy of his agitated life, and that policy was ever militant in Boniface, the chief apostle of Germany, and may be said to have triumphed when the Roman Empire was renewed in harmony with the Holy See, and Charles was crowned in 800. Wilfrid, more than any other man, appears as the ideal representative of that varied influence, religious, literary, political, which the Anglo-Saxon Church exercised upon the Western world.

The beginning of our vernacular literature, so far as it can be treated chronologically, lies between the years 658 and 680. For these are the years of the abbacy of Hild at Whitby, and it was in her time that Caedmon appeared, who had received the gift of divine song in a vision of the night. When this heavenly call was recognised, the herdsman became a brother of the religious fraternity, and devoted his life to the pursuit of sacred poetry. To the lover of the mother tongue it must appear a singular felicity that Caedmon's first hymn is preserved in a book that was written not much more than half-a-century after his death.[64]

Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard, metudaes maecti end his modgidanc; uerc uuldurfadur; sue he uundra gihuaes, eci dryctin, or astelidae.

He aerist scop aelda barnum heben til hrofe, halig scepen; tha middungeard moncynnaes uard, eci dryctin, aefter tiadae firum foldan frea allmectig.

Now shall we glorify the guardian of heaven's realm, the Maker's might and the thought of his mind; the work of the glory-father, how He of every wonder, He the Lord eternal laid the foundation.

He shaped erst for the sons of men, heaven their roof, holy Creator; the middle world he, mankind's sovereign, eternal captain, afterwards created, the land for men Lord Almighty.[65]

BEDA was born in 672, in the neighbourhood of Wearmouth, two years before Biscop founded an abbey there. Of this abbey Beda became an inmate in his seventh year, under Abbot Biscop. He was afterwards moved to the sister foundation at Jarrow, under Abbot Ceolfrid, and there he lived, with rare absences, the remainder of his life. He was ordained deacon at the early age of nineteen; in his thirtieth year he was ordained priest; he died in his sixty-third year, A.D. 735. He was a very prolific author, and he has left us, at the end of his most considerable work, a sketch of his life, and a list of his writings, down to the fifty-ninth year of his age, A.D. 731. The bulk of his works are theological, chiefly in the form of commentaries, and they are little more than extracts from the best known of the Fathers. This was adapted to the needs of the time, and Bede's commentaries were held in great esteem during the whole period. aelfric, in the tenth century, used them largely for his "Homilies."

Of all Bede's works, the chronological made the greatest immediate impression, and was of most general use at the time and for some centuries afterwards. The computation of Easter was the groundwork of the ecclesiastical year, and every church felt the benefit of his services. Chronology was then in its early maturity, and the Christian era was not yet a familiar method of reckoning. Bede was the first historian who arranged his materials according to the years from the Incarnation. He had made himself completely master of this subject, and he left it in such order that nothing more had to be done to it, or could be improved upon it, for many centuries.

His fullest and most detailed work on chronology is ent.i.tled "De Temporum Ratione," and to this is added a chronicle of the world. On this elaborate work he was working down to A.D. 726. We have the authority of Ideler for saying that this is a complete guide to the calculation of times and festivals. He treats of the several divisions of time; and under the months, he speaks of the moon's...o...b..t (c. xvii.), and its importance for the calendar, and the relation of the moon to the tides (c. xxix.); then of the equinoxes and solstices, the varying length of the days, the seasons of the year, the intercalary day, the cycle of nineteen years, the reckoning Anno Domini (c. xlvii.), indictions, epacts, the determination of Easter. All these things are taught with theoretical thoroughness, as well as also in their practical application. He also (c. lxv.) made a table for Easter from A.D. 532, "when Dionysius began the first cycle," to A.D. 1063.[66] This is followed by the "Chronicle or Six Ages of this World," altogether a work that was a growing nucleus, and went on expanding down to the invention of printing and the revival of cla.s.sical literature.

But the works on which his eminence permanently rests, and by which he made all posterity indebted to him, are his historical and biographical writings. He wrote a poem on the miracles of St. Cuthbert, and afterwards he wrote a prose narrative "Of the Life and Miracles of St.

Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne;" and in this, though a new and independent work, something of the poem is reproduced. It is in this prose work that we find the call of Cuthbert on the night of Aidan's death, the details of his hermit life on the rocky islet of Farne, to which he had retired for greater rigour of devotion, from which he was called back to be bishop at Lindisfarne, and to which after two years'

episcopate he again retired for the remnant of his life.

He wrote also a prose life of St. Felix, drawing his materials from the metrical life of that saint in hexameters by Paulinus.

His greatest biographical work is "Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, namely, Benedict, Ceolfrid, Easterwini, Sigfrid, and Hwetbert."

These were the heads of the two sister foundations with which his career was identified; and some of them had been his own teachers. The Life of Benedict is the most interesting, as might be expected, and it fills the largest part of the book.

Finally, his greatest work, the work which is a gift for all time, is his "Church History of the Anglian People." This was the work of the author's mature powers, and some of his earlier writings are made use of in it. In this history, which is divided into five books, there is, first, a summary of the history of Britain, from the time of Julius Caesar down to the time of Gregory the Great. This part occupies twenty-two chapters, and is drawn from Orosius and Gildas and Constantius. The proper narrative of Bede begins at chap. xxiii., and there the conversion and early history of Saxon Christianity is given down to the time of the restoration of the old church of St. Saviour (Canterbury Cathedral), and the inst.i.tution of the monastery of SS.

Peter and Paul (St. Augustine's). The last chapter is of the decisive battle of Degsastan, which determined the superiority of the Angles over the Scotti. The second book begins with the death of Gregory and goes down to the death of aeduini, King of Northumbria, A.D. 633. In this book occurs a remarkable speech made by one of aeduini's n.o.bles, in the debate about a change of religion:--

"The present life of man in the world, O king, is, by comparison with that time which is unknown, like as when you are sitting at table with your aldermen and thanes in the winter season, the fire blazing in the midst, and the hall cheerfully warm, while the whirlwinds rage everywhere outside and drive the rain or the snow; one of the sparrows comes in and flies swiftly through the house, entering at one door and out at the other. So long as it is inside, it is sheltered from the storm, but when the brief momentary calm is past, the bird is in the cold as before, and is no more seen. So this human life is visible for a time: but of what follows or what went before we are utterly ignorant.

Wherefore, if this new doctrine should offer anything surer, it seems worthy to be followed." (ii., 13.)

The third book goes down to the appointment of Theodore to be Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 665.

This book contains the decision for Roman unity, and the defeat and departure of Colman and his Scotian clergy. Bede was a hearty adherent of the Roman obedience, and his affectionate tribute to the work of the Irish is all the more remarkable. He pauses upon the record of their departure as upon the close of a good time that had been, and to which he looks wistfully back.

"The great frugality and content of him and his predecessors was witnessed by the very place they ruled; for at their departure there were very few buildings besides the church; just what civilised life absolutely requires, and no more. Their only capital was their cattle; for if rich men gave them money, they presently gave it to the poor. Of funds and halls for entertaining the worldly great they had no need, as such personages never came but to pray and hear the word of G.o.d. The King himself, when occasion required, would come with just five or six thanes, and after prayer in church would depart; and if it chanced they took refreshment there, they were content with just the simple every-day fare of the brothers, and wanted nothing better. For at that time those teachers made it their entire business to serve not the world but G.o.d, and their whole care to cherish not the belly but the heart. And consequently the religious garb was at that time in great veneration; so much so that, wherever a cleric or a monk arrived, he was joyfully received by all as the servant of G.o.d. Even upon the road, if one were found travelling, they would run to him, and bend the head, and rejoice if he signed them with the cross, or uttered a blessing; at the same time they gave careful attention to their words of exhortation.

Moreover, on Sundays they would race to the church or the monasteries, not to refresh the body, but to hear G.o.d's word; and if one of the priests happened to come to a village, the villagers were quickly a.s.sembled, and were wanting to hear from him the word of life. And, indeed, the priests on their part or the clerics had no other object in going to the villages but for preaching, baptising, visiting the sick, and in a word for the care of souls; being so entirely purged from all infection of avarice, that none accepted lands and possessions for building monasteries unless compelled to do so by secular lords. Such conduct was maintained in the Northumbrian churches for some time after this date. But I have said enough." (iii., 26.)

The fourth book goes down to the death, A.D. 687, of the saint of whom Bede had previously written, both in verse and in prose, the Saint of Northumbria, St. Cuthbert.

This book contains another pa.s.sage to show that Bede looked wistfully back to a blessed time that had been, and for which he was born too late. He has been speaking of Theodore and Hadrian, and he is about to speak of Wilfrid and aeddi, when he thus breaks out:--"Never, never, since the Angles came to Britain, were there happier times; brave and Christian kings held all barbarians in awe; the universal ambition was for those heavenly joys of which men had recently heard; and all who desired to be instructed in sacred learning had masters ready to teach them." (iv., 2.)

This book also contains the history of Caedmon, which is perhaps the most frequently quoted piece of all Bede's writings:--

"In the monastery of this abbess [Hild], there was a certain brother, eminently distinguished by divine grace, for he was wont to make songs fit for religion and piety, so that, whatever he learnt out of Scripture by means of interpreters, this he would after a time produce in his own, that is to say, the Angles' tongue, with poetical words, composed with perfect sweetness and feeling. By this man's songs often the minds of many were kindled to contempt of the world and desire for the celestial life. Moreover, others after him in the nation of the Angles tried to make religious poems, but no one was able to equal him. For he learnt the art of singing not from men, nor through any man's instructions, but he received the gift of singing unacquired and by divine help. Wherefore he could never make any frivolous or unprofitable poem, but those things only which pertain to religion were fit themes for his religious tongue.

During his secular life, which continued up to the time of advanced age, he had never learnt any songs. And, therefore, sometimes at a feast, when for merriment sake it was agreed that all should sing in turn, he, when he saw that the harp was nearing him, would rise from his unfinished supper and go quietly away to his own home." (iv., 24.)

On one occasion, when this had happened, he went, not to his home, but to the cattle sheds, to rest, because it was his turn to do so that night. In his sleep one appeared to him and bade him sing. He pleaded inability, but the command was repeated. "What then," he asked, "must I sing?" He was told he must sing of the beginning of created things. Then he sang a Hymn of Creation, and this hymn he remembered when he was risen from sleep, and it was the proof of his divine vocation. The hymn was preserved in Latin as well as in the original; and both have been quoted above. The poems which he subsequently wrote are thus described:--

"He sang of the creation of the world and the origin of the human race, and the whole story of Genesis, of Israel's departure out of Egypt and entrance into the land of promise, of many other parts of the sacred history, of the Lord's Incarnation, Pa.s.sion, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven, of the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of the Apostles. Likewise of the terror of judgment to come, and the awful punishment of h.e.l.l, and the bliss of the heavenly kingdom, he made many poems; many others also concerning divine benefits and judgments, in all which he sought to wean men from the love of sin, and stimulate them to the enjoyment and pursuit of good action."

The fifth and last book contains a survey of the condition of the national Church down to 731, within about four years of the author's death.

Books of his on the technicalities of literature are a tract on "Orthography," another "On the Metric Art," also a book "On Figures and Tropes of Holy Scripture." Least esteemed have been his poetical compositions, some of which have been suffered to perish. The poem on the "Miracles of St. Cuthberht" is extant, but the "Book of Hymns in Various Metre or Rhythm" is lost, and so also is his "Book of Epigrams in Heroic or Elegiac Metre." But we are not left without an authentic specimen of his hymnody, as he has incorporated in his history the Hymn of Virginity in praise of Queen Ethelthry, the foundress of Ely. His extant poetry proves him to have been an accomplished scholar and a man of cultivated taste rather than of poetic genius. But we could afford to lose many Latin poems in consideration of the slightest vernacular effort of such a man.

Many ma.n.u.scripts of the "Ecclesiastical History" contain a letter by one Cuthbert to his fellow-student Cuthwine, describing the manner of Bede's death. In this letter is contained a pious ditty in the vernacular, which Bede, who was "learned in our native songs," composed at the time when he was contemplating the approach of his own dissolution.

Fore there neidfarae naenig ni uurthit thonc snoturra than him tharf sie to ymbhycggannae, aer his him iongae, huaet his gastae G.o.daes aeththa yflaes aefter deothdaege doemid uueorthae.

Before the need-journey no one is ever more wise in thought than he ought, to contemplate ere his going hence what to his soul of good or of evil after death-day deemed will be.[67]

Other remains in the Northumbrian dialect are the Runic inscription on the Ruthwell Cross, for which the reader is referred to Professor Stephens's "Old Northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England,"

vol. i., p. 405; also the interlinear glosses in the Lindisfarne Gospels, and in the Durham Ritual. For fuller information on these glosses I must refer the reader to Professor Skeat's Gospels "in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions Synoptically Arranged;" and more especially to his preface in the concluding volume, which contains the fourth Gospel. The Psalter, which was published by the Surtees Society as Northumbrian, is now judged to be Kentish; but that volume contains, besides, an "Early English Psalter," which presents a later phase of the Northumbrian dialect.

The poetical works which now bear Caedmon's name received that name from Junius, the first editor, in 1655, on the ground of the general agreement of the subjects with Bede's description of Caedmon's works. In this book we find a first part containing the most prominent narratives from the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel; and a second part containing the Descent of Christ into Hades and the delivery of the patriarchs from their captivity, according to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus and the constant legend of the Middle Ages. This comprises a kind of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Of all this, the part which has attracted most notice is a part of which the materials are found neither in Scripture nor in any known Apocrypha. The nearest approximation yet indicated is in the hexameters of Avitus, described above.[68] This problematical part describes the Fall of Man as the sequel of the Fall of the Angels, substantially running on the same lines as Milton's famous treatment of the same subject. It has often been surmised that Milton may have known of Caedmon through Junius, and that this knowledge may have affected the cast of his great poem as well as suggested some of his most famous touches.[69]

The precipitation is thus described:--

329 waeron tha befeallene fyre to botme on tha hatan h.e.l.l thurh hygeleaste and thurh ofermetto.

Sohten other land thaet waes leohtes leas and waes liges full fyres faer micel.

So were they felled to the fiery abyss into the hot h.e.l.l through heedlessness and through arrogance.

They arrived at another land that was void of light and was full of flame fire's horror huge.[70]

When the fallen angel speaks, he begins thus:--

355 Is thes aenga stede ungelic swithe tham othrum the we aer cuthon heah on heofenrice the me min hearra onlag.

This confined place is terribly unlike that other one that we knew before high in heaven's realm which my lord conferred on me.

Having thus begun with a lamentable cry, he gradually recovers composure and propounds a policy. He observes that G.o.d has created a new and happy being, who is destined to inherit the glory which he and his have lost:--

394 He haefth nu gemearcod anne middangeard thaer he haefth mon geworhtne aefter his onlicnesse; mid tham he wile eft gesettan heofena rice, mid hluttrum saulum.

We thaes sculon hycgan georne, thaet we on Adame gif we aefre maegen, and on his eafram swa some andan gebetan.

He hath now designed a middle world where He man hath made, after His likeness:-- with which He will repeople heaven's realm, with stainless souls.

We must thereto give careful heed that we on Adam if we ever may and on his offspring likewise our harm redress.

The way proposed is by inducing them to displease their Maker, and then they will be banished to the same place and become the slaves of Satan and his angels. A messenger is required:--

409 Gif ic aenigum thegne theoden madmas geara forgeafe thenden we on than G.o.dan rice gesaelige saeton and haefdon ure setla geweald, thonne heme na on leofrantid leanum ne meahte mine gife gyldan.

Gif his gien wolde minra thegna hwilc gethafa wurthan thaet he up heonon ute mihte c.u.man thurh thas cl.u.s.tro and haefde craeft mid him thaet he mid fetherhoman fleogan meahte windan on wolcne thaer geworht stondath Adam and Eve on eorth rice mid welan bewunden.

and we synd aworpene hider on thas deopan dalo.