SYNONYMS IN THE OLD ENGLISH BEDE

A NOTABLE
FEATURE
of the Old English version of Bede's Ecclesiasti
cal History
is its frequent use of synonymous
pairs of words or phrases to
translate single expressions
in the original Latin. J. M. Hart called atten
in an article entitled "Rhetoric
tion to this peculiarity
in the Translation
of Bede,"1 in which he maintained,
first, that the rhetorical device known
as amplification
was familiar to Old English writers and, second, that King
Alfred could not have translated Bede. In support of his contentions, Hart
presented a long, though only partial, list of synonymous
pairs accompanied
found in the corresponding
Latin. His views are
by the single expressions
summed up as follows:2
to satisfy any one that the process of rhetorical
Even
these few [examples]
ought
amplification
was known
in England
and quite apart from the needs of alliterative
long before the Conquest
verse. Further.
to the Alfredian
I would
ask those who still adhere
of the Bede
authorship
or the Orosius.
if they can discover
like this 'doubling'
in the Pastoral
translation,
anything

The present
of either argument.
study is not intended as a refutation
re
There is sufficient evidence
in Old English
literature to prove, without
or to the poetry, that amplification
Course to the Bede translation
through
the use of synonyms was known
to Old English writers. The view that
Alfred personally
at the
translated Bede's work seems to be in disfavor
the challenge
in Hart's
second sentence has been
present
time, although
If any
met?had
been met, in fact, even before his article was published.3
invites refutation,
it is the assumption
that the
portion of his discussion
of the Old English Bede must be rhetorical in nature, that they
synonyms
on the part of the translator,
reflect a conscious and deliberate application,
of a rhetorical principle. The purpose of this article is to point out certain
between
the synonyms
and
resemblances
of the Bede and the double
of the ninth and tenth centuries.
triple glosses found in manuscripts
in the interlinear
translations
of the Latin appear frequently
Multiple
the Rushworth Gospels, and the Lindis
glosses to the Vespasian
Psalter,
groups result from an effort to
farne Gospels. Some of these synonymous
to two different dialects. Others appear to spring
adapt the translation
on the part of the glossator
from an attempt
to clarify the meaning
by
as
of the Latin as he can call to mind. For
translations
many
offering
example, a free and general rendering may be combined with one which is
more specific and literal, or a Latinate
translation may be clarified by a
or explanation.
It would appear that considera
purely native synonym
tions of clarity and accuracy,
rather than any striving after rhetorical
the work of the glossators.4
elegance, motivated
1An
The
to Dr. Furnivall
Presented
English Miscellany,
1901), pp. 150-154.
(Oxford,
a list of exam
been noted by August
synonymous
pairs had previously
Schmidt, who included
?ber K?nig
?Elireds Beda?bersetzung
ples in his dissertation,
Untersuchungen
(Berlin,
1889),
pp. 37-39.
2
Op. cit., p. 151.
3
Version
Henry
Sweet, King
Care, Part II,
Alfred's West-Saxon
of Gregory's Pastoral
von K?nig
?ber das Verh?ltnis
EETS,
OS, L (London,
1872), xii; Gustav
Wack,
Aelfreds
zum Original
der Cura Pastoralis
?bersetzung
1889), pp. 18-21; Albert Dewitz,
(Greifswald,
?ber Alfreds
des Grossen wests?chsische
der Cura Pastoralis
Untersuchungen
Gregors
?bersetzung
(Bunzlau,
pp. 34r-36.
4 It is 1889),
true that accuracy
and clarity are essential
of rhetoric in the best sense,
qualities
but Hart's
discussion
that he used rhetoric in the popular
sense of artifice and rhe
indicates
torical ornament.

168

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Synonyms

in the Old English

169

Bede

is a good example of a text with glosses in two

The Vespasian Psalter
it
dialects.
Mercian,
throughout
by a ninth-century
Originally
glossed
later passed into the hands of scribes who added second glosses here and
there during the tenth or eleventh century.6 These second glosses, usually
I, are clearly in the West Saxon dialect.
preceded by uel or the abbreviation
in the ninth-century
In Psalm 142, verse 3,6 obscuris is glossed degulnissum
difference
in a much
later hand. If the palaeographical
hand, uel pystrum
were absent, one might
still guess the origin of this doublet. The Mercian
to West
root degul- corresponds
Saxon diegel, digel, dygel, while the suffix
-nis-

(very

rarely

-nes-

in Mercian)

is almost

always

-nes-

in West

Saxon.

isWest
Saxon in its
(Mc. deostrum, adiostrade),
gloss, pystrum
In Psalm 2, verse 11, tremore has the Mercian
cwaecunge, with
phonology.
typical smoothed vowel, plus the West Saxon byfunge. The verb dormierunt
of a to ea,
velar-umlaut
75, 6 is glossed by hneapedon, showing the Mercian
Saxon unstable v. Adheserunt
and by the later uel slypton, with West
101,
e for West Germanic
it has
6 is glossed
a; in addition,
tfelun, with Mercian
in which most Weak
the later gloss
Saxon,
tclofodon, resembling West
in which -ad- was
II preterites were formed in -od-, rather than Mercian,
the usual suffix.
contain one gloss which may be identified dialectally,
Other doublets
26, 6
coupled with a form which might belong to either dialect. Immolabo
o
In the same verse,
is glossed by ageldu (WS. usually agylde) and later frige.
is glossed wynsumnisse
iubilationis
31, 9
(WS. -nesse) and lofes. Constringe
17
is
uel
is glossed geteh (WS., Kentish
37,
glossed
geteoh)
gewrip. Magna
dialect and by West Saxon fela (Mc, Kent.
by da mielan of indeterminate
37, 9 has a hu lenge swi??ur uel agehw r; the former gloss
feola). Usquequaque
the suffix -ur is typical of early Mer
is phonologically
uncertain,
although
Kent,
the
latter
but
-hwer) is clearly West Saxon. Uerum
gloss (Mc,
cian,
31, 6 was first rendered hwefire, to which a later hand has added peah (Mc.
V h).
of the synonymous
Many
pairs of the Psalter contain only general Old
cri
cannot
which
be
forms
assigned to any dialect by phonological
English
evidence. Of this sort
teria. The handwritings,
however, provide conclusive
for
are getelde uel on eardungstowe for tabern?culo 26, 6; lust uel gewilnung
desiderium
37, 10; and a number of other pairs.
oc
are of frequent
differentiation
pairs with dialectal
Synonymous
of Bede. Each of the following
translation
currence
in the Old English
form joined by the abbreviation
contains a Mercian
t, for et
examples
Saxon synonym:7
or ond, with a West
The

second

is to forbeorenne
70, 11-12.
. . . sprece
72, 25. hafa tSu

i to forlcttenne
(d?bet abstinere
i gepeahte (d?bet agere 53, 3)

51, 3)

5
1885), 188, 191, 220,
(London,
Texts, EETS,
OS, Lxxxm
Sweet), Oldest English
Henry
A. I
MS. Cotton Vespasian
Museum
227, 238, 239, 293, 319, 331, 360, 361, 392. In the British
on
fols.
second
No.
these
or in MLAA
appear
12r, 13v, 31r, 35r, 40v,
332,
glosses
Rotograph
72v, 88r, 95v, 96r, 116r, 116v, and 135r.
41r, 41v,
6For convenience
it is inaccurate
verse numbering
I use Sweet's
of reference,
although
edition.
with Stevenson's
and was adopted
comparison
by Sweet only to facilitate
7Numbers
Version
The Old English
at the left refer to page and line in Thomas Miller,
Part I, EETS,
(Lon
OS, Vols, xcv, xcvi
History
of the English People,
of Bede's Ecclesiastical
are from
their page and line references,
in parentheses,
with
equivalents
don, 1890). Latin
i (Ox
Gentis Anglorum,
Ecclesiasticam
Baedae Historiam
etc., Vol.
Venerabilis
C. Plummer,
or from
are borrowed
from Hart
to indicate which
examples
ford, 1896). I have not attempted
are of my own collecting.
and which
Schmidt

on Sat, 16 May 2015 04:20:54 UTC

170

Kuhn

134, 7. gesprec
158, 29. se cyning
184, 34. song ...

him

132, 20-21)

regio

zforl ten (destituta 222, 33)

288, 29 ofgefen
368,
422,
428,
430,

z
111, 14)
gepeaht (consilio
z sealde (donabantur
mu?ere
z radde (dicebat
150, 1)

gef

z ladode (uocabat
273, 16-17)
. . ei 303, 7)
z
(donauit.
forgeaf
z of d re witestowe
(de abysso 306,
z gesawa
(uidisti 308, 9)

31. cegde
5-6. salde him
8. of ??ere niolnesse
29. J?u sceawadest

23)

It is true, of course, that almost any Anglian

form may be matched
by
of e before a liquid occurs in
sporadic forms in Saxon texts. Velar-umlaut
o for a before nasal,
a before I plus consonant,
Saxon Patois. Unbroken
are all occasionally
found in early
II preterites
and -ad- for -od- in Weak
Saxon.
of ea to e occurs in late West
West
Saxon. Monophthongization
the normal forms in strict West Saxon would be forberanne,
Nevertheless,
spr ce, gespr c, geaf, sang, ofgiefen (or ofgifen or ofgyfen), ciegde (cigde,
the regular, though not uni
cygde), sealde, p re, and sceawodest. Similarly,
in Mercian
would
be forletenne,
gefi hte, geo ht, salde,
versal,
spellings
*redde, forleten,
*leadade, forgef, dere, and gesege. Two of the forms do not
are
occur in the Mercian
texts, but the normal phonological
developments
those indicated.
Saxon form followed by a Mer
The pairs listed below contain a West
cian

synonym:

32, 6. b d hi?e
34, 18. gesawen
168, 7. sealdon
236, 9.feaht
312, 30. fasstnodon
a
370, 22. gear
422, 24. hioscipes/<2?gr
}>a3s byrnendan
424, 31-32.
426,
432,

fyres

21. geseah ic
25-26.
gesawe

z halsade
(obsecrans
16, 6)
z gemildsad
18, 15)
(respectus
z gef on (donauerunt
139, 26-27)
z wonn
exstiterat
ductor
178, 9)
(pugnaturis
z underwreoton
240, 25)
(subscribimus
z longe (iamdudum
274, 10)
z higina aldor (pater familias 304, 1)
z <5aesunadwaescedan
inextinguibilium
leges (flammarum
10-11)
z sceawade
(cerno 305, 33)
z sceawadest
(cernis 309, 6)

305,

The typical Mercian

forms would be bed, gesegen, saldun (or -on), *f ht,
ges h, and gesege. The West
(or -on), gera, Jeder, bernendan,
festnadun
to those in the second column would be halsode,
Saxon forms corresponding
underwriton,
lange, ealdor, lieges {liges, lyges),
gemiltsod,
geaf on, wann,
sceawode, and sceawodest. The -on of gef on and the -or of aldor may be
in the eighth- and ninth-century
texts, these suf
Mercian;
tenth-century
fixes

are

usually

-un

and

-ur.

In the group below, aMercian

be either West Saxon or Mercian:
64, 18. to edneowunge
74, 1. gerehte
76, 25. to gebeorenne
78, 10. we weotan
212, 14. gefleoto
368, 30. moningum
374, 29. onwalhne
412, 21. bodade
418, 5. gesegon
J?et is . . . geceged
420, 23-24.
waeron fallende
426,15-16.

form is followed

by a synonym

which may

z to bote (reparandis
48, 25)
z gebet te beon scylen (corrigantur
53, 4)
z to
55, 2)
(offerenda
gefremmenne
z leomiad
55, 22)
(nouimus
z gewinn
165, 2-3)
(certamina
z larum admonitionibus
273, 16)
z gesundne
276, 18)
(integrum
i l rde (praedicabat
298, 21)
z beheoldon
(intuentibus
301,1)
z nemned
(uocatur 302, 25)
z gewitende
(decidentes
305, 29)

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Synonyms

in the Old English

171

Bede

Saxon forms of the words in the first column would be edniwunge,

onwealhne,
geflitu, manungum,
gereahte (later gerihte), geberanne, witon,
bodode, gesawon, gecigeZ or gecieged, and feallende.
dialect is followed by a
In the following group, a form of indeterminate
form
Mercian
The West

t J?a ongat (persensit

20, 3)
i getimbrad
21, 29)
(extructa
i ondredan him (perculsi
timor? 42, 22)
t ongeton (didicimus
50, 32)
i rehte (rexit 79, 1)
i biscopsedl
(sedem episcopalem
139, 28-29)
t awunade
(remansit
147, 22)
.
.
.
t lecnian
curam adhibere
(sanandae
284,
: tolesed (solueretur
290, 20)
i gest?nden
(tactus 304, 3)
z ondwliotan
(uultu 312, 9)

38, 2. ?5a oncneow

40, 25-26.
geworht
56, 2. Sa ongunnon
heoforhtigan
70, 6. oncneowon
94, 6. heold he
168, 7-8. eardungstowe
182, 2. astod
. . . h lan
390, 14. he scolde
400, 30. tobrocen waes
gehrinen
422, 26-27.
438, 29. heowe

23-24)

to those in the second column would

The West Saxon forms corresponding
be ongeat, getimbrod, ondr dan, reahte (or rihte), ongeaton,
bisceopsetl,
awunode, l cnian, tolysed or toliesed, gestanden, and andwlitan or ondwlitan.
of
with the same substitution
The preterite
singular ong t is late Mercian
of
ce for e which we find in Farman's
version
in
the
Worcester
and
glosses
Chronicle.
the Anglo-Saxon
Saxon word is followed by a form
pairs in which a West
Synonymous
in a text which
is
dialect have no great significance
of indeterminate
us
a
will
few
but
West
Saxon,
specimens
complete
help
predominantly
our comparison
of the Bede with the Vespasian Psalter:
36, 32. tealde
44,13.
hyrnysse
to gepeahtunge
88, 26-27.
wuton we }?am syllan
30.
234,
gesyhst
352, 24-25.
416, 8. V tfyht

The Mercian
gefeht.
In many
54, 27. heold

z wende
(autumans
19, 32-33)
z underpeodnysse
26, 6)
(subiectionem
z to frignesse
consulta
(ad
62, 3-4)
z bringan
ei
(offeramus
177, 23)
z sceawast
(cernis 264, 20)
i }?aet gewinn
(bello 300, 3)

forms would

be getalde,

gehernisse,

pairs a West Saxon form follows

i reahte (rexit 42,14)

ged ht, sellan,

an indeterminate

gesist,

and

form:

ne weaxan
(succrescere
50, 33)
70, 7. growan
z
416, 4. gewinnes
gefeohtes (belli 299, 32)
z wyrfimyndum
(gloria 301, 13)
418, 17-18. wuldre

The Mercian

forms would

be rehte or rcehte, wcexan,

gefehtes,

and weorfi

myndum.

The examples given in these six lists by no means exhaust the doublets
of the Bede translation which show dialectal differences. They have been
as many dialect
features as possible
selected with a view to illustrating
forms, which would necessi
and, at the same time, avoiding controversial
without
tate complicated
light on
throwing much additional
explanations
the problem. The similarity of these pairs to the double glosses of the Psal
an inexpert one, might
ter should be obvious. A translator,
especially
well lean upon an earlier interlinear gloss, changing I to i and altering some
words to fit his own dialect while leaving others very much as he found
them.

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172

Kuhn

are found in those parts of the Rushworth

Similar pairs of synonyms
Gospels* which Farman copied from the Lindisfarne Gospels, but with this
the Vespasian
the Saxon scribe who second-glossed
difference: whereas
Psalter left the original Mercian
glosses untouched,9 Farman usually trans
As a
literated the Northumbrian
glosses and then added his synonyms.
the dialectal differences
tend to fade out in Farman's version,
consequence,
and it is only by comparison with the original that we can see how some of
has undoa for
his doublets arose. In Mark
1, 7, for example, Lindisfarne
In Mark
undon
I
which
Farman
to
loesan.
before
alters
1, 17
adding
soluere,
he has changed gesie (fieri) to gebeofian I geseon. In Mark
1, 40, Lindisfarne
has mid cnew beging for genu flexo, while Rushworth has mid cneu begende
l beginge for genu flexu. In Mark
has du coe?e (dixeris),
1, 44, Lindisfarne
the Lindisfarne Gospels contain a synonymous
Farman s cge I cwepe. When
pair of their own, Farman may adopt one word and make a substitution
I
for the other, as in Mark
1, 45, Li. ingeonga I incuma, Ru. ingangan
ineode (introire). Or he may accept both Northumbrian
words, merely alter
2, 2, Li. ne maehte foa I nioma, Ru. ne maehte foan
ing the spellings: Mark
I
I nioman
2, 7, Li. for geaf a I forleta, Ru. forgeofan
(non caperet) ;Mark
(dimitiere).
forletan
It seems quite probable
that a translator working with a gloss would
proceed after Farman's manner, at least a part of the time. In this way, the
or translators
of the Old English Bede may have obliterated
translator
features of some earlier gloss.
many of the dialectal
since the gloss itself is no longer in
We cannot detect such alterations
the readings
existence, but we can see something very similar by comparing
the first list
of the various manuscripts
of Bede's history.10 For example,
forms from MS.
of synonymous
pairs given above contains eight Mercian
the earliest manuscript
of the Old
Tanner
10 of the Bodleian
Library,
version:

English

forbeorenne,

sprece,

song,

of gef en,

cegde,

salde,

dere,

scea

Seven of the pairs appear in MS. 41 of Corpus Christi College,

a later independent
of Tanner 10. The
copy of the archetype
Cambridge,
are
to
to
the
dialect
of a West
Saxon
conform
altered, however,
spellings
scribe: forberenne,
tospr ce, sang, ofgyfen, gecigde, p re, sceawodest. The
form, salde, occurs in a clause which the late manuscript
eighth Mercian
279 of
omits. Two of the Mercian
forms, gesprec and gef, occur in MS.
are
cases
In
in
the
Christi
both
doublets
Oxford.
College,
preserved
Corpus
a direct copy of
MS. Kk. 3. 18 of the Cambridge
Library,
University
forms have been Saxonized:
the preceding,
but in both cases the Mercian
wadest.

ce,

gespr

geaf.

all the doublets or synonymous

pairs in the glosses are of dialectal
that Aldred, who glossed the Lindisfarne
Gospels,
origin. Skeat suggested
might have been revising an older gloss in the first three Gospels but that
his work in John was independent.11 Without
either accepting or rejecting
of Aldred's note, we shall take most of our examples
Skeat's interpretation
Not

8
W. W.

in Anglo-Saxon,
Ver
and Old Mercian
Skeat, The Holy Gospels
Northumbrian,
Part II.
(Cambridge,
1871-1887),
9This
are
erasures
the
statement
alterations
in
true. There
is apparently
and minor
many
Mercian
but most
of them appear to be contemporary.
gloss,
10 See
op. cit., Part II, EETS, OS, Vols, cx-cxi
1898) ;or Jacob Schipper,
Miller,
(London,
von Bedas Kirchengeschichte,
Bibliothek
der angels?chsischen
K?nig Alfreds ?bersetzung
Prosa,
iv (Leipzig,
1897-1899).
11
ix
188.
and
Skeat, op. cit., iv,
sions

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Synonyms

in the Old English

173

Bede

in which his inde

in this Gospel,
from John. Aldred's
frequent doublets
indicate either that he was groping
has never been questioned,
pendence
for the right word or that he wished to supply as many possible translations
of crucial words as he could. A few examples will serve: 4, 10, u ter cuic
I lifwelle u ter (aquam uiuam); 4, 12, ahne I hueder (numquid);
5, 1, doeg
halig I symbeldoeg {dies festus) ; 5, 9, award I geuorden u s (factus est) ; 6, 16,
7, 4,
ofstigon Ifoerdon (descenderunt) ; 6, 22, floege I lyttel scipp (nauicula);
in degle I in deigelnise
(in occulto) ; 7, 44, ualdon I uilnadon
(uolebant).
That Aldred was truly racking his brains for synonyms
is evidenced by
a number of his glosses in John. Not
satisfied with a pair, he frequently
found three or four renderings of one Latin word. In 3, 7, oportet is glossed
are: 11, 2, geduog I smiride
gerised I behofad l ged fned. Other examples
I ledrede (unxit);
18, 4,
16, S3 getreuad I gelefed I getryccad (confidete);
feoll I cuom Ifordeode (processif) ; 18, 28, d s giroefa halle l motern I sprecem
In Matthew
1, 18, desponsata has four glosses: biwoedded I
(praetorium).
beboden I befeastnad I betaht. Aldred frequently added I after a gloss as though
for example, John 4, 44, uordscip
he were searching for further equivalents;
I aare l (honorem)', 6, 52, gecidon I getugon I (litigabant);
9, 22, geondetate I
(confiteretur) ; 14, 8, geno g is I (sufficit) ; 14, 22, du deauas l du eauande ard
I (manifestaturus
es).
he was evidently
striving for variant renderings for their own
Although
the Latin
sake, one can see special reasons for some of the synonyms. When
word

was

well

known

or

when

it was

proper

name

without

native

use it, perhaps

in abbreviated
he would
sometimes
form or
equivalent,
as his gloss. Then he would
often
termination,
perhaps with an English
or an explanation
add the closest approach to a native equivalent
in Eng
lish. Port am in Matthew
from
7, 13 is rendered port l dure l g t. Examples
John are: 11, 48, romane I romuaro (romani)', 19, 2, of dornum da corona I
d t sigbeg of dornum (coronam de spinis) ; 1, 43, of d r byrig I of bed s aida (a
bethsaida) ; 1, 28, iordanen done stream (iordanen) ; 19, 39, se degn nicodemus
21, 2, sunu zabedei ?. iacob t iohannes (filii zebedaei). In one
(nicodemus);
a
word of the gloss is not taken directly
Latin
from the Latin
instance,
text: John 19, 13, lapide stratus . . . I . . .mid stane gebr ded (lithostrotus).
in the glosses, a general term is supplemented
Sometimes
by one which
In Matthew
is more specific, or a figure is linked with a literal translation.
non
ne
moechaberis
has
the
gesynnge du and the
5, 27,
general rendering
are glossed
of piscinam
specific ne serd du odres mones wif. Both meanings
in John 5, 4: first the general and secondary uoel, then the specific and pri
in John 6, 31 is rendered hlaf Ifostrad. Cohors in John
mary fiscpol. Panem
18, 12 has the gloss compuearod roemisce with the added explanation,
fif
Uerbum
is glossed uord with the
hund cempo. In John 1,1, the figurative
literal explanation,
2, 16 is glossed by
p t is godes sunu. M agis Matthew
both dry urn and tungulcr ftgum.
of the glosses also appear in the translation,
Most
of the peculiarities
often with very awkward results.
occur in the translation
of
similar to those used by Aldred
Triplets
Bede. They are rather rare, but the following examples are hard to account
for except on the assumption
that the translation was based upon an inter
linear gloss:
ehtan z slogan z on w llfyldon
28,5-6)
46,21.
(insequitur
(sacerdotes
102, 31. heora sacerdas z bisco pas i mu?ecas

eorum

84, 5)

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174

Kuhn

%
ehta?S (aduersis nos inprecati
onbenum
wyrgnessum
104, 3-4. heo us mid heora widerwordum
onibus persequuntur
84, 21-22)
zmid hiise gebunden
et glacie constrictum
{acerrimum
167,19-20)
216, 27, grim t caldzfyrstig
t aasecgan
t aawritan
areccan
willaft
(e quibus hie
J?ara sume we her hredlice
422, 22-23.
esse
breuiter
aliqua
putaui 303, 28-29)
perstringenda

the second example12 "they assail us with their adverse

translates
as an adjective, wider
and curses," interpreting widerwordum
imprecations
weardum "against, adverse," and as the Old English equivalent
of aduersis.
It seems probable
aduersis nos rather
that the scribe read and translated
than aduersis inprecationibus
and that he felt ehtad us to be a satisfactory
the prefix on- (ond-)
aduersis nos. Moreover,
of persequuntur
rendering

Miller

of

onbenum

has

the

"adverse,

meaning

wordum is an adjective,
it must
type of doublet hard to duplicate

against,

opposed

If

to."

wider

be paired with a synonymous

prefix?a
either in the glosses or in the Bede trans

lation.

The
appears

used by
type of doublet
foreign-plus-native
in the Bede, as a few examples will illustrate:

also

the glossators

consul z cyning on Rome

(consulatum
48,3.
28, 21)
Creca ealdorburh
48, 13-14. Constantinopolim
(Constantinopolim
29, 7)
seo
reste
is
Genesis
booc
J>set
(Genesis 261,1)
346,6-7.
Moyses
z
1-2.
Ceciliae
m?rtires
Cecilian
See
(sanctae martyris
422,
pare halgan famnan
(Satanan
442, 27-28. Satanan
314, 15)
pone ealdan feond moncynnes

303,

3)

As in Aldred's glosses, there are instances in which the foreign member

of
a repetition
the doublet
is not merely
of the original word. For example,
English
(40, 11-12) render
heafde besiegen and the loan-word gemartyrad
sancta (360, 1) is translated by p t halige ge
decollatus (21, 15). Scriptura
in
writ and by se ca?an (486, 1-2). Some of the explanatory
amplifications
the translation were undoubtedly
suggested by double glosses or marginal
notes; for example, paralysis
(278, 13) is explained mid
langore depressam
i we cwedad lyftadl (378,
pa adle gesl gene beon, pe Crecas nemnad paralysis
23-24).
are fairly fre
The general-specific
and literal-figurative
combinations
follow:
quent in the Bede translation.
Representative
examples
z gemildsad
gesawen
18, 15)13
(respectus
beah z sige eces lifes (coronam uitae 21,10?11)
2
from wulfum
wildeorum
(zferis 28, 7)
dis mot beon swa i eallum gemetum p&t is alyfed (hoc fieri modis
licet 50, 23)
omnibus
usse ealdres i pa arestan men (primi parentes
nostri 54, 9)
.
.
.
l
ea
sua infirmitas
recessit
hire untrymnes
heo was hat geworden
onweg gewai
78,13-14.
(ab

34, 18.
40,5-6
46, 23.
68, 24.
74, 25.

55, 24-25)

80, 32. broda z Godespeowa

gesomnunge
57, 22)
(congregationi
fratrum
zpat
rice gestah (regnum caeleste
conscendit
116, 20-21. fordferde
heofonlice
93, 27)
z
7-8.
168,
eardungstowe
(sedem episcopalem
biscopsedl
139, 28-29)
z
deade
286,27.
(morte 221, 25)
fordfore
338, 8-9. pyssum mynstre
J? t is tStreonesheale
(huic monasterio
256,12)
. . . unda
7-8.
mid
da
bade (uitale
404,
liffestan yde Ip t is midfulwihte
291, 28)
z
21.
halo
word
tare
salutis
412,
(uerbum
godcundre
298, 20-21)
z
z
11.
he
scare
Godes
tonsura
424,
J?er
304, 22)
piohade
onfeng
(acceptaque

The
n0p.
13The

foregoing

comparisons

warrant

certain

conclusions.

First,

the arche

cit., i, 105.
Latin reads "subito

mid
l?am godcundan
which
renders both

diuina gratia respectus,"

the Old English
"J?a waes he semninga
z gemildsad."
we really have here is a translation
What
gyfe gesawen
the primary
and the secondary meanings
of respectus.

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Synonyms

in the Old English

Bede

175

translation
of Bede's Ecclesiastical
type of the Old English
History was
either a gloss or an adaptation
of a gloss. The maker or makers of the ver
sion which has come down to us leaned heavily upon the original, copying
much of it without
change, the rest with minor changes, chiefly in spelling.
No other hypothesis will account for certain of the double and triple render
those in which members
of the same pair are
ings of the Latin, particularly
derived from different dialects. An independent
conceiv
translator might
for the sake of
and unidiomatic
ably resort to clumsy
amplifications
from two
clearness, but to suppose that he would supply correct variants
is to credit him with a scientific knowledge
different dialects
of linguistics
A man with an old gloss before him
unknown
in tenth-century
England.
would be very apt to copy such variants,
and if he were careless or in a
hurry or afflicted with excessive reverence for his exemplar, he would often
to transliterate
into his own dialect. There
is corroborative
evi
neglect
dence for this hypothesis
in the fact that several partial glosses of Bede
are still in existence,
an indication
that these works were
manuscripts
rather frequently
times.14
glossed in Old English
the Bede gloss used in the translation must have contained
Second,
second glosses similar to those of the Vespasian Psalter. A number of these
were copied without
in the Old English Bede. One may assume
alteration
either that the original glossator was a Mercian
and the later scribe aWest
Saxon or that a West
Saxon original received second glosses in Mercian.
Of the two assumptions,
the former seems more probable. The abundance
of Anglian glosses and glossaries based on glosses, ranging in date from the
Corpus Glossary of the eighth century to the Rushworth Gospels of the late
Saxon glosses,
tenth, coupled with the relative scarcity of West
suggests
that interest in such matters
the West
late in Wessex. When
developed
Saxons finally began to gloss manuscripts,
their glosses were apt to be
derivative
and based on Anglian
originals.16
that the existing manuscripts
Miller
of Bede's history, while
observed
a
Mercian
West
Saxon
in
contain
strong
element,
dialect,
predominantly
which ismost striking in the oldest of the group, Bodleian MS. Tanner 10.u
He noted also a decided pro-Mercian
accounts
bias in the translator's
of
the early conflicts within
the Church. These features he explained by sup
was produced
in
of all the existing manuscripts
posing that the archetype
Mercian
there is no real conflict between Miller's
territory.17 Obviously
views and the one presented here. We may account for the Mercian
element
in
merely by localizing the original gloss, rather than the later translation,
is suggested by the
Mercia. That the translation was aWest
Saxon product
as distinguished
fact that most of the actual Old English
from
translations,
Saxons or under West
Saxon direction.
glosses, were produced by West
14Glosses
of the Vita Sancti
to parts of two MSS.
of the Hist.
Eccl.
and to six MSS.
General
Cuthberti are given by H. D. Meritt,
Old English Glosses
Series,
(A Collection), MLAA,
xvi
in Sweet's OET, pp. 180-182,
and
(New York,
appear
1945), 6-21. Other Bede glosses
in A. S. Napier,
Old English Glosses
(Oxford,
1900), pp. 198-200.
16
for example,
the Psalters.
Uno Lindel?f,
Die Handschrift
Junius
27 (Helsingfors,
Take,
pp. 43-44,47.
18
liv. In this connection,
I should like to point out that a large proportion
I, xiii-xv,
Miller,
as
of the examples
is generally
cited in this article are from the Tanner MS., which
recognized
to the common
most
who wishes,
faithful
of all existing MSS.
Anyone
however,
archetype.
or Schipper,
see that all of the MSS.
at least
contain
inMiller
may, by checking my examples
a few of the dialectally
that such pairs derive
indication
from the
differentiated
pairs?an
rather than from the scribes of the existing MSS.
archetype
17
I, lviii-lix.
Miller,
1901),

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176

Kuhn

on the subject of
this study offers nothing
conclusive
Third, while
to
it
the
further
discussion.
Alfredian
may
reopen
question
authorship,
If the Mercian
the Old English Bede was a gloss, and if
original underlying
the translation made from it was the work of a West Saxon, why may not
that West Saxon have been Alfred himself? Of Alfred's works, the one which
most resembles the Bede in this matter
of synonymous
pairs is his transla
tion

of

the

Cura

Pastoralis.

Both

translations

are

characterized,

moreover,

upon the Latin text, very

by a literalness and a rather timid dependence
and the Orosius.
found in the Boethius
unlike the freedom of treatment
The older view was that the first two were early works, written while Alfred
as a trans
was still a novice and lacked confidence
in his own capacities
scholar
lator. What
could be more natural for an inexperienced
expedient
than that of using earlier glosses to guide him in his work?
of the synonymous
the rhetorical
Fourth,
pairs has prob
importance
ably been exaggerated.
They are to be regarded, not as a species of orna
but as a rhetorical
mentation
introduced
translator,
by an independent
in which the translation was made.
accident growing out of the manner
Sherman M. Kuhn
Oklahoma A. & M. College

on Sat, 16 May 2015 04:20:54 UTC