An Anglo-Saxon reader in prose and verse, with grammar, metre, notes and glossary

University Of California Libraries, Henry Sweet

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• Publié par: mevar
• Nombre de lectures: 61
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 16 Mo

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portion HENRY FROWDE WAREnousri:Oxford Uxiversity Press Amen Corner, EC. AVENUE.& 66 FIFTHMACMILLAN CO.,Cfarcnion ^tviie(pvtee AN READERANGLO-SAXON IN PROSE AND VERSE WITH NOTES ANDMETRE, GLOSSARYGRAMMAR, BY HENRY LL.D.Ph.D.,SWEET, M.A., SEVENTH EDITION ENLARGED AND PARTLY RE-WRITTEN AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 18940;i:for5 AT THE CLARENDON PRESSPRINTED PRlNTliR lO THE UNIVERSITYBY HORACE IIAKT,URL PREFACE The first edition of this book inappeared i876^at a time when interest in studies wasOld-Englisli beginning —to and when the two books most in use thenrevive, Analecta -Saxonica and Vernon'sThorpe's Anglo Anglo- —Saxon Guide were to become Asbeginning antiquated. it thus a it from the withsupplied pressing want, met, first, a favourable from thereception gradually increasing body of not in this andOld-EngUsh students, only country on thebut also Continent. After theAmerica, appearance Earle's Book the inof Professor for Beginner Anglo-Saxon anI then out to serve asPrimer,brought Anglo-Saxon an introduction to the which in under-Reader, consequence went certain modifications in besidessubsequent editions, the many improvements suggested by ripened experience, the advice of and the of I haveothers, progress philology. learnt much from the other books of aalso similar character —that have late fromof sometimes theirappeared years good sometimes to avoid what seemedby endeavouringpoints, me their mostto defects. The of these are theprominentVI PREFACE. German Lesebuch and iheKluge's Angehachsisches (1888), American which has beenBright's Reader,Anglo-Saxon in this the firm of Swanrepublished country by enterprising Sonnenschein and Co. The latter bears a(1892). striking resemblance to the earlier editions of Reader but the ;my introduction is omitted. This defect how-grammatical is, from another of an inasmuchever, view,point advantage, as it has made the book a few than itsshillings cheaper namesake. It is a that the author has not adheredpity more to what to have been hisclosely appears original plan; he also have consulted the convenience of andmight myself those who use Reader the samemy by following system of and reference as in the later editions ofnumbering my book. In the first few editions of this work I as I havewas, remarked in the to Primer,preface my Anglo-Saxon obliged ' to make it a somewhat betweenunsatisfactory compromise an and a manual for advancedelementary primer [more] students.' In the edition I have carried evenpresent out, more than those alterations which seemedbefore,consistently called for its a continuation of the Primer. Butby being it covers a wider and to more ad-field,although appeals vanced it is still an book : it does notstudents, elementary to the learner's future studies inattempt anticipate English or or inliterature,philology, history, institutions, comparative but claims to a firm and broad founda- only lay tion for such studies. In its the of this bookform,present therefore, object is to before the student who has mastered theput alreadyPREFACE. Vll a series will aof texts whichPrimer, give general knowledge of the in its chief and withoutdialects,language periods the interests of andneglecting literary antiquarian study, with such additional in the of metre,helps way grammar, and as seemednotes, glossary necessary. In Reader the must neces-every Old-English preference be to West-Saxon but the exclusion ofsarily given texts; —the other dialects as in the editions of this bookprevious —and in is a mistake in but aBright's any very elementary book. Dialectal texts are forabsolutely necessary linguistic for modern is of dialectal and thestudents, English origin ; dialect in is of for theAnglian particular great importance critical of the HenceGrammar, §study poetry (see 3). I have of Northumbrian and late andgiven specimens early with of INIercian fromKentish a earlytogether long piece as the inthe well-known butPsalter;Vespasian hymns than thethat MS. a more varied psalmsgive vocabulary inI have thethemselves, full,given hymns although they are also in Second Reader, where, however,my Anglo-Saxon are the Latin which I haveaccompanied by original,they so as to induce the learner to master theomitted here, more I have also marked theforms thoroughly; quantities in the work.present and forOtherwise I have excluded glosses glossaries, the Second Reader.which I must refer to ITo make room for this additional have cutmatter, out on the Old Tesiajimit on account of itsJElfric dispro- and want of interest.lengthportionate This of has further enabled me to add thesaving spaceVIll PREFACE. finest of the TheOld-English lyrics, Seafarer (No. 29). I also add that most of the dialectal are ofmay pieces great value from a and of theview,literary antiquarian point Old-Kentish in acharters, particular, affording many glimpse into the life of our ancestors.daily But while due to what the Germansgiving prominence term I have been careful not torealien,conveniently forget that this is still an book. Hence I have excludedelementary —all texts however and in themselvesinteresting important —whose technical nature would arequire disproportionate —amount of comment with a considerable residueoften, too, of obscurities. of arehopeless Many them, too, preserved in late and recensions. So alsoonly corrupt linguistic considerations have often me to theobliged give preference to translations over works.original That I have been successful in amaking representative and selection of texts is admittedinteresting generally by —critics even those who are otherwise unfavourable. Certain of common such as the accountare, course,pieces property, of the of the andCsedmon, Chronicle,poet portions poems such as the Battle of Maldon. But even forallowing this, it will be found that successors follow memy very closely. Thus shows his of the in which I havewayKluge approval the difficult task of a selection frommakingaccomplished extracts selectionthe Laws bodily. Myby reprinting my mass of material in thenof the life of Oswald from the (the the Saittis seems to meet withJElfric's Livesunpublished) of notfor this text isfavour, only by Kluge,especial reprinted in das Siiidium dcsbut also Korner in hisby Einleitiing