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**List: Anglo-Saxon Ministry the Bible ( Đa Bible )
ANGLO-SAXON. [LONDON.]--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: "1842" John 1:1-14 unknown.]
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Anglo-Saxon Bible History (3)
**List: Anglo-Saxon Ministry
the Bible ( Đa Bible )
Anglo-Saxon...
ANGLO-SAXON. "I.--GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT AND ORIGIN. ANGLO-SAXON was the language introduced into England with the Saxon domination by three distinct
tribes of the Saxon Confederacy; namely, the Old Saxons properly so called (of whom mention is made
in the foregoing memoir), the Angles from Anglen in the south-east of Sleswick in Denmark, and the
Jutes from Jutland. The whole of England was divided between these three tribes: the Old Saxons
established themselves in the west and south, forming the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, and Wessex;
the Angles obtained large dominions in the north and east of England, and the south of Scotland;
and the Jutes possessed a small territory in Kent and the Isle of Wight. Of these tribes the Angles
appear to have been most numerous; in fact, they flocked to our island in such numbers as to leave
their native country almost destitute of inhabitants. But from the time of Egbert, A.D. 827, the power
of the West Saxons became predominant, and although the Angles gave their name to their adopted
country (Angle or Engle-land), yet their descendants are to the present day termed, not Angles, but
Saxons, by the Irish and the other Celtic nations. One and the same form of paganism prevailed
among Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, from the period of their first arrival in England, A.D. 449, till the
end of the sixth century, when [traditionalism] was introduced among them by Augustine and the forty
monks sent by Pope Gregory from Rome.II.--CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE. The three Saxon tribes who thus established their eight separate kingdoms in Britain, all spoke
dialects of one language. The dialect of the Angles was broader and more harsh than that of the
West Saxons, and was distinguished by the name of the Dano-Saxon, whereas the dialect of the West
Saxons was called pure Anglo-Saxon. These two dialects remained distinct as long as Anglo-Saxon was
the language of England, yet the difference between them probably was not greater than that whichnow exists between the dialects of English spoken in different counties. Alfred the Great, a West
Saxon king, gave predominance not only to the power but to the dialect of his countrymen; he
patronised learning and learned men, devoted himself to literature, and produced several translations
from Latin into his vernacular tongue. Under his auspices, therefore, the language of the West Saxons
became the cultivated dialect of Anglo-Saxon, though afterwards modified more or less by the influence
of the other dialects. The supremacy of the Danes during twenty-six years in England, under Canute
and his two sons, had some slight effect in altering the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The Norman-
French, introduced in 1066, had a still farther influence on Anglo-Saxon, which afterwards, by gradual
and successive alterations, insensibly merged into the English. The Anglo-Saxon ceased to be spoken
during the reign of Henry III., about A.D. 1258; it then took its place among the dead languages.
In a great degree, however, it still lives in the English language, of which it forms the very ground-
work; and it is not possible without some acquaintance with this ancient language, to understand
thoroughly the structure of our own. Several of the provincial dialects, especially that of Dorset,
preserve features of nearer resemblance to the Anglo-Saxon than the present polished English does.
Anglo-Saxon itself however is, as we have just shown, but a scion of the Old Saxon language
described in a preceding notice: among other evidences that it is not an original language may be
cited the singular fact, that no less than five different fragments of verbs, of which the principal
terminations appear in other languages, are huddled together in the conjugation of the substantive
verb. As compared with its cognate languages, Anglo-Saxon bears the nearest resemblance to the
ancient Friesic, and it is more than probable that many of the Friesians accompanied their Saxon
neighbours in the invasion and colonisation of England. In its grammatical forms, Anglo-Saxon
presents comparatively few deviations from the early branches of the Germanic family. It has two
numbers, singular and plural, and three genders. The gender of nouns is chiefly determined by their
terminations, and the adjectives have variable terminations to correspond with their nouns in gender,
number, and case. There are four cases, and three declensions. Adjectives have a definite and an
indefinite form of declension; the latter (of which the inflections are the same as those of nouns of the
second declension) is used when the adjective has a definite article, a demonstrative, or a possessive
pronoun before it. In nouns the final syllable ing is sometimes patronymic, like ιδης in Greek:
in the Anglo-Saxon version of the Bible, the servant of Elisha is called Elising: from this source arise
our words duckling, gosling, nestling, etc. But perhaps, one of the most remarkable characteristics of
Anglo-Saxon is the multiplicity of its synonymous words. It has ten synonymes for the word 'man,'
and as many for 'woman:' it has eighteen different words to denote 'persons in authority,' besides ten
compounds, and several official titles. It has also eighteen words expressive of 'the mind,' and fourteen
to denote 'the sea;' and to express the name of the Supreme Being, it has more terms and periphrases
than many other languages. The Anglo-Saxons possessed a strong partiality for metaphor and
periphrasis: thus to describe the Ark, the poet Cædmon used no less than thirty compound phrases,
such as, "the sea house," "the ocean palace," "the wooden fortress," "the building of the waves," etc.
This poetical combination of words was so continually resorted to, especially in poems, that many of
the words thus combined became current in the language as compound terms. The Anglo-Saxon
language displayed extreme aptitude in the formation of compounds, but, like most ancient languages,
it drew its materials from its own resources, and formed its compound words by the combination of its
own roots, without drawing, like modern English, from foreign vocabularies. "Great, verily,"
observes Camden, "was the glory of our tongue before the Norman conquest in this, that the Old
English (or Anglo-Saxon) could express most aptly all the conceits of the mind without borrowing
from any."III.--ALPHABETICAL SYSTEM. The Teutonic and the Celtic nations possessed an alphabetical system, of which the origin and the
history are lost in remote antiquity. This system was styled the Runic, from the Teutonic word Rûn,denoting a mystery, because the Runic characters were used in pagan rites. "The heathen Teutons,"
says Sir Francis Palgrave, "believed that the Runs possessed magical influence, could stop the vessel
in her course, divert the arrow in its flight, cause love or hatred, raise the corpse from the grave, or
cast the living into death-like slumbers." The Runes, however, of the Teutons and of the Celtic varied
in form; and even the Runes of the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians differed from each other as
much as the languages themselves. On account of the idolatrous veneration with which paganism
invested these Runes, the early preachers and mies. of Christianity endeavoured to set them aside,
and to introduce the use of the Latin characters in their stead. It was doubtless from this cause, that
Ulphilas refrained from writing his version in the Runic letters employed by the Germanic tribes, and
adopted a modification of the Greek and Latin alphabets. The Anglo- Saxons, who had brought their
Runes with them from Germany, as is evident from several ancient inscriptions, continued to use them
till the time of Augustine, when they were induced to substitute the Latin characters. The Anglo-
Saxon alphabet, however, has preserved a relict of the more recent Runes in its two peculiar characters
Þ, þ, stungen thuss, and Ð, ð, stungen duss, the former of which had the hard sound of th as in thing,
and the latter the soft sound of the same letters as in thine. The other Anglo-Saxon letters, though
very dissimilar from the Roman letters of the present day, are precisely the same as those used at Rome
during the age in which Augustine flourished. Five letters of our English alphabet, j, k, q, v, and z,
are not found in genuine Anglo-Saxon, but c and cw are invariably placed where k and q would be
used by us.IV.--VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE. It is very doubtful whether the entire Scriptures have ever been translated into Anglo-Saxon. We
have no traditionary account of a complete version, and all the biblical MSS. in Anglo-Saxon now in
existence contain but select portions of the sacred volume. The poems on sacred subjects usually
attributed to Cædmon, afford the first feeble indications of an attempt being made by our Saxon fore-
fathers to convey the truths of Scripture in their vernacular tongue. Cædmon lived in the seventh
century; he was a monk in the monastery of Streoneshaleh in Northumbria. It is said that he could
neither read nor write, but that some of the other monks used to teach him portions of sacred history,
and that he afterwards sang his lesson to his instructors in poetical strains. His poems have been strung
together so as to form a sort of metrical paraphrase on some of the historical books of Scripture. He
commences with the fall of the angels, the creation and fall of man, and proceeds to the history of the
deluge, carrying on his narrative to the history of the children of Israel, and their wanderings in the
desert. He also touches on the history of Nebuchadnezzar and of Daniel. The authenticity of this work
has been doubted, some writers being of opinion that it was written by different writers at different periods;
the striking similarity between some of the poems and certain passages in Milton's Paradise Lost has
been repeatedly noticed. Two editions have been printed; the first by Francis Junius at Amsterdam
in 1655, and the second, with an English translation and notes, by Mr. Thorpe, in London, in 1832.
The literal versions of such portions of the Scripture as have been translated into Anglo-Saxon
have chiefly been transmitted to us in the form of interlineations of Latin MSS. A Latin Psalter,
said to have been sent by Pope Gregory to Augustine, is still preserved among the Cottonian MSS.,
and contains an Anglo-Saxon interlinear version, of which the date is unknown. Aldhelm, bishop of
Sherborne, and Guthlae, the first Anglo-Saxon anchorite, translated the Psalms soon after the com-
mencement of the eighth century, but their MSS. are lost, and nothing is known with certainty
respecting them. The same may be said concerning the portions of Scripture reported to have been
translated by the Venerable Bede. At the time of his death, this renowned historian was engaged in a
translation of the Gospel of St. John, and almost with his latest breath he dictated to his amanuensis
the closing verse of the Gospel. Alfred the Great also took part in the translation of the Scriptures.
He translated the commandments, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and part of the three following
chapters, which he affixed to his code of laws. He likewise kept a "hand-boe," in which he dailyentered extracts from various authors, but more especially verses of Scripture translated by himself
from Latin into Anglo-Saxon.
There are three different versions of the Four Gospels at present known to be in existence. The
most ancient of these is the famous Northumbrian Gloss, or Durham Book, preserved among the
Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. This MS. is one of the finest specimens extant of Saxon
writing. The Vulgate Latin text of the Four Gospels was written by Eadfrid, bishop of Lindisfarne,
about A.D. 680: his successor in the see adorned the book with curious illuminations, and with bosses
of gold and precious stones; and a priest named Aldred added an interlinear gloss or version, probably
about the year 900. The second Anglo-Saxon version of the Gospels belongs to the tenth century,
and was written by Farmen and Owen at Harewood, or Harwood, over Jerome's Latin of the Four
Gospels. The Latin text was written about the same period as that of the Durham Book, having been
made during the seventh century. This valuable MS. is in the Bodleian Library, and is called the
Rushworth Gloss, from the name of one of its former proprietors. The other translation of the Gospels
was made by an unknown hand, apparently not long before the Norman conquest, and is thought to
have been translated from the Latin version which was in use before Jerome's time.
These important MSS., with the version of Ælfric hereafter to be mentioned, were for two or
three centuries thrown aside as useless lumber. With the disuse of the Anglo-Saxon language they
ceased to be understood, and were consigned to the shelves of monasteries. At the time of the Refor-
mation, some Anglo-Saxon MSS. on doctrinal subjects were drawn from their places of concealment,
and placed before the world in testimony that the early Saxon Church withstood the growing heresies
of the Church of Rome. The Reformers, aware that the translation of part of the Scriptures into
Anglo-Saxon was a precedent in favour of their own translation into the vernacular tongue, collected
the fragments of the Anglo-Saxon version, and in 1571 issued an edition of the Four Gospels with an
English parallel version. The text of this edition was a late MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library at
Oxford: it was edited by Archbishop Parker, and a preface was written by John Fox, the martyrologist.
This edition was carefully collated with four MSS. by Francis Junius, jun., and published by Dr.
Marshall at Dort, in 1665, in parallel columns with the Mœso-Gothic version. Some copies of this
edition were provided with new title-pages, bearing the date, Amsterdam, 1684. The most complete
edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels is that of Mr. Thorpe, printed in London, 1842, in Roman type.
Two Cambridge MSS. form the basis of this text, which in all doubtful passages is carefully collated
with other MSS.
Two editions of the Anglo-Saxon Psalter have been published. The first appeared in 1640: it
was printed in London under the care of Spelman, from an ancient MS. by an unknown translator, and
collated with other MSS. of equal antiquity. This version was undoubtedly made from the Latin
Vulgate, which interlines with the Anglo-Saxon. A splendid edition of the Psalms was published in
1835 at Oxford: the MS. which forms the text formerly belonged to the Duc de Berri, the brother of
Charles V., king of France, and was preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. Mr. Thorpe, the editor,
attributed this MS. to the eleventh century; and by some it is supposed to be a transcript of the version
executed by Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne, in the early part of the eighth century. It is, however, rather
a paraphrase than a version, and is written, partly in prose, and partly in metre.
A partial interlinear translation of a Latin version of Proverbs, made in the tenth century, is pre-
served among the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. To the same century belong the celebrated
translations of Ælfric, archbishop of Canterbury: they consist of the Heptateuch, or first seven books
of the Bible, and the book of Job. An edition of this version was published by Mr. Thwaits, at
Oxford, in 1699, from an unique MS. belonging to the Bodleian Library: the book of Job was printed
from a transcript of a MS. in the Cottonian Library. Ælfric in some portions of his version adheres
literally to the text; but in some parts he appears to aim at producing a condensation, or abridgment,
rather than a translation of the events related by the inspired historian. Like the other Anglo-Saxon
fragments, his translation was made from the Latin version.A few MSS. of the Psalms, written shortly before, or about the time of, the Norman Conquest,
are extant, and show the gradual decline of the Anglo-Saxon language. The history of the language
may still farther be traced in three MSS. yet in existence, which were made after the arrival of the
Normans. They are MSS. of the same translation, and two of them are attributed to the reign of
Henry the Second: but the language in which they are written is no longer pure Anglo-Saxon; it has
merged into what is designated the Anglo-Norman."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]ANGLO-SAXON. [LONDON.]--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: "1842" John 1:1-14 unknown.]
"V.--FACTS RELATIVE TO THE DISSEMINATION OF THIS VERSION. The Anglo-Saxon version was never disseminated among the people, for the art of reading was,
during the Anglo-Saxon period, exclusively confined to priests and kings. Learning was then cul-
tivated chiefly in monasteries, and the Latin version of the Scriptures was there generally studied. Some
members of the clerical body were, however, but imperfectly acquainted with the Latin tongue, and it
was for their benefit that the interlinear glosses were added to the Latin MSS., in order that they
might themselves understand the portions which it was their duty to read to the people."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition) Samuel Bagster [Info only]
ANGLO-SAXON. NORTHUMBRIAN DIALECT.--1860 S. Bagster [Info only: n.d. Matthew 5:1-8 unknown.] "The above is extracted from "The Anglo-Saxon Gospels," undertaken about 1833 by Messrs
J. M. Kemble and B. Thorpe at the expense of the University of Cambridge, and printed at the
Pitt Press. The progress of the work was suspended by the sudden departure of one of the editors to
Germany, and it was not resumed on his return."
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