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The Hymnus trium puerorum: An Unrecognized Poem by Wulfstan of Winchester?

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Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts
This chapter is in the book Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts

Abstract

In a manuscript now in Rouen which was written at Winchester c. 1000, there is a Latin poem of forty-three lines, entitled Hymnus trium puerorum, which is a hexametrical version of the “Song of the Three Youths” from the biblical book of Daniel. Because the Hymnus is preceded in the manuscript by several hymns of Wulfstan, precentor at the Old Minster, Winchester, at the end of the tenth century, there is some possibility (as first suggested by Helmut Gneuss) that the Hymnus is an unrecognized poem of Wulfstan. After considering the possibility that, like the biblical “Song of the Three Youths” itself, the poem might have been used in the liturgy of the mass (specified for Saturdays of the four Ember fasts), the article presents detailed metrical analysis, to establish whether the anonymous poet’s metrical practice is comparable to that of Wulfstan, as attested in the large surviving corpus of his hexametrical verse. The analysis establishes that, although there are distinct similarities, there are also some differences; but the diction of the Hymnus shares a number of striking features with that of Wulfstan, enough to suggest that it is indeed an unrecognized work of Wulfstan. The article concludes with a new edition of the Hymnus trium puerorum

Abstract

In a manuscript now in Rouen which was written at Winchester c. 1000, there is a Latin poem of forty-three lines, entitled Hymnus trium puerorum, which is a hexametrical version of the “Song of the Three Youths” from the biblical book of Daniel. Because the Hymnus is preceded in the manuscript by several hymns of Wulfstan, precentor at the Old Minster, Winchester, at the end of the tenth century, there is some possibility (as first suggested by Helmut Gneuss) that the Hymnus is an unrecognized poem of Wulfstan. After considering the possibility that, like the biblical “Song of the Three Youths” itself, the poem might have been used in the liturgy of the mass (specified for Saturdays of the four Ember fasts), the article presents detailed metrical analysis, to establish whether the anonymous poet’s metrical practice is comparable to that of Wulfstan, as attested in the large surviving corpus of his hexametrical verse. The analysis establishes that, although there are distinct similarities, there are also some differences; but the diction of the Hymnus shares a number of striking features with that of Wulfstan, enough to suggest that it is indeed an unrecognized work of Wulfstan. The article concludes with a new edition of the Hymnus trium puerorum

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts: An Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Micro-Texts beyond Manuscripts
  6. Reading Money: An Introduction to Numismatic Inscriptions in Anglo-Saxon England 13
  7. Practical Runic Literacy in the Late Anglo-Saxon Period: Inscriptions on Lead Sheet 29
  8. Text on Textile: Ælfflæd’s Embroideries 61
  9. Part II: Scribal Engagement in Manuscripts
  10. The Colophons of Codex Amiatinus 89
  11. Cryptograms in Old English as Micro-Texts 117
  12. Two Micro-Texts in Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies: A Puzzle Revisited 131
  13. Part III: From Scribbles, Glosses and Mark-Ups to Text
  14. “No sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English” (Lewis Carroll): Making Sense of an Old English Scribble in the Royal Psalter 145
  15. The Old English Dry-Point Glosses 161
  16. Minimal Collections of Glosses: The Twelve Rooms of Thomas’ Palace 175
  17. Encyclopaedic Notes as Micro-Texts: Contextual Variation and Communicative Function 203
  18. The Micro-Texts of the Tremulous Hand of Worcester: Genesis of a Vernacular liber exemplorum 225
  19. Wulfstan at Work: Recovering the Autographs of London, British Library, Additional 38651, fols. 57r–58v 267
  20. A Text within a Text: St Augustine’s Prayer at the Beginning of his Soliloquia and its Old English Version 307
  21. Part IV: Old English and Anglo-Latin Poetry
  22. Guidance for Wayfarers: About to Do God’s Work, Devoutly Recalled 319
  23. Discrepancies between Cædmon’s Hymn and its Latin Rendering by Bede 329
  24. The Hymnus trium puerorum: An Unrecognized Poem by Wulfstan of Winchester? 347
  25. Index of Manuscripts 367
  26. General Index 371
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110630961-017

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Anglo-Saxon Micro-Texts: An Introduction 1
  5. Part I: Micro-Texts beyond Manuscripts
  6. Reading Money: An Introduction to Numismatic Inscriptions in Anglo-Saxon England 13
  7. Practical Runic Literacy in the Late Anglo-Saxon Period: Inscriptions on Lead Sheet 29
  8. Text on Textile: Ælfflæd’s Embroideries 61
  9. Part II: Scribal Engagement in Manuscripts
  10. The Colophons of Codex Amiatinus 89
  11. Cryptograms in Old English as Micro-Texts 117
  12. Two Micro-Texts in Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies: A Puzzle Revisited 131
  13. Part III: From Scribbles, Glosses and Mark-Ups to Text
  14. “No sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English” (Lewis Carroll): Making Sense of an Old English Scribble in the Royal Psalter 145
  15. The Old English Dry-Point Glosses 161
  16. Minimal Collections of Glosses: The Twelve Rooms of Thomas’ Palace 175
  17. Encyclopaedic Notes as Micro-Texts: Contextual Variation and Communicative Function 203
  18. The Micro-Texts of the Tremulous Hand of Worcester: Genesis of a Vernacular liber exemplorum 225
  19. Wulfstan at Work: Recovering the Autographs of London, British Library, Additional 38651, fols. 57r–58v 267
  20. A Text within a Text: St Augustine’s Prayer at the Beginning of his Soliloquia and its Old English Version 307
  21. Part IV: Old English and Anglo-Latin Poetry
  22. Guidance for Wayfarers: About to Do God’s Work, Devoutly Recalled 319
  23. Discrepancies between Cædmon’s Hymn and its Latin Rendering by Bede 329
  24. The Hymnus trium puerorum: An Unrecognized Poem by Wulfstan of Winchester? 347
  25. Index of Manuscripts 367
  26. General Index 371
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