First edition of 10th-century compendium of grammatical lore, second only in importance to Ælfric's own Grammar. When the famous Anglo-Saxon scholar Ælfric wrote the first grammar in a European vernacular, he used as his direct source the Excerptiones de Prisciano excerpts from major curriculum authors of the medieval schools, including Donatus, Isidore and Priscian himself . The tenth-century text, probably of English origin, most probably compiled by Ælfric, is an ambitious compendium of grammatical lore, and it is, with the exception of Ælfric's own Grammar, arguably the most sophisticated Latin-learning text of the Anglo-Saxon age. Edited here for the first time, the Excerptiones appear with all scholia, an English translation, and a full contextual introduction. DAVID W. PORTER is Professor of English, Southern University, Baton Rouge.

Old English verse and prose depict the human mind as a corporeal entity located in the chest cavity, susceptible to spatial and thermal changes corresponding to the psychological states: it was thought that emotions such as rage, grief, and yearning could cause the contents of the chest to grow warm, boil, or be constricted by pressure. While readers usually assume the metaphorical nature of such literary images, Leslie Lockett, in Anglo-Saxon Psychologies in the Vernacular and Latin Traditions, argues that these depictions are literal representations of Anglo-Saxon folk psychology. Lockett analyses both well-studied and little-known texts, including Insular Latin grammars, The Ruin, the Old English Soliloquies, The Rhyming Poem, and the writings of Patrick, Bishop of Dublin. She demonstrates that the Platonist-Christian theory of the incorporeal mind was known to very few Anglo-Saxons throughout most of the period, while the concept of mind-in-the-heart remained widespread. Anglo-Saxon Psychologies in the Vernacular and Latin Traditions examines the interactions of rival - and incompatible - concepts of the mind in a highly original way.

Anglo-Saxon lexicography studies Latin texts and words. The earliest English lexicographers are largely unidentifiable students, teachers, scholars and missionaries. Materials brought from abroad by early teachers were augmented by their teachings and passed on by their students. Lexicographical material deriving from the early Canterbury school remains traceable in glossaries throughout this period, but new material was constantly added. Aldhelm and Ælfric Bata, among others, wrote popular, much studied hermeneutic texts using rare, exotic words, often derived from glossaries, which then contributed to other glossaries. Ælfric of Eynsham is a rare identifiable early English lexicographer, unusual in his lack of interest in hermeneutic vocabulary. The focus is largely on context and the process of creation and intended use of glosses and glossaries. Several articles examine intellectual centres where scholars and texts came together, for example, Theodore and Hadrian in Canterbury; Aldhelm in Malmesbury; Dunstan at Christ Church, Canterbury; Æthelwold in Winchester; King Æthelstan's court; Abingdon; Glastonbury; and Worcester.

This review of the critical reception of Old English literature from 1900 to the present moves beyond a focus on individual literary texts so as to survey the different schools, methods, and assumptions that have shaped the discipline. Examines the notable works and authors from the period, including Beowulf, the Venerable Bede, heroic poems, and devotional literature Reinforces key perspectives with excerpts from ten critical studies Addresses questions of medieval literacy, textuality, and orality, as well as style, gender, genre, and theme Embraces the interdisciplinary nature of the field with reference to historical studies, religious studies, anthropology, art history, and more

This is an edition of the sixteenth-century Latin grammar which became, by Henry VIII's acclamation, the first authorized text for the teaching of Latin in grammar schools in England. It deeply influenced the study of Latin and the understanding of grammar. This edition includes chapters on its origins, composition, and subsequent history.

This volume provides a unique overview of the complete histories of Latin and Greek as second languages.

For the Anglo-Saxons, Latin was a language of choice that revealed a multitude of beliefs and desires about themselves as subjects, believers, scholars, and artists. In this groundbreaking collection, ten leading scholars explore the intersections between identity and Latin language and literature in Anglo-Saxon England. Ranging from the works of the Venerable Bede and St Boniface in the eighth century to Osbern’s account of eleventh-century Canterbury, Latinity and Identity in Anglo-Saxon Literature offers new insights into the Anglo-Saxons’ ideas about literary form, monasticism, language, and national identity. Latin prose, poetry, and musical styles are reconsidered, as is the relationship between Latin and Old English. Monastic identity, intertwined as it was with the learning of Latin and reformation of the self, is also an important theme. By offering fresh perspectives on texts both famous and neglected, Latinity and Identity will transform readers’ views of Anglo-Latin literature.