RJP:FNQ:HerewardI

http://www.rjplincs.plus.com/ariwxo3FNQsupI.htm Latest edit 5 Jul 2007.

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De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.

Incipit præfatio cujusdam opusculi de gestis Herwardi incliti militis¹.

Nonnullus apud nos scire desiderantibus opera magnifici Anglorum gentis Herwardi et inclytorum ejus et auribus percipere magnanimitates illius ac gesta : nuper nostræ parvitati vestra² insinuavit fraternitas, interrogans si aliquid in illo loco ubi degebat de tanto viro conscriptum aliquis reliquerit. De quo enim quum nos quodam in loco audisse modicum Anglice conscriptum professi fuimus, subito coegit vestra dilectio illud ad præsens perquiri, et mox in Latinam linguam transferri, subjungens etiam et ea quæ a nostris audire contigerit, cum quibus conversatus est, ut insignis miles magnanimiter vivens. Qibus quidem vestris desideriis satisfacere cupientes, multis in locis perquirendo manus convertimus, et penitus nihil invenimus, præter pauca et dispersa folia, partim stillicidio putrefactis at abolitis et partim abscisione divisis. Ad quod igitur dum stilus tantumdem fuisset appositus, vix ex eo principium a genitoribus ejus inceptum et pauca interim expressimus et nomen ; videlicet primitiva insignia præclarissimi exulis Herwardi, editum Anglico stilo a Lefrico Diacono ejusdem ad Brun presbyterum. Hujus enim memorati presbyteri erat studium, omnes actus Gygantum et bellatorum ex fabulis antiquorum, aut ex fideli relatione, ad edificationem audientium congregare, et ob memoriam Angliæ literis commendare. In quibus vero licet non satis periti aut potius exarare deleta incognitarum literarum, ad illum locum tamen de illo usque collegimus ut in propriam et ad pristinam domum reversus fratrem occisum invenerit : vestræ prudentiæ rudi stilo relinquentes crudam materiam vel alicujus exercitati ingenii studio ; minus dialecticis et rethoricis enigmatibus compositam et ornatam. Nihil enim de his amplius exarare curavimus, semper majora expectantes et necdum penitus aliquid invenientes. Quos tandem vana spes diu delusit, sicut ab initio a quibusdam dicentibus quod in illo et illo loco magnus liber est de gestis ejusdem. Ad quem mittentes quæ promissa fuerant nunc comparuerunt. Propeterea quidem tunc omnino illud relinquentes, opus inceptum abscondimus. At tandem a quibusdam nostrorum vobis diu latere non potuit, illud principium saluti vobis non denegari ex insperato nobis subito vestra mandavit benignitas. Tunc ergo quod imperfectum nostrum viderant oculi vestri, curæ nobis fuit iterum, licet non magni ingenii ope fretis, ad hoc in eo stilum convertere, et vobis iterum in morem ystoriæ libellulum retexere, de his quæ a nostris et a quibusdam suorum audivimus, cum quo a principiis illius conversati sunt, et in multis consortes fuerunt. Ex quibus sæpe nonnullos vidimus, viros videlicet statura proceri et magni et nimiæ fortitudinis. Et ipsi etiam duos spectabiles formæ viros ex illis, ut a vobis audivimus, vidistis, videlicet Siwate frater, Broter, de Sancto Edmundo et Lefrico Niger, milites ejusdem, licet a suis membris propter invidiam dolo orbitati speciem artuum per inimicos amiserint. Siquidem de his et de aliis, quos ipsi in multis probavimus et vidimus, si non aliter satis nobis daretur intelligi quantæ virtutis dominus illorum fuerit, et majora esse quæ fecit quam ea quæ de illo professi sunt. Propterea namque, ut existimamus, ad magnanimorum operum exempla et ad liberalitatem exercendam profectum erit Herwardum scire, quis fuerit, et magnanimitates illius audire et opera, maxime autem militiam exercere volentibus. Unde monemus, aures advertite, et qui diligentius gesta virorum fortium audire contenditis mentem apponite, ut diligenter tanti viri relatio audiatur : qui nec in munitione, nec in præsidio, sed in seipso confisus, solus cum suis, regnis et regibus bella intulit, et contra principes et tyrannos dimicavit quosque nonnullos devicit. De quibus etiam a genitoribus ejus inceptum cuncta per capitula inserta sunt, ut leviter possit retineri relectum quod distincte continetur expositum.

The Exploits of Hereward the Saxon.

Here begins the preface of a certain work concerning the exploits of Hereward the renowned knight ¹.

Some of us desiring to know of the deeds of the noble Hereward, of the race of the English, and his renowned men, and to hear with our ears his generous actions and doings ², the brethren of your house ³ have assisted our ignorance by enquiring if any man had left anything in writing about so great a man in the place where he used to dwell. For when we declared that we had heard in a certain place that a short account had been written about him in English, forthwith your kind attention had that writing immediately sought for, and before long translated into Latin, adding also those things which we had happened to hear from our own people, with whom he was intimate, living nobly as a famous soldier. Desiring therefore to satisfy these desires of yours, we applied ourselves to enquiring in many places, and yet in truth found nothing, except a few scattered leaves, partly rotten by damp, and decayed, and partly damaged by tearing. And when the pen had been taken in hand we have with difficulty extracted from it his descent from his parents and a few things and his character ; that is to say the early achievements of the very famous outlaw Hereward edited in English by Leofric the Deacon, his priest at Bourne. For the intention of this well known priest was to collect all the acts of giants and ancient warriors from stories, or from trustworthy narration, for the edification of his hearers, and for their remembrance to commit them to the English language ⁴. And although not sufficiently skilled in this, or rather incompetent to decipher what is obliterated of the unfamiliar language ⁵, yet we have gathered concerning him that on his return to that place and to his own ancestral home he found his brother slain. And we leave this raw material, written in rude style, to your care, and to the zeal of some man’s trained ability, to be composed and explained in simpler and plainer language. For we have been able decipher nothing further of this, ever hoping for greater results but as yet finding nothing thoroughly. For they, whom for a long time a vain hope deluded, derived from some who said that in such and such a place there is a great book of his exploits from the beginning, found nothing of what they had been led to expect, although they sent to the place.* Wherefore abandoning altogether the search, we have put away the work which had been begun. But from some of our men it would not long be hidden from you ; and unexpectedly you have kindly directed that that commencement at least should not be denied to you. It was then an object of care to us, though not relying on the help of great ability, that your eyes might see our incomplete work, to take up the pen once more, and again to unfold to you a little book after the manner of a history, concerning these things which we have heard from our own men, and from some of his, with whom they associated from the beginning of his career, and were in many things his comrades. Of whom we have often seen some, men (that is to say) tall in stature and huge, and of exceeding courage ; and you yourselves have seen also two men of them conspicuous for their form, as we have heard from you, namely, Siwate, Broter [sic] of S. Edmund, and Leofric Niger, his knights, although they lost the beauty of their limbs by enemies, being bereft of some members by trickery, through envy. And indeed of these and others, whom we in many things have proved and seen, if no otherwise, it were sufficiently given you to understand of what valour their lord was, and how much greater were the things that he did than what they reported of him. For besides, as we think, it will conduce to the example of noble deeds, and to the practice of liberality, to know Hereward, who he was, and to hear of his achievements and deeds, and especially to those who wish to undertake a soldier’s life. Wherefore we advise you, give attention, and ye who the more diligently strive to hear the deeds of brave men, apply your minds to hear diligently the account of so great a man : for he, trusting neither in fortification, nor in garrison, but in himself, alone with his men waged war against kingdoms and kings, and fought against princes and tyrants, some of whom he conquered. Concerning which things, beginning with his parents, everything has been inserted by chapters, that what is here distinctly set down may be easily remembered.

Commentary

* ↑ [Sweeting’ footnote] The Latin here seems quite corrupt. In many places, as will be observed, the grammar is inaccurate: this is probably the fault of the scribe.

[RJP’s note] The story was originally written in Old or early Middle English, by Leofric the Deacon, early in the twelfth century. Having reached a decayed state, this document was translated into Latin, collated and augmented by Hugh Candidus in around 1170. The copy shown in the frontispiece was made by or under the instruction of Robert of Swaffham in around 1260 and that was transcribed by S.H.Miller, in around the 1880s. Miller’s transcription was translated into modern English by W.D.Sweeting in about 1894. Miller’s and Sweeting’s work was set for printing in 1895, under the supervision of Sweeting and I have transcribed this printed version in 2007. Errors are to be expected.

1. ↑ Insofar as this Hereward text has an authentic title, this is it. Sweeting translates it as ‘The Exploits of Hereward the Saxon’ but De gestis Herwardi incliti militis means ‘concerning the actions of Hereward, the renowned soldier’. Were he described as a ‘knight’ he would be an eques rather than a miles. Nowhere in the text is the concept ‘Saxon’ introduced, except in describing a man against whom Hereward fought (Chapter XXXII).

There is a technical snag, in that the nominative singular form of the word, gestus might place it in the first or the fourth declension. Langenscheidt gives the fourth but Hugh Candidus has treated it as being of the first. As a noun of the fourth declension, gestis has no meaning.

2. ↑ Already, we have the key to understanding the whole text. The aspect of the text which seems to give people trouble is that it is a relation of one daring deed after another. If it were a book of his favourite recipes, they would probably accept it as such but this is a book written so that we can hear of Hereward’s magnificent acts, magnanimity and exploits (opera magnifici, magnanimitates illius ac gesta). It does not claim to be about his favourite music or whether he washed behind his ears. The fact that it sticks to its brief is not one we can reasonably complain about.

The story is presented as a series of episodes and the linking narrative, which would give an impression of the time between them, is treated very briefly or not at all. We therefore need to date events referred to in the text by information from outside sources.

3. ↑ This is Hugh Candidus addressing the abbot of Peterborough in the later twelfth century (ca. 1170).

4. ↑ This is an example of the use of English as a written language in the early twelfth century. Two writers associated with Bourne, Orm in the twelfth century and Robert Mannyng in the early fourteenth, each wrote in the English of his time. Here we have Leofric Deacon doing so, rather earlier than either. Leofric himself, played a part of the story (Chapters XIX, XXIII and XXXV). He was therefore in a position to know something of the truth of the matter. He may still have written it with a bias but at least, his social and political assumptions should be detectable. Those in turn, should tell us something of his time.

5. ↑ Hugh Candidus, the compiler of the story in its present form, acknowledged here that he is not fully au fait with English. This may be because he was of the Norman French culture, or perhaps, because he wished to appear so. That it was the former is possibly indicated by his misunderstanding of the Wide Mere name in chapter XXVI.