SELIM07 (2).pdf Xavier Campos, Selim 7 (2000, for 1997): 97—124 THE LATIN SOURCES OF ONE OF ÆLFRIC’S OLD ENGLISH HOMILIES ON SAINT STEPHEN1 To James E. Cross (July 20, 1920 — December 18, 1996), in memoriam. 0. INTRODUCTION It seems that Ælfric of Eynsham (who died c.1012 A.D.), perhaps the most prolific writer of West Saxon prose of his time, wrote at least two homi lies on saint Stephen.2 The first of these Ælfrician homilies about saint Stephen (Thorpe ed. 1843: I, 44-57)3 bears the title of Passio Beati Stephani, Protomartyris, 4 deals with what its Latin title announces and seems to have been drawn mainly from chapters six and seven of The Acts of the Apostles. The second one (Godden ed. 1979: 12-18),5 written in 992 A.D. (Clemoes 1959: 244) and entitled Natali Sancti Stephani Protomartyris, deals with the miracles attributed to the re lics and places of worship to the martyr in North Africa, and closely matches material in chapters eight and nine of the twenty- 1 This research has been possible thanks to financial support from Fundació Caixa Castelló, Bancaixa. 2 One of the seven deacons first chosen by the Apostles (Acts 6, 5) and later stoned to death by the Jews (Acts 7, 54-60). 3 Ms. Cambridge University Library Gg. 3. 28, ff 3-7. (Ker 1957: 13) 4 Written in 989 AD. (Clemoes 1959: 244) 5 Ms. Cambridge University Library Gg. 3. 28, ff 138-140v. (Ker 1957: 16) ____________________________________________________________________ 98 second book of Augustine of Hippo’s De Civitate Dei.1 (Morán ed. 1965: 713-722) The present paper deals with the second of these homilies, supplies data revealing its Augustinian sources and yields some brief descriptions of the main translating and composing techniques Ælfric seems to have used. 0.1. HOW TO FIRST APPROACH ÆLFRIC OF EYNSHAM ’S LATIN SOURCES In the Latin praefatio to his Catholicorum Sermonum Anglice (Thorpe ed. 1843: I, 1), Ælfric himself reveals the main sources to his collection of homi - lies: […] Hos namque auctores in hac explanatione sumus sequuti, videlicet Augustinum Hipponensem, Hieronimum, Bedam, Gregorium, Smaragdum, et aliquando Haymonem. 2 Later, in the Old English praefatio to his Liber Sermonum Catholicorum in Anno Secundo, Ælfric writes not so exp licitly as before that ic hi genám of halgum godspellum, and æfter geÍungenra láreowa trahtnungum hi asmeade. ? æra láreowa naman ic awrát on Íære ærran béc. on Íære ledenan fore spræce […].3 (Godden ed. 1979: 1-2) The reach of Ælfric’s knowledge and Latin input, however, goes far fur- ther than the few names above. A general map of the authors Ælfric knew and used in the composition of his own writings should include at least the names of Abbo of Fleury,4 ÆÍelwold of Winchester,5 Alcuin of York,1 Amalarius,2 1 On the one hand, Gneuss (1981: 17, 37) reports the existence of two manuscripts containing DCD, one in the Durham Cathedral Library and another in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; on the other hand, Lapidge (1985: 77, 83) says that one late Anglo- Saxon copy of Augustinus De ciuitate Dei was owned by the monastic library at Peterborough. 2 “Indeed we have followed these authors in this writing, that is to say, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, Bede, Gregory, Smaragdus and sometimes Haymo [of Auxerre]”. 3 “I took them [the homilies] from the holy gospels, and looked closely into them after the writings of the pious teachers. I wrote the name of the teachers in the Latin introduction in the first book”. 4 An author that has no contributor in the project that is called Sources of Anglo- Saxon Literary Culture (SASLC from now on). (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 221) 5 An outstanding figure in Anglo-Latin learning such as ÆÍelwold of Winchester is also lacking an SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 221) ____________________________________________________________________ 99 Ambrose,3 Augustine of Hippo,4 Basil,5 Bede,6 Cassian,7 Cassiodorus,8 Caesarius of Arles,9 Chrysostom, 10 Fulgentius the Mythographer,11 Gregory,12 Haymo of Auxerre,13 Hericus of Auxerre,14 Hilary of Poitiers,15 Hrabanus Maurus,16 Isidore of Seville,17 Jerome,18 Julian of Toledo,19 Martin of Braga,20 Origen,21 Paul the Deacon,22 Petrus Chrysologus,23 Quodvulteus of Carthage,24 Ratramnus of Corbie,25 Rufinus,26 Sedulius Scottus,27 Smaragdus,1 and Surius2 (Skeat ed. 1966: II, xliv-l; Pope ed. 1967: I, 1 Alcuin of York is being studied in the SASLC project by D. Bullough, P. Szarmach, V. Law, F. Biggs and T. Mackay. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 221-2) 2 Amalarius has no SASLC contributor. 3 L. Swift is Ambrose’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 222) 4 J. Kelly and J. Cavadini are the scholars with the responsability to study the presence of Augustine in the written culture of the Anglo-Saxons. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 223) 5 W. Stoneman is Basil’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. 1990: 223) 6 G. Brown is Venerable Bede’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al.1990: 223) 7 Cassian is being studied by D. Nodes. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 224) 8 J. Halporn is SASLC scholar devoted to the study of Cassiodorus. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 224) 9 J. Trahern is Caesarius’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 224) 10 Chrysostom has no SASLC contributor. 11 Hans Sauer is Fulgentius’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al.1990: 227) 12 The study of the presence of Pope Gregory the Great’s writings in the culture of the Anglo-Saxons is the responsability of M.McC. Gatch. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 228) 13 Haymo of Auxerre is being studied by F.Biggs. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 228) 14 Hericus of Auxerre has been forgotten in the SASLC project. 15 An author with no SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 228) 16 William Schipper is Hrabanus Maurus’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 229) 17 M. Herren is Isidore’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. eds. 1990: 229) 18 T. Amos is Jerome’s SASLC scholar. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 229) 19 Julian of Toledo is studied by F. Biggs et alii. (Biggs et. al. eds. 1990: 230) 20 Paul Szarmach is Martin of Braga’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. 1990: 231) 21 Origen is being studied by D. Nodes. (Biggs et al.eds. 1990: 232) 22 James Cross was studying Paul the Deacon for the project. (Biggs et al. 1990: 233) Jimmy –as professor Cross enjoyed being called- died on december 18th, 1996, aged 76. 23 D. Sprunger is Chrysologus’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. 1990: 233) 24 T. Hall is Quodvulteus’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. 1990: 234) 25 Who is being studied by T. Leinbaugh. (Biggs et al. 1990: 234) 26 P. Jackson is Rufinus’s SASLC contributor. (Biggs et al. 1990: 234) 27 Sedulius Scottus seems to have been forgotten in the project. ____________________________________________________________________ 100 1967: I, 150-177, and passim), together with a number of books from the Bible and anonymous Latin works. However, as Grundy (1991: 4) says, Ælfric treats these authorities “with a degree of freedom, substituting and rearranging where necessary […] in order to present an orthodox viewpoint […]”. Some of this “degree of freedom” is also explored here. 0.2. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO WITHIN ÆLFRIC OF EYNSHAM Needless to say, completeness is far from our present interest and possi- bilities. Let us only point out, on the one hand, that Po pe (1967: I, 165-6) has identified longer or shorter excerpts from at least nine different books of Augustine3 in seventeen of the thirty Ælfrician homilies he edited. On the other hand, Augustine is also visible in a number of places in the edition by Godden (1979: 12, 56, 225, and passim). It is reasonable to admit with Grundy (1991: 7) that “it is not exaggeration to say that almost all the ideas contained within Ælfric’s sermons are to be found in Augustine”. 1. NATALE SANCTI STEPHANI PROTOMARTYRIS The printed text here sourced4 is a transcription mainly from Cambridge University Library MS.Gg. 3. 28 (ff. 138r-140v) collated with London British Library MS. Cotton Vitellius D. xvii (ff. 140v-144r), in which “lines 38-87 [are] lost, and text defective at edges of leaves”. (Godden ed. 1979: 12) Apart from a) the introduction (lines 1-7), in which Augustine’s first-per- son voice is offered to the receiver of the text, AUGUSTINUS se wisa biscop spræc to his folce […] and pus cwæÍ; […]5 (Godden ed. 1979: 12), b) a short 1 Smaragdus is being studied by J. Hill. (Biggs et al. 1990: 235) 2 Surius’s name does not occur in the SASLC list. 3 None of them DCD. 4 Godden ed. 1979: 12-18. 5 “AUGUSTINE the wise bishop spoke to his people […] and thus said; […]” ____________________________________________________________________ 101 persuasive fragment (lines 74-78) stating that the miracles reported are only a few out of those many attributable to the martyr, and c) the final doxology (lines 177-217), mainly a scissors-and-glue mixture of common places from the New Testament, the homily describes twelve miracles all of them derived from Augustine’s DCD 1XXII, 8: 8, 10, 12-22, together with two short sentences from what Morán edited as the beginning of the ninth chapter of book XXII, all included in his edition. (Morán ed. 1965: 713-722) Despite the popularity of many of these Augustinian tales, later contained in the 13 th -century Latin Legenda Aurea, and despite the impeccable intro - duction and useful notes by professor Godden (1979: ix-xcvi, 346-380), the Ælfrician homily dealt with here remains so far unsourced. Indeed, the editor states that “in assessing the authenticity of the variant readings I have taken into account manuscript distribution, scribal tendencies, the Latin sources […]”. Yet the Latin sources are not ma de known. 1.1. FIRST MIRACLE. THE HEALING OF THE INSANE GIRL Sum Yponiencsis mæden wearÍ deofolseoc. ? a gesmyrode sum mæssepreost hí mid ele pæs halgan cyÍeres Stephanes, and heo pærrihte wearÍ gewittig;2 (Godden ed. 1979: 12) derives from DCD XXII, 8, 8, Hipponiensem quandam virginem scio, cum se oleo perunxisset, cui pro illa orans presbyter instillaverat lacrymas suas, mox a daemonio fuisse sanatam.3 (Morán ed. 1965: 713) Augustine’s tale has been altered in the Ælfrician text by the addition of this miracle that does not belong to the Stephen series in DCD. What is more, in Augustine it is the insane girl who annoints herself with the oil cui pro illa orans presbyter instillaverat lacrymas suas. In Ælfric it is a priest that an- noints the virgin mid ele pæs halgan cyÍeres Stephanes. 1 DCD = Augustine of Hippo’s De Civitate Dei. 2 “A certain maiden from Hippo was possessed by a devil. Then a priest annointed her with oil of Stephen the holy martyr and she returned immediately in her wits”. 3 “I know a certain maiden from Hippo who having annointed herself with the oil into which the priest that prayed for her had poured his tears, was immediately released from the devil”. ____________________________________________________________________ 102 The case means a curious addition including an alteration that will be- come the strong base in the homily of further references to the martyr’s healing oil. However, the miracle as told by Ælfric has nothing to do with the original Stephen story in Augustine’s DCD. 1.2. SECOND MIRACLE. THE HEALING OF THE BLIND WOMAN Sum blind wif com to pære halgan cyrcan pe wæs on wurÍmynte pises eadigan weres gehalgod. and hí gebæd. and pærrihte geseah; Heo Ía gewende ongean blissigende. buton latteowe. seo Íe ær blind pider gelæd wæs 1 (Godden ed. 1979: 12) derives from DCD XXII.8.10, Ad Aquas Tibilitanas episcopo afferente Praiecto reliquias martyris gloriosissimi Stephani, ad eius memoriam ve- niebat magnae multidinis concursus et occursus. Ibi caeca mulier, ut ad episcopum portantem duceretur, oravit: flores quos ferebat dedit: recepit, oculis admovit, protinus vidit. Stupentibus qui ader- ant, praeibat exsultans, viam carpens, et viae ducem ulterius non requirens.2 (Morán ed. 1965: 714) Ælfric seems to have omitted some original material and added some new one absent from DCD but necessary to the new isotopy of his narrative. Thus, in Augustine it is a blind woman who comes up to bishop Praiectus bearing the re lics of Stephen. After getting her eyes in touch with some flow- ers she had previously offered to the bishop, the blind woman is able to see again. In Ælfric it is a blind woman who goes to a church dedicated to Stephen’s memory in which she will be healed after her praying. Obviously, Ælfric is avoiding the place-name in the Augustinian miracle, the name of the bishop and the flowers. However, a new and solid reference in the Ælfrician homily has been created, seo halge cyrcan pe wæs on wurÍmynte pises 1 “A certain blind woman went to the holy church that was consacrated to the honour of the holy man and she asked for him and she immediatly saw; so, she who first had been led blind to that place, was coming back happily without a guide”. 2 “As bishop Praeiectus was carrying the relics of the most glorious martyr saint Stephen to the baths in Tibilis, a large crowd joined and went with him. A blind woman from the neighbourhood asked to be led up to the bishop that carried the relics. She gave some flowers she had: (the bishop) received them, placed them near her eyes and she suddenly could see. All the present admired, she went before the crowd leaping happily. She then took her way without requiring a guide”. ____________________________________________________________________ 103 eadigan weres gehalgod [=“the holy church that was consacrated to the honour of this holy man”]. 1.3. THIRD MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF EUCHARIUS Eucharius hatte sum mæssepreost on pam lande pe is geháten his - pania. se wæs Íearle geswenct mid lansumum broce. Ía gebrohte se bisop Possidius. sum Íing lytles of Íære foresædan cyrcan pæs eadigan stephanes. and se preost purh pæt wearÍ gehæled; Eft syÍÍan him becom oÍer untrumnys. ? æt hé forÍferde. and his lic bewunden læg. ac him man lede onuppab his agene tunican. Íe wæs gebroht fram pære cyrcan pæs eadigan cyÍeres. and hé of deaÍe aras 1; (Godden ed. 1979: 12) seems to draw from DCD XXII.8.12, Eucharius est presbyter ex Hispania, Calamae habitat, veteri morbo calculi laborabat; per memoriam supradicti martyris, quam Possidius illo advexit episcopus, salvus factus est. Idem ipse postea morboalio praevalescente, mortuus sic iacebat, ut ei iam pollices ligarentur; opitulatione memorati martyris, cum de memo ria eius reportata fuisset et super iacentis corpus missa ipsius pres - byteri tunica, suscitatus est.2 (Morán ed. 1965: 714-715) Ælfric follows the kernel of the Augustinian message but seems to have been pushed to take some decisions that slightly alter the original Latin hue. 1.3.1. New unimportant information is added a) to explain the Anglo - Saxon receiver the nature of an exotic place-name in the story, Hispania, pæt land pe is geháten hispania, and b) to link the present story to the 1 “Eucharius was called a certain priest from the land that is named Hispania who was severely troubled by a long disease. Then bishop Possidius brought a relic from the aforesaid church of the holy Stephen and the priest was healed with that. Later again another disease went to him so that he died, and his corpse was laid wrapped, but someone covered it with his own tunic that had been brought from the church of the holy martyr, and he from death arose”. 2 “Eucharius is a priest from Hispania, a dweller of Calama, who suffered from gallstones for a long time. He was healed by the relic of the same martyr, that bishop Possidius had brought. This same priest, once again, having suffered from another disease, was laying dead so that his thumbs had already been tied, resurrected thanks to the grace of the mentioned martyr. The priest’s tunic was carried to touch the relic of the saint, then the body was covered with it so that the priest suddenly came back into life”. ____________________________________________________________________ 104 preceeding one, the healing of the blind woman, in which an element absent from DCD is introduced with the aim of setting up a strong reference to shape new isotopy; that is to say, seo halige cyrcan pe wæs on wurÍmynte pises eadigan weres gehalgod. In Ælfric it is bishop Possidius who carries the re lic of Íære foresædan cyrcan pæs eadigan Stephanes. However, there is no “aforesaid church” in Augustine since the name of the place Possidius has taken the re lic from is not mentioned at all. 1.3.2. Some original material had been altered at least twice: a) morbus calculi (=“sickness of the stone”) has lost its original referential accuracy turned into an Old English umbrella-word, broc, a neuter noun meaning “affliction”, “trouble”, “malady”, “sickness”, etc. (Bosworth and Toller 1983: 126), and b) the translator’s mediation has been required to repair a deep cultural gap between Augustine’s early -Christian Numidia and Ælfric’s Anglo -Saxon Oxfordshire. Indeed, according to Augustine’s account, roman- ized Numidians used to tie together the thumbs of a corpse to provide it with some symmetry and dignity. So, when Eucharius dies ei iam pollices ligaren- tur [=“his thumbs had already been tied”], something exotic to an Anglo - Saxon mind. The gap had been fittingly filled in by means of a cultural change, his lic bewunden læg [=“his body was laid wrapped”]. 1.3.3. The name of Possidius’s episcopal city, Calama, is avoided not to puzzle the Anglo -Saxon audience with useless information. 1.4. FOURTH MIRACLE. THE CONVERSION OF MARTIAL. A CASE OF GREEK ANAGNORISIS IMPORTED Martialis hatte sum hæÍen wer. on wintrum geripod. hé onscunode micclum cristenra manna eawfæstnysse. ? a wæs his dohtor cristen swiÍe gelyfed. and hire wer wæs on Íam ylcan geare gefullod […] Nyste hé peah ær pæt se eadiga wer stephanus on his Írowunge swa clypode. ac Íurh his Íingunge hé wearÍ to fulluhte. and to Íam wordum onbryd 1(Godden ed. 1979) is a rendering from 1 “Martial was called a heathen man many years old that hated greatly the religion of the Christians. His daughter was a Christian that much believed and her husband had been baptized that same year […] However he did not know before that the ____________________________________________________________________ 105 Augustine’s DCD XXII.8.13, Fuit ibi vir in ordine suo primarius, nomine Martialis, aevo iam gravis, et multum a religione abhorrens christiana. Habebat sane fidelem filiam, et generum eodem anno baptizatum […] cum haec verba beatissimi Stephani, quando lapidatus est a Iudaeis, ultima fuisse nesciret: quae huic quoque ul- tima fuerunt: nam non multo post etiam ipse defunctus est.1 (Morán ed. 1965: 714-715) An abstract of the Augustinian story may come as follows: Martial, a powerful anti-Christian nobleman is very sick and about to die. Both his daughter and son-in-law, however, are Christian. They ask him to believe in God before dying, but Martial ignores them. The son-in-law goes to pray to saint Stephen’s church, where he takes some flowers from the altar. Then, the son-in-law places the flowers ad caput of his unbelieving father-in-law. Before dawn Martial requires the presence of the local bishop, who was out apud Hipponem. Instead, some priests come up to him. Surprisingly, Martial states to believe and is baptized anon. Then, just before his death, Martial miraculously utters the same last words saint Stephen had uttered before dy- ing after stoned by the Jews, Criste, accipe spiritum meum.2 (Acts 7: 58) Indeed, anagnorisis 3, often used as literary resource in sacred biography4, is a technique from Greek drama. (Heffernan 1992: 115-117) Apart from a pair of grammatical noises and a threefold level of translating changes produced, unavoidable in this kind of textual interaction, the nar- rative structure of the Augustinian tale remains basically the same in the Ælfrician rendering. holy man Stephen had said so in his martyrdom. Yet thanks to his intercession he was baptized and inspired with those words”. 1 “In that place there was a man called Martial, a most important man in his society, already an old man, that greatly hated the Christian religion. Actually he had a be- lieving daughter and his son-in-law had been baptized in the same year […] he did not know that these had been the last words of the glorious Stephen when stoned by the Jews. These had been too his last words for shortly after he passed away”. 2 “Christ, receive my soul”. 3 Anagnorisis as a Greek word means “recognition”. 4 Good examples of anagnorisis in Old English literature are given in the ninth-century Mercian Old English Martyrology, particularly the notice on saint Eugenia (Herzfeld ed. 1900: 4-6), and in Ælfric’s Lifes of Saints, especifically the accounts on saint Eugenia (Skeat ed. 1966: I, 25-51), saint Euphrosyne (Skeat ed. 1966: II, 334-355) and saint Eustace. (Skeat ed. 1966: II, 190-219) ____________________________________________________________________ 106 The fact of Ælfric’s using a name under its genitive shape, Martialis, as the grammar subject of the first sentence in the tale does not alter the hue of the source message; however, to change the original value of a little preposi- tion into another’s in the target text can easily vary the original message from the source text, as it happens when the Latin preposition ad (=“near”, “by the side of”) is turned into Old English under (=“under”, “beneath”). Seemingly, this is a minor change. However, if considerd together with some other alter- ations and additions, it confirms itself as a part in the technique Ælfric used t o emphasize the idea of an immediate healing effect from the flowers ad (=“under”?) Martial’s head. 1.4.1. Different ways to reach the same reference? First; Martial, vir in ordine suo primarius (=“a most important man in his society”) becomes sum hæÍen wer (=“a heathen man”); second, the Latin noun gener (=“son-in-law”) has become Old English hire wer (=“her hus- band” = “Martial’s daughter’s husband”), and third, the Latin prepositional phrase ante diculum (=“before dawn”) has been enlarged into on pære ylcan nihte æfter his frumslæpe [=“in that same night after his (Martial’s) first sleep”]. The first alteration emphasizes the evil-natured condition of Martial be- fore his miraculous conversion. The second alteration is absolutely meaning- less. The third one, however, is another agent in Ælfric’s exaggerating tech- nique if considered both as an alteration, on pære ylcan nihte, and an addi- tion, æfter his frumslæpe. Ælfric is evidently shortening the span between the laying of the flowers under Martial’s head and his sudden claiming for the bishop. 1.4.2. So, two minor additions shape up a clearer target message. One, ut christianus fieret (=“so that he became a Christian”) has been enlarged into pæt he cristen wurde ær his ende (=“so that he became a Christian before his end”), and two, ad capud (=“near the head”) grown into under pæs hæÍenan heafod (=“under the head of the heathen”), a double phenomenon within the same one phrase: a preposition changed and a noun postmodification added. ____________________________________________________________________ 107 1.4.3. The elisions observed also imply the formation of a new target (Ælfrician) isotopy. First, quando lapidatus est a Iudaeis (=“when stoned by the Jews”) has been reduced to on his ende (=“in his end”), thus avoiding the Anglo -Saxon receiver an unpleasant, exotic and unnecessary remark. Second, the elision of a whole relative clause postmodificating episcopum1 prevents the Anglo -Saxon receiver from the effects of a disturbing first-per- son personal pronoun2, and strengthens the new isotopy for it comes appar- ent to the Anglo -Saxon audience that all the miracles happen in one same place, which is not the case in DCD. 1.5. FIFTH MIRACLE. THE HEALING OF THE THREE GOUTY MEN pær wæron eac gehælede pry fótadlige men purh Íone halgan cyÍere. Twegen landes men. and an ælÍeodig; pa landes me wurdon pærrihte gehælede. and Íam ælÍeodigan wearÍ geswutelod hwæt he to his fotum lecgan sceolde. and he swa dyde swa him geswutelod wæs. and seo seocnys pærrihte geswác3 (Godden ed. 1979: 13) seems a rendering from Augustine’s DCD XXII.8.14, Sanati sunt illic per eundem martyrem etiam podagri duo, unus civis, peregrinus unus; sed civis omni modo: peregrinus autem per revelationem quid adhiberet quando doleret, audivit; et cum hoc fecerit, dolor continuo conquiescit.4 (Morán ed. 1965: 715-716) This short tale in the homiliy contains a good example of Ælfric’s exag- gerating points of view. As seen, Augustine tells the story of podagri duo (=“two gouty men”). Ælfric writes of pry fótadlige men (=“three gouty men”). 1 qui mecum forte tunc erat apud Hipponem [=”who was perhaps with me (Augustine) at Hippo”]. 2 Augustine’s own voice. Let that initial AUGUSTINUS […] cwæÍ be remembered. 3 “There three gouty men were also healed thanks to the martyr. Two men of this country and one foreigner. The men of this country were immediately healed. The foreigner was told what he should do to his feet. He did as told and the sickness disappeared anon”. 4 “Two gouty men were also healed in the same place by the same martyr, one citizen and one foreigner. The citizen was thoroughly cured and the foreigner heard a revelation showing the remedy to be applied when pain came. He applied the remedy and pain was instantly calmed”. ____________________________________________________________________ 108 1.6. SIXTH MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF THE CHILD A CART RUN OVER Sum cild plegode gymeleaslice and bearn under anum yrnendum hweole. and wearÍ to deaÍe tocwysed; Seo moder pa dreorig bær pæs cildes lic to pam foresædum gemynde pæs halgan stephanes. and hit sona deedcucode and andsund æteowode1 (Godden ed. 1979: 13) has been drawn from Augustine’s DCD XXII.8.15, Audurus nomen est fundi, ubi ecclesia est, et in ea memoria Stephani martyris. Puerum quemdam parvulum, cum in area luderet, exorbitantes boves qui vehiculum trahebant, rota obtriverunt, et confestim palpitavit expirans. Hunc mater arreptum ad eamdem memoriam posuit; et non solum revixit, verum etiam illaesus ap- paruit.2 (Morán ed. 1965: 716) As it often happens chez Ælfric, the name of the place in which the miracle happens, Audurus in this case, is strategically avoided. The Anglo -Saxon receiver is not disturbed with superfluous information and, what is more, new isotopy reinforcing the idea that all the miracles take place at one single place can be seen at work. A minor case of elision can be also observed in the translating of this tale. In DCD, the vehicle running over the child is drawn by an exp licit grammar subject, exorbitantes boves (=“runaway oxen”). In Ælfric, however, it is the boy who bearn under anum yrnendem hweole (=“ran under one running wheel”), with no mention to those Augustinian runaway oxen. The Latin message, nevertheless, has been basically kept. 1 “A certain child was playing carelessly and went under a running wheel so that he was killed. The mother then frightfully took the child’s body to the aforesaid memory of holy Stephen and it resurrected very soon and could go sound”. 2 “Audurus is the name of a rural estate in which there is one church, and in the church there is a memory to saint Stephen. One day, a little boy was playing in a threshing floor and some runaway oxen killed him with the wheel of the cart they were pulling. The mother took the body and placed it upon the very memory and the boy not only resurrected but came out without harm”. ____________________________________________________________________ 109 1.7. SEVENTH MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF T HE NUN An éawfæst mynecenu læg swiÍe geswenct. órwene ælcere ed- wyrpinge; pa asende man hire tunecan to pære halgan cyrcan. ac heo gewát ær se ærendreca ongean come; Hire magas Íeah ofer- bræddon pæt lic mid pære tunecan. and heo sona cucu aras 1 (Godden ed. 1979: 13) seems a shortened version of DCD XXII.8.16, Sanctimonialis quaedam in vicina possessione, quae Caspaliana dicitur, cum aegritudine laboraret, ac desperaretur, ad eamdem memoriam tunica eius allata est: quae antequan revocare- tur, illa defuncta est. Hac tamen tunica operuerunt cadaver eius pa- reentes, et recepto s piritu salva facta est. 2 (Morán ed. 1965: 716) Elision is once more the only phenomenon worth looking at, the Augustinian vicina possessio, quae Caspaliana dicitur (=“a nearby rural es - tate called Caspaliana”) has been dropped out in the translating process. 1.8. EIGHTH MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF THE BELIEVING MAN’S DAUGHTER Sum gelyfed man gebæd æt pære cyrcan for his adligan dehter. and hire reaf pider abær. efne Ía Ía he hám gecyrde. ? a urnon his híwan him togeanes. and hire forÍs iÍ him gecyddon; He Ía mid pam reafe pæt lic oferwreah. and seo dohtor pærrihte to lífe aras3 (Godden ed. 1979: 13-14) seems a shortened version from DCD XXII.8.17, Apud Hipponem Bassus quidam Syrus, ad memoriam eiusdem martyris orabat pro aegrotante et periclitante filia, eoque secum vestem eius attulerat: cum ecce pueri de domo cucurrerunt, qui ei 1 “A pious nun laid greatly afflicted, hopeless of any recovery. Then her tunic was sent to the holy church but she died before the messenger came back home. Her relatives, however, wrapped the corpse with the tunic and she soon arose alive”. 2 “The tunic of a pious woman who lived in a nearby estate called Caspaliana, as she was severely ill and hopeless, was carried to the same memory. Yet the pious woman died before the arriving of the tunic that had been touched. Her parents, however, covered the corpse with that tunic and she regained her ghost and was saved”. 3 “A certain believing man asked in that church for his ill daughter and a garment of hers he carried there. Just then he returned home. Then his servants came running up to him and informed of his daughter’s death. He then with the garment wrapped the body up and the daughter immediately arose into life”. ____________________________________________________________________ 110 mortuam nuntiarent. Sed cum, orante illo, ab amicis eius exciperentur, prohiberunt eos illi dicere, ne per publicum plangeret. Qui cum domum redisset iam suorum eiulatibus personantem, et vestem filiae quam ferebat, super eam proiecisset, reddita est vitae.1 (Morán ed. 1965: 716) On the one hand, Ælfric avoids names and surnames in the Augustinian tale: Hippo, an episcopal city in Numidia (Roman North Africa); Bassus, the name of the believing father, and Syrus [=“from Syria”], a denominal surname 2 to Bassus. On the other hand, Ælfric omitts sed cum, orante illo, ab amicis eius exciperentur, prohiberunt eos illi dicere, ne per publicum plangeret [=“Yet, as he was praying, his friends stopped the servants and forbade them to inform him so that he did not mourn in public”], what pushes Ælfric to change the original design Augustine had originally made. Indeed, in the Old English tale, the servants inform the father as he is going home. 1.9. NINTH MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF ANOTHER MAN’S SON Eft sumes oÍres mannes sunu purh untrumnysse gewát. ac Ía Ía his frynd pa lícÍenunge gearcodon. ? a tihte heora sum pæt man pæs cnapan líc smyrian sceolde mid ele pæs halgan stephanes; Hí swa dydon. and hé geedcucode3 (Godden ed. 1979: 14) had been taken out from DCD XXII.8. 18, Rursus ibidem apud nos Irenaei, cuiusdam collectarii filius, aegritudine exstinctus est. Cumque ccorpus iaceret exanime, atque a lugentibus et lamentatibus exse- quiae pararentur, amicorum eius quidam inter aliorum consolantium 1 “In Hippo, a certain Syrian called Bassus was praying at the memory of the same martyr for a daughter of his who was severely ill. He had taken with him one of the girl’s garments. Suddenly his servants came up running to him with the tidings of her death. Yet, as he was praying, his friends stopped the servants and forbade them to inform him so that he did not mourn in public. He came back home and – when nothing but weeping could be heard therein- covered her daughter’s body with the garment he had taken and she came back into life”. 3 “Similarly another man’s son died due to sickness, but when his friends had already made ready the funeral, one of them suggested that the body of the boy had to be annointed with the oil of holy Stephen. They did so and he resurrected”. ____________________________________________________________________ 111 verba suggestit, ut eiusdem martyris oleo perungeretur. Factum est, et revixit.1 (Morán ed. 1965: 716) Almost as expected, Ælfric had omitted the only name in this tale, Irinaeus, some circumstances around it, and some minor prepositional phrases in the inferior level of the syntax hierarchy. 1.10. TENTH MIRACLE. THE RESURRECTION OF T HE NOBLEMAN’S SON Eft sum pegen brohte his suna lic to Íam foresædan gemynde pæs halgan cyÍeres. and mid micclum wope hine gebæd. and æfter his gebede he ahof pæt cild up geedcucod asund 2 (Godden ed. 1979: 14) seems to have been taken from DCD XXII.8.19, Itemque apud nos vir tribunitius Eleusinus super memoriam Martyris, quae in suburbano eius est, aegritudine examinatum posuit infantulum fil- ium: et post orationem, quam cum multis lacrymis ibi fudit, viventem levavit. 3 (Morán ed. 1965: 717) The elision of a) the name and social condition of Eleusinus, and b) the relative clause postmodificating the noun nucleus memoriam, greatly short - ens the Ælfrician rendering. 1.11. THE PERSUASIVE FRAGMENT Gif we wyllaÍ ealla Ía wundra. and hælÍa awritan. ? e we oncne- owon gefremode purh Íone wuldorfullan cyÍere stephanum. Íonne wyrce we manega béc. ær Ían Íe we hí ealle gegaderion. and Íeah hí 1 “The son of a certain tax-collector called Irinaeus died here near us. As the funeral was being prepared all among weeping and tears and the body laying ghostless, one the father’s friends suggested to annoint the body of the son with the oil of the same martyr. It was done and the boy resurrected”. 2 “Actually, a certain nobleman brought the body of his son into the aforesaid memory of the holy martyr and with great weeping prayed to him. After his praying he lifted up the boy soundly resurrected”. 3 “Eleusinus, a noble man near us, placed one son of his who had died of sickness upon the memory of the martyr, which is in the suburb he used to live in. After having prayed and poured many tears, he lifted the boy up alive”. ____________________________________________________________________ 112 ne magon beon ealle gegaderode; Sind peah sume pe ic forsuwian ne mæg 1 (Godden ed. 1979: 14) has the aspect of being a severe shortening from DCD XXII.8.20, […] Si enim miracula sanitatum, ut alia taceam, ea tantummodo velim scribere, quae per hunc martyrem, id est, gloriosissimum Stephanum, facta sunt in colonia Calamensi, et in nostra, plurimi conficiendi sunt libri: nec tamen omnia colligi poterunt […] 2 (Morán ed. 1965: 717) 1.12. ELEVENTH MIRACLE. THE NOBLE WOMAN’S RING A n æpelboren wíf wearÍ micclum geswenct mid langsumere un- trumnysse. and hire ne mihte nán læcecræft fremian; pa lærde hi sum Iudeisc man pæt heo name ænne wernægel of sumes oxan hricge. and becnytte to anum hringe mid hire snode. and mid pam hí to nacedum lice begyrde; pa ferde heo swa begyrd to pæs hal- gan cyÍeres cyrcan. ? æt heo Íær hire hæle abæde; pa wicode heo be wege wiÍ pære éá pe is gehaten BRAGADE. and on ærneme rien s iÍode swa swa heo gemynt hæfde; pa geseah heo licgan Íone hring on Íam wege ætforan hire foton mid snode mid ealle. and pæs micclum wundrode; pa wende heo pæt se hring toburste. oÍÍe seo snód toslupe; Ac Ía Ía heo afunde pone hring gehalne. and pa snóde mid eallum cnottum swa fæste gewriÍen swa heo ær wæs. Ía undestod heo pæt pæt wundor gelámp purh Íæs halgan mihte. Íe heo to fundode. and micclum truwode híre hæle toweard Íurh his geearnungum. and wearp Íone hring mid pam bendum into Íam flowendum streame; Heo ferde Ía mid bliÍum mode to Íære halgan cyrcan. and Íær hire hæle gefette. ? urh Íæs halgan cyÍeres Íingunge; 3 (Godden ed. 1979: 14), apart from the long addition 1 “If we wanted to write down all the miracles and healings that we know Stephen the miraculous martyr accomplished, we should make many books before gathering them and they can not be put together; however, here are some I can not pass over”. 2 “If I wanted to refer only to the miraculous healings that the glorious martyr Stephen accomplished in Calama and here in Hippo –just to pass over some others- I would write many volumes. And so I would be unable to gather them all […]” 3 A woman of noble birth was very troubled with a long malady and medicine could do no good to her. Then she knew a certain jew who gave her a stone from the loins of an ox, tied it to a ring together with a hair-band or snood of hers and girded her naked body with it. Later, so girded she went to the church of the holy martyr to ask for her health. She stopped by the side of a way near the river that is called BRAGADE and in early morning she set forth as she had decided. Then she saw the ____________________________________________________________________ 113 dealing with the devil, derives from DCD XXII. 8. 21, Uzali etiam, quae colonia Uticae vicina est, multa praeclara per eundem Martyrem facta cognovimus: cuius ibi memoria longe prius quan apud nos, ad episcopo Evodio constituta est. Sed libellorum dan- dorum ibi consuetudo non est, vel potius non fuit: nam fortasse nunc esse iam coepit. Cum enim nuper illic essemus, Petroniam, clarissimam feminam, quae ibi mirabiliter ex magno atque diuturno, in quo medicorum adiutoria cuncta defecerant, languore sanata est, hortati sumus volente supradicto loci episcopo, ut libellum daret, qui recitaretur in populo; et obedientissime paruit. In quo posuit etiam, quod hic reticere non possum, quamvis ad ea quae hoc opus urgent, festinare compellar. A quodam Iudaeo dixit sibi fuisset persuasum, ut annulum capillatio cingulo insereret, quod sub omni veste ad nuda corporis cingeretur; qui annulus haberet sub gemma lapidem in renibus inventum bovis. Hoc alligata quasi remedio ad sancti Martyris limina veniebat. Sed pro fecta a Carthagine, cum in confinio fluminis Bagradae in sua possessione mansisset, surgens ut iter perageret, ante pedes suos illum iacentem annulum vidit, et capillatiam zonam qua fuerat alligatus, mirata tentavit. Quam cum omnino suis nodis firmissimis, sicut fuerat, comperisset, adstrictam, crepuisse atque exsiluisse annulum suspicata est: qui etiam ipse cum integerrimus fuisset iventus, fu turae salutis quodammodo pignus de tanto miraculo se accepisse praesumpsit, atque illud vinculum solvens, simul cum eodem annulo, proiecit in flumen. 1 (Morán ed. 1965: 717-718) ring laying on the way before her feet with all the snoods and she wondered at this. Then she thought that the ring had been broken or the snood dissolved, yet she had found the ring entire and the snood with all the knots so firmly bound as before. Then she understood that the wonder had happened through the power of the saint she asp ired to and greatly trusted her health upon his merits and then she threw the ring with the bands into the flowing river. Then she went to the church with a happy attitude and there she regained her health through the intervention of the holy martyr”. 1 “We also know that in Uzala –a colony near Utica- many wonders have happened through the intercession of this Martyr. Its [Uzala’s] bishop Evodius had carried there his [Stephen’s] relics long before bringing them to us [in Hippo], but in that place [Uzala] the practice of reeporting the stories does not exist; better, it did not exist for the practice has been now started already. Not long ago, when we [Augustine] were there, Petronia, a wealthy woman who had been miraculously cured of a severe malady that had exhausted all the resources of the physicians, was encouraged with the licence of the local bishop to report it so that it [her miraculous healing] could be known to the people, and she obediently did so. She said something in her report that I cannot conceal here, although it pushes me to ____________________________________________________________________ 114 As usual, Ælfric made his audience to miss the name of the noble woman, Petronia; the name of the place where the action happened, Uzala (which reinforces the new spatial isotopy in the West Saxon text); the name of Evodius, the bishop who encouraged Petronia to report her miraculous heal- ing; Petronia’s reported speech (which implies a change of the original nar- rative structure ), and some Augustine’s first-person occurrences. However, Ælfric’s translation respects Augustine’s kernel message. 1.13. TWELFTH MIRACLE. THE HEALING OF PAULUS AND PALLADIA An wundorlic tacn gelamp æt pæs halgan gemynde. swa wídmare ic wene pæt feawa wæron on pære neawiste pe pæt ne gesawe. o ÍÍe ne gehyrde; Seofon gebro Íu wæron. and Íreo geswustra. anre wydenan cild. on Íære byrig Cappadocia. æÍelborenre mægÍe; pa wearÍ seo modor biterlice gegremod.æfter hire weres forÍs iÍe. fram hire anum cilde to Ían s wiÍe. ? æt heo on eastertide eode to cyrcan. and wolde Íone sunu pe hi getírigde mid wyriunum gebindan; pa gemette heo ænne deofol on mannes híwe. se befrán hwider heo wolde; pæt earme wif andwyrde and cwæÍ. ? æt heo wolde to cyrcan gán. and pone sunu Íe hí tirigde awyran; pa andwyrde se deofol on pam menniscum híwe; Riht Íu dest and wel. gif Íu ealle Íine cild tosomne wyrigst. for Ían Íe hí ealle on andwerdnysse stodon Ía Ía se án Íe tynde. and noldon pe ealgian wiÍ heora bre Íer. ne hí Íinne teonan ne besargodon. wyrig hí ealle togædere; pæt earme wif gelyfde his wælhreowum geÍeahte. and wearÍ mid maran wódnysse astyrod. eode pa to Íam fantfæte. and tolysde hire feax. and bedypte on Íam fante. and mid micelre hatheortnysse ealle hire bearn mánfullice wirigde; Æfter pisum gecyrde hám. and gemette ealle hire bearn mid ormætre cwylminge. cwacigende eallum limum; accelerate the end of this work. She said that a jew had persuaded her to wear under her robes, in touch with her naked body, a snood with a ring in which a stone found in the loins of an ox had been set. Thus girded with the snood, the lady used to go to the holy martyr’s church. One day, however, she left Carthage and moved to live in a estate by the side of river Bragada. When she got up to start he journey, the lady saw the ring laying before her feet. She touched her waist to check her being girded and, as she found herself perfectly girded, she thought that the ring had broken and come off. She examined the ring, saw that it was right and she then understood this wonder as a sign of her future healing. Then she undid the snood and threw it into the river together with the ring”. ____________________________________________________________________ 115 pa wearÍ heo mid micelre sarnysse Íurhslegen. ? æt heo swa micel mán gefremode. eode Ía and hí sylfe on grine ahéng. ? æt heo fotum span; Witodlice se ylc a deofol Íe hí tihte ær to Íære mánfullican wyriunge. se hí eft siÍÍan to hire agenre hengene gelærde; pa earman bearn ne mihton Ía léng for sceame on pære byrig aÍolian. for Íære atelican cwacunge. ac ferdon wórigende geond eallum romaniscum ymbhwyrfte; Twegen pissera becomon to ús. bro Íer. and swuster. Paulus. and Palladia. wídcuÍe Íurh heora yrmÍe; Hí comon twám wucan ær eastron. and dæghwomlice geneosodon Ía halgan cyrcan on pære Íe wæs pæs wuldorfullan stephanes gemynd. bid dende pæt he him god gegladode. and him Ía ærran hæle forgeafe; pa on Íam easterdæge eodon hí swa hí gewunode wæron to pære cyrcan. and se bro Íor hine gebæd æt pam halgum reliquium; pa wearÍ hé færlice astreht. and slapendum gelicost læg. na swa Íeah cwacigende swa swa him on slæpe gewunelic wæs; Efne Ía hé aras and nateshwon ne cwacode. for Ían Íe hé wæs gehæled and stod gesúnd. sceawigende pa pe hine sceawodon; Eornostlice hwá mihte Ía Ía forsuwian godes herunge; SoÍlice seo cyrce wearÍ mid clypungum Íæs blissigendan folces. and hí urnon to me án æfter anum Íær ic inne sæt Ía gearo to gánne; Ælc æfter oÍrum cydde me pæt wundorlice godes tacn. and ic Íæs micclum gode Íancode; pa æt nextan stop inn se gehæleda cniht. and hine to minum cneowum gebígde. and ic hine to minum cosse arærde; Ic eode Ía to godes Íenunge. and pæt folc gebletsode. and him godes gerihtu dyde; Ic gela Íode pone gehæledan cniht to urum gereorde. and he us rehte ealle his broÍerlicere and moderlicere yrmÍe racu; On Íam Íriddan easterlicum dæge. ic hét standan pone gehæledan bro Íer ætforan Íam folce. and his swuster samod. and ic him rehte Ía race be endebyrdnysse; pæt folc beheold pone bro Íer standan buton átelicere cwácunge. and seo swuster eallum limum egeslice cwacode; pa Íe hine ær ne gesawon. and nyston fram hwilcere yrmÍe godes mildheortnys hine gehælde. hí mihton tocnawan on Íære swuster bifunge; pa het ic æfter Íære gereccednysse hí hwæthwega ufor gán. and ic ongann be Íam cuÍan intingan hwæthwega georn licor smeagan; Efne Ía færlice wurdon gehyrede oÍre clypunga níwre blisse of pæs martyres gemynde. and pæt folc beah Íyderweard; Seo cwacigende swuster eode of Íam stæpum pe heo on astód to Íam halgan cyÍere wolde hí gebiddan. and heo Íærrihte swa heo pæt gesceot hrépode læg swilce heo mid slæpe fornumen wære. and arás siÍÍan hál; pæt folc Ía mid miclere fægnunge and singalre herunge hí gelæddon to Íære stowe pær heo lytle ær cwacigende stód. and micclum ____________________________________________________________________ 116 fægnodon. ? æt heo wæs pam breÍer gelic. Íam Íe heo hwene ær Íurh Ía eges lican bifunge ungelíc wæs; Hwæt Ía ealle samod blissodon on godes herungum. swa micclum pæt ure earan earfoÍlice mihton heora stemne aræfnian; Hwæt wæs on Íæra blissigendra heortan buton godes geleafa. for Ían pe stephanes blod agoten wæs?1 1 “A wonderful token befell in the memory of the saint. I think it was so famous that those in the neighbourhood who neither saw it nor heard of it were but a few. In the city of Cappadocia, a young widow in a family of noble birth had seven sons and three daughters. Then the mother became so much bitterly irritated after her husband’s death by one of her children that she went to the church in Paschal time and desired the son that had annoyed her bound with cursings. She then met a devil under the aspect of a man. The devil asked what she wanted. The pitiful woman answered and said that she wanted to go to the church and curse the son that had troubled her. Then the devil under human hue said: ‘You will do right and well if you do evil to all your children together, for they were all present when that one vexed you, they did not want to defend you against their brother and did not comfort your pain. Curse them all together.’ The pitiful woman believed his cruel thought and was stirred with more anger. She then went to the font for baptism, undid her hair, dipped in the font and with great rage she wickedly cursed all her offsprings. After that she returned home and found all her sons with severe sufferings, all their limbs quaking. Then she was struck by great sorrow so that she accomplished a great wickedness, she then went and hanged herself on a rope so that she moved her feet convulsively. Indeed, the same devil that had previously brought to her mind the terrible cruelties, had now induced her to her own hanging. The pitiful children could no longer endure for shame to stay in the city due to their dire trembling; however, they went wandering beyond all the Roman boundaries. Two of these came to us, one brother and one sister, Paulus and Palladia, widely known due to their misery. They arrived two weeks before Easter and everyday they visited the holy church that contained the memory of miraculous Stephen ask- ing God for their gladdening and their previous health restored. On Easterday they went to the church as it was their wont, and the brother asked for himself to the holy relics. Then he was suddenly postrated and lay like those who sleep without quaking, however, as he was accostumed in his sleep. He just then arose and quaked by no means because he had been healed and stood looking at those who looked at him. Who could then, indeed, pass over the praising of God? Truly, the church was full with the cries of the blessing people, that there ran to me one after one up to the place I was sitting ready to go. All of them told me the wonderful token of God and I greatly thanked God for that. Then, shortly after, the healed boy came up to me, bowed down before my knees and I made him stand with one kiss of mine. I then went to the service of God, blessed the people and did the rites of God to them. I summoned the healed boy to our refection and he told us the explanation of the evil from his brothers and mother. On the third day of Easter I ordered the healed brother to stand before the people together with his sister and I told them the ex- planation in an orderly way. The people beheld the brother standing without the dire quaking, yet the sister was shaking all her limbs fearfully. Those who could not see him before and did not know the misery that the mercy of God had taken him out from, could now know the sister’s quaking. After the reporting, I ordered them ____________________________________________________________________ 117 (Godden ed. 1978: 15-16) has been enlarged from Augustine’s DCD XXII, 8, 22 (Morán ed. 1965: 719-721): Unum est apud nos factum, non maius quam illa quae dixi, sed tam clarum atque illustre miraculum, ut nullum arbitrer esse Hipponiensium, qui hoc non vel viderit, vel didicerit, nullum qui oblivisci ulla ratione potuerit. Decem quidam fratres (quorum septem sunt mares, tres feminae) de Caesarea Cappadociae suorum civium non ignobiles, maledicto matris recenti, patris eorum obitu destitutae, quae iniuriam sibi ad eis factam acerbissime tulit, tali poena sunt divinitus coerciti, ut horribiliter quaterentur omnes tremore membrorum: in qua foedissima specie oculos suorum civium non ferentes, quaquaversum cuique ire visum est, toto pene vagabantur orbe Romano. Ex his etiam ad nos venerunt duo, frater et soror, Paulus et Palladia, multis aliis locis misera diffamante iam cogniti. Venerunt autem ante Pascha ferme dies quindecim, ecclesiam quotidie, et in ea memoriam gloriosissimi Stephani fre- quentabant, orantes ut iam sibi placaretur Deus, et salutem pristi- nam redderet. Et illic, et quacumque ibant, convertebant in se civi- tatis aspectum. Nonnulli qui eos alibi viderant, causamque tremoris eorum noverant, aliis, ut cuique poterant, indicabant. Venit et Pascha, atque ipso die dominico mane, cum iam frequens populu s praesens esset, et loci sancti cancellos, ubi, ubi martyrium erat, idem iuvenis orans teneret, repente postratus est, et dormienti simillimus iacuit: non tamen tremens, sicut etiam per somnum solebat. Stupentibus qui aderant, atque aliis paventibus, aliis do- lentibus, cum eum quidam veellent erigere, nonnulli prohiberunt, et potius exitum exspectandum esse dixerunt. Et ecce surrexit, et non tremebat, quoniam sanatus erat, et stabat incolumis, intuens intuentes. Quis ergo se tenit a laudibus Dei? Clamantiu m gratulan- tiumque vocibus ecclesia usquequaque completa est. Inde ad me to place themselves a bit higher and I began to inquire on this known affair a little more zealously. Just then, suddenly, more cries of new blessing were heard from the martyr’s memory and the people turned their way in that direction. The quaking sister had gone from the steps she was standing on up to the holy martyr she wanted to pray and, as she dealt with the shaking, she lay as taken by sleep and then she arose perfectly hale. With great rejoicing and perpetual praise, the people led them to the place which little before she had stood quaking on, and greatly exulted that she were like her brother was, she who previously was not like him due to her fearful trembling. All those rejoiced together in praising God so loudly that our ears could hardly listen to their voices. What there was in their blessing hearts but the faith of God, whom Stephen’s blood had been poured out for?” ____________________________________________________________________ 118 corritur, ubi sedebam iam processurus: irruit alter quisque post al- terum, omnis posterior quasi novum, quod alius prior dixerat, nun- tiantes: meque gaudente et apud me gratias Deo agente, ingreditur etiam ipse cum pluribus, inclinatur ad genua mea, erigitu ad oscu- lum meum. Procedimus ad populum, plena erat ecclesia, pernosabat vocibus gaudiorum. Deo gratias! Deo laudes! nemine tacente, hinc atque inde clamantium. Salutavi populum, et rursus eadem ferventiore voce clamabant. Facto tandem silentio, Scripturarum divinarum sunt lecta solemnia. Ubi autem ventum est ad mei ser- monis locum, dixi pauca pro tempore et pro illius iucunditate laeti- tiae. Magis enim eos in opere divino quamdan Dei eloquentiam, non audire, sed considerare permisi. Nobiscum homo prandit, et diligenter nobis omnem suae ac maternae fraternaeque calamitatis indicavit historiam. Sequenti itaque die, post sermonem redditum, narrationis eius libellum in crastinum populo recitandum promisi. Quod cum ex dominico Paschae die tertio fieret in gradibus exe drae, in qua de superiore loquebar loco, feci stare ambos fratres, cum eorum legeretur libellus. Intuebar populus universus sexus utriusque, unum stantem sine deformi motu, alteram membris omnibus contrementem. Et qui ipsum non viderant, quid in eo div - inae misericordiae factum esset, in eius sorore cernebant. Videbant enim quid in eo gratulandum, quid pro illa esset orandum. Inter haec recitato eorum libello, de conspectu populi abire eos praecepi; et de tota ipsa causa aliquanto diligentius coeperam dis putare, cum ecce, me disputante, voces aliae de memoria Martyris novae congratulationis audiuntur. Conversi sunt eo qui me audiebant, coeperuntque concurrere. Illa enim ubi de gradibus descendit, in quibus steterat, ad sanctum Martyrem orare perrexerat. Quae mox ut cancellos attigit, collapsa similiter velut in somnum, sana surrexit. Dum ergo requereremus quid factum fuerit, unde iste strepitus laetus exstiterit, ingressi sunt cum illa in basilicam, ubi eramus, adducentes eam sanam de Martyris loco. Tum vero tantus ab utroque sexu admirationis clamor exortus est, ut vox continuata cum lacrymis non videretur posse finiri. Perducta est ad eum locum, ubi paulo ante steterat tremens. Exsultabant eam similem fratri, cui doluerant remansisse dissimilem: et nondum fusas pre ces suas pro illa, iam tamen praeviam voluntatem tam cito exauditam esse cernebant. Exsultabant in Dei laudem voce sine verbis, tanto sonitu, quantum aures nostrae ferre vix possent. Quid erat in ____________________________________________________________________ 119 cordibus exsultantium, nisi fides Christi, pro qua Stephani sanguis effusus est? 1 (Morán ed. 1965: 719-721) 1 “One miracle, not greater than those I have spoken of, but so clear and bright that there are many witnesses among the people of Hippo having seen it there or having heard about it, a miracle that will be never forgotten, has happened here near us. Ten noble brothers (seven boys and three girls) from Caesarea of Cappadocia that had been recently cursed by their mother due to an insult they had done to her after their father’s death, were punished by divine will with a pain consisting of a terrible quaking of their limbs. Not able to bear being looked up and down, they left in different ways wandering almost all the Roman empire. Two of these, two brothers, Paulus and Palladia, arrived in our city when they were already known elsewhere thanks to the fame of their misery. They arrived some fifteen days before Easter. Everyday they used to visit the church and the memory in it of the most glorious Stephen, praying God so that He should pity them and give their health back to them. Those who had previously seen them and knew the cause of their trembling told the others in their own way. Easter came and, on sunday morning, when a large croud was filling the church, the boy, siezed to the iron gate of the holy place with the martyr’s relics, suddenly fell down and lay as if he wereee leeping. However, he did not quake as he previously used to. Some were shocked by pain, others by fear. Some wanted to raise him up, yet some forbade them to do so saying that it was better to wait for the outcome. Yet the young one arose without trembling for he had been healed so that he stood entirely sound looking at those who were looking. Who then did not praise God? The church was filled with clamour and thanking voices. Then, when I was ready to go, many ran to me. They came up one after the other, the last one telling the same that the first had previously told. Overjoyed and thanking God deep inside myself, I saw how the lucky one had arrived surrounded by the crowd. He cast down to my feet. I embraced him and made him stand up. We addressed to the people. The church was overcrowded. Rejoicing voices went forth and only the following words could there be heard: ‘Thanks to God, blessed be God!’ I greeted the people and a new clamour even more fervent could be heard. Finally, already in silence, the lessons in the divine writings were read. When the portion of my sermon arrived, I addressed some words according to the time and greatness of that joy, for I preferred them to enjoy God’s eloquence in such great a work than to listen to my words. The man lunched with us and told us with full details the story of his misery together with his mother’s and brothers’. Next day after the sermon I promised the people to read the account of the event. Three days after Easter sunday, when I was reading what had been previously promised, I made the brother and the sister to place themselves on the steps of the pulpit from which I used to speak. Everybody looked at them attentively. He was perfectly quiet yet she was trembling from head to feet. Those who had not seen them before could now see in the sister what the divine mercy had done in the brother. They saw what there was in him to be thanked for and what they had to pray for her. When the reading of the lesson was over, I made them retire from the presence of the people. I had started to utter some thoughts about this story when, together with my own words, we coud hear new rejoicing voices coming out from the martyr’s memory. Then, those who heard them turned towards that place in crowds. The young girl had come down from the steps and gone to pray to the martyr. Just when she touched the gates, she fell as in sleep and then arose thoroughly sound. As we were asking what had happened and which was the cause of that happy crying, already ____________________________________________________________________ 120 1.13.1. The long addition Ælfric makes up. The first part of the story, at least as told by Augustine, is based upon a weak rationale. Indeed, the curse the ten brothers are victims of is justified by the latin adverb divinitus [=“due to divine will”]; that is, the active curse is the visible outcome of an angry widow’s praying, something with the nec- essary strength to provoke severe convulsions to ten people. Ælfric reshapes the story with the inclusion with a well-known agent of evil, deofol on mannes hiwe [= “a devil with the aspect of a man”], an expected character to a medieval mind. Indeed, in the tale by Augustine, where no devils go forth exp licitly, all the children are victims of their mother’s cursing. In Ælfric, however, the mother wants to curse only one of them but the devil advices her to curse all of them. As it is known, the Ælfrician mother, horrified at her own deeds, hangs herself, a lesson added by the West Saxon writer. 1.14. THE JOINING OF TWO CHAPTERS As previously observed, the end of DCD XXII.8.22 is an interrogative sentence, Quid erat in cordibus exsultantium, nisi fides Christi pro qua Stephani sanguis effusus est?1 (Morán ed. 1965: 721), conveniently translated by Ælfric, Hwæt wæs on Íæra blissigendra heortan buton godes geleafa. for Ían pe stephanes blod agoten wæs? 2, a common message where the Latin genitive Christi [“of Christ”] turned into Old English godes [“of God”] has been the only alteration observed. healed in the martyr’s tomb, she was led in to the basilica. An outburst of happiness went forth from the mouths of men and women. Their voices, half joy half tears, went on indefinitely. She was led to the place short ly ere she had been quaking in. Those who previously had pitied her, were now overjoyed. They praised God because He had listened to their prayers even before their praying. They did not praise God with words but with meaningless voices, so loudly that our ears could hardly stand by with them. What was there in the hearts of this happy people but the faith to Christ whom Saint Stephen had poured out his blood for?” 1 “What was there in the hearts of this happy people but the faith of Christ whom Saint Stephen had poured out his blood for?” 2 “What was there in the hearts of those blessing but the faith of God for which Stephen had poured out his blood?” ____________________________________________________________________ 121 Ælfric goes beyond the Stephen “stuff” in chapter eight and enters the first sentences heading DCD XXII.9, which are the source to one of his teaching gists; thus, Hwæne mærsiaÍ pas wundra mid heora seÍunge. buton crist pe on so Íre menniscnysse geboren wæs. and mid flæsce of deaÍe aras. and mid flæsce to heofenum astah? Witodlice Íes halga cyÍere. and mid æftergengan wæron gewitan pyses geleafan. and Íisum geleafan hí cyddon gecyÍnysse oferswiÍende pisne feondlican middaneard. na ongean feohtende ac sweltende; 1 (Godden ed. 1979: 16-7) is a shortened rendering from Cui, nisi huic fidei attestantur ista miracula, in qua praedicatur Christus resur- rexisse in carne, et in caelum ascendisse cum carne? Quia et ipsi martyres huius fidei martyres, id est, huius fidei testes fuerunt, huic fidei testimonium perhibentes mundum inimicissimum et crudelissimum pertulerunt; eumque, non repugnando, sed moriendo vicerunt. (Morán ed. 1965: 722)2 1.15. THE BIBLICAL SKELETON OF THE REST OF THE HOMILY When the Augustinian source is no longer translated, there it comes a fragment that seems the product of Ælfric’s own memory and “creative” method (Cross 1969); that is, a text not deriving from a single author/ text but a kind of intertextual meeting point containing a number of definable commonplaces, echoes, allusions and reminiscences mainly from the two Testaments. Thus, our aim here is to make known the bib lical origin of the main ideas Ælfric is dealing with and to organise them under the following four items: a) Christ and Stephen compared. As expected, the Ælfrician Stephen is also the first martyr following cristes fotswaÍum [“Christ’s foot-traces”]. Both Christ and Stephen’s last speeches are quoted: Min drihten, miltsa him nyton hi hwæt hi doÍ, from Luke 23, 24 (“My Lord, forgive 1 “What do these wonders proclaim with their evidence but Christ that was born in true human nature and arose in flesh from death and in flesh went up to heavens? Certainly, these holy witnesses together with their followers knew this faith and they call this faith the testimony that overcomes this hostile world, not fighting but dying.” 2 “What do these miracles testify but the faith that preaches Christ having resurrected and gone up to heaven in flesh and soul? Martyrs have been martyrs, that is, witnesses of this thruth for which they had endured a most cruel hostile world, overcoming it not by means of fighting but of dying.” ____________________________________________________________________ 122 them for they know not what they do”), and Drihten min, ne sete pu him Ías dæda to synne, from Acts 7, 60 (“My Lord, do not hold these deeds as a sin against them”). b) Dangers of cursing. One of Ælfric’s final arguments, pæt Ía wyrigendan godes rice ne geagniaÍ is clearly taken from 1Corinth 6, 9 (“so that revilers will not inherit the kingdom og God”). Indeed, the tale of the widow who cursed her children was read to the Anglo -Saxon audience as a good model showing both the dangers of cursing and the paranormal capacities of the new faith. c) Mutual respect between parents and children. This New Testament-ori- ented fragment is suddenly shaken by echoes from echoes from Leviticus 20, 9 ne fæder ne moder mid teonan ne getyrion to heora wyriungum, and one “easy” quotation from Exodus 20, 12 ArwurÍa pinne fæder and pine moder. ? æt pu lang líf ofer eorÍan wunie 1, fol- lowed by reminiscences from Psalms 34, 1, ure tunge is gesceapen to godes herungum, 2 and Psalms 62, 4, Ne magon we mid anum mu Íe bletsian and wyrian.3 d) The Christian message par excellence. The end of the text here sourced is a quotation from both Luke 6, 27, He cwæÍ lufiaÍ eowre fynd, doÍ pam tela Íe eow hatia Í, 4 and Matthew 5, 44-45, gebiddaÍ for eowerum ehterum and tynendum. ? æt ge beon eowres fæder bearn se Íe on heofenum is.5 Xavier Campos Vilanova Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain REFERENCES 1 “Honour your father and your mother, so that you live a long life on earth”) 2 “Our tongue has been made to the praise of God.” 3 “We cannot bless and curse with one mouth.” 4 “He said love your enemies do good to those who hate you.” 5 “Ask for those who persecute you so that you may be son of the Father who is in heaven.” ____________________________________________________________________ 123 Biggs, F. M., T. D. Hill, P. E. Szarmach, eds. with the assistance of K. Hammond 1990: Sources of Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture: A Trial Version, Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton, NY. Bosworth, J. and T. N. 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Herzfeld, G. 1900: An Old English Martyrology, Early English Text Society, London. Ker, N. R., 1957: Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon, Clarendon Press, Oxford. Lapidge, M. 1985: Surviving booklists from Anglo -Saxon England. M. Lapidge and H. Gneuss eds. Learning and Literature in Anglo-Saxon England. Studies presented to Peter Clemoes, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Morán, J. ed. 1965: Obras de San Agustín, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid. ____________________________________________________________________ 124 Pope, J. C. ed. 1967: Homilies of Ælfric. A Supplementary Collection, 2 vols., Early English Text Society, Oxford. Skeat, W.W. ed. 1966: Ælfric’s Lives of Saints, 2 vols., Early English Text Society, Oxford. Thorpe, B., ed. 1843: The Homilies of Ælfric, vol. 1, Richard & John E. Taylor, London. * † *