The monk Aelfric Bata is the only identifiable graduate of the school of Aelfric `Grammaticus', the tenth-century Anglo-Saxon homilist whose Grammar, Glossary and Colloquyformed part of an educational plan for English boys. Bata's Colloquies, Latin conversations set in a monastic school, open a door into the world of Anglo-Saxon monasticism, revealing the details of daily activities: rising and dressing, studying the day's lesson, eating, bathing and tonsuring. Oblates ask a master's help in reading, bargain for a manuscript-copying job, obtain help in sharpening a pen. One colloquy depicts a flyting between master and student, who exchange graphic scatological insults. Combining the spare diction of his teacher Aelfric with the ornate glossematic vocabulary of Aldhelm, Aelfric Bata creates a cloistered world where comedy, invective, sermon and poetic recitation mix. The Colloquiesare presented with an English translation, glosses and full notes. Dr SCOTT GWARA teaches in the Department of English at the University of South Carolina: Professor DAVID PORTER teaches in the Department of English at Southern University, Baton Rouge.
Reviews
Advances considerably our understanding of Bata and the world of the monastic school. JNL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY. The translations are lively, readable... SPECULUM
Details
First Published: 25 Sep 1997
13 Digit ISBN: 9780851156996
Pages: 221
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: Boydell Press
Subject:
Medieval HistoryBIC Class: HBLC1
Details updated on 08 Feb 2012
