The Owl and the Nightingale () is a twelfth- or thirteenth-century Middle English poem detailing a debate between an owl and a nightingale as overheard by the poem's narrator. It is the earliest example in Middle English of a literary form known as debate poetry (or verse contest).

Verse contests from this time period were usually written in Anglo-Norman or Latin. This poem shows the influence of French linguistic, literary, and rhetorical techniques. After the Norman conquest, French became a predominant language in England, but English was still widespread and recognized as an acceptable language for poetry, if only burlesque debates.

The dating of the poem is uncertain. The poem includes a prayer for the soul of the "king Henri", but it is unclear from the context if the deceased monarch mentioned in the prayer is Henry II of England (who died in 1189) or his grandson Henry III of England (who died in 1272). According to one scholarly theory, the nightingale of the poem specifically represents Henry II, which could mean that the rival character of the poem (the owl) represents one of Henry's political rivals, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Date, authorship and provenance

There is no certain information about the poem's author, date of composition or origin.

Nicholas of Guildford is mentioned several times in the text as the man best suited to judge which bird presents the strongest argument. His character never actually makes an appearance, and the poem ends with the debate unresolved and the owl and nightingale flying off in search of Nicholas. Some critics speculate that the most likely reason for the mention of Nicholas of Guildford in the poem is because he is the author. However, in the introduction to the latest translation on the text, Neil Cartlidge reminds the reader that despite the general acceptance of Nicholas as author "there is no firm evidence to support such an identification and no certain trace of the existence of any Nicholas of Guildford, priest of Portesham, beyond the text itself". Additionally, there has been academic discussion on whether The Owl and the Nightingale could have been written by a religious group of nuns with other religious women as their target audience.

It is equally difficult to establish an exact date when The Owl and the Nightingale was first written. The two surviving manuscripts are thought to be copied from one exemplar, and they are dated to the second half of the 13th century. In lines 1091–2, the nightingale prays for the soul of "king Henri", which is thought to reference "either the death of Henry II of England in 1189 or of Henry III of England in 1272".

Linguistic evidence suggests the poem's origins lie in Kent or a neighbouring region, but there is little evidence to support this theory. Because The Owl and the Nightingale cannot be accurately dated, it is nearly impossible to properly reconstruct the original dialect. Recent scholarship also acknowledges that provenance could be anywhere in Wessex, the Home Counties or the south-west Midlands. Both are bound together in collections of other works. They are both estimated to be written in the latter half of the 13th century and copied from the same exemplar, now lost.

Oxford, Jesus College, MS 29

This manuscript, given to Jesus College between 1684 and 1697 by rector Thomas Wilkins, contains 33 texts in English, Anglo Norman, and Latin. All of the script is in one hand.

Genre

Medieval debate poetry was popular in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and this poem draws on their structure, mimicking legal suits of the time. Each bird charges the other with an accusation, and brings forth evidence to support her claim. Proverbs are cited as a rhetorical argument from authority. However, the birds' rhetorical techniques are highly flawed. The birds' attack strategies rely on belittlement, condescension, and analogising their opponent's habits to unsavoury people or things.

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:Jesus Oxford Edition:

:Þu art lodlich to biholde.

:And þu art loþ in money volde.

:Þi body iſ ſcort, þi ſwere iſ ſmal.

:Gretture iſ þin heued ne þu al

[lines 71–74]

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:Modern English translation:

:You'll be a monster all your days

:For you're grotesque in many ways:

:Your body's short; your neck is small;

:Your head's the largest part of all…

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The animals' defence is founded on self-praise, as each bird justifies her behaviours and attempts to show the benefits in her own actions. However, the Owl berates the Nightingale for a quality she herself possesses, and the Nightingale's self-defence argument follows the same logic as offered by the Owl. Both use their song as a way to encourage proper religious thought and behaviour. The Nightingale simulates the auditory pleasures of heaven,

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:Jesus Oxford Edition:

:& heo beoþ alle for me þe gladdere:

:& to þe ſong e beoþ þe raddure.

:Ich warny men to heore gode.

:Þat hi beon blyþe on heore mode.

:& bidden þat hi moten iſeche.

:Þat ilche ſong þat euer if eche.

[lines 736–742]

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:Modern English translation:

:And helped by me, however meagerly,

:They sing out all their hymns more eagerly.

:Thus I warn them, for their good,

:to contemplate in a joyful mood,

:and bid them to seek earnestly

:the hymn that rings eternally.

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while the Owl coerces people to repent, and warns them of what awaits them should they sin.

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:Jesus Oxford Edition:

:Ich wiſſe men myd myne ſonge.

:Þat hi ne sunegi now iht longe.

:Ich bidde heom þat heo iſwike.

:Þat heom ſeolue ne be ſwike.

:For betere iſ þat heo wepe here

:Þan elleſ hwar beo deouele yuere.

[lines 927–932]

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:Modern English translation:

:And by my song I teach all men

:They'd better turn their backs on sin,

:And warn them against evil ways

:Lest they be fooled for all their days;

:Far better weep a while before

:Than burn in hell forevermore!

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References and context

  • Alfred
  • At many points in the poem, the birds cite King Alfred as a source of wise dicta. Although there was a medieval compendium of sayings attributed to Alfred, the birds in the poem are not actually quoting it. These references do acknowledge his wisdom and authority, but are little more than appeals to Alfred's generic image as a wise, just, and learned ruler from England's past.
  • Bestiary
  • The animals' characteristics follow heavily on the tradition of a bestiary, a concise catalogue where animals are listed, and their characteristics are described, along with the symbolic and allegorical associations and morally significant qualities they represent. One of the birds' goals through their debate is to assign meaning and purpose to their own characteristics. According to Genesis 1:26, all creatures were made by God to serve man, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:26, King James Bible) Given this view, it makes sense the birds see their value as directly proportional to their usefulness to mankind.
  • Clergy
  • Near the end of the poem, the bishops of Portesham are condemned for prohibiting Master Nicholas to live with them. They bestow higher jobs to unintelligent men and display nepotism. Since the housing of bishops is hardly a concern of birds, scholars have interpreted this reference as a contention the author had with the institution. Nicholas himself is speculated to be the author, although directly pointing out irritation at his superiors would be unlikely to win him any advancement.
  • Christ
  • Both animals are presumptuous in their claims of value, but the Owl goes so far as to imply she displays Christ-like sacrifice and compassion. With imagery reminiscent of the crucifixion of Jesus, she remarks on how useful she is even after death:

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:::Jesus Oxford Edition:

:::& hwanne hi habbeþ me ofſlawe.

:::Heo anhoþ me in heore hawe.

:::Þar ich aſchevle pie & crowe.

:::From þan þat þer is iſowe.

:::Þah hit beo ſoþ. Ic do heom god.

:::& for heom ic ſchedde my blod.

:::Ic do heom god. Myd myne deþe.

::[lines 1611–1617]

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:Modern English translation:

: And later, when at last I die,

:he hangs me, spitefully, on high

:where I scare off magpies and crows

:and save the seeds the farmer sows.

:For evil, I return them good

:and for mankind I shed my blood!

:I help them even when I die..."

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Interpretation, criticism, and analysis

Most scholars in the past have defined the work as an allegory, yet the difficulty of sustaining this method of analysis throughout the poem remains a challenge. These interpretations tend to characterise each principal figure in polar opposition to the other, and since scholar Kathryn Hume's work on the text has encouraged other scholars to turn to format and structure rather than symbolic characterisation.

Scholars have also discussed The Owl and the Nightingale and its connection to themes of antisemitism due to the negative medieval association of owls with Jewish people.

Disregarding an allegorical interpretation, critics have taken the position that the two figures of the text do represent symbolic depictions of people, institutions, and other forces. The question of date and authorship make any certainty about the text a challenge to interpretation. The most consistent theme in the piece is the determination of the birds to trounce their opponent no matter the lengths to which their argument must stretch.

Several scholars have focused on comparisons between the structures in the medieval legal system and that of the poem itself. The birds take turns presenting their arguments as they would have done in a contemporary court, while also structuring their arguments as legal defences and providing the opinions of authorities to strengthen their cases. While the unknown date of creation yet again foils any certain comparison, analyses have ranged from imitations of 12th- or 13th-century court mechanisms to no actual comparison, with acknowledgement that the author was indeed acquainted with judicial proceedings.

  • Facsimile edition
  • Also available here.
  • Also available here, here, here and here

References

Further reading

  • Huganir, Kathryn (1931). The Owl and the Nightingale: Sources, Date, Author. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • The Owl and the Nightingale: Middle English text with parallel translation
  • Oxford, Jesus College, MS 29: digitized manuscript