The Proverbs of Alfred is a collection of early Middle English sayings ascribed to King Alfred the Great (called "England's darling"), said to have been uttered at an assembly in Seaford, East Sussex. The collection of proverbs was probably put together in Sussex in the mid-12th century. The manuscript evidence suggests the text originated at either a Cluniac or a Benedictine monastery: either Lewes Priory, to the north of Seaford, or Battle Abbey, to the north-east.

Transmission

The Proverbs of Alfred survive in four manuscripts of the 13th century:

  • Cotton Galba A. xix (MS C)
  • Maidstone Museum A.13 (MS M)
  • Cambridge, Trinity College, B.14.39 (MS T)
  • Oxford, Jesus College, 29 (MS J)

The text appears to have been produced in the late 12th century.

References

Sources

  • Keynes, Simon, and Lapidge, Michael, Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred & Other Contemporary Sources. Penguin Classics, 1984.

Further reading

  • Arngart, Olaf (ed.). The Proverbs of Alfred. 2 vols. Lund, 1942–55.
  • Anderson, O.S. The Proverbs of Alfred, 1: A study of the texts. Lund and London, 1942.
  • Arngart, Olaf. The Distichs of Cato and the Proverbs of Alfred. Lund, 1952.
  • Arngart, Olaf (ed. and tr.). The Proverbs of Alfred. An Emended Text. Lund, 1978.
  • Rouse, Robert Allen. The idea of Anglo-Saxon England in Middle English romance. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer, 2005. Especially chapter 2. .
  • The Cambridge History of English Literature