In 1896, while reading 12th-century Latin sermons in the library of another Cambridge college, Peterhouse, he came across a striking passage in English. Working alongside another scholar, Israel Gollancz, he concluded it came from a poem they called the Song of Wade, translating it as:
Some are elves and some are adders; some are sprites that dwell by waters: there is no man, but Hildebrand only.
The new study concludes that the sermon’s scribe confused a runic letter that was still found in Middle English, and pronounced ‘w,’ with the letter ‘y.’ That, it says, turned “wlves” into “ylves.” The scholars also argue that the word formerly translated as sprites, “nikeres,” refers to sea snakes. Drawing on the Latin text around it, they suggest the passage concerns beastly human behavior, translating it as follows:
Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.
“Here were three lines apparently talking about elves and sea monsters which exactly puts you in this world of Beowulf and other Teutonic legends,” said Dr. Wade. “What we realized is that there are no elves in this passage, there are no sea monsters and, in the study of the handwriting, everyone has gotten it wrong until now.”
The research took three years, he said, adding that he believed the error occurred because the scribe was chosen for familiarity with Latin.
“One’s suspicion, although we can’t prove this, is that the reason he messes up the Middle English is because he’s never written English before,” said Dr. Wade.
The mentions of Wade, the two academics argue, show both the sermon’s author and Chaucer deploying contemporary popular culture to appeal to a wider audience in the way that politicians, artists or preachers still do today.
“The way the poem is quoted in the sermon as a meme — something which was widely understood — tells us something about how ubiquitous it was,” said Dr. Falk.
www.nytimes.com
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