Ayenbite of Inwyt
Encyclopedia
The Ayenbite of Inwyt is a confessional prose work written in a Kent
ish dialect of Middle English
. As a literal rendition of a French original by a "very incompetent translator" (Thomson 1908), it is generally considered more valuable as a record of Kentish pronunciation in the mid-14th century than as a work of literature.
morality
; the popularity of this latter text is demonstrated by the large number of surviving copies. The subject-matter is treated primarily allegorically; for example, the seven deadly sins
are identified with the seven heads of the Beast
of the Apocalypse
.
The surviving copy of the work was completed on 27 October 1340, by a Benedictine
monk, Michael of Northgate. This can be stated with rare certainty, for the author specifies all these details himself, writing in the preface,
And in a postscript,
It is usually assumed that Michael of Northgate was himself the translator, not merely a copyist; the library of St Augustine's contained two copies of the French work at this time (Gradon 1979).
Firstly, the vocabulary shows a marked preference for translating technical terms into compounds of English words, rather than borrowing French or Latin terminology. The title itself is a common example: it uses ayenbite, "again-bite", for modern English "remorse", and inwyt, "inward-knowledge", for modern English "conscience", both terms being literal translations of the Latin words. Even "amen" is often translated, into the phrase zuo by hit ("so be it").
Secondly, the orthography transparently reveals many details of pronunciation. Most notably, initial fricatives are regularly voiced: the word "sin" is spelt zenne, "father" becomes vader, "first" becomes verst or averst.
The spelling is unusually consistent for the time, which implies that it is an accurate representation of the author's speech: it has been described as "as close to a 'pure' dialect as we can get" (Freeborn 1992:172). As such, and particularly given our precise knowledge of its place and date of writing, it is an invaluable resource in reconstructing the linguistic history of southern England.
The text is also notable for its archaic morphology
compared to other specimens of Middle English. For instance, the neuter gender
and dative case
of Old English are still distinguished; þet child bed oure Lhorde, þet gernier/to þe gerniere. The spelling Lhord(e) (Old English hlaford(e)) also suggests retention of the Old English /hl/ consonant cluster. None of these features are found in the Ormulum
, from Lincolnshire
, which is almost two centuries older.
's contemporary Handlyng Synne, but unlike that work, the Ayenbite appears not to have gained any popularity; only one copy has survived, in the British Library
manuscript Arundel 57, and that is almost certainly the original (Treharne 2000:526). No demonstrable influence on later works has been found; a 19th-century theory that Chaucer might have used the work as a source for his Parson's Tale
has long been abandoned.
In the 20th century, the work gained some recognition when its title was adopted by James Joyce
, who used it numerous times in his novel, Ulysses
. In Joyce's spelling, agenbite of inwit, the title has gained a limited foothold in the English language.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
ish dialect of Middle English
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
. As a literal rendition of a French original by a "very incompetent translator" (Thomson 1908), it is generally considered more valuable as a record of Kentish pronunciation in the mid-14th century than as a work of literature.
Origins and content
The Ayenbite is a translation of the French Somme le Roi (also known as the Book of Vices and Virtues), a late 13th century treatise on ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
; the popularity of this latter text is demonstrated by the large number of surviving copies. The subject-matter is treated primarily allegorically; for example, the seven deadly sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
are identified with the seven heads of the Beast
Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
of the Apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
.
The surviving copy of the work was completed on 27 October 1340, by a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monk, Michael of Northgate. This can be stated with rare certainty, for the author specifies all these details himself, writing in the preface,
| þis boc is dan Michelis of Northgate / ywrite an englis of his oȝene hand. þet hatte: Ayenbyte of inwyt. | This book, called Remorse of Conscience, is the work of don Michael of Northgate, written in English in his own hand. |
And in a postscript,
| Ymende. þet þis boc is uolueld ine þe eve of þe holy apostles Symon an Iudas / of ane broþer of þe cloystre of sanynt Austin of Canterburi / ine þe yeare of oure lhordes beringe 1340. | Let it be known that this work was fulfilled on the eve of the feast of St Simon Simon the Zealot The apostle called Simon Zelotes, Simon the Zealot, in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13; and Simon Kananaios or Simon Cananeus , was one of the most obscure among the apostles of Jesus. Little is recorded of him aside from his name... and St Jude, by a brother of the cloister of Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597... , in the Year of our Lord 1340. |
It is usually assumed that Michael of Northgate was himself the translator, not merely a copyist; the library of St Augustine's contained two copies of the French work at this time (Gradon 1979).
Language
Since the work was intended for the use of Kentish commoners, its language has a number of unusual features.Firstly, the vocabulary shows a marked preference for translating technical terms into compounds of English words, rather than borrowing French or Latin terminology. The title itself is a common example: it uses ayenbite, "again-bite", for modern English "remorse", and inwyt, "inward-knowledge", for modern English "conscience", both terms being literal translations of the Latin words. Even "amen" is often translated, into the phrase zuo by hit ("so be it").
Secondly, the orthography transparently reveals many details of pronunciation. Most notably, initial fricatives are regularly voiced: the word "sin" is spelt zenne, "father" becomes vader, "first" becomes verst or averst.
The spelling is unusually consistent for the time, which implies that it is an accurate representation of the author's speech: it has been described as "as close to a 'pure' dialect as we can get" (Freeborn 1992:172). As such, and particularly given our precise knowledge of its place and date of writing, it is an invaluable resource in reconstructing the linguistic history of southern England.
The text is also notable for its archaic morphology
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
compared to other specimens of Middle English. For instance, the neuter gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
and dative case
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
of Old English are still distinguished; þet child bed oure Lhorde, þet gernier/to þe gerniere. The spelling Lhord(e) (Old English hlaford(e)) also suggests retention of the Old English /hl/ consonant cluster. None of these features are found in the Ormulum
Ormulum
The Ormulum or Orrmulum is a twelfth-century work of biblical exegesis, written by a monk named Orm and consisting of just under 19,000 lines of early Middle English verse...
, from Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, which is almost two centuries older.
Reception
As Michael explains in his postscript, the Ayenbite was intended to provide a confessional treatise that would be accessible to "lewede men", those who could read neither French nor Latin, for the good of their souls. In this aim it can be compared to Robert MannyngRobert Mannyng
Robert Manning was an English chronicler and Gilbertine monk. Mannyng provides a surprising amount of information about himself in his two known works, Handlyng Synne and a Chronicle...
's contemporary Handlyng Synne, but unlike that work, the Ayenbite appears not to have gained any popularity; only one copy has survived, in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
manuscript Arundel 57, and that is almost certainly the original (Treharne 2000:526). No demonstrable influence on later works has been found; a 19th-century theory that Chaucer might have used the work as a source for his Parson's Tale
The Parson's Prologue and Tale
The Parson's Tale seems, from the evidence of its prologue, to have been intended as the final tale of Geoffrey Chaucer's poetic cycle The Canterbury Tales. The "tale", which is the longest of all the surviving contributions by Chaucer's pilgrims, is in fact neither a story nor a poem, but a long...
has long been abandoned.
In the 20th century, the work gained some recognition when its title was adopted by James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, who used it numerous times in his novel, Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...
. In Joyce's spelling, agenbite of inwit, the title has gained a limited foothold in the English language.
Edition
- Morris, Richard, ed, revised by Gradon, Pamela (1965). Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt or Remorse of Conscience. EETS O.S. 23. Oxford University Press.
Criticism
- Freeborn, Dennis (1992). From Old English to Standard English. London: Macmillan.
- Gradon, Pamela (1979). Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt or Remorse of Conscience, volume 2 (introduction and commentary). EETS O.S. 278. Oxford University Press.
- Thomson, Clara L. (1908). 'Later Transition English: Legendaries and Chroniclers', in Ward, A.W., and Waller, A.R., eds. The Cambridge History of English Literature, vol. I From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance. Cambridge University Press.
- Treharne, Elaine, ed (2000). Old and Middle English: An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.
External links
- Full text (transcribed through the Humanities Text Initiative)