Palimpsests and the Literary Imagination of Medieval England: Collected Essays (The New Middle Ages)

Witnesses to the disappearance of a text, palimpsest manuscripts bear the marks of their own genesis, with their original inscription rubbed out and written over on the same parchment. This collection explores analogies of erasure and rewriting observed in editorial and literary practices underlying the production of texts from medieval England. "Homage to André Crépin, membre de l’Institut, Honorary OBE" “Introduction: Palimpsests and ‘Palimpsestuous’ Reinscriptions” Abstract: This introduction analyzes the term “palimpsest” in relation to the various types of artifacts of cultural production discussed in the volume’s essays. PERMANENCE AND IMPERMANENCE OF WRITING ON THE PAGE “An Anglo-Saxon Palimpsest from Fleury: Orléans, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 342 (290)” Abstract: This essay examines an Orléans manuscript (s. x/xi) against the background of exchanges between Fleury and Anglo-Saxon abbeys, and suggests it was palimpsested in Fleury. “Recovering Anglo-Saxon Erasures: Some Questions, Tools, and Techniques” Abstract: This essay provides practical instruction in enhancing digital images of damaged or palimpsested manuscripts, encompassing basic principles, hands-on techniques, and the ethics of enhancement. “Some Psalter Glosses in Their Immediate Context” Abstract: This essay looks closely at three Anglo-Saxon glossed psalters and how the palimpsestic layers of gloss and text, language and layout, speak to the meditative reader. “The Palimpsest and Old English Homiletic Composition” Abstract: This essay proposes that the palimpsest offers a way to understand the composition techniques of Old English homilists, notably Ælfric, Wulfstan, and the anonymous tradition. “‘Ic Beda’. . . ‘Cwæð Beda’: Reinscribing Bede in the Old English Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum” Abstract: This essay examines literal and metaphorical palimpsests in the OEHE, emphasizing the strategies through which Bede’s translators represent Bede’s voice in direct and indirect discourse. “Vernacular Engravings in Late Medieval England” Abstract: Anxious late-medieval vernacular authors saturated their texts with references to engraved writings. These often refer to inscriptions on wax tablets, a fragile albeit professional medium. IMPERMANENCE AND ACCUMULATION IN THE LITERARY IMAGINATION “Rewriting Genres: Beowulf as Epic Romance” Abstract: Investigation of its historical matter in parallel with its generic classifications shows Beowulf to be a literary palimpsest anticipating the historical novel. “Palimpsestic Philomela: Reinscription in Chaucer’s “Legend of Philomela” Abstract: In rewriting Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book VI, Chaucer partially erases his source to make room for his own “Legend of Philomela.” “The Middle English Breton Lays and the Mists of Origin” Abstract: Awareness of generic ancestry offers evidence of the palimpsestuous nature of the “true” Middle English Breton lays. “Enquiries into the Textual History of the Seventeenth-Century Sir Lambewell (London, British Library, Additional 27897)” Abstract: The mid-seventeenth-century romance Sir Lambewell incorporates accretions from various periods, which reflect the tastes of various audiences and coexist as in a palimpsest. “Elucidations: Bringing to Light the Aesthetic Underwriting of the Matière de Bretagne in John Boorman’s Excalibur” Abstract: Boorman’s film Excalibur enacts medieval theories of light that form the underwriting of successive layers of the Arthurian romance tradition. "These eleven original essays scrutinize the subject of the palimpsest, both literal and metaphorical, from a series of different angles and generate a rich and thought-provoking array of examples of different types of recycling and layering in verbal and visual texts from the Old English period to the present, from early medieval manuscripts to contemporary film. The range and depth of treatments of the palimpsest as both a concrete and a conceptual phenomenon are exemplary.” --Laura Kendrick, Professor of Medieval Studies, Université de Versailles “Altogether a fine tribute to, and celebration of, the life and work of a great scholar, André Crépin, on his eightieth birthday. 'Palimpsest' is given a broad definition in this collection of essays to cover both the material and the literary, that is, any alteration, abridgement, or translation of earlier texts. The contributions range from a discussion of palimpsests in manuscripts such as Beowulf, on wax tablets and vernacular engravings in the late medieval period, and how new digital technology can enhance our knowledge of palimpsests, to a broader interpretation of the word to cover the retelling, adaptation, or translation of earlier works in particular in the romance tradition, culminating in modern film adaptation of medieval literary works.” --Graham Caie, Vice Principal, University of Glasgow “Covering palimpsests both literal and literary, and ranging in subject matter from Beowulf to John Boorman’s Excalibur via Bede, the matière de Bretagne, Chaucer, and more, the contributions to this volume honor André Crépin with a sparkling series of investigations into the materiality, the composition, and the transmission of Old and Middle English texts.” --Timothy Graham, Associate Professor, University of New Mexico Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 8 Copyright......Page 9 Contents......Page 10 List of Illustrations......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 16 Homage to André Crépin, membre de l’Institut, Honorary OBE......Page 18 List of Abbreviations......Page 20 Introduction: Palimpsests and “Palimpsestuous” Reinscriptions......Page 22 Part I Permanence and Impermanence of Writing on the Page......Page 40 1 An Anglo- Saxon Palimpsest from Fleury: Orléans, Bibliothèque Municipale MS 342 (290)......Page 42 2 Recovering Anglo- Saxon Erasures: Some Questions, Tools, and Techniques......Page 56 3 Some Psalter Glosses in Their Immediate Context......Page 82 4 The Palimpsest and Old English Homiletic Composition......Page 102 5 “Ic Beda” . . . “Cwæð Beda”: Reinscribing Bede in the Old English Historia ecclesiastica gentis anglorum......Page 116 6 Vernacular Engravings in Late Medieval England......Page 136 Part II Impermanence and Accumulation in the Literary Imagination......Page 158 7 Rewriting Genres: Beowulf as Epic Romance......Page 160 8 Palimpsestic Philomela: Reinscription in Chaucer’s “Legend of Philomela”......Page 178 9 The Middle English Breton Lays and the Mists of Origin......Page 196 10 Enquiries into the Textual History of the Seventeenth-Century Sir Lambewell (London, British Library, Additional 27897)......Page 214 11 Elucidations: Bringing to Light the Aesthetic Underwriting of the Matière de Bretagne in John Boorman’s Excalibur......Page 226 Bibliography......Page 248 Notes on Contributors......Page 272 Index of Manuscripts Cited......Page 276 Index......Page 280 "Witnesses to the disappearance of a text, palimpsest manuscripts bear the marks of their own genesis, for their original inscription was rubbed out and written over on the same parchment. Erasure is a prerequisite of reinscription; destruction paves the way for renewal. Thus the palimpsest is an image of the processes of revision and accretion which shape medieval literary production. This collection explores analogies of erasure and rewriting observed in editorial and literary practices underlying the production of texts from medieval England. Whether palimpsests are the primary focus of study or serve as a metaphor for various phenomena of loss and accumulation, all the essays investigate the process of reinscription. "--Provided by publisher.