The Study of Proverbs in Anglo‐Saxon Literature: Recent Scholarship, Resources for Research, and the Future of the Field

Abstract

This article surveys the major developments in paremiology (the study of proverbs) in Anglo‐Saxon literature over the last fifteen years as well as the major research tools currently available for the study of medieval vernacular and Latin proverbs. Through this survey, I demonstrate that proverbs need to be read not only in light of the immediate context in which they appear, but also ‘in isolation.’ Studying the history and transmission of proverbs independent from their contextual uses can lead us to a more complete understanding of an individual author's interests, reading, education, and motivations for deplying a proverb. I begin by discussing the difficulties of defining precisely paremiological terminology. Then I give an overview of the most important achievements in proverb study more generally over the last century, with an emphasis on medieval paremiology. After reviewing the two most recent book‐length studies on Old English proverbial materials, I summarize individually most of the publications on Anglo‐Saxon proverbs that have appeared over the last fifteen years. A number of excellent print and digital resources, which I introduce to readers in this article, assist proverb scholars in their work. Finally, I suggest some future avenues for research with which Old English proverb study can significantly contribute to the larger field of Anglo‐Saxon studies.

The Role of Vernacular Proverbs in Latin Language Acquisition, c. 1200–1600

“…Furthermore, we may observe that students of medieval paroemiology have emphasised certain periods and regions over others. For instance, many studies on medieval proverb collections focus almost exclusively on France (see, e.g., Pfeffer 1997, Vignes 1997, Lorcin 2011, Rodríguez Somolinos 2012, Schulze-Busacker 2012 or the Anglo-Saxon world (see Kramer 2009 for a recent overview). This tendency to stick to national boundaries in the name of feasibility means we risk losing sight of the intrinsically transnational, cross-linguistic, and diachronic dimensions of bilingual proverb collections.…”

Saving the “Undoomed Man” In Beowulf (572b-573)

“…In particular, the characterizing nature of the word unf3ge in this maxim is corroborated by independent insights from theoretical semantics and syntax. Haumann (2010) suggests that in Old English, as in many 1 See Kramer (2009) for an excellent discussion of some of the research on Old English proverbs, including early research and more recent studies.…”