Bourne Archive: FNQ: Hereward XXX
http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQsupXXX.htm Latest edit 28 May 2010
Web
page © 2007 R.J.PENHEY With
thanks to Willoughby Memorial Library & Lincolnshire
Library Service.
The Bourne Archive
FNQ
This thread begins with the title page
De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .
Nec dum enim ibi tres dies
commoratus, audivit quendam inimicum suum Herwardus in prædicta villa 1 fore, qui sæpe eum perdere et inimicis tradere temptaverat,
licet dudum illi ex fide fracta [missing complement for fuissent] fuissent, ubi ad
explorandum cum his auditus tantum cum duobus viris processit, et agnito illo
in via fugæ statim consuluit. Quem e vestigio repente sequutus est Herwardns 2 de domo ad domum,
de horto ad hortum, cum nudo ense et ancile in manu, usque intro ad atrium
magnum, ubi ad agapem3 multi ex comprovincialibus congregati sunt. Et quum non haberet ibi ubi se
verteret, imminente semper super eum Herwardo, in interiorem domum fugiens
discessit, ubi in foramine sellæ super latrinam caput imposuit4, misereri sibi
exorans. Et liberalitate animi motus, sicut erat in omni suo opere liberalissimus,
non eum ibi tetigit nec quicquid molestiæ in verbo nec in facto ei intulit, sed
uti venerat, confestim per mediam domum rediens transibat. Nec enim aliquis
ex convivantibus saltem mutire vel aliquid
ei importune de eo stupefacti dicere audebant, et nihil præ manibus nisi cornua
habentes et calices meri.
The Exploits of
Hereward the Saxon.
Hereward had not stayed there three days when he heard
that an enemy of his would be in the aforesaid town1, a man who had
often attempted to ruin him and deliver him to his enemies, although lately
they had been faithless (?) ;
whereupon to find out the certainty of what he had heard he set out with only
two men, and when the man recognised Hereward on the road he immediately
consulted his safety by flight. Hereward directly followed on his track, from
house to house, from garden to garden, with his naked sword and a small shield
in his hand, right into a great hall, where many men of his own district were
assembled at a love-feast3. And when he had nowhere to turn, Hereward
being ever close upon him, he fled into the inner part of the house, and there
put his head through an aperture* 4
. . . and besought him to have mercy. Moved by generosity, as he was always
most liberal in all his doings, he did not touch him there, nor did he inflict
any damage in word or deed, but in the same way as he had come in he returned
and passed out through the middle of the house. And no man of those that were
feasting, all being stupefied, ventured even to grumble, or to say anything
opprobrious to him about the occurrence, as they had nothing to hand except
drinking-horns and wine-cups.
Commentary.
This chapter is a clear example of the disjointed style of
the work as a whole, arising from Leofric the Deacon’s purpose of learning “of the
deeds of the noble Hereward, of the race of the English,
and his renowned men”, and of “his generous actions and doings”. Hugh was
concerned with collecting “all the acts of giants and ancient warriors”. (See Chapter I, particularly note 3.) He did not aim to produce a narrative history.
Though, it is not possible to rule out the possibility that some of its
fragmented and episodic nature arose from the lacunae formed by the fire damage
of 1116. (See Chapter I, note 5.)
? [The query is Sweeting’s insertion.
He was clearly a little baffled by the obscurity of the Latin: ‘et inimicis tradere temptaverat, licet dudum illi ex fide fracta fuissent,’: The verb fuissent is
missing a complement such as fallaces, dolosi or fraudulenti, meaning
deceitful/false. This would give ‘who had often attempted to destroy him (Hereward)
and betray him to his enemies, although recently they (the Normans) been
deceitful in that they had broken their promise to him (Hereward’s betrayer)’.
In other words, the man had given information about Hereward to a
* [Sweeting’s note] See the Latin.
The following notes owe much to FWP’s
advice.
2. ↑ This is a printer’s
error; an inverted u rather than strictly, an n.
3. ↑ Agape — love-feast: Sweeting’s
translation may give a false impression. The Latin word used – agape, is one borrowed from the Greek.
In that language, there are four words meaning ‘love’. They range from eros,
from which the English ‘erotic’ is derived, to agape, ‘brotherly
love’. When the New Testament was being translated from Greek into Latin, the word caritas was chosen to express the
meaning of agape. In Medieval Latin,
it is charitas.
This comes through into English as ‘charity’, as in
4. ↑ This is Sweeting,
the Victorian vicar, applying the standards of decency of his day. He is being
very delicate in not translating all the words ‘ubi in foramine sellæ
super latrinam caput imposuit’:
‘where he put his head into the hole in the seat over the privy’. In other
words, Hereward caught the informer in the act of investigating the possibility
of hiding in the pit below the lavatory seat. Latrina is a Latin contraction of
the word lavatrina
which in turn, derives from lavare, to wash (OED). It is therefore much the same in
derivation as well as meaning, as ‘lavatory’.
The absence of a chapter heading
could be due to the same sense of decency, but without seeing Robert of Swaffham’s book, it is not possible to be sure whether the
chapter ever had a summarizing heading. Bevis gives this chapter no
title while the TEAMS-linked site heads
it ‘How Hereward pursued an enemy and granted him mercy’, though there is no
indication that this was not invented for the sake of uniformity.
Top of the text Top of the English
text Contents Chapter XXXI