Ebook: Alfred’s cræft of translation : the Old English ’Boethius’ [PhD thesis]

Alfred the Great’s translation of Boethius’s De consolatione philosophiae is one of the seminal works of Old English prose. While the Boethius has been studied from various philological, historical, and philosophical angles, this dissertation is the first study of it specifically as a translation. Aided by current translation theories, particularly Polysystems Theory, the dissertation examines the Boethius as the work relates to three cultural contexts: the Latin source text, Anglo-Saxon culture, and Latin Christian culture. The first two chapters are case studies of a single word (cræft) and of word pairs respectively; the other three examine the relationship of the translation to each of the three contexts in turn. This study demonstrates that translation is not a simple matter of reproducing a Latin text in Old English but one of negotiating the demands of the source text, its new audience, and Latin Christian traditions. The structure of the source text, most of its arguments, and some of its style of argumentation are followed fairly closely in the translation. At the same time, Alfred adapts the text to the receiving culture at every level, from words and phrases up through characterization, imagery, and themes. Moreover, Alfred reads the source text through a Christian lens, transforming a text of pure philosophy with no explicit mention of Christianity into a strongly religious one imbued with a sense of duty in this world. These findings both lead to a more productive reading of the Boethius and have broader implications. They reveal that Alfred not only saw enough value in Latin literature to merit the difficult work of translation but felt his own language to be both worthy of receiving such a work and sophisticated enough to treat difficult philosophical and religious issues. These findings also show that cultural contacts between Anglo-Saxon society and Latin culture were more complex than has often been appreciated, and they indicate the need for increased rigor in the study of translation.