{"id":1243,"date":"2015-04-30T16:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=1243"},"modified":"2021-01-24T10:42:21","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T15:42:21","slug":"almsgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2015\/04\/30\/almsgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning with Almsgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eddy<\/a>
The Virgin Mary, at the crucifixion; the Ramsey Psalter, last quarter of the 10th century, England; BL Harley 2904, f. 3v<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Translating a poem is a tall order. There are many factors to consider and issues which must be negotiated in the process. Which is better\u2014literal accuracy or stylistic approximation? We have asked modern translators from the Medieval Institute and English departments at University of Notre Dame to share translations<\/a> of their favorite Old English poems, digitally displayed alongside their medieval counterparts. Recitations, both in Old and modern English, will likewise be featured as complementary audio files, accompanying both versions of each respective poem translated.<\/p>\n

Today, we’d like to draw your attention to the first of these translations, which is now available<\/a> on our site.\u00a0 Almsgiving<\/em> is contained in the Exeter Book, a collection of Old English poetry copied c. 970, and thus the oldest surviving collection of English literature in the world.\u00a0 Jacob Riyeff, a PhD candidate in Notre Dame’s Department of English, has translated this beautiful poem, and you can read it below, as well as hear recordings of him reciting the Old English text and his own modern English translation.\u00a0 We hope you enjoy!<\/p>\n

Richard Fahey
\nPhD Candidate in English
\nUniversity of Notre Dame<\/p>\n

Almsgiving
\n<\/em><\/strong>from the Old English Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501)<\/p>\n

\u00a0Translation and Recitations by Jacob Riyeff<\/p>\n

OLD ENGLISH ORIGINAL POEM:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wel bi\u00f0 \u00feam eorle \u00fee him on innan hafa\u00f0,
\nre\u00feehydig wer, rume heortan;
\n\u00fe\u00e6t him bi\u00fe for worulde weor\u00f0mynda m\u00e6st,
\nond for ussum dryhtne doma selast.
\nEfne swa he mid w\u00e6tre \u00feone weallendan
\nleg adw\u00e6sce, \u00fe\u00e6t he leng ne m\u00e6g
\nblac byrnende burgum sce\u00f0\u00f0an,
\nswa he mid \u00e6lmessan ealle toscufe\u00f0
\nsynna wunde, sawla lacna\u00f0.<\/p>\n

ASPR<\/em> III, 223.<\/p>\n

MODERN ENGLISH TRANSLATION by Jacob Riyeff:<\/strong><\/p>\n

That disciple is blest whose spirit burns
\nwith generosity, renovating the inner room
\nof her heart. The world rejoices at her worthiness
\nand the Lord glories in the welcome glow of her light.<\/p>\n

Jesus ben Sirach says a surging
\nflame will be snuffed, raging fires
\nput down with welling water\u2014no longer
\nable to damage dwellings with burning\u2014
\nwhen that disciple douses sin, healing souls
\nwith the gracious gift of her alms.<\/p>\n

Previously published in Dappled Things <\/em>9.3 (2014) and \u201cLofsangas<\/em>: Poems Old and New,\u201d a chapbook by Jacob Riyeff (Franciscan University of Steubenville Press, 2015)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jacob Riyeff
\nPhD in English
\nUniversity of Notre Dame<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Translating a poem is a tall order. There are many factors to consider and issues which must be negotiated in the process. Which is better\u2014literal accuracy or stylistic approximation? We have asked modern translators from the Medieval Institute and English departments at University of Notre Dame to share translations of their favorite Old English poems, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Beginning with Almsgiving”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[264204,56012,73957,264203],"tags":[18028,73961,74795,75924,76025,75920,75937,41728,17907,73442],"class_list":["post-1243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disciplines","category-english","category-north-seas","category-special-series","tag-almsgiving","tag-anglo-saxon","tag-dappled-things","tag-lofsangas","tag-medieval-literature","tag-old-english-poetry","tag-piety","tag-poetics","tag-translation","tag-women"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1846"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7295,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions\/7295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}