Harrowing of Hell in the Tiberius Psalter (London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius C.vi; c.1050), folio 14r. This piece of dramatic liturgy retelling the Harrowing of Hell (in Latin) survives in the ninth-century Book of Cerne (Cambridge, University Library, Ll.1.10; 820x840, Mercia), on folios 98v–99v. This verse text is based on the Latin Pseudo-Augustine Sermo 160, … Continue reading The Book of Cerne Harrowing of Hell: A Translation
My book The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary is now available from Cascade Books! I've written about these texts and my work on them before, and I'd like to take the opportunity of the book's release to talk a bit about translation. I've been interested in both the practice of translation and … Continue reading Translating the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
It's International Translation Day! Not coincidentally, September 30 is also the feast day of Saint Jerome (347-420), who translated the Bible into Latin (known as the Vulgate), as it was known for hundreds of years in medieval Western Europe. Jerome is also the patron saint of translators because of his reputation. Jerome's legacy as a … Continue reading Prefaces to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and Nativity of Mary
I've been thinking about translation more and more over the past several years. Partly, this is because I find myself needing to translate more obscure texts for my own research. But one of my goals with some of my projects has also been to make obscure or lesser known medieval texts accessible to broader audiences. More medieval texts need to be … Continue reading Translation as Public Writing
When I first started working on texts related to the biblical Judith in Anglo-Saxon England (which I discuss here), I had several goals: one of these was to provide more exposure to literature other than the Old English poem Judith. The sermon On Judith by Ælfric of Eynsham was one of the main texts that sparked my interest. Ælfric … Continue reading Ælfric’s Sermon On Judith
Last July, I posted a translation of Ælfric of Eynsham's Old English Preface to Genesis for the benefit of those interested in a modern rendering. Since then, I've been overwhelmingly pleased by the attention it's garnered--over 1,300 views as of this posting! In the same spirit, I'm now posting my translation of Ælfric's Libellus de Veteri Testamento et Novi (Little … Continue reading Ælfric’s Libellus de Veteri Testamento et Novi: A Translation
Some time back, I noticed that quite a few people who came across my work found it because they were searching for a translation of Ælfric of Eynsham's Preface to Genesis (about which I've written an article in English Studies). I did some searching of my own, and found that there are not many translations of the … Continue reading Ælfric’s Preface to Genesis: A Translation
Brandon W. Hawk 