§ 108. It has often formed a subject both of wonder and regret that Alfred should not have enriched the Bede with additions drawn from his own knowledge of the traditions of his people, as he might so easily have done. Reverence for his original may have had something to do with this; but I agree with Professor Wülker[816] that the main reason probably was, because all that Alfred desired in this line had already been done in the compilation of the Saxon Chronicle. It is confirmatory of this that the chronological summary appended to his history by Bede, which had, as I have elsewhere shown[817], such an important influence on the development of annalistic writing in general, and of the Saxon Chronicle in particular, is omitted in the Bede translation.
Smaller additions and expansions there are, but they seldom really add anything to the narrative. They are as a rule merely inserted to make it a little more clear[818], or a little more vivid, or a little more in accordance with the translator’s ideas[819]. Occasionally, though rarely, they show a touch of personal feeling; as where Diocletian is characterised as the bad emperor[820], Constantine as the good emperor[821], and Aidan as the good bishop[822]. Sometimes, as in the other works, they are brief explanations of things which the readers might not know[823]. Occasionally statements of Bede’s are altered[824], or omitted[825], because they were no longer applicable, or they are marked distinctly as being Bede’s and not Alfred’s[826]. But in other cases similar statements are retained, though it would not be safe to argue from this that the state of things indicated still subsisted in Alfred’s day[827].
Mistakes.
Here too there are mistakes[828], though fewer and less serious than in the Orosius. In some cases they may be due to erroneous readings in the MS. which Alfred used[829]. In one or two instances Alfred’s version shows a remarkable divergence of historical fact, which can hardly arise wholly from misunderstanding[830].
Merits of the translation.
But on the whole the translation is a worthy one, preserving, and in one or two instances enhancing[831], the beauty of the original, the most beautiful historical work which the Church had produced since Luke and John wrote their Gospels.
One incidental merit of the translation, as Stubbs has remarked[832], is that it enables us to equate the Saxon technical terms of officers and institutions with the corresponding Latin ones[833].
The translation of Boethius. Fame of the original in the Middle Ages. Causes of this popularity; its form. Sympathy with the author.