Chapter Fourteen. Assembling Ælfric: Reconstructing The Rationale Behind Eleventh And Twelfth-Century Compilations

Abstract

Focusing on the manuscript context of three works by AElfric- De duodecim abusivis, De falsis diis, and the Interrogationes Sigeuulfi in Genesin -this chapter examines a few factors that may have played a role in the compilation of the manuscripts in which they were transmitted. Most AElfrician works survive in four or fewer copies. Some of the exceptions are obvious, such as his major collections: the Catholic Homilies , or the Lives of Saints . CCCC 178, pp. 1-163 + CCCC 162, pp. 139-60, written in the first half of the eleventh century, is a collection of two books of homilies by AElfric, followed by Latin and Old English versions of the Benedictine Rule. The manuscript is instructive for the study in two key respects: the presence alongside Abusivis, De falsis diis , and the Interrogationes first of De auguriis , and then of possible selections from one of AElfric's Commonplace Books. Keywords: AElfric; Catholic Homilies ; De duodecim abusivis ; De falsis diis