Abstract

Hitherto the group of seventh-century texts and fragments known as Hisperica famina has defied interpretation. Following suggestions made by a.o. Andy Orchard, I propose to read the A-text as an ambitious piece of literature, in which linguistic competition, hilarious though it may be, is seen as a tool to cope with the anxieties of living in an inhospitable world. After offering a new perspective on the text’s dialogic structure, suggesting that the narrator is an Englishman recalling his student years in Ireland, I read the descriptions of sea and fire as metapoetical symbols and the final section on a cattle raid as an allegory. Subsequently, I pay attention to irony and self-mockery, to conclude that the text is not only about words and grammar but has literary, social, and existential value as well.

Highlights

  • Hitherto the group of seventh-century texts and fragments known as Hisperica famina has defied interpretation

  • Amongst others, Andy Orchard, I propose to read the A-text as an ambitious piece of literature, in which linguistic competition, hilarious though it may be, is seen as a tool to cope with the anxieties of living in an inhospitable world

  • The Hisperica famina, a small corpus of Latin texts presumably written in the second half of the seventh century by scholars educated in Ireland, constitute one of the weirdest manifestations of Latinate culture that I know of

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Summary

The Origins of the Hisperica Famina

The Hisperica famina, a small corpus of Latin texts presumably written in the second half of the seventh century by scholars educated in Ireland, constitute one of the weirdest manifestations of Latinate culture that I know of. Adducing Aldhelm’s letter has become usage among scholars discussing the date and the provenance of the so-called Hisperica famina.[7] Apart from the evidence found in Aldhelm and Bede, several arguments have been brought in to prove the Hisperica famina must have an Irish background Macalister considered their lingo one of the “secret languages of Ireland.”[8] A seminal article by Grosjean pointed to paleographic errors typical of Irish scribes.[9] Smyth saw similarities in cosmography between the Hisperica famina and a few texts indubitably hailing from seventh-century Ireland.[10] Seeing that one collecta in the Bangor Antiphonary bears a resemblance to the B-text of the Hisperica famina, Stevenson suggested Bangor as a possible place of composition.[11] Michael Herren’s monumental edition of the A-text should take away any hesitation in attributing this elusive poem, if it is a poem to scholars situated in or connected with an Hibernian milieu.[12] In what follows I will concentrate on the A-text ( HF-A)

HF-A: Status and Synopsis
Literary Value
Dialogue and Polyphony
Metapoetical Symbols and Allegories
Irony and Self-Mockery
Ars poetica
Full Text
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