For the good of their souls: A study of the Latin sources and how they were modified in the composition of the twelfth century Middle English homily collection Orrmulum
Funding source: Swedish Research Council - Vetenskapsrådet (VR)
Period: 1/1/11 - 12/31/13
Funding: 2343000 SEK
Description:
This project will provide an in-depth analysis of the use of Latin source texts in the composition of the great twelfth-century homily collection Ormulum, written in Middle English to make the gospels accessible to the laity with the declared purpose of saving their souls. Where earlier scholars have sought for Latin sources for entire homilies in the collection, the analysis in this project will be more fine-grained and operate at a lower textual level, searching the database Patrologia Latina for Latin correspondences to individual fits (text passages) or parts of fits in the Ormulum. My pilot studies have shown that the homilist, Orm, was capable of working within a range of techniques from more or less direct translation to an intricate mosaic-like combination of fragments from various Latin sources yielding a coherent Middle English text. The Ormulum was a pioneering exegetical project in English a century after the Norman Conquest. It has been extensively investigated from various linguistic points of view; this project will provide a fuller understanding of the actual composition and contents of this important text, and will yield insights into what Latin exegetical works, both ancient and contemporary, were current in England in the twelfth century.
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