Lexical evidence for the authorship of the prose psalms in the Paris Psalter

Abstract

‘Forðy me ðyncð betre, gif iow swæ ðyncð, ðæt we eac sumæ bec, ða ðe niedbeðearfosta sien eallum monnum to wiotonne, ðætweðaonðæt geðiode wendenðe we ealle gecnawan mægen.’ With these well-known words, King Alfred, in the prefatory letter to his Old English version of Gregory'sPastoral Care, enunciates the policy of translation he wishes to see implemented with a view to restoring wisdom and learning to his war-torn kingdom. In the last twenty years or so modern scholars have made a determined effort to define the contribution the king himself made to his scheme. Traditionally it had been accepted that he translated thePastoral Care, Boethius,Soliloquies, Bede and Orosius. But it has now been firmly established that, while the first three works are his, both Bede and Or are to be excluded as the work of others.