both of the passages which exist also in fragments in A and B. Fragment A corresponds to ll. 23–722 of C; and fragment B to ll. 4020–4067 and 4188–4715 of C. It is clear from this and from the manner of translation of C that it is independent of A and B, in the sense that it was made by a different translator.
§ 8. The next question is, whether there were two translators or three. As fragments A and B do not cover the same ground, but are taken, the former from a portion of the story near the beginning and the latter from a portion near the end, there is a chance that they may belong to the very same translation, and may have come from the same hand. In my Essay on Alliterative Poetry, I have observed that "the language of fragment B approaches that of fragment A, although I hardly think that they belong to the same poem. In my Preface to William of Palerne, I have observed that fragments A, B, and C, seem to be distinct from each other, and by different authors, the last bearing traces of a northern, the former two of a western dialect. That is to say, although I had observed a similarity, both of language and dialect, between fragments A and B, I had not, at that time, made myself so closely acquainted with them as to feel sure that they could be definitely pronounced to be from the same hand. This hesitation gave rise to a paper by Dr. Moritz Trautmann, entitled Ueber Versaffer und Entstehungszeit einiger Alliterirender Dedichte des Altenglischen,"[1] in which a great number of resemblances between these fragments are insisted upon, and there can now be little doubt about the matter. The result is satisfactory, as it introduces a simplification, reducing the number of independent versions from three to two. It may henceforth be understood that fragments A and B are by the same author, and that they are taken, presumably, from one and the same poem, which must, when complete, have been of very great length. It is, possibly, partly owing to this circumstance that only two fragments of it have come down to us.
The following are a few of the more striking resemblances between fragments A and B, as pointed out by Dr. Trautmann.
- ↑ I have to thank Dr. Trautmann for his courtesy in sending me a copy of his paper.
