| | The book I ordered turned out to be, to my delight, a parallel text of two Middle English translations of Gerald of Wales' Latin "Expugnacio Hibernica" (Haskell House, 1969). Gerald completed his work in 1189, but the two ME translations here, from MS. Trin. Coll., Dublin, E. 2. 31 and MS. Rawlinson B.490, Bodleian Library, Oxford, date from 1425 and 1440, respectively. The 1425 text is on the left pages, the 1440 on the right.
This gives you a fascinating look at how the English language varied in the 14th century, as you can compare them sentence by sentence. For instance, compare these chunks from the beginning of chapter 42:
Trin. Coll. 1425
"Heruy was a man fayr & lygne, eyghen grey & depe, ouelyche lokynge, fayr semblaunt, of fayr spech & wordes wel besete; of body more than methlych, of all lymmes ful becomly; bot as fayr & as becomly as he was wytout, as lydder & as fals of many maner lastes he was wyt-In..."
Rawlinson 1440
"Heruey was a man fayre and lygne, eyghyn grey and depe, lolych lokynge, fayre semblant, of fayre Speche and wordys wel besette of body more than metlych, of al Lymmys wel becomly; But as fayre and as Becomly as he was wyth-out, As wickyd and as fals of many maner lastes he was wyth-In."
As you can see, the 1425 language is somewhat more difficult, with more words that are completely foreign to modern English: "lydder," for instance, which in the 1440 MS is rendered as the more familiar "wickyd." This is a great way to watch the evolution of the language first-hand, and it's also quite interesting to compare it with the language in the slightly later 15th century works of Malory, if you are fortunate enough to find its Middle English transcription (I'll have to add an entry here about that sometime).
Ah, also, the end of the edition contains a very handle ME-to-English dictionary, giving translations of most of the obscure ME words you'll come across in the work.
Anyway, as to the contents of the work itself, Gerald describes the nearly-contemporary invasion of Ireland by Norman forces. Gerald himself shows up late in the account, as he spent some time on the island with the conquering forces. Not surprisingly (and you will recognize this style if you've read Gerald's slightly later "Journey Through Wales"--see entry 35), Gerald does not spend too much sympathy on the Irish; then again, although he gives high praise to the men he sees as the pillars of the conquest on the Norman side, he also does not hesitate to castigate those Normans and English who, in his view, let down the side.
Much more than the "Journey," the "Conquest" is an account of arms, of action: battles and chases and killings abound, with plenty of slippery politics and tight-fisted governing in between. It's a short work, and unfortunately cuts off rather abruptly--perhaps unavoidably, I suppose, since things were still popping over there by the time Gerald was ending his tenure, around 1186. So you sort of miss out on the "ending" of the conquest, but I can't say I would really want to trade away Gerald's man-on-the-scene observations and analysis just in order to see the conclusion of the affair. Even without an ending, his Conquest makes for a fascinating story, and you could even argue that Gerald, the masterful storyteller, made good use of one of the principles of his trade: he left us wanting more. |
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