Abstract
This chapter documents the introduction of the Christian ‘God who knows the heart’, and shows how this affectively omniscient presence, reinforced through psalms, wisdom literature, saints’ lives and homilies, had a significant impact on how Anglo-Saxons thought about the relationship between words and emotions. Especial emphasis is placed on Christian prayer and confession, which are the ritual contexts where the ideal of sincerity is first put into practice, but it is also suggested that there were efforts in the Anglo-Saxon period to promote sincerity more generally for interpersonal relationships.
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Notes
- 1.
In this respect it is not surprising to find Alfred involved in such a project, specifically given his endorsements of English as a mode of learning and devotion more generally.
- 2.
The need to confess before a priest was challenged by Lollards in the late Middle Ages, and of course again in the Reformation . One of the main contestations for both movements was that confessing before a priest was redundant in that God already knew the heart. See Hudson (1988), esp. 295 and 311.
- 3.
Other examples from the penitential psalms include:
[6.9] Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem, quoniam exaudivit Dominus vocem fletus mei.
[Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.]
[6.10] Exaudivit Dominus deprecationem meam; Dominus orationem meam suscepit.
[The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer.]
[31.11] Laetamini in Domino, et exsultate, justi; et gloriamini, omnes recti corde.
[Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right of heart.]
[129.1] Canticum graduum. De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine;
[Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord:]
[142.1] Domine, exaudi orationem meam; auribus percipe obsecrationem meam in veritate tua; exaudi me in tua justitia.
[Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth: hear me in thy justice.]
[142.4] Et anxiatus est super me spiritus meus; in me turbatum est cor meum.
[And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled.]
- 4.
This is not to reduce all OE literature to the simple category of religious edification; for such a statement would be easily confounded by numerous well-known examples, e.g. the oftentimes risqué playfulness of the Exeter Riddles, or pagan elements of Beowulf.
- 5.
Translating embe cristes naman as ‘after Christ ’s example’ relies on a sense for nama in OE, ‘reputation’ (from Clark Hall). My translation differs from Skeat’s in this respect, who uses the more common meaning, simply ‘name’; but I think my translation is likely to capture better the sense of the original in this instance. That is, they spoke like Christians, which presumably does not simply mean they were swearing by Christ all the time.
- 6.
The extent to which the canon of 1215 reflected, reinforced and/or instituted aspects of confession culture among the laity is of course debatable, but the point remains that there is little evidence to suggest that confession was a regular activity for most Anglo-Saxons. See Foxhall Forbes (2013) for the best study of Anglo-Saxon Christianity as it was practiced ‘on the ground’.
- 7.
[3] qui loquitur veritatem in corde suo; qui non egit dolum in lingua sua; nec fecit proximo suo malum, et opprobrium non accepit adversus proximos suos.
[He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours.]
[4] Ad nihilum deductus est in conspectu ejus malignus; timentes autem Dominum glorificat. Qui jurat proximo suo, et non decipit;
[In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not;]
- 8.
Dicit enim Deus, Dimitte, et dimittetur tibi. Sed ego prior dimisi: dimitte vel postea. Nam si non dimiseris, revocabo te; et quidquid tibi dimiseram, replicabo tibi. Non enim mentitur Veritas; non enim fallit, aut fallitur Christus, qui subjecit, dicens: ‘Sic et vobis faciet Pater vester, qui in coelis est.’ (from Irvine 1993, 44).
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Williams, G. (2018). God Who Knows the Heart: The Christianization of Language and Emotion. In: Sincerity in Medieval English Language and Literature. New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics . Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54069-0_3
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