Produced by Douglas B. Killings
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Originally compiled on the orders of King Alfred the Great,approximately A.D. 890, and subsequently maintained and added toby generations of anonymous scribes until the middle of the 12thCentury. The original language is Anglo-Saxon (Old English), butlater entries are essentially Middle English in tone.
Translation by Rev. James Ingram (London, 1823), with additionalreadings from the translation of Dr. J.A. Giles (London, 1847).
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At present there are nine known versions or fragments of the"Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" in existence, all of which vary(sometimes greatly) in content and quality. The translation thatfollows is not a translation of any one Chronicle; rather, it isa collation of readings from many different versions.
The nine known "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" MS. are the following:
A-Prime The Parker Chronicle (Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, MS. 173)
A Cottonian Fragment (British Museum, Cotton MS. Otho B
xi, 2)
B The Abingdon Chronicle I (British Museum, Cotton MS.
Tiberius A vi.)
C The Abingdon Chronicle II (British Museum, Cotton MS.
Tiberius B i.)
D The Worcester Chronicle (British Museum, Cotton MS.
Tiberius B iv.)
E The Laud (or "Peterborough") Chronicle (Bodleian, MS.
Laud 636)
F The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (British Museum,
Cotton MS. Domitian A viii.) NOTE: Entries in English
and Latin.
H Cottonian Fragment (British Museum, Cotton MS. Domitian
A ix.)
I An Easter Table Chronicle (British Museum, Cotton MS.
Caligula A xv.)
This electronic edition contains primarily the translation ofRev. James Ingram, as published in the Everyman edition of thistext. Excerpts from the translation of Dr. J.A. Giles wereincluded as an appendix in the Everyman edition; the preparer ofthis edition has elected to collate these entries into the maintext of the translation. Where these collations have occurred Ihave marked the entry with a double parenthesis (()).
WARNING:While I have elected to include the footnotes of Rev. Ingram inthis edition, please note that they should be used with extremecare. In many cases the views expressed by Rev. Ingram areseverally out of date, having been superseded by almost 175 yearsof active scholarship. At best, these notes will provide astarting point for inquiry. They should not, however, be treatedas absolute.
Classen, E. and Harmer, F.E. (eds.): "An Anglo-Saxon Chroniclefrom British Museum, Cotton MS. Tiberius B iv." (Manchester,1926)
Flower, Robin and Smith, Hugh (eds.): "The Peterborough Chronicleand Laws" (Early English Text Society, Original Series 208,Oxford, 1941).
Taylor, S. (ed.): "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: MS B" <aka "The
Abingdon Chronicle I"> (Cambridge, 1983)
Garmonsway, G.N.: "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (Everyman Press,London, 1953, 1972). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Contains side-by-sidetranslations of all nine known texts.
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