The Proverbs of Alfred

The Proverbs of Alfred is a collection of early Middle English sayings ascribed to King Alfred the Great (called "England's darling"), said to have been uttered at an assembly in Seaford, East Sussex. The collection of proverbs was probably put together in Sussex in the mid-12th century. The manuscript evidence suggests the text originated at either a Cluniac or Benedictine monastery, either Lewes Priory, to the north of Seaford, or Battle Abbey, to the north-east. Transmission The Proverbs of Alfred survive in four manuscripts of the 13th century: Cotton Galba A. xix (MS C) Maidstone Museum A.13 (MS M) Cambridge, Trinity College, B.14.39 (MS T) Oxford, Jesus College, 29 (MS J) The text appears to have been produced in the late 12th century. There is no reason to suppose that any of the proverbs go back to King Alfred. King Alfred, who translated several works into the vernacular, is not known to have translated or composed proverbs. However, his legendary status in later tradition gave him a reputation for having done so, as the Middle English poem The Owl and the Nightingale likewise suggests. Some of the proverbs in the Proverbs of Alfred appear elsewhere under another name (Hendyng, which may itself be less of a proper name than an adjective).