Gualterus Anglicus

Gualterus Anglicus [Galterus, Gualtherus Anglicus, Waltarius; Walter the Englishman, Walter of England, Walther; Gauthier or Gautier l'Anglais; Anonyme de Nevelet.] was an Anglo-Norman poet writing in Latin, who (it has been suggested) produced a seminal version of "Aesop's Fables", in distichs, around the year 1175.

Identification of the author

This author was earlier called the "Anonymus Neveleti", referring to attribution in the seventeenth-century "Mythologia Aesopica" of Isaac Nicholas Nevelet. The name Walter (Latin Gualterus) was produced by Léopold Hervieux [In "Les fabulistes latins depuis le siècle d'Auguste jusqu'à la fin du Moyen-Age", 1893-4.] , on the basis of manuscript evidence, and he went on to identify the author as Walter of the Mill, archbishop of Palermo from 1168 onwards. Scholars have disputed this second step of identification [L. J. A. Loewenthal, "For the Biography of Walter Ophamil, Archhishop of Palermo", The English Historical Review, Vol. 87, No. 342 (Jan., 1972), pp. 75-82.] ; it may no longer be supported [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/w/walter_v_pa.shtml, in German.] . The entire attribution is attacked [Cataldo Roccaro, "Sull'autore dell'Aesopus comunemente attribuito a Gualtiero Anglico", Pan: studi dell'Istituto di Filologia Latina, Università degli Studi, Palermo 17 (1999).] .

The collection and its influence

This collection of 62 fables is more accurately called the verse "Romulus" [http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FE/06/fable.html#transmission, in French.] , or elegiac "Romulus" (from its elegiac couplets). Given the uncertainty over the authorship, these terms are used in scholarly works.

There is an earlier prose version of "Romulus", also [ [http://www.mythfolklore.net/medieval_latin/11_aesopus/background.htm Medieval Latin Online (University of Oklahoma) ] ] [A. G. Rigg, "History of Anglo-Latin Literature, 1066-1422" (1992) states that 58 of the 62 tales were from Phaedrus, via the prose Latin of 'Romulus'.] ; it has been dated as early as the tenth century [John MacQueen, "Complete and Full with Numbers: The Narrative Poetry of Robert Henryson" (2006), p. 15.] , or the sixth centuryhttp://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol17/17ch6.html] . It is adapted from Phaedrus; the initial fable "The Cock and the Jewel", supposedly the reply of Phaedrus to his critics, marks out fable collections originating from this source. Walter changed the "jewel" from a pearl to jasper [ [http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol17/17ch6n.html#15 Notes ] ] [ [http://la.wikisource.org/wiki/Fabulae_(Aesopus)_-_1._De_gallo_et_iaspide] , Wikisource text] .

The verse "Romulus" formed the mainstream versions of medieval 'Aesop' [R. Howard Bloch, "The Anonymous Marie de France" (2006), p. 122.] . It is thought to be the version used by Dante [Ronald L. Durling, "The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: Inferno" (1997), notes to Canto 23.4-6, p. 354.] . It with Ovid influenced the "Doligamus" of Adolphus of Vienna [http://gahom.ehess.fr/thema/recueil.php?id=2&lg=fr, in French.] .

When John Lydgate produced "Isopes Fabules", the first fable collection written in English, the verse "Romulus" was a major source [Edward Wheatley, "Mastering Aesop: Medieval Education, Chaucer, and His Followers", p. 125.] . Particularly sophisticated use of this fable tradition is made later in the 15th century in Robert Henryson's "Morall Fabillis", written in Scots [Annabel M. Patterson, "Fables of Power: Aesopian Writing and Political History" (1991), p. 31.] [ [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/mornts.htm The Morall Fabillis, Notes ] ] [http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol17/17ch6n.html note 14.] [ [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/morint.htm The Morall Fabillis: Introduction ] ] .

Early printed editions appeared under the title "Aesopus moralisatus", around 1500.

References

*Julia Bastin (editor) (1929-30), "Recueil général des Isopets" (two volumes)
*Sandro Boldrini (1994), "Uomini e bestie: le favole dell Aesopus latinus"
*Aaron E. Wright (editor) (1997), "The Fables of "Walter of England", Edited from Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Codex Guelferbytanus 185 Helmstadiensis"

Notes

External links

* [http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/walter/index.htm mythfolklore.net online texts]
* [http://www.uan.it/alim/letteratura.nsf/(cercaVolumi)/5800CEE7DF56CEEDC12573CE005B4B7F?OpenDocument Alim online texts]
*fr icon [http://www.arlima.net/ad/anonymus_neveleti.html Arlima page]