David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


23 November 2014

IN PRINCIPIO ERAT VERBUM

       
In the begynnynge was that worde
translation to English by William Tyndale
      

       
William Tyndale is a pin-up at bLOGOS/HA HA. Linguist, translator, neologist, poet and publisher. A hero who gave all for equal access to knowledge and education.

It was Tyndale who, against the wishes of the King and the pursuit of heretic-hunter Thomas Moore, first translated the Bible into English. He who then had it secretly published abroad and smuggled into England. 

William Tyndale was hated and hunted by the powers of his day just as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are in ours. 
    
With English connivance, he was tried as a heretic in Antwerp. Tyndale's last words on the pyre were : "Lord, open the King of England's eyes".
       
detail
A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
someone looks at something ... 

LOGOS/HA HA
   click image to see full image 


It has been a pleasure over recent weekends to watch Melvyn Bragg, another great appreciator of the word, present the life and achievements of Tyndale : The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England (BBC).

Here is Bragg in the presence of the only surviving intact edition of Tyndale's first printed Bible in English.
         


 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something ... 

 LOGOS/HA HA