ABSTRACT

This article aims to redirect the study of the Old English Precepts by thoroughly reconsidering its language, genre, context, and interpretation. It argues against the association of Precepts with homiletic poetry and the Benedictine Reform, while making a case for the worldliness of the poem’s concerns and for its composition in a markedly secular and aristocratic context (perhaps an Eigenkirche of the eighth or ninth century). It contends that the speaker of the poem is best understood as neither a monk nor a personified abstraction, but as an elderly Anglo-Saxon aristocrat endeavouring to persuade his ambitious son that piety is compatible with prosperity, and that God grants material rewards to those who live virtuously.

摘要

本文旨在通过彻底重新考虑其语言、体裁、上下文和解释来重新引导对古英语戒律的研究。它反对将戒律与讲道诗和本笃会改革联系起来，同时为这首诗关注的世俗性及其在明显的世俗和贵族背景下（可能是八或九世纪的Eigenkirche）的创作提供了理由。它争辩说，最好将这首诗的说话者理解为既不是僧侣也不是拟人化的抽象人物，而是一位年长的盎格鲁-撒克逊贵族，努力说服他雄心勃勃的儿子虔诚与繁荣相容，上帝将物质奖励给予那些有道德地生活。