The audience for Old English texts: Ælfric, rhetoric and ‘the edification of the simple’
Helen Gittos
Abstract There is a persistent view that Old English texts were mostly written to be read or heard by people with no knowledge of Latin, little understanding it, especially the laity. This not surprising because it what themselves tend say. In this article I argue these statements about audience reflect two rhetorical devices and should understood literally. has implications for our reasons why writers chose use their attitudes towards translation various kinds into vernacular.
Anglo-Saxon England|Kent Academic Repository (University of Kent)