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).
Read more about this topic: The Proverbs Of Alfred