The Glossary in London, British Library, Harley 107, fol. 72v

Abstract

This study provides a new edition of, and commentary to, the Latin-Old English glossary preserved in London, British Library, MS Harley 107. This glossary, which is comprised of three introductory entries, a chapter on bird names, and a chapter on fish names, belongs to a group of Latin-Old English glossaries organized by subject, rather than alphabetically (class glossaries). According to scholarship, the chapter-format of Old English class glossaries echoes the form of the Greek-Latin textbooks known as Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana. In this study, I shall first assess the question of the tradition of the Hermeneumata in England; an overview of the sources behind the compilation of the glossary in MS Harley 107 will then be given; these introductory sections will be followed by the edition of the glossary and notes on each entry. These notes will provide parallels with possible sources and cognate glossaries. In particular, I shall focus on the parallels between the glossary in MS Harley 107, the Épinal-Erfurt Glossary and the Corpus Glossary.