Unraveled aged enigma in literature: Elves, wolves, and a medieval inside joke concerning elves and wolves solved after 130 years
In a groundbreaking discovery, Cambridge researchers Dr. James Wade and Dr. Seb Falk have unveiled the true meaning of a long-misunderstood excerpt from The Song of Wade, a lost piece of English medieval culture and chivalric romance. The finding, which was initially discovered in a 12th-century Latin sermon in 1896, has been misinterpreted for over 130 years.
### The History and Context of the Misread Excerpt
The excerpt was embedded in a late-12th-century Latin sermon, likely authored by Alexander Neckam or one of his students. The sermon used themes from The Song of Wade to illustrate moral lessons, emphasizing humility and critiques of human behaviour by comparing powerful and deceitful men to predatory animals like wolves and snakes.
The Song of Wade itself was a popular chivalric romance in its time, featuring Wade as a heroic figure comparable to famous knights like Lancelot or Sir Gawain. However, the work was lost except for this surviving passage embedded in a sermon, where it was originally used metaphorically for theological instruction.
The sermon uniquely combines the legend with a topical historical reference to a knight named Hugh of Gournay, a real-life crusader who infamously switched allegiances multiple times, symbolizing chivalric humility through his repentance. This suggests the sermon intended its audience to recognize these references and connect them to contemporary issues of loyalty and pride.
### The Significance and Relation to Geoffrey Chaucer
The Song of Wade’s rediscovery sheds light on medieval romance traditions that predate and possibly influenced later English literature, including Geoffrey Chaucer’s works. Before being decoded, the excerpt's chivalric and romantic themes had been obscured by misinterpretation.
Scholars believe that understanding The Song of Wade helps fill gaps in the evolution of English literary culture—particularly how chivalric ideals were expressed and disseminated in early English vernacular literature, which Chaucer later built upon in the 14th century.
While no direct textual linkage to Chaucer’s writings is confirmed, the thematic overlap and shared medieval cultural context indicate that such romances like The Song of Wade likely contributed to the narrative world Chaucer inhabited and reinterpreted in his works.
### The New Reading of The Song of Wade
The correct reading of the English excerpt, according to Falk and Wade, is: "Thus they can say, with Wade: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand'."
Falk and Wade suggest that the mention of "elves" in The Song of Wade excerpts was mistakenly interpreted as "wolves." This new reading significantly changes our understanding of The Song of Wade, positioning it as a significant medieval romance, reshaping scholars’ understanding of English literary history.
### The Implications of the Discovery
This uncovering of The Song of Wade thus bridges a literary mystery, reinstates a lost medieval romance to its rightful cultural place, and enhances our grasp of the roots of English medieval literature leading up to and including Chaucer’s era.
A study by Seb Falk and James Wade, forthcoming in Oxford University Press, argues that the English excerpt of The Song of Wade has been misread for decades. The misreading of The Song of Wade excerpt triggered almost 130 years of debate over its meaning.
The discovery also highlights the creative use of pop culture in the Humiliamini sermon, where preachers tried to make their sermons more accessible and captivating by using memes from popular stories like The Song of Wade.
The last names of Seb Falk and James Wade share a coincidental similarity with the name of the lost romantic poem, The Song of Wade, adding an intriguing twist to this historical revelation.
- The study by Seb Falk and James Wade, to be published by Oxford University Press, will delve into the misread English excerpt of The Song of Wade, a lost medieval romance, suggesting that the confusion over its meaning has persisted for almost 130 years.
- The new interpretation of The Song of Wade, as proposed by Falk and Wade, emphasizes the significance of elves, rather than wolves, in the text, reshaping scholars' understanding of the poem and its influence on English literary history, particularly in relation to Geoffrey Chaucer's works.
- The creative use of popular culture extends beyond modern-day Gizmodo articles and fashion-and-beauty trends, as evidenced by the Humiliamini sermon, which incorporated themes from The Song of Wade to make religious lessons more engaging and relatable to its audience.
- Integral to understanding education-and-self-development through history, the rediscovery of The Song of Wade demonstrates the transformative power of learning—as its correct interpretation has not only restored a lost piece of English medieval culture but also expanded our knowledge of chivalric romances and their impact on the literary milieu of the 14th century, including the works of Geoffrey Chaucer.
