The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle | Page 3

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This electronic edition was edited, proofed, and prepared by Douglas B. Killings
([email protected]), July 1996.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Originally compiled on the orders of King Alfred the Great, approximately A.D. 890, and
subsequently maintained and added to by generations of anonymous scribes until the
middle of the 12th Century. The original language is Anglo-Saxon (Old English), but
later entries are essentially Middle English in tone.
Translation by Rev. James Ingram (London, 1823), with additional readings from the
translation of Dr. J.A. Giles (London, 1847).
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PREPARER'S NOTE:
At present there are nine known versions or fragments of the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" in
existence, all of which vary (sometimes greatly) in content and quality. The translation
that follows is not a translation of any one Chronicle; rather, it is a collation of readings
from many different versions.
The nine known "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" MS. are the following:
A-Prime The Parker Chronicle (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS. 173) A
Cottonian Fragment (British Museum, Cotton MS. Otho B xi, 2) B The Abingdon
Chronicle I (British Museum, Cotton MS. Tiberius A vi.) C The Abingdon Chronicle II
(British Museum, Cotton MS. Tiberius B i.) D The Worcester Chronicle (British Museum,
Cotton MS. Tiberius B iv.) E The Laud (or "Peterborough") Chronicle (Bodleian, MS.
Laud 636) F The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (British Museum, Cotton MS. Domitian
A viii.) NOTE: Entries in English and Latin. H Cottonian Fragment (British Museum,
Cotton MS. Domitian A ix.) I An Easter Table Chronicle (British Museum, Cotton MS.
Caligula A xv.)
This electronic edition contains primarily the translation of Rev. James Ingram, as
published in the Everyman edition of this text. Excerpts from the translation of Dr. J.A.

Giles were included as an appendix in the Everyman edition; the preparer of this edition
has elected to collate these entries into the main text of the translation. Where these
collations have occurred I have marked the entry with a double parenthesis (()).
WARNING: While I have elected to include the footnotes of Rev. Ingram in this edition,
please note that they should be used with extreme care. In many cases the views
expressed by Rev. Ingram are severally out of date, having been superseded by almost
175 years of active scholarship. At best, these notes will provide a starting point for
inquiry. They should not, however, be treated as absolute.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
ORIGINAL TEXT --
Classen, E. and Harmer, F.E. (eds.): "An Anglo-Saxon Chronicle from British Museum,
Cotton MS. Tiberius B iv." (Manchester, 1926)
Flower, Robin and Smith, Hugh (eds.): "The Peterborough Chronicle and Laws" (Early
English Text Society, Original Series 208, Oxford, 1941).
Taylor, S. (ed.): "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: MS B" I"> (Cambridge, 1983)
OTHER TRANSLATIONS --
Garmonsway, G.N.: "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" (Everyman Press, London, 1953,
1972). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Contains side-by-side translations of all nine
known texts.
RECOMMENDED READING --
Bede: "A History of the English Church and People" ,
translated by Leo Sherley-Price (Penguin Classics, London, 1955, 1968).
Poole, A.L.: "Domesday Book to Magna Carta" (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1951,
1953)
Stenton, Sir Frank W.: "Anglo-Saxon England" (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1943,
1947, 1971)
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ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION TO INGRAM'S EDITION [1823]
England may boast of two substantial monuments of its early history; to either of which it
would not be easy to find a parallel in any nation, ancient or modern. These are, the
Record of Doomsday (1) and the "Saxon Chronicle" (2). The former, which is little more
than a statistical survey, but contains the most authentic information relative to the
descent of property and the comparative importance of the different parts of the kingdom
at a very interesting period, the wisdom and liberality of the British Parliament long since
deemed worthy of being printed (3) among the Public Records, by Commissioners
appointed for that purpose. The other work, though not treated with absolute neglect, has
not received that degree of attention which every person who feels an interest in the
events and transactions of former times would naturally expect. In the first place, it has
never been printed entire, from a collation of all the MSS. But of the extent of the