Wisdom, Authority and Grammar in the Seventh Century
Decoding Virgilius Maro Grammaticus

An alternative interpretation of two of the most puzzling surviving medieval texts.

Vivien Law (Author)

9780521027694, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

184 pages
21.5 x 13.8 x 1 cm, 0.242 kg

"There are important ideas in this book. Law's method rests on a sound philological basis but is also innovative.... This is a book for those who seek to understand the intellectual climate of the seventh century...." Denis Brearley, Speculum

The works of the seventh-century writer Virgilius Maro Grammaticus are among the most puzzling medieval texts to survive. Ostensibly a pair of grammars, they swarm with hymns, riddles, invented words and imaginary writers. Conventionally interpreted either as a benighted barbarian's unfortunate attempt to write a 'proper' grammar, or as a parody of the pedantic excesses of the ancient grammatical tradition, these texts have long been in need of an alternative reading. Why should a grammarian attack the very notion of authority, thereby destabilizing his own position? The search for an answer leads us via patristic exegesis and medieval wisdom literature to the tantalizingly ill-documented reaches of heterodox initiatory traditions. Vivien Law's book opens important new perspectives on the intellectual life of the early Middle Ages and on the decoding of medieval literature in general.

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. The outer layers: parody and word-play
2. The wisdom tradition
3. Avarice and the four keys to wisdom
4. The multifarious nature of wisdom
5. Heretical knowledge? The constitution of man
6. The Epistolae: Virgilius' Retractatio?
7. Concealment of mysteries: the techniques of secrecy
8. Virgilius and the seventh century
9. Conclusion
Appendices
Notes
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]