Editing Old English literature (section)

=== Secular prose ===
The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' was probably started in the time of King Alfred the Great and continued for over 300&nbsp;years as a historical record of Anglo-Saxon history.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=284}}

A single example of a Classical [[Romance (heroic literature)|romance]] has survived: a fragment of the story of ''[[Apollonius of Tyre]]'' was translated in the 11th century from the ''[[Gesta Romanorum]]''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=285}}{{sfn|Vernon|1861|p=121}}

A monk who was writing in Old English at the same time as Ælfric and Wulfstan was [[Byrhtferth of Ramsey]], whose book ''[[Handboc]]'' was a study of mathematics and rhetoric. He also produced a work entitled ''[[Date of Easter|Computus]]'', which outlined the practical application of arithmetic to the calculation of calendar days and [[movable feasts]], as well as tide tables.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=284}}

Ælfric wrote two proto-scientific works, ''[[Hexameron]]'' and ''[[Interrogationes Sigewulfi]]'', dealing with the stories of Creation. He also wrote a grammar and glossary of Latin in Old English, later used by students interested in learning [[Old French]], as inferred from glosses in that language.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=285}}

In the Nowell Codex is the text of ''[[Wonders of the East|The Wonders of the East]]'' which includes a remarkable map of the world, and other illustrations. Also contained in Nowell is ''[[Epistola Alexandri ad Aristotelem|Alexander's Letter to Aristotle]]''. Because this is the same manuscript that contains ''Beowulf'', some scholars speculate it may have been a collection of materials on exotic places and creatures.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=285-286}}

There are a number of interesting medical works. There is a translation of ''[[Apuleius's Herbarium]]'' with striking illustrations, found together with ''Medicina de Quadrupedibus''. A second collection of texts is ''[[Bald's Leechbook]]'', a 10th-century book containing herbal and even some surgical cures. A third collection, known as the ''[[Lacnunga]]'', includes many [[spell (paranormal)|charms]] and [[incantation]]s.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=286}}

Legal texts are a large and important part of the overall Old English corpus. The Laws of [[Æthelberht of Kent|Aethelberht I of Kent]], written at the turn of the 7th century, are the earliest surviving English prose work.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=English literature – Prose|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature|access-date=2021-05-15|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=2015-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701022508/https://www.britannica.com/art/English-literature|url-status=live}}</ref> Other laws wills and charters were written over the following centuries.<ref name=":0" /> Towards the end of the 9th, Alfred had compiled the law codes of Aethelberht, [[Ine of Wessex|Ine]], and [[Offa of Mercia|Offa]] in a text setting out his own laws, the ''[[Doom book|Domboc]]''. By the 12th century they had been arranged into two large collections (see ''[[Textus Roffensis]]''). They include laws of the kings, beginning with those of Aethelbert of Kent and ending with those of [[Cnut the Great|Cnut]], and texts dealing with specific cases and places in the country. An interesting example is ''[[Gerefa]]'', which outlines the duties of a [[Reeve (England)|reeve]] on a large manor estate. There is also a large volume of legal documents related to religious houses. These include many kinds of texts: records of donations by nobles; wills; documents of emancipation; lists of books and relics; court cases; guild rules. All of these texts provide valuable insights into the social history of Anglo-Saxon times, but are also of literary value. For example, some of the court case narratives are interesting for their use of rhetoric.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=286}}