{"product_id":"the-old-english-boethius","title":"The Old English Boethius: with Verse Prologues and Epilogues Associated with King Alfred","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Old English BoethiusÊboldly refashions in Anglo-Saxon guise a great literary monument of the late-antique world,ÊThe Consolation of Philosophy.ÊCondemned to death for treason around 525 ce, the Roman scholar Boethius turned to philosophy to transform his personal distress into a powerful meditation on fate, free will, and the human capacity for virtue in a flawed, fallen world. Boethius's Latin dialogues found a receptive audience in Anglo-Saxon England, where they were translated into Old English some time around 900. The translator (traditionally identified with King Alfred) freely adapts the Latin for a new audience: the Roman Fabricius, for example, becomes the Germanic weapon-smith Weland. The translation replicates BoethiusÕs alternation of prose and verse_only in this case Old English prose alternates with alliterative verse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn later centuries Chaucer and Queen Elizabeth each turned The Consolation of Philosophy into English, but the Old English translation was the first to bring it to a wider vernacular audience. Verse prologues and epilogues for works traditionally associated with King Alfred fill out the volume, offering readers a fascinating glimpse of the moment when English confidently claimed its birthright as a literature capable of anything, from sublime ideas to subtle poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Susan Irvine,ÊMalcolm R. GoddenÊ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49013686960281,"sku":"9780674055582","price":1495.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0735\/5642\/6905\/files\/41qE0p_51GL._SY342_afbf8c90-835b-4268-a461-2b0f9a65fa04.jpg?v=1789228349","url":"https:\/\/booksworldstore.com\/products\/the-old-english-boethius","provider":"Books World","version":"1.0","type":"link"}