Editing Ormulum (section)

==Contents and style==
The ''Ormulum'' consists of 18,956 lines of metrical verse, explaining Christian teaching on each of the texts used in the [[mass (liturgy)|mass]] throughout the church calendar.<ref>[[#Treharne2000|Treharne 2000]], p.&nbsp;273</ref> As such, it is the first new [[homily]] cycle in English since the works of [[Ælfric of Eynsham]] ({{circa|990}}). The motivation was to provide an accessible English text for the benefit of the less educated, which might include some clergy who found it difficult to understand the Latin of the [[Vulgate]], and the parishioners who in most cases would not understand spoken Latin at all.<ref>[[#Treharne2000|Treharne 2000]], p.&nbsp;273</ref>

Each homily begins with a paraphrase of a [[Gospel]] reading (important when the laity did not understand Latin), followed by [[exegesis]].<ref>[[#Bennett1982|Bennett and Smithers 1982]], pp.&nbsp;174–175</ref> The theological content is derivative; Orrm closely follows [[Bede]]'s exegesis of [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], the ''Enarrationes in Matthoei'', and the ''[[Glossa Ordinaria]]'' of the Bible. Thus, he reads each verse primarily [[allegory|allegorically]] rather than literally.<ref>Jack, George, in [[#Matthew2004|Matthew and Harrison 2004]], pp.&nbsp;936–937</ref> Rather than identify individual sources, Orrm refers frequently to "{{lang|enm|ðe boc}}" and to the "holy book".<ref>[[#Bennett1986|Bennett 1986]], p.&nbsp;31</ref> Bennett has speculated that the ''Acts of the Apostles'', ''Glossa Ordinaria'', and Bede were bound together in a large [[Vulgate]] Bible in the abbey so that Orrm truly was getting all of his material from a source that was, to him, a single book.<ref>[[#Bennett1986|Bennett 1986]], p.&nbsp;31</ref>

Although the sermons have been deemed "of little literary or theological value"<ref>[[#Burchfield1987|Burchfield 1987]], p.&nbsp;280</ref> and though Orrm has been said to possess "only one rhetorical device", that of repetition,<ref>[[#Bennett1986|Bennett 1986]], p.&nbsp;32</ref> the ''Ormulum'' never was intended as a book in the modern sense, but rather as a companion to the [[liturgy]]. Priests would read, and congregations hear, only a day's entry at a time. The tedium that many experience when attempting to read the ''Ormulum'' today would not exist for persons hearing only a single homily each day. Furthermore, although Orrm's poetry is, perhaps, subliterary, the homilies were meant for easy recitation or chanting, not for aesthetic appreciation; everything from the overly strict metre to the orthography might function only to aid [[Public speaking|oratory]].<ref>[[#Bennett1982|Bennett and Smithers 1982]], pp.&nbsp;174–175</ref>

Although earlier metrical homilies, such as those of Ælfric and [[Wulfstan (died 1023)|Wulfstan]], were based on the rules of [[Old English literature|Old English poetry]], they took sufficient liberties with metre to be readable as prose. Orrm does not follow their example. Rather, he adopts a "jog-trot fifteener" for his rhythm, based on the Latin [[Iamb (poetry)|iambic]] {{lang|la|[[Heptameter|septenarius]]}}, and writes continuously, neither dividing his work into stanzas nor rhyming his lines, again following Latin poetry.<ref>[[#Bennett1986|Bennett 1986]], p.&nbsp;31</ref> Orrm was humble about his oeuvre: he admits in the preface that he frequently has padded the lines to fill out the metre, "to help those who read it", and urges his brother Walter to edit the poetry to make it more meet.<ref>[[#Treharne2000|Treharne 2000]], pp.&nbsp;274–275</ref>

A brief sample may help to illustrate the style of the work. This passage explains the background to the [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]]:
{| class="wikitable" 
|-
!Early Middle English||Modern English|| Literal etymological translation
|-
|{{lang|enm|Forrþrihht anan se time comm}}||As soon as the time came|| Forthright anon the time came
|-
|{{lang|enm|þatt ure Drihhtin wollde}}||that our Lord wanted|| That our Drighten would 
|-
|{{lang|enm|ben borenn i þiss middellærd}}||to be born in this middle-earth|| be born in this middleearth 
|-
|{{lang|enm|forr all mannkinne nede}}||for the sake of all mankind,|| for all mankind's need
|-
|{{lang|enm|he chæs himm sone kinnessmenn}}||at once he chose kinsmen for himself,|| he chose him some kinsmen, 
|-
|{{lang|enm|all swillke summ he wollde}}||all just as he wanted,|| all such some he would, 
|-
|{{lang|enm|& whær he wollde borenn ben}}||and he decided that he would be born|| and where he would born be
|-
|{{lang|enm|he chæs all att hiss wille.}}||exactly where he wished.|| He chose all at his will. {{small|(line 3494, 501)}}{{Ref label|notabene_A|A|none}}
|}