Aurelius Augustinus

King Alfred's Version of St. Augustine's "Soliloquies" Aurelius Augustinus

This is the first full critical edition of Alfred the Great's Old English translation of St. Augustine's Soliloquies. Perhaps the least studied of Alfred's works, it ranks with Boethius in interest and quality. Apparently Alfred's last work, it is certainly his most independent translation. He departs freely and often from his main source to develop or introduce ideas that particularly interest him. He has also added a famous preface, in which he appears to be surveying his entire literary career. These additions are a valuable complement to the picture of Alfred revealed in his other works and in Asser's biography. The Soliloquies also provides a more accurate perspective on the history of Old English prose style and on Alfred's own literary achievement. While no scholar would seriously maintain that Alfred was a great stylist, the prose of the Soliloquies is competent, often eloquent, and the preface, the editor believes, may well be the finest thing Alfred ever wrote.