Cotton Nero A.x. and the “Pearl Poet”

Background and Origins: Cotton Nero A.x., a medieval manuscript encompassing the four poems of Pearl, Patience, Cleanness, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, was classified as such while in the possession of Sir Robert Cotton, a collector of medieval poetry who lived in the late 16^th to early 17^th centuries. The poem Cleanness is also sometimes referred to as Purity, but scholars prefer the former because this word is actually used by the poet. The manuscript itself only measures 171 x 123 millimeters and is written on vellum. Since the manuscript was illustrated, one of the few English manuscripts of this nature from the period, scholars have suggested that the surviving manuscript is a copy of a larger one, since illustrated manuscripts from this time tended to be very large. It was virtually unknown until the 19^th century, when Sir Frederic Madden edited Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for a collection of Gawain romances for the Bannatyne Club in 1839. Richard Morris edited and published the other three poems in 1864 as a first volume for the Early English Text Society. The manuscript is the only surviving anthology of alliterative verse.

Dating: Compared to establishing authorship, the dating of the manuscript has been easy. Paleographical experts date the scribe’s hand to the late 14^th century. Descriptions of dress and style in the poems, especially Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, also indicate the later 14^th century. In addition, the poet refers to the motto of the Order of the Garter at the end of Sir Gawain and this was founded in 1348. Some scholars have dated illustrations in the manuscript to the early 15^th century, but there is evidence that they were added in later (see excerpt on Illustrations.)

Authorship: Although the identity of the poet has not been determined to date, scholars, through careful analysis, have made various assumptions. Firstly, the language of the poems follows the dialect of the West Midlands of England, particularly South East Cheshire or North East Staffordshire. However, dialect indicates the location of the scribe rather than the poet. Due to analysis of alliteration and rhymed words, scholars have suggested that the poet is from south of the scribe, in Staffordshire. The words “Huge de” appear before the opening lines of Sir Gawain, and scholars have proposed that this could be a medieval owner. However, some suggest this is the author. This name, in addition to acrostics and cryptograms in the text supposedly leading to the name Massey, has led some scholars to believe that the poet’s name is “Hugo Massey” (or Mascy). This supposition is supported by the word Masse which appears in St. Erkenwald, which, due to dating and dialect, some have suggested also was composed by the Pearl Poet. This latter claim was proposed by Ormerod Greenwood. Over time, the poems have been attributed to the Scottish poet Huchoun, the philosopher Ralph Strode, John Prat or John Dunne of the Hastings household, and the Augustian Friar, John of Ergome, among others. Nevertheless, these theories have little support. The manuscript is more substantially linked to a prominent family in the West Midlands by the name of Stanley who had an interest in vernacular literature, and some think that the manuscript could have been written for them. In the last twenty years, hypotheses of this kind have rapidly declined.

Illustrations: Twelve illustrations appear throughout the manuscript, four depicting scenes from Pearl, two from Patience, two from Cleanness, and four from Gawain. These illustrations are widely perceived as crude and of poor quality. Moreover, the illustrations do not depict particularly critical scenes from the text and scholars think that they were most likely carried out by instructions from the poet, as the illustrator displays no direct knowledge of the text. Sometimes, there are even discrepancies between the text and the illustration, such as numbers of people in a scene. (link for illustrations online: http://contentdm.ucalgary.ca/cdm4/browse.php?CISOROOT=/gawain)

Thematic Concerns of the Poet: Another argument for common authorship of all four poems is the fact that all of the poems deal with similar themes such as sympathy with human moral and ethical struggles, themes of penitence, and biblical motifs. Other important commonalities are the tight organization of narrative, the fact that all but Cleanness end with lines that echo openings, and a confrontation between a human protagonist and a superhuman figure (i.e.; God, the Maiden, the Green Knight (see synopses of poems)).

About the Poet: Although the identity of the Pearl Poet remains unknown, scholars have agreed upon various biographical facts of the poet as a figure. The poet does not normally make use of self-presentation as a fictional device, but he does present himself as a father grieving his daughter in Pearl. This suggests that the poet is male and a father, so, thus, not a priest. However, the poet shows profound knowledge of the Bible. He displays himself as the recipient of mass in Patience, a teacher of moral issues in Cleanness, and as a minstrel reading a poem aloud in Gawain. All of these facts taken together suggest that he was a clerk in minor orders working for an aristocratic family. The latter supposition comes from the fact that the poet shows knowledge of the workings of an aristocratic household in Gawain. At different points throughout the poems, the poet also demonstrates knowledge of seafaring and legal matters, thus also suggesting these various professions. In his book, ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ And French Arthurian Romance, Ad Putter makes the following claim, which most scholars agree with: “[The poet] was almost certainly a cleric from the north west Midlands—probably a relatively unimportant cleric; perhaps in the service of a nobleman; and, arguably, his patron belonged to the circle of prominent Cheshire courtiers at the royal household in London.”

Synopses of Other Poems:

Pearl: The narrator falls asleep in the garden where he loses his pearl. In a dream, he appears in a beautiful landscape, representing Paradise, and encounters a young maiden, who answers with Christian Doctrine in response to his questioning and attempts to obtain her.

Patience: The narrator reflects on the concept of patience, which he hears in mass one day, and precedes to tell the biblical story of Jonah, who was eaten by a whale.

Cleanness: The narrator focuses on the notion of religious purity and references stories from the Bible such as Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and Lot.

Reference Books and Sources

-The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (Malcolm Andrew and Ronald Waldron): Introduction (1-26)

-An Introduction to the Gawain Poet (John M. Bowers)

-The Pearl-Poet (Charles Moorman)

Chronology (as adapted from Bowers and Moorman)

1327-77 Reign of Edward III

ca. 1340 Birth of Geoffrey Chaucer

1345 Founding of the Order of the Garter (motto of which appears in SGGK)

ca. 1360-90 “Flourishing” of the Pearl-Poet (Moorman)

1362 First version of Piers Plowman (Important Alliterative Revival poem by William Langland)

1377 Coronation of Richard II

ca. 1400 Date of the Pearl-poet manuscript

1631 Death of Sir Robert Cotton

1839 Sir Frederick Maddon publishes first edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1864 Richard Morris publishes first editions of Pearl, Patience, and Cleanness

1925 J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon publish Oxford edition of SGGK

1953 Gordon publishes edition of Pearl

1979 Michael J. Bennett places the Gawain Poet in the court culture of Richard II