Abstract

The alliterative First Worcester Fragment, a short English poem of the late twelfth century, is about learning and teaching and language. The poet begins by summoning up Bede and Ælfric, two scholars of the Anglo-Saxon past. He mentions a few of their writings and then lists thirteen Anglo-Saxon bishops. In the present such pious leadership and teaching are no longer available, he says. Now the teachers are from another people. Many of them, and many of the English, are lost. The poet seems to conclude with a call to faith, but it is not clear how the poem ends because of the damaged state of the manuscript