ABSTRACT
The European tradition of Consolatio translations begins c.900 with the Old English version by King Alfred the Great. Although the Old English tradition comprises but a single translation, it has prompted a sizable body of criticism. This chapter deals with five categories: editions, general studies, textual studies, studies of commentaries possibly used by Alfred, and influence studies. Articles which relate specifically to the text of Alfred’s translation will be classified in the following paragraphs; works which mention Alfred’s Consolatio translation only in passing are excluded, as are studies of Boethian influence upon Beowulf and other Old English works influenced by the Latin Consolatio rather than by Alfred’s rendering. Karl Heinz Schmidt produced a general study of Alfred’s text in which he gives a book-by-book summary of the translation and evaluates certain of the alterations Alfred made in the content of the Consolatio.
