Proverbs of Hendyng
the explanations creating the rhymed stanzas.
SUSAN E. DESKIS
Northern Illinois University, USA
The Proverbs of Hendyng is a Middle English
wisdom poem similar to the earlier Proverbs
of Alfred. It belongs to a tradition of wisdom
poetry going back to the Old English period,
but it also benefits from connections with
more contemporary French texts.
The Proverbs of Hendyng was probably
composed in the Midlands around 1250
and survives in three manuscript versions of
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The
three versions show considerable variation
but all share the same stanzaic structure. Each
stanza begins with six lines rhyming aabccb,
in which the a- and c-lines usually possess
four stresses and the b-lines three. Each
stanza concludes with a proverb followed by
the tag “Quod Hending.” The stanzaic struc-
ture of the Proverbs of Hendyng is generally
accepted to have been borrowed from the Old
French Proverbes au vilain of the late twelfth
century.
In the Proverbs of Hendyng, the contents
of stanza and proverb are closely related:
the stanza either illustrates or explains the
proverb. The poet is eclectic in his selection
of proverbs, which may stem from Latin,
vernacular, secular, or biblical roots (Singer
1941/42). In contrast to earlier wisdom poems
in English, the Proverbs of Hendyng includes
a greater number of metaphorical proverbs
such as Mid selvrene stikke me shal gold
graven “One can inscribe gold with a silver
stick” (Varnhagen 1881, 194) or Brend child
fuir fordredeþ “A burned child fears the fire”
(Varnhagen 1881, 199). These metaphorical
The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain, Edited by Siân Echard and Robert Rouse.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb025
statements provide scope and justification for
Like most medieval wisdom poems, the
Proverbs of Hendyng wanders from topic to
topic. Juliette de Caluwé-Dor (1984) argues
that it combines Christian wisdom (focused
on Providence and charity), pagan wisdom
(centered on the immutability of fate), and
bourgeois realism (amoral and discourte-
ous). Some of the poem’s admonitions are
standard for the genre of gnomic or proverb
poetry: teach wisdom to the young; avoid
giving ammunition to your enemies through
unguarded speech; do not place blind trust
in friends or family; and spend your wealth
wisely. Using proverbs like “Well fights who
well flees” the poet offers strategies for avoid-
ing sin (especially lust and gluttony), though
he accepts that people will slip. The poem
was probably intended for an adult audience
rather than children as its tone is pessimistic
and worldly and it lacks any positive refer-
ences to parents or other figures of authority.
The injunctions against lust, gluttony, and
drunkenness are of a type often found in
monastic literature, but the Proverbs of Hen-
dyng also provides advice for dealing with
women and children, which would suit a
lay audience. The manuscripts in which the
poem survives are multilingual miscellanies
that do not point toward a specific audience
but indicate a general appreciation for this
wisdom poem by placing it alongside other
works of considerable literary value. London,
British Library, Harley MS 2253 also contains
the well-known Harley lyrics, and Oxford,
Bodleian Library, MS Digby 86 includes a
mix of texts ranging from Latin prayers to
French romances and the earliest English
fabliau (Dame Sirith).
2 PROVERBS OF HENDYNG
The identity of “Hendyng” or “Hend-
ing” remains a mystery. The etymology of
the name may connote a character who is
courtly or noble, but one version of the poem
describes Hendyng as the son of Marcolf,
who is a decidedly non-aristocratic figure in
the debate-poem tradition of Solomon and
Saturn/Marcolf (de Caluwé-Dor 1984; 1987).
The Proverbs of Hendyng sometimes shares
the jaded attitude informing the Solomon
and Marcolf texts and, to a lesser degree,
the Proverbes au vilain, but the English poet
nevertheless presents the proverbs and his
explanations of them as valuable sources of
wisdom.
SEE ALSO: Dame Sirith; Harley Lyrics;
Proverbs of Alfred; Solomon and Saturn;
Wisdom Literature
TEXT
Tschann, Judith, and M.B. Parkes, eds. 1996. Fac-
simile of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 86.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
REFERENCES
de Caluwé-Dor, Juliette. 1984. “Les proverbes de
Hendyng: Héroïsme païen, charité chrétienne et
réalisme bourgeois” (The proverbs of Hendyng:
Pagan heroism, Christian charity, and bour-
geois realism). In Richesse du Proverbes. Vol. 1,
Le proverbe au Moyen Age, 55–73, edited by
François Suard and Claude Buridant. Lille: Uni-
versité de Lille.
de Caluwé-Dor, Juliette. 1987. “Qui est Hendyng?
Qui est Marcolf?” (Who is Hendyng? Who
is Marcolf?). In Actes du Congrès d’Amiens,
1982. Société des anglicistes de l’enseignement
supérieur, 17–26. Paris: Didier érudition.
Singer, Samuel. 1941/42. “Die Sprichwörter
Hendings” (The proverbs of Hending). Studia
Neophilologica 14: 31–52.
Varnhagen, Hermann. 1881. “Zu den Sprich-
wörtern Hendings (Cambridge- und
Oxford-Text)” (On the Proverbs of Hending:
The Cambridge and Oxford Texts). Anglia 4:
180–200.
FURTHER READING
Louis, Cameron. 1998. “Manuscript Contexts of
Middle English Proverb Literature.” Mediaeval
Studies 60: 219–38.