Latest news with #UniversityOfCambridge
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Students at top British universities plead for help to escape Gaza
Malak Hani graduated from school in Gaza with the second highest grade of any student in the Palestinian territories. Then the war broke out. The education system in the enclave collapsed under Israel's bombardment, and the right to learn became one of the first casualties of the conflict. The now 19-year-old turned her hopes abroad and received a full scholarship to the University of Cambridge this year. But months later, she remains trapped in the rubble of Gaza and tangled inside a web of British bureaucracy. This is the fate of at least 40 Palestinian students, some of Gaza's brightest young minds, who have been offered scholarships to top UK universities – but have no feasible route to get there due to Home Office visa requirements. Eight of the stranded students even hold coveted Chevening scholarships, awards offered to exceptional foreign students by the Government. As it stands, UK visa protocol requires international students to provide biometrics. But the visa office in Gaza has been shut since the war began and due to border closures, they cannot travel to centres in neighbouring countries. 'I am stuck,' Malak, who lives in the west of the devastated enclave, told The Telegraph. On top of the daily horrors of living under regular aerial bombardment, she said, 'losing another year without education would be very hard on me.' She already despairs about the studying time she has lost as Israel's 21-month war against Hamas rages and ceasefire talks grind slowly on. As she waits for help from the UK, Malak teaches English, Arabic, maths, and storytelling to displaced children in makeshift classrooms. Like the other gifted students, she fears she will lose her scholarship if she doesn't reach the UK by September. But more pressingly, she harbours a darker fear. 'I may lose my life first.' France, Ireland and Italy have all already successfully evacuated incoming university students from Gaza. 'I have every reason to believe the UK will help us, I truly believe the doors will open soon,' Malak said, her voice brimming with hope. The Gazan students – who are supported by a group of academics from across top UK universities – are urging the Government to step in and help secure their safe exit from Gaza. In May, they sent an open letter to David Lammy imploring the Foreign Secretary to help, but did not receive a response. The Telegraph understands that the Government has insisted on the use of biometrics to confirm identities in order to assess whether they pose a risk to public safety. The concerns come amid Donald Trump's crackdown on international student protestors who took part in pro-Palestine rallies that paralysed top US university campuses. In March, the Trump administration arrested and moved to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar – and legal US resident – who helped lead the Gaza war protests at Columbia University. The US president has repeatedly alleged that pro-Palestinian activists, including Mr Khalil, support Hamas – an accusation protestors strongly deny. The 30-year-old was released from detention in June after a judge overruled the deportation order. 'Unless there is direct action from the Government, there is no possibility the students will be able to travel,' said Dr Nora Parr, a researcher at Birmingham University who has been volunteering on behalf of the students. 'Here we have extraordinarily intelligent students who could benefit our own campuses and their own communities in Gaza. This is an opportunity that should not be missed,' she said. Responding to Malak's plight, Prof Graham Virgo, the head of Downing College, where she should be studying in the Autumn, said: 'We urge the Government to assist in supporting her with safe passage to travel out of Gaza.' Shaymaa Abulebda, an influential writer and scholar from Gaza, should soon be starting a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. Instead, she lives in a tent in al-Mawasi displacement camp in the ruins of southern Gaza. 'My acceptance affirmed that my research mattered and was being recognised,' the 32-year-old said, before adding that it was quickly overshadowed by the harsh reality that she cannot leave Gaza without the UK's help. Shaymaa had been teaching at the Islamic University of Gaza, where she once attended, until it was bombed in the first days of the war. 'It was heart-breaking. Even now, it's hard to process that the campuses are completely destroyed,' she said. 'The attack on the university is a direct attack on knowledge, imagination, and the right to learn.' A United Nations report in June found that more than 90 per cent of Gaza's schools have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks. The territory's last remaining university was destroyed in January 2024. The inquiry accused Israel's military of deliberately targeting education facilities, which it denies. The UN has used the term 'scholalisticide' to describe it. Shaymaa told The Telegraph: 'The situation in Gaza is unimaginably difficult. The cost of living is so high while the opportunities are none. It's totally stifling, every day is a struggle.' Her PhD, if it goes ahead, will focus on Palestinian fiction. 'As a scholar from Gaza, I feel both a personal and intellectual responsibility to preserve and amplify our literature,' she said. Colm Harmon, vice-principal for students at the University of Edinburgh, said that the work Shaymaa intends to pursue will have 'global impact'. 'Education is key to how Gaza emerges from conflict, and scholars like Shaymaa are the future foundations of that. We are proud to support her and her peers, as part of a strong effort from UK higher education,' he said. Shaymaa added: 'I know how much the UK values education, so I feel that they will certainly find a way to help before it's too late.' Dr Bahzad al-Akhras is displaced in the same sprawling camp, where he has lived in a tent with his parents and siblings for almost two years. After studying a masters in Britain, the 33-year-old returned to Gaza before the war to work as a children's mental health practitioner. Throughout the conflict, he has been carrying out advanced trauma response work with children, many who have faced being pulled from the rubble of their homes and often orphaned. Bahzad is waiting to take up PhD at the University of Manchester, where he received a full-scholarship to specialise in child mental health during conflict. Like many of Gaza's two-million-strong population, he has lost loved ones, friends and colleagues to the war that officials in the Hamas-run Strip say has killed more than 58,000. 'Life is difficult in all means,' he said, sombrely. Applying for his studies involved miles of travel, risking his life to access Wi-Fi. Mohammed Afzal Khan, the Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme, has been pushing the Government to help Bahzad. 'We need to have a fair and accessible immigration process, and the Government must do more to make that possible,' he said. Dr Rubina Jasani and Dr Sabah Boufkhed, senior lecturers at Manchester, said: 'Having Bahzad at the University of Manchester will not only help the academic field to re-think mental health needs and assessments, but could also improve mental health care in conflict and for diverse communities everywhere. 'We, as supervisors, researchers and members of the public, need to learn from his unique experience as a mental health doctor in Gaza and support the development of research that can change the world and improve people's lives.' Bahzad, who already delivers lectures and trains his colleagues on child trauma, sees his studies not as a personal opportunity, but a collective one. 'Communities are built by shared knowledge. Gaza's educational and health institutions have been hugely degraded, those of us that leave to study, will return to rebuild them.' He added: 'The UK has always shown support for Palestinian people in times of crisis. I will keep hoping they will show it now.' The Foreign Office would not comment on individual cases. A Government spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the students and are considering the request for support. Clearly the situation on the ground in Gaza makes this challenging.' * Some of the interviewees' names have been altered Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Telegraph
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Students at top British universities plead for help to escape Gaza
Malak Hani graduated from school in Gaza with the second highest grade of any student in the Palestinian territories. Then the war broke out. The education system in the enclave collapsed under Israel's bombardment, and the right to learn became one of the first casualties of the conflict. The now 19-year-old turned her hopes abroad and received a full scholarship to the University of Cambridge this year. But months later, she remains trapped in the rubble of Gaza and tangled inside a web of British bureaucracy. This is the fate of at least 40 Palestinian students, some of Gaza's brightest young minds, who have been offered scholarships to top UK universities – but have no feasible route to get there due to Home Office visa requirements. Eight of the stranded students even hold coveted Chevening scholarships, awards offered to exceptional foreign students by the Government. 'I may lose my life before I can take up my scholarship' As it stands, UK visa protocol requires international students to provide biometrics. But the visa office in Gaza has been shut since the war began and due to border closures, they cannot travel to centres in neighbouring countries. 'I am stuck,' Malak, who lives in the west of the devastated enclave, told The Telegraph. On top of the daily horrors of living under regular aerial bombardment, she said, 'losing another year without education would be very hard on me.' She already despairs about the studying time she has lost as Israel's 21-month war against Hamas rages and ceasefire talks grind slowly on. As she waits for help from the UK, Malak teaches English, Arabic, maths, and storytelling to displaced children in makeshift classrooms. Like the other gifted students, she fears she will lose her scholarship if she doesn't reach the UK by September. But more pressingly, she harbours a darker fear. 'I may lose my life first.' France, Ireland and Italy have all already successfully evacuated incoming university students from Gaza. 'I have every reason to believe the UK will help us, I truly believe the doors will open soon,' Malak said, her voice brimming with hope. No response from Lammy The Gazan students – who are supported by a group of academics from across top UK universities – are urging the Government to step in and help secure their safe exit from Gaza. In May, they sent an open letter to David Lammy imploring the Foreign Secretary to help, but did not receive a response. The Telegraph understands that the Government has insisted on the use of biometrics to confirm identities in order to assess whether they pose a risk to public safety. The concerns come amid Donald Trump's crackdown on international student protestors who took part in pro-Palestine rallies that paralysed top US university campuses. In March, the Trump administration arrested and moved to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian scholar – and legal US resident – who helped lead the Gaza war protests at Columbia University. The US president has repeatedly alleged that pro-Palestinian activists, including Mr Khalil, support Hamas – an accusation protestors strongly deny. The 30-year-old was released from detention in June after a judge overruled the deportation order. 'Unless there is direct action from the Government, there is no possibility the students will be able to travel,' said Dr Nora Parr, a researcher at Birmingham University who has been volunteering on behalf of the students. 'Here we have extraordinarily intelligent students who could benefit our own campuses and their own communities in Gaza. This is an opportunity that should not be missed,' she said. Responding to Malak's plight, Prof Graham Virgo, the head of Downing College, where she should be studying in the Autumn, said: 'We urge the Government to assist in supporting her with safe passage to travel out of Gaza.' Israel accused of 'scholasticide' as it strikes universities Shaymaa Abulebda, an influential writer and scholar from Gaza, should soon be starting a PhD at the University of Edinburgh. Instead, she lives in a tent in al-Mawasi displacement camp in the ruins of southern Gaza. 'My acceptance affirmed that my research mattered and was being recognised,' the 32-year-old said, before adding that it was quickly overshadowed by the harsh reality that she cannot leave Gaza without the UK's help. Shaymaa had been teaching at the Islamic University of Gaza, where she once attended, until it was bombed in the first days of the war. 'It was heart-breaking. Even now, it's hard to process that the campuses are completely destroyed,' she said. 'The attack on the university is a direct attack on knowledge, imagination, and the right to learn.' A United Nations report in June found that more than 90 per cent of Gaza's schools have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli attacks. The territory's last remaining university was destroyed in January 2024. The inquiry accused Israel's military of deliberately targeting education facilities, which it denies. The UN has used the term 'scholalisticide' to describe it. Shaymaa told The Telegraph: 'The situation in Gaza is unimaginably difficult. The cost of living is so high while the opportunities are none. It's totally stifling, every day is a struggle.' Her PhD, if it goes ahead, will focus on Palestinian fiction. 'As a scholar from Gaza, I feel both a personal and intellectual responsibility to preserve and amplify our literature,' she said. Colm Harmon, vice-principal for students at the University of Edinburgh, said that the work Shaymaa intends to pursue will have 'global impact'. 'Education is key to how Gaza emerges from conflict, and scholars like Shaymaa are the future foundations of that. We are proud to support her and her peers, as part of a strong effort from UK higher education,' he said. Shaymaa added: 'I know how much the UK values education, so I feel that they will certainly find a way to help before it's too late.' The doctor risking his life just to access Wi-Fi Dr Bahzad al-Akhras is displaced in the same sprawling camp, where he has lived in a tent with his parents and siblings for almost two years. After studying a masters in Britain, the 33-year-old returned to Gaza before the war to work as a children's mental health practitioner. Throughout the conflict, he has been carrying out advanced trauma response work with children, many who have faced being pulled from the rubble of their homes and often orphaned. Bahzad is waiting to take up PhD at the University of Manchester, where he received a full-scholarship to specialise in child mental health during conflict. Like many of Gaza's two-million-strong population, he has lost loved ones, friends and colleagues to the war that officials in the Hamas-run Strip say has killed more than 58,000. 'Life is difficult in all means,' he said, sombrely. Applying for his studies involved miles of travel, risking his life to access Wi-Fi. Mohammed Afzal Khan, the Labour MP for Manchester Rusholme, has been pushing the Government to help Bahzad. 'We need to have a fair and accessible immigration process, and the Government must do more to make that possible,' he said. Dr Rubina Jasani and Dr Sabah Boufkhed, senior lecturers at Manchester, said: 'Having Bahzad at the University of Manchester will not only help the academic field to re-think mental health needs and assessments, but could also improve mental health care in conflict and for diverse communities everywhere. 'We, as supervisors, researchers and members of the public, need to learn from his unique experience as a mental health doctor in Gaza and support the development of research that can change the world and improve people's lives.' Bahzad, who already delivers lectures and trains his colleagues on child trauma, sees his studies not as a personal opportunity, but a collective one. 'Communities are built by shared knowledge. Gaza's educational and health institutions have been hugely degraded, those of us that leave to study, will return to rebuild them.' He added: 'The UK has always shown support for Palestinian people in times of crisis. I will keep hoping they will show it now.' The Foreign Office would not comment on individual cases. A Government spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the students and are considering the request for support. Clearly the situation on the ground in Gaza makes this challenging.'
CNN
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Corrected error in long-lost medieval saga suggests that its hero fought wolves, not elves
Lesser known than some other beloved tales of larger-than-life heroes such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf and King Arthur, the Song of Wade is a case study in what happens when stories aren't written down. The epic was once widely known throughout medieval and Renaissance England — so popular that it was mentioned twice by Chaucer — but today it is mostly forgotten. Only a few phrases survive, and new research is showing how, when so little of a story is preserved, changes in a word or two can alter the entire tale. The Song of Wade originated in the 12th century, and its hero battled monsters — or so scholars once thought. The only known text was found nearly 130 years ago in a 13th- century Latin sermon, which quoted a bit of the saga in Middle English. In the excerpt, the word 'ylues' was originally translated as 'elves,' suggesting that Wade's long-lost saga was teeming with supernatural creatures. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have challenged that interpretation. They proposed that the word's meaning was mangled by a scribe's transcription error, which changed a 'w' to a 'y.' 'Elves' is actually 'wolves,' and the term was allegorical, referring to dangerous men, according to the analysis. Another word in the excerpt, translated as 'sprites,' should instead be 'sea snakes,' moving the story even farther away from the realm of the supernatural, the researchers reported July 15 in The Review of English Studies. This new reading revises not only the phrases quoted in the sermon, but also the entire Song of Wade, centering the hero amid worldly dangers rather than mythical beasts. It overturns the picture of Wade as a literary twin to Beowulf, legendary slayer of the warrior-eating monster Grendel, said study coauthor Dr. Seb Falk, a researcher of science history and a fellow at Cambridge's Girton College. 'He was more like a hero of chivalric romance (a literary genre celebrating knights, codes of honor and romantic love) like Sir Launcelot or Sir Gawain,' Falk told CNN in an email. For hundreds of years, historians and literary experts have argued over why Chaucer would have mentioned the Song of Wade in his chivalric works. Recasting Wade as a courtly hero rather than a monster slayer makes Wade's appearance in Chaucer's writing a better fit and could help to uncover previously hidden meanings in those literary references, the authors wrote. The new study is the first to analyze the Song of Wade excerpt alongside the entirety of the Latin sermon that quotes it, said study coauthor Dr. James Wade, an associate professor of English Literature at Girton College. (The surname 'Wade' was relatively common in medieval England, and while Wade the researcher could not confirm a family connection to the storied hero, a link 'isn't impossible,' he told CNN in an email.) In fact, it was the context of the sermon that led the researchers to the discovery that the fragment in English had been misinterpreted, Wade said. The sermon was about humility, and it warned that some people 'are wolves, such as powerful tyrants' who take 'by any means.' There are other allusions to unfavorable animal traits in humans. As originally translated, the Song of Wade excerpt read: 'Some are elves and some are adders; some are sprites that dwell by waters: there is no man, but Hildebrand (Wade's father) only.' For centuries, scholars have struggled to make sense of why references to 'elves' and 'sprites' were included in a sermon about humility. According to the new translation, the excerpt reads: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.' Reinterpreted this way, the quoted phrases align more closely with the overall message of the sermon and redefine the genre of the story. 'We realised that taking the fragment together with its context would allow us not only to completely reinterpret the Wade legend, but also to reshape our understanding of how stories were told and retold in different cultural contexts, including religious contexts,' Wade said. The long-standing difficulties in interpreting the excerpt are a reminder that paleography — the study of handwritten documents — 'is not always an exact or precise science,' said Dr. Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 'especially in the transmission of English and other vernacular texts without the standardised spelling and abbreviations of Latin.' Focusing on the sermon is also important because this type of allusion to a popular epic was highly unusual, Trigg, who was not involved in the research, told CNN in an email. 'The authors are right to draw attention to the way the sermon seems to be quoting medieval popular culture: this is not all that common,' Trigg said. 'It helps disturb some traditional views about medieval piety.' When the preacher used the Song of Wade in his sermon, it was clear that he expected his audience to accept the reference 'as a recognisable element of popular culture: a meme,' Falk said. 'By studying this sermon in depth we get a wonderful insight into the resonances that such popular literature had across culture.' This new perspective on Wade's saga doesn't mean that it was based exclusively in realism. While there are no other known excerpts of the Song of Wade, references to Wade in texts spanning centuries offer details fantastic enough to delight fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic 'Lord of the Rings.' 'In one romance text, it's said that (Wade) slays a dragon,' Falk said. 'There is local folklore in Yorkshire, recorded by John Leland in the 1530s, that he was of gigantic stature.' Other texts stated that Wade's father was a giant and that his mother was a mermaid, he added. In fact, chivalric romance from this period frequently incorporated elements of fantasy, Trigg said. In the chivalric literary tradition, 'romances often draw on mythological creatures and the supernatural,' and the distinction between chivalric romances and mythology 'is not always rigorously made in medieval literature,' she added. Still, aligning the Song of Wade more closely with medieval romances clears up long-standing confusion over allusions to Wade by Geoffrey Chaucer, during scenes of courtly intrigue in 'Merchant's Tale' and 'Troilus and Criseyde.' Discover your world Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. 'Chaucer referring to a Beowulf-like 'dark-age' warrior in these moments is weird and confusing,' Falk said. 'The idea that Chaucer is referring to a hero of medieval romance makes a lot more sense.' While the Song of Wade has faded into obscurity, its appearance in the medieval sermon and in Chaucer's work hints that for centuries the legend was a staple of popular culture in medieval England, even though there was no definitive text preserving the entire tale. As its popularity waned, much of it vanished for good. 'By the eighteenth century there were no known surviving texts and nobody seemed to know the story,' Wade said. 'Part of the enduring allure is the idea of something that was once part of common knowledge suddenly becoming 'lost.''
CNN
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Corrected error in long-lost medieval saga suggests that its hero fought wolves, not elves
Lesser known than some other beloved tales of larger-than-life heroes such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf and King Arthur, the Song of Wade is a case study in what happens when stories aren't written down. The epic was once widely known throughout medieval and Renaissance England — so popular that it was mentioned twice by Chaucer — but today it is mostly forgotten. Only a few phrases survive, and new research is showing how, when so little of a story is preserved, changes in a word or two can alter the entire tale. The Song of Wade originated in the 12th century, and its hero battled monsters — or so scholars once thought. The only known text was found nearly 130 years ago in a 13th- century Latin sermon, which quoted a bit of the saga in Middle English. In the excerpt, the word 'ylues' was originally translated as 'elves,' suggesting that Wade's long-lost saga was teeming with supernatural creatures. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have challenged that interpretation. They proposed that the word's meaning was mangled by a scribe's transcription error, which changed a 'w' to a 'y.' 'Elves' is actually 'wolves,' and the term was allegorical, referring to dangerous men, according to the analysis. Another word in the excerpt, translated as 'sprites,' should instead be 'sea snakes,' moving the story even farther away from the realm of the supernatural, the researchers reported July 15 in The Review of English Studies. This new reading revises not only the phrases quoted in the sermon, but also the entire Song of Wade, centering the hero amid worldly dangers rather than mythical beasts. It overturns the picture of Wade as a literary twin to Beowulf, legendary slayer of the warrior-eating monster Grendel, said study coauthor Dr. Seb Falk, a researcher of science history and a fellow at Cambridge's Girton College. 'He was more like a hero of chivalric romance (a literary genre celebrating knights, codes of honor and romantic love) like Sir Launcelot or Sir Gawain,' Falk told CNN in an email. For hundreds of years, historians and literary experts have argued over why Chaucer would have mentioned the Song of Wade in his chivalric works. Recasting Wade as a courtly hero rather than a monster slayer makes Wade's appearance in Chaucer's writing a better fit and could help to uncover previously hidden meanings in those literary references, the authors wrote. The new study is the first to analyze the Song of Wade excerpt alongside the entirety of the Latin sermon that quotes it, said study coauthor Dr. James Wade, an associate professor of English Literature at Girton College. (The surname 'Wade' was relatively common in medieval England, and while Wade the researcher could not confirm a family connection to the storied hero, a link 'isn't impossible,' he told CNN in an email.) In fact, it was the context of the sermon that led the researchers to the discovery that the fragment in English had been misinterpreted, Wade said. The sermon was about humility, and it warned that some people 'are wolves, such as powerful tyrants' who take 'by any means.' There are other allusions to unfavorable animal traits in humans. As originally translated, the Song of Wade excerpt read: 'Some are elves and some are adders; some are sprites that dwell by waters: there is no man, but Hildebrand (Wade's father) only.' For centuries, scholars have struggled to make sense of why references to 'elves' and 'sprites' were included in a sermon about humility. According to the new translation, the excerpt reads: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.' Reinterpreted this way, the quoted phrases align more closely with the overall message of the sermon and redefine the genre of the story. 'We realised that taking the fragment together with its context would allow us not only to completely reinterpret the Wade legend, but also to reshape our understanding of how stories were told and retold in different cultural contexts, including religious contexts,' Wade said. The long-standing difficulties in interpreting the excerpt are a reminder that paleography — the study of handwritten documents — 'is not always an exact or precise science,' said Dr. Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 'especially in the transmission of English and other vernacular texts without the standardised spelling and abbreviations of Latin.' Focusing on the sermon is also important because this type of allusion to a popular epic was highly unusual, Trigg, who was not involved in the research, told CNN in an email. 'The authors are right to draw attention to the way the sermon seems to be quoting medieval popular culture: this is not all that common,' Trigg said. 'It helps disturb some traditional views about medieval piety.' When the preacher used the Song of Wade in his sermon, it was clear that he expected his audience to accept the reference 'as a recognisable element of popular culture: a meme,' Falk said. 'By studying this sermon in depth we get a wonderful insight into the resonances that such popular literature had across culture.' This new perspective on Wade's saga doesn't mean that it was based exclusively in realism. While there are no other known excerpts of the Song of Wade, references to Wade in texts spanning centuries offer details fantastic enough to delight fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic 'Lord of the Rings.' 'In one romance text, it's said that (Wade) slays a dragon,' Falk said. 'There is local folklore in Yorkshire, recorded by John Leland in the 1530s, that he was of gigantic stature.' Other texts stated that Wade's father was a giant and that his mother was a mermaid, he added. In fact, chivalric romance from this period frequently incorporated elements of fantasy, Trigg said. In the chivalric literary tradition, 'romances often draw on mythological creatures and the supernatural,' and the distinction between chivalric romances and mythology 'is not always rigorously made in medieval literature,' she added. Still, aligning the Song of Wade more closely with medieval romances clears up long-standing confusion over allusions to Wade by Geoffrey Chaucer, during scenes of courtly intrigue in 'Merchant's Tale' and 'Troilus and Criseyde.' Discover your world Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. 'Chaucer referring to a Beowulf-like 'dark-age' warrior in these moments is weird and confusing,' Falk said. 'The idea that Chaucer is referring to a hero of medieval romance makes a lot more sense.' While the Song of Wade has faded into obscurity, its appearance in the medieval sermon and in Chaucer's work hints that for centuries the legend was a staple of popular culture in medieval England, even though there was no definitive text preserving the entire tale. As its popularity waned, much of it vanished for good. 'By the eighteenth century there were no known surviving texts and nobody seemed to know the story,' Wade said. 'Part of the enduring allure is the idea of something that was once part of common knowledge suddenly becoming 'lost.''
CNN
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Corrected error in long-lost medieval saga suggests that its hero fought wolves, not elves
Lesser known than some other beloved tales of larger-than-life heroes such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf and King Arthur, the Song of Wade is a case study in what happens when stories aren't written down. The epic was once widely known throughout medieval and Renaissance England — so popular that it was mentioned twice by Chaucer — but today it is mostly forgotten. Only a few phrases survive, and new research is showing how, when so little of a story is preserved, changes in a word or two can alter the entire tale. The Song of Wade originated in the 12th century, and its hero battled monsters — or so scholars once thought. The only known text was found nearly 130 years ago in a 13th- century Latin sermon, which quoted a bit of the saga in Middle English. In the excerpt, the word 'ylues' was originally translated as 'elves,' suggesting that Wade's long-lost saga was teeming with supernatural creatures. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in the UK have challenged that interpretation. They proposed that the word's meaning was mangled by a scribe's transcription error, which changed a 'w' to a 'y.' 'Elves' is actually 'wolves,' and the term was allegorical, referring to dangerous men, according to the analysis. Another word in the excerpt, translated as 'sprites,' should instead be 'sea snakes,' moving the story even farther away from the realm of the supernatural, the researchers reported July 15 in The Review of English Studies. This new reading revises not only the phrases quoted in the sermon, but also the entire Song of Wade, centering the hero amid worldly dangers rather than mythical beasts. It overturns the picture of Wade as a literary twin to Beowulf, legendary slayer of the warrior-eating monster Grendel, said study coauthor Dr. Seb Falk, a researcher of science history and a fellow at Cambridge's Girton College. 'He was more like a hero of chivalric romance (a literary genre celebrating knights, codes of honor and romantic love) like Sir Launcelot or Sir Gawain,' Falk told CNN in an email. For hundreds of years, historians and literary experts have argued over why Chaucer would have mentioned the Song of Wade in his chivalric works. Recasting Wade as a courtly hero rather than a monster slayer makes Wade's appearance in Chaucer's writing a better fit and could help to uncover previously hidden meanings in those literary references, the authors wrote. The new study is the first to analyze the Song of Wade excerpt alongside the entirety of the Latin sermon that quotes it, said study coauthor Dr. James Wade, an associate professor of English Literature at Girton College. (The surname 'Wade' was relatively common in medieval England, and while Wade the researcher could not confirm a family connection to the storied hero, a link 'isn't impossible,' he told CNN in an email.) In fact, it was the context of the sermon that led the researchers to the discovery that the fragment in English had been misinterpreted, Wade said. The sermon was about humility, and it warned that some people 'are wolves, such as powerful tyrants' who take 'by any means.' There are other allusions to unfavorable animal traits in humans. As originally translated, the Song of Wade excerpt read: 'Some are elves and some are adders; some are sprites that dwell by waters: there is no man, but Hildebrand (Wade's father) only.' For centuries, scholars have struggled to make sense of why references to 'elves' and 'sprites' were included in a sermon about humility. According to the new translation, the excerpt reads: 'Some are wolves and some are adders; some are sea-snakes that dwell by the water. There is no man at all but Hildebrand.' Reinterpreted this way, the quoted phrases align more closely with the overall message of the sermon and redefine the genre of the story. 'We realised that taking the fragment together with its context would allow us not only to completely reinterpret the Wade legend, but also to reshape our understanding of how stories were told and retold in different cultural contexts, including religious contexts,' Wade said. The long-standing difficulties in interpreting the excerpt are a reminder that paleography — the study of handwritten documents — 'is not always an exact or precise science,' said Dr. Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Melbourne in Australia, 'especially in the transmission of English and other vernacular texts without the standardised spelling and abbreviations of Latin.' Focusing on the sermon is also important because this type of allusion to a popular epic was highly unusual, Trigg, who was not involved in the research, told CNN in an email. 'The authors are right to draw attention to the way the sermon seems to be quoting medieval popular culture: this is not all that common,' Trigg said. 'It helps disturb some traditional views about medieval piety.' When the preacher used the Song of Wade in his sermon, it was clear that he expected his audience to accept the reference 'as a recognisable element of popular culture: a meme,' Falk said. 'By studying this sermon in depth we get a wonderful insight into the resonances that such popular literature had across culture.' This new perspective on Wade's saga doesn't mean that it was based exclusively in realism. While there are no other known excerpts of the Song of Wade, references to Wade in texts spanning centuries offer details fantastic enough to delight fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic 'Lord of the Rings.' 'In one romance text, it's said that (Wade) slays a dragon,' Falk said. 'There is local folklore in Yorkshire, recorded by John Leland in the 1530s, that he was of gigantic stature.' Other texts stated that Wade's father was a giant and that his mother was a mermaid, he added. In fact, chivalric romance from this period frequently incorporated elements of fantasy, Trigg said. In the chivalric literary tradition, 'romances often draw on mythological creatures and the supernatural,' and the distinction between chivalric romances and mythology 'is not always rigorously made in medieval literature,' she added. Still, aligning the Song of Wade more closely with medieval romances clears up long-standing confusion over allusions to Wade by Geoffrey Chaucer, during scenes of courtly intrigue in 'Merchant's Tale' and 'Troilus and Criseyde.' Discover your world Go beyond the headlines and explore the latest scientific achievements and fascinating discoveries. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. 'Chaucer referring to a Beowulf-like 'dark-age' warrior in these moments is weird and confusing,' Falk said. 'The idea that Chaucer is referring to a hero of medieval romance makes a lot more sense.' While the Song of Wade has faded into obscurity, its appearance in the medieval sermon and in Chaucer's work hints that for centuries the legend was a staple of popular culture in medieval England, even though there was no definitive text preserving the entire tale. As its popularity waned, much of it vanished for good. 'By the eighteenth century there were no known surviving texts and nobody seemed to know the story,' Wade said. 'Part of the enduring allure is the idea of something that was once part of common knowledge suddenly becoming 'lost.''
