The Rime of King William

The Rime of King William is an Old English poem that tells the death of William the Conqueror. The Rime was a part of the only entry for the year of 1087 (though improperly dated 1086) in the “Peterborough Chronicle/Laud Manuscript.” In this entry there is a thorough history and account of the life of King William. The entry in its entirety is regarded “as containing the best contemporary estimate of William’s achievements and character as seen by a reasonably objective Englishman” (Bartlett, 89). As a resource, earlier writers drew from this in a more literal sense, while later historians referred to it more liberally. The text in its original language can be found in The Peterborough Chronicle 1070-1154, edited by Cecily Clark. A modern translation can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles translated by G.N. Garmonsway. Seth Lerer has published a more recent modern translation of The Rime of King William in his article, "Old English and Its Afterlife," in The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature.

Castelas he let wyrcean,
⁊ earme men swiðe swencean.
Se cyng wæs swa swiðe stearc,
⁊ benam of his underþeoddan manig marc
goldes ⁊ ma hundred punda seolfres.
-Det he nam be wihte
⁊ mid micelan unrihte
of his landleode,
for litte[l]re neode.
He wæs on gitsunge befeallan,
⁊ grædinæsse he lufode mid ealle
He sætte mycel deorfrið,
⁊ he lægde laga þærwið
þet swa hwa swa sloge heort oððe hinde,
þet hine man sceolde blendian.
He forbead þa heortas,
swylce eac þa baras.
Swa swiðe he lufode þa headeor
swilce he wære heora fæder.
Eac he sætte be þam haran
þet hi mosten freo faran.
His rice men hit mændon,
⁊ þa earme men hit beceorodan;
ac he [wæs] swa stið
þet he ne rohte heora eallra nið.
Ac hi moston mid ealle
þes cynges wille folgian,
gif hi woldon libban,
oððe land habban,
land oððe eahta,
oððe wel his sehta.
Walawa, þet ænig man
sceolde modigan swa,
hine sylf upp ahebban
⁊ ofer ealle men tellan.
Se ælmihtiga God cyþæ his saule mildheortnisse,
⁊ do him his synna forgifenesse!

He had castles built
and poor men terribly oppressed.
The king was severe
and he took many marks of gold and
hundreds of pounds of silver from his underlings.
All this he took from the people,
and with great injustice
from his subjects,
out of trivial desire.
He had fallen into avarice
and he loved greediness above everything else
He established many deer preserves
and he set up many laws concerning them
such that whoever killed a hart or a hind
should be blinded.
He forbade (hunting of) harts
and also of boars.
He loved the wild deer
as if he were their father.
And he also decreed that the hares
should be allowed to run free.
His great men complained of it,
and his poor men lamented it;
but he was so severe
that he ignored all their needs.
But they had to follow above all else
the king’s will,
if they wanted to live
or hold on to land,
land or property (or esteem)
or have his good favour.
Woe, that any man
should be so proud
as to raise himself up
and reckon himself above all men.
May almighty God show mercy on his soul
and forgive him his sins.

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