=4.= The =Anglo-Saxon Chronicle= was probably inspired by King Alfred, who is said even to have dictated the entries dealing with his own campaigns. The _Chronicle_ has come down to us in four versions, all of which seem to have sprung from a common stock. The four versions are preserved in seven manuscripts, of which the most notable are those connected with Canterbury and Peterborough. From the period of the English invasions till the year 892 the books are fairly in accord. At the latter year they diverge. Each introduces its local events and miscellaneous items of news, and they finish at different dates. The last date of all is about the middle of the twelfth century. The style of the _Chronicle_ varies greatly; it ranges from the baldest notes and summaries to quite ambitious passages of narrative and description. Of the latter class the well-known passage on the horrors of Stephen’s reign is a worthy example. We give a brief extract, dated 1100, just at the close of the Old English period, which is a fair average of the different methods: On þisum geare aras seo ungeþwærnes In the year arose the discord on Glæstinga byrig in Glastonbury betwixt the Abbot betwyx þam abbode Ðurstane Thurstan and his monks. and his munecan. Ærest hit First it came from the Abbot’s com of þæs abbotes unwisdome unwisdom: In that he mis-bade [-þ] he misbead his munecan on [ruled] his monks in many fela thingan, and þa munecas things and the monks meant it hit mændon lufelice to him and lovingly to him and bade him beadon hine [-þ] he [`s]ceolde healdan that he should hold [treat] hi rihtlice beon and lufian them rightly and love them and hi, and hi woldon him beon they would be faithful to him holde and gehyrsume. and hearsome [obedient]. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS From the time when it first appears till it is swamped by the Norman Conquest Old English literature undergoes a quite noticeable development. In the mass the advance appears to be considerable, but when we reflect that it represents the growth of some five hundred years, we see that the rate of progress is undoubtedly slow. We shall take the poetical and prose forms separately. =1. Poetry.= Poetry is much earlier in the field, and its development is the greater. It begins with the rude forms of _Beowulf_ and concludes with the more scholarly paraphrases of Cynewulf.