Swa clæne heo wæs oðfeallen So clean [completely] has on Angelcynne [-þ] swiðe feawa ruin fallen on the English nation, wæron be-heonan Humbre þe that very few were there hira þe-nunge cuðon understanden this side the Humber that could on Englisc, oððe furðon understand their service in an ærend-ge-writ of Ledene English or declare forth an on Englisc areccan; and ic Epistle [an errand-writing] wene [-þ] naht monige be-geondan out of Latin into English; and Humbre næron. Swa feawa I think that not many beyond heora wæron [-þ] ic furbon anne Humber were there. So few ænlepne ne mæg geþencan be-suðan such were there, that I cannot Thamise þa þa ic to rice think of a single one to the feng. Gode Ælmightigum sy south of the Thames when I began þanc, [-þ] we nu ænigne an steal to reign. To God Almighty habbað lareowa. For þam ic be thanks, that we now have þe beode, [-þ] þu do swa ic gelyfe any to teach in stall [any [-þ] þu wille. place]. Therefore I bid thee that thou do as I believe that thou wilt. _Preface to “Pastoral Care”_ =2. Ælfric= (=955–1020=) is known as “the Grammarian.” Of his life little is known. It is probable that he lived near Winchester, and he was certainly the first abbot of Eynsham, near Oxford, in 1006. A fair number of his works, both in Latin and English, have come down to us. Of his English books, two series of homilies, adapted from the Latin, seem to have been composed about the year 990. A third series of homilies, called _The Lives of the Saints_, is dated approximately at 996. Several of his pastoral letters survive, as well as a translation of Bede’s _De Temporibus_ and some English translations of Biblical passages. Ælfric’s style is interesting, for it is representative of the scholarly prose of his time, a century after Alfred. It is flowing and vigorous, showing an almost excessive use of alliteration. In many cases it suggests a curious hybrid between the poetry and prose of the period. =3. Wulfstan= was Archbishop of York from 1003 till his death in 1023. In his prose, which survives in more than fifty homilies and in his famous _Letter to the English People_ (_Lupi Sermo ad Anglos_), he shows the effects of “style” to a marked degree. His _Letter_ in particular is a fervid epistle, detailing with considerable power and fluency the dreadful plight of the English nation in the year 1014. The alliteration and rhythm are exceedingly well marked, much more so than in the case of Ælfric.