Word-Play as Evidence for the Date of "Durham"

New linguistic evidence suggests that the Old English poem 'Durham' was likely composed between 1104 and 1115, refining its previously broad date range. The study analyzed word-play and dialectal features, such as the loss of initial 'h' before consonants and the confusion of 'e' and 'a' in end syllables, indicating a late stage in Northumbrian Old English development. Historical context from Symeon of Durham's work further supports this timeline, narrowing the poem's likely composition to shortly after the translation of St Cuthbert's remains in 1104. This challenges earlier assumptions that the poem could date as early as the first half of the eleventh century.

EVAN. (2013). WORD-PLAY AS EVIDENCE FOR THE DATE OF “DURHAM”. Medium Ævum, 82(2), 314. https://doi.org/10.2307/43633014