Mind Matters: Studies of Medieval and Early Modern Intellectual History in Honour of Marcia Colish (review)

Regarding the translation, Dyson claims to improve on the translation of E. G. Doyle (Sedulius Scottus: On Christian Rulers and the Poems [Binghamton, NY, 1983]), which he considers “often unduly free” (p. 21). A literal translation of an obscure passage, however, is no help, as seen in the Preface, lines 4–5, when Sedulius writes, “Artibus egregiis sapientia Celsitonantis/Praeposuit hominem cunctis animalibus orbis.”The translation “By excellent arts the wisdom of the Heavenly Thunderer/Has set man over all the creatures of the world”(p.45) misses the point that God has given arts to humans:“The wisdom of the heavenly-thunderer set man by means of excellent arts before all the animals of the world.”