Tatwine

Tatwine ( – 30 July 734) was the tenth Archbishop of Canterbury from 731 to 734. Prior to becoming archbishop, he was a monk and abbot of a Benedictine monastery. Besides his ecclesiastical career, Tatwine was a writer, and riddles he composed survive. Another work he composed was on the grammar of the Latin language, which was aimed at advanced students of that language. He was subsequently considered a saint.

Biography Tatwine was a Mercian by birth. and then abbot of that house. Through the influence of King Æthelbald he was appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in 731 and was consecrated on 10 June 731. He was one of a number of Mercians who were appointed to Canterbury during the 730s and 740s. Apart from his consecration of the Bishops of Lindsey and Selsey in 733, Tatwine's period as archbishop appears to have been uneventful.

Writings

Bede's commentary on Tatwine calls him a "" (a man notable for his prudence, devotion and learning). These qualities were displayed in the two surviving manuscripts of his riddles and four of his .

Ars Gramattica Tatuini The is one of only two surviving eighth-century Latin grammars from England. It covers the eight parts of speech through illustrations drawn from classical scholars, although not directly but through other grammatical works. There are also some examples drawn from the Psalms. The work was completed before Tatwine became archbishop, and was used not only in England but also on the Continent.

Riddles It is almost certain that Tatwine was inspired to develop the culture of riddle-writing in early medieval England because he had read the by the West-Saxon scholar Aldhelm (d. 709), which combined studies of Latin grammar and metre with the presentation of one hundred hexametrical riddles. Frederick Tupper believed that Aldhelm's influence was minimal, but subsequent scholars have argued that Tatwine's riddles owed a substantial debt to those of Aldhelm.

Tatwine's riddles deal with such diverse topics as philosophy and charity, the five senses and the alphabet, and a book, and a pen, yet, according to Mercedes Salvador-Bello, these riddles are placed in a carefully structured sequence: 1–3 and 21–26 on theology (e.g. 2, faith, hope, and charity), 4–14 on objects associated with ecclesiastical life (e.g. 7, a bell), 15–20 on wonders and monsters (e.g. 16, prepositions with two cases), 27–39 on tools and related natural phenomena (e.g. 28, an anvil, and 33, fire), with a final piece on the sun's rays. In both manuscripts, they are written alongside the riddles of Eusebius: it seems clear that Eusebius (whose identity is uncertain) added sixty riddles to Tatwine's forty to take the collection up to one hundred.

Tatwine gives a sign in one of the riddles of the growing acceptance among scholars in the Christian west of the legitimacy of philosophy: "" (Of Philosophy: happy is he who can know my laws). The riddles are formed in acrostics.

Example An example of Tatwine's work is enigma 11, on the needle: + Enigma 11 Latin original English translation Brought forth in the fiery womb of a blazing furnace, my maker formed me one-eyed and frail; yet surely none could ever live without me. Strange to say, unless my eye is blinded, my skill produces not the smallest piece of work.

List Tatwine's riddles are on the following topics. Numbered list of Tatwine's riddles Number Latin title English translation 1 philosophy 2 hope, faith (and) charity 3 historical, spiritual, moral, and allegorical sense 4 letters 5 parchment 6 pen 7 bell 8 altar 9 Christ's cross 10 lectern 11 needle 12 paten 13 embroidery needle 14 love 15 snow, hail and ice 16 prepositions with two cases 17 squirrel 18 eyes 19 squinting eyes 20 the one-eyed 21 evil 22 Adam 23 threefold death 24 humility 25 pride 26 the five senses 27 a pair of tongs 28 anvil 29 table 30 sword and sheath 31 spark 32 arrow 33 fire 34 quiver 35 ember 36 winnowing fork 37 sower 38 charcoal 39 whetstone 40 rays of the sun

Editions and translations 'Aenigmata Tatvini', ed. by Fr. Glorie, trans. by Erika von Erhardt-Seebold, in Tatuini omnia opera, Variae collectiones aenigmatum merovingicae aetatis, Anonymus de dubiis nominibus, Corpus christianorum: series latina, 133–133a, 2 vols (Turnholt: Brepols, 1968).