Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis
The anonymous Older Scots narrative The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis is preserved in the Asloan manuscript (Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, Advocates 16500), which was composed ca. 1515. The manuscript's name comes from its scribe, John Asloan, a copyist and notary public living in and around Edinburgh.
Like the contemporaneous Middle English manuscripts, the Scottish narrative is also part of the Version A branch of the tradition, and also likely had a French Version A text as its primary source, judging by the stories and their order. Also like the English texts, the Buke is in octosyllabic tail-rhymed verse. However, the Buke also diverges from the Version A/English narratives' pattern in a few key ways that suggest narrative proximity to the Historia tradition as well. Catherine van Buuren notes that there are several points when the Buke uses language identical to that found in some of the Latin Version H texts, with narrative details further exemplifying the influence of the Historia tradition (Van Buuren (1982), pp. 136-81). Critically, this includes the revelation and gender-reveal of the empress's lover at the end of the frame story, something that is not found in the Version A narrative pattern. Van Buuren notes that while this could suggest a lost, early A/H source that blends the two traditions, it is perhaps more likely that the author of the Buke was familiar with both the Version A and Version H narratives.
It is worth noting that the narrative in its current form contains only thirteen stories. There is a lacuna between Sapientes (the 11th story, told by the Empress) and Inclusa; according to Catherine van Buuren (1982), this likely included the sixth sage's tale, and the Empress's reponse to it.
General Information
Language & Composition
Literature & Editions
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
- A (Seven Sages)
- Dutch Version A
- French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages
- Gaelic Version A
- German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus
- Italian Version A
- Latin Version A
- Middle English Version A
- Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare
- Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis
- Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein
Adaptations
Languages in Use
Notes
The fourth sage, called Cato or Catone, is distinct from the seventh sage, called Cratone.
The sage originally introduced as Malcome is listed as the fifth, but then is the fourth sage to tell a story, and is referred to as Maucundas.
The sixth sage, named Ampustinus, does not tell a story.Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
| Has Short Title | Has Sequence Number | Has Narrator | Has Name Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbor – The Tree | 1 | Empress | |
| Canis – The Faithful Dog | 2 | Bancillas | Bantillas |
| Aper – The Boar and the Fruit | 3 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 4 | Anxilles | Ancillas, Amipullas, Maxillas |
| Gaza – The Treasure | 5 | Empress | |
| Puteus – The Well | 6 | Lentulus | Lentalus |
| Senescalcus – The Seneschal | 7 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 8 | Malcome | Maucundas |
| Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels | 9 | Empress | |
| Avis – The Bird | 10 | Cato | Catone |
| Linteum – Bedsheets | 10 | Cato | Catone |
| Gladius – The Drawn Sword | 10 | Cato | Catone |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 11 | Empress | |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 14 | Cratone | Cratone |
Connected Manuscripts