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. His epigraph at Canterbury stated that when he died he was in old age, so perhaps he was born around 670. He became a monk at the monastery at Breedon-on-the-Hill in the present-day County of Leicestershire,Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury p. 80Yorke Kings and Kingdoms p. 31 and then abbot of that house.Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 183 Through the influence of King Æthelbald he was appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in 731 and was consecrated on 10 June 731.Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 213Kirby Earliest English Kings p. 113 He was one of a number of Mercians who were appointed to Canterbury during the 730s and 740s.Williams Kingship and Government p. 24 Apart from his consecration of the Bishops of Lindsey and Selsey in 733, Tatwine's period as archbishop appears to have been uneventful. He died in office on 30 July 734. Later considered a saint, his feast day is 30 July.Walsh New Dictionary of Saints p. 571
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 .Law "Transmission" Revue d'Histoire des Textes p. 281
Ars Gramattica Tatuini The is one of only two surviving eighth-century Latin grammars from England. The grammar is a reworking of Donatus's with the addition of information drawn from other grammarians, such as Priscian and Consentius. It was not designed for a newcomer to the Latin language, but rather for more advanced students.Brooks Early History of the Church of Canterbury pp. 98–99 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.Blair World of Bede pp. 246–247
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,Tupper Riddles of the Exeter Book p. xxxiv but subsequent scholars have argued that Tatwine's riddles owed a substantial debt to those of Aldhelm.Lapidge Aldhelm: The Poetic Works p. 66Orchard Poetic Art of Aldhelm p. 242Salvador-Bello Isidorean Perceptions of Order pp. 222–224
Tatwine's riddles deal with such diverse topics as philosophy and charity, the five senses and the alphabet, and a book, and a pen,Lapidge "Tatwine" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 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.Salvador-Bello Patterns of Compilation Viator pp. 346–349, 373
Tatwine's riddles survive in two manuscripts: the early 11th-century London, British Library, Royal 12.Cxxiii (fols. 121v–7r) and the mid-11th-century Cambridge, University Library, Gg.5.35 (fols. 374v–77v).Salvador-Bello Isidorean Perceptions of Order p. 221 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.Williams Riddles of Tatwine and Eusebius pp. 44–57
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).Naismith "Antiquity, Authority, and Religion" Peritia p. 66 The riddles are formed in acrostics.Lapidge "Tatwine" Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England
Example An example of Tatwine's work is enigma 11, on the needle:Tatwine Tatuini omnia opera p. 178 + 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.Tatwine Tatuini omnia opera 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).
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