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Corrected error in long-lost medieval saga suggests that its hero fought wolves, not elves
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, JUL 18 – A transcription error changed mythical elves and sprites to wolves and sea snakes, revealing the hero faced real-world threats in a 12th-century English saga, researchers said.
- Researchers at Cambridge University reinterpreted a fragment of the medieval Song of Wade on July 15, 2025.
- The discovery resulted from analyzing a 13th-century Latin sermon where transcription errors led to misreading the word 'elves' as 'wolves.'
- The sermon, about humility, used Wade's story as a familiar cultural reference warning that humans, represented as wolves, are the real threat.
- Fellow Seb Falk explained that this challenges the traditional view of Wade as closely resembling Beowulf, the heroic figure known for defeating the monstrous Grendel.
- This reinterpretation reshapes how scholars understand medieval storytelling, showing pop culture was woven into sermons and Wade as a chivalric hero, not a monster slayer.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Summe sende ylues and summe sende nadderes
A medieval literary puzzle which has stumped scholars for 130 years has finally been solved. The breakthrough involved working out that the word 'ylues' in a thirteenth-century manuscript refers to 'wolves', not 'elves'. The discovery solves the most famous mystery in Chaucer's writings and provides rare evidence of a medieval preacher referencing pop culture in a sermon. (The full academic article can be found here.)
Lost medieval tale The Song of Wade decoded by Cambridge scholars solving 130-year-old Chaucerian mystery
A literary enigma that has puzzled scholars for more than a century might have finally been unraveled. Researchers at Cambridge University have reinterpreted a fragment of the lost medieval poem known as The Song of Wade, gaining new insight into its meaning and redefining our understanding of how Geoffrey Chaucer alluded to the story in […]
For a long time, researchers thought that in a famous, largely lost story from the High Middle Ages, it was about elves and giants. Now, part of the text was discovered – and it reveals a misunderstanding.
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