Where did Shakespeare's MacBeth come from?
Shakespeare's source was Holinshead’s Chronicles published in 1577, but Holinshead translated Boece’s 1527 History of the Scots from the Latin. Boece made up much of the story, Banquo and Fleance for example, and got other elements from earlier Scottish accounts. Shakespeare’s witches, originally the Werd Sisters, or fates, come from Wyntoun’s Chronicles of Scotland, as does the prophecy that Man is not borne of wife, of power to rue me of my life, and that Macbeth is safe until he sees the wood of Brynnan brought to Dunsinane.
The original text of Holinshead’s account, along with five earlier Scottish versions, are presented in this volume. Discovering the places where the stories agree and where they differ, both in tone and substance, is the delight in store for the reader. All of the accounts share some elements picked up by Shakespeare, notably Malcolm’s testing of Macduff. They also share elements ignored by Shakespeare, such as Macbeth’s threat to yoke Macduff to a plough. The accounts differ on other elements: Wyntoun has Macbeth as the Devil’s son and marries him to his aunt, Fordun has no mention of prophecies at all, Macduff himself does not kill Macbeth until Boece and his translators.
The two earliest Scottish texts, Fordun’s and Wyntoun’s, present contrasting versions of the story both in style and content. Fordun’s, written in verbose Medieval Latin prose, is a tale of dynastic strife interlaced with tangential classical references. Wyntoun’s is written in spare Scots verse and steeped in the supernatural: prophesy, incest, and the devil. Fordun’s account is presented with facing-page translation, Wyntoun’s with some of the more obscure Scottish words glossed.
The source for the remaining versions, Scottish and English, is Hector Boece’s 16th Century history, written for James V of Scotland, the grandfather of Shakespeare’s patron, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Boece’s Latin prose is presented without translation, as the remaining 3 versions are all themselves translations of Boece: Stuart into Scots verse, Bellenden into Scots prose, and Holinshead into English prose.
With all these versions in one volume, the reader can follow the creation and evolution of a myth. The reader can also appreciate the diverse literary styles in use in late Medieval and early Renaissance Scotland. Wyntoun and Fordun seem to ideally match language to tone: Latin prose for a historical approach, Scots verse for a supernatural folk-tale. In Boece, Bellenden and Stuart, however, we have the same narrative elements presented in Latin and Scots, prose and poetry.
In Bellenden and Holinshead, the reader is able to compare translations of the same material into 16th century Scots and English and gain an appreciation of the difference in the languages spoken by the educated elite in the two countries prior to the union of the crowns.
The Latin texts themselves are useful source material for secular Medieval Latin. Covering a well-known action-packed tale, snippets of this Scottish Latin could readily be used in the Latin classroom.
Where did Shakespeare's MacBeth come from?
Shakespeare's source was Holinshead’s Chronicles published in 1577, but Holinshead translated Boece’s 1527 History of the Scots from the Latin. Boece made up much of the story, Banquo and Fleance for example, and got other elements from earlier Scottish accounts. Shakespeare’s witches, originally the Werd Sisters, or fates, come from Wyntoun’s Chronicles of Scotland, as does the prophecy that Man is not borne of wife, of power to rue me of my life, and that Macbeth is safe until he sees the wood of Brynnan brought to Dunsinane.
The original text of Holinshead’s account, along with five earlier Scottish versions, are presented in this volume. Discovering the places where the stories agree and where they differ, both in tone and substance, is the delight in store for the reader. All of the accounts share some elements picked up by Shakespeare, notably Malcolm’s testing of Macduff. They also share elements ignored by Shakespeare, such as Macbeth’s threat to yoke Macduff to a plough. The accounts differ on other elements: Wyntoun has Macbeth as the Devil’s son and marries him to his aunt, Fordun has no mention of prophecies at all, Macduff himself does not kill Macbeth until Boece and his translators.
The two earliest Scottish texts, Fordun’s and Wyntoun’s, present contrasting versions of the story both in style and content. Fordun’s, written in verbose Medieval Latin prose, is a tale of dynastic strife interlaced with tangential classical references. Wyntoun’s is written in spare Scots verse and steeped in the supernatural: prophesy, incest, and the devil. Fordun’s account is presented with facing-page translation, Wyntoun’s with some of the more obscure Scottish words glossed.
The source for the remaining versions, Scottish and English, is Hector Boece’s 16th Century history, written for James V of Scotland, the grandfather of Shakespeare’s patron, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Boece’s Latin prose is presented without translation, as the remaining 3 versions are all themselves translations of Boece: Stuart into Scots verse, Bellenden into Scots prose, and Holinshead into English prose.
With all these versions in one volume, the reader can follow the creation and evolution of a myth. The reader can also appreciate the diverse literary styles in use in late Medieval and early Renaissance Scotland. Wyntoun and Fordun seem to ideally match language to tone: Latin prose for a historical approach, Scots verse for a supernatural folk-tale. In Boece, Bellenden and Stuart, however, we have the same narrative elements presented in Latin and Scots, prose and poetry.
In Bellenden and Holinshead, the reader is able to compare translations of the same material into 16th century Scots and English and gain an appreciation of the difference in the languages spoken by the educated elite in the two countries prior to the union of the crowns.
The Latin texts themselves are useful source material for secular Medieval Latin. Covering a well-known action-packed tale, snippets of this Scottish Latin could readily be used in the Latin classroom.
