The Owl and the Nightingale () is a twelfth- or thirteenth-century Middle English poem detailing a debate between an owl and a nightingale as overheard by the poem's narrator. It is the earliest example in Middle English of a literary form known as debate poetry (or verse contest).
Verse contests from this time period were usually written in Anglo-Norman or Latin. This poem shows the influence of French linguistic, literary, and rhetorical techniques. After the Norman conquest, French became a predominant language in England, but English was still widespread and recognized as an acceptable language for poetry, if only burlesque debates.
Date, authorship and provenance
There is no certain information about the poem's author, date of composition or origin.
Nicholas of Guildford is mentioned several times in the text as the man best suited to judge which bird presents the strongest argument. His character never actually makes an appearance, and the poem ends with the debate unresolved and the owl and nightingale flying off in search of Nicholas. Some critics speculate that the most likely reason for the mention of Nicholas of Guildford in the poem is because he is the author. However, in the introduction to the latest translation on the text, Neil Cartlidge reminds the reader that despite the general acceptance of Nicholas as author "...there is no firm evidence to support such an identification and no certain trace of the existence of any Nicholas of Guildford, priest of Portesham, beyond the text itself". Additionally, there has been academic discussion on whether The Owl and the Nightingale could have been written by a religious group of nuns with other religious women as their target audience.<ref>{ { cite journal |last1=Barratt |first1=Alexandra |title=Flying in the face of tradition: a new view of The Owl and the Nightingale |journal=University of Toronto Quarterly |date=1987 |volume=56 |issue=4 |page=471-485 |doi=10.3138/utq.56.4.471 |s2cid=170138375 |url=https://utpjournals.press/doi/epdf/10.3138/utq.56.4.471?role=tab}}</ref>
It is equally difficult to establish an exact date when The Owl and the Nightingale was first written. The two surviving manuscripts are thought to be copied from one exemplar, and they are dated to the second half of the 13th century. In lines 1091–2, the nightingale prays for the soul of "king Henri", which is thought to reference "either the death of Henry II of England in 1189 or of Henry III of England in 1272". Scholars see no evidence that the poem predates the surviving manuscripts by many years. It is possible that the poem was written in the 12th or 13th century; Cartlidge argues that it is from after the death of Henry III in 1272.
Linguistic evidence suggests the poem's origins lie in Kent or a neighbouring region, but there is little evidence to support this theory. Because The Owl and the Nightingale cannot be accurately dated, it is nearly impossible to properly reconstruct the original dialect. Recent scholarship also acknowledges that provenance could be anywhere in Wessex, the Home Counties or the south-west Midlands.
Manuscripts
There are two known manuscripts of The Owl and the Nightingale: ff. 156–68 of Jesus College, Oxford, MS.29 and ff. 233–46 of British Library, Cotton MS. Caligula A. ix. Both are bound together in collections of other works. They are both estimated to be written in the latter half of the 13th century and copied from one exemplar which is now lost
Jesus College, Oxford, MS. 29:
This manuscript, given to Jesus College between 1684 and 1697 by rector Thomas Wilkins, contains 33 texts in English, Anglo Norman, and Latin. All of the script is in one hand and written in a plain, amateurish style. The Owl and Nightingale is written in two columns with some capital letters in blue and red but no illumination.
Cotton Caligula A.IX:
This manuscript contains 13 texts in English and Anglo Norman, most of which were probably bound together from the beginning despite Cotton’s method of organizing disparate manuscripts into collections. The text, written by at least two different scribes, is in two columns with some capital letters in red and no illumination. The script is a professional, gothic bookhand. This manuscript has a 19th-century binding and shows no evidence of whom the previous owner(s) may have been.