L'invention de Nithard by Bernard Cerquiglini (review)

The back cover bills this essay as a Carolingian road movie. It begins in 2011 with the re-discovery of Nithard's remains, misplaced for twelve years in the attic of the Saint-Riquier Abbey. Charlemagne's grandson and Charles the Bald's cousin, the lay intellectual Nithard is recognized for recording the first written evidence of French, distinct from Latin. The 842 Strasbourg Oaths are quoted verbatim in Proto-French and Proto-Germanic in the middle of his Medieval Latin work, making him "le pionnier du français" (10), according to Cerquiglini. His scholarly journey continues with a judicious re-reading of Nithard's Latin text and French translation, using the 2012 revised edition by Sophie Glansdorff, which is contrasted with other writings from the ninth century, Annales de Saint-Bertin, Annales de Fulda, and Dhuoda's Manuel pour mon fils. Cerquiglini discusses how others interpreted the Strasbourg Oaths, from when they were first discovered in the sixteenth century, up to contemporary insights by historian Janet Nelson. We learn that Nithard spent twenty months with the young Charles, taking part in battles, witnessing the swearing and breaking of oaths, while—according to one historian—writing "one of the bleakest prose works of Carolingian era" (90). We come to see Nithard not simply as someone documenting Charles's life, but as a warrior on horseback, a trusted advisor to Charles, helping shape oaths and treaties of the time, and above all, a gifted writer of Latin. Cerquiglini includes detailed analyses of his Latin phrasing, even comparing him to Caesar. Cerquiglini also argues that the Strasbourg Oaths were more of an attempt to settle a family disagreement than actual nation-building. This essay is indeed an intellectual road trip, where the reader discovers progressively more about Nithard's life and the circumstances surrounding the Oaths. Cerquiglini even criticizes his own La naissance du français. We learn about Nithard's father, Angilbert, and his little-known brother, Hartnid, who inspired Pascal Quignard's novel Les larmes, as Cerquiglini tries to decipher why the Strasbourg Oaths are featured so prominently in Nithard's work. This essay would be difficult reading for undergraduates but could serve as an ancillary text in a graduate course in History of the Language or Old French. The style is both familiar and dry, but not without humor. When discussing the phrase "ainsi comme on doit un frère" and the choice of the non-Latin word on, Cerquiglini writes: "Observons que le premier véritable mot français jamais écrit fut un marqueur d'universalité: les adeptes de Rivarol pourront s'en réjouir" (84). Some may quibble with his attempt to elevate Nithard to the status of "inventeur de la langue française" (back cover) or "premier écrivain de la langue française" (119), but after reading L'invention de Nithard, the reader will never think of him as an insignificant figure in the history of the French language. Overall, this intricate essay presents the latest interpretation of the life of Nithard and the motivations behind documenting the Strasbourg Oaths in the original. It will be an enlightening read for French historical linguists.