CHAPTER XVII

Grammatical questions submitted to Alcuin by Karl.—Alcuin and Eginhart.—Eginhart’s description of Charlemagne.—Alcuin’s interest in missions.—The premature exaction of tithes.—Charlemagne’s elephant Abulabaz.—Figures of elephants in silk stuffs.—Earliest examples of French and German.—Boniface’s _Abrenuntiatio Diaboli_.—Early Saxon.—The earliest examples of Anglo-Saxon prose and verse 280