Cambridge solves a lost medieval legend (and the first sermon meme)

A lost English legend called Wade's Song has obsessed many philologists for over a century, including the famous medievalist M.R. James. Considered one of the great enigmas of medieval literature, today, after 130 years of uncertainty, a team of academics from Cambridge University claims to have solved the mystery. The discovery not only provides a new interpretation of Chaucer's famous work ( The Canterbury Tales ) but also identifies one of the first references to popular culture used in a Christian sermon.

The discovery, published Wednesday in The Review of English Studies , transforms the way we thought about this legendary text: it's not a fantastical epic full of monsters, as was once believed, but a chivalric novel with social and political implications . Most surprisingly, its only surviving fragment was used as a kind of medieval "meme" in a 12th-century sermon to capture the public's attention.

The only preserved fragment would have been used as a kind of medieval “meme” in a 12th-century sermon.

Things began with a philological review. Professor James Wade and historian Seb Falk , both of Girton College, Cambridge, detected that a transcription error—specifically, a confusion between the letters “y” and “w”—had altered the interpretation of an essential fragment for more than a century. Thus, the line that read “Some are elves and some are vipers” should actually read “Some are wolves and some are vipers.”

The change might seem minor, but it actually reorients the entire reading of the text. “It moves this legend away from monsters and giants and places it on the human terrain of chivalric rivals,” they noted. “Now we understand why Chaucer mentioned Wade in courtly contexts. It makes much more sense.”

Geoffrey Chaucer alludes to Wade twice in his other works. In Troilus and Chryseis , Pandarus entertains Chryseis with the knight's story. In The Merchant's Tale , an aging knight alludes to Wade's ship to justify his ideas about marriage. Until now, these references seemed unrelated. With the new interpretation, researchers believe Chaucer was drawing on a chivalric tale well known to his audience, serving a comedic and sensual purpose. "This reveals a typically Chaucerian irony in his allusion to Wade's ship," Wade explains, connecting courtly tradition with social satire.

Chaucer used a chivalric story well known to his audience, with a comic and sensual function.

The surviving fragment of Wade’s Song appears not in a literary manuscript, but in a sermon titled Humiliamini , preserved in a 13th-century codex. Researchers identify the sermon’s author as Alexander Neckam (1157–1217), one of the period’s great scholars. The sermon exhorts humility, comparing humans to beasts: wolves, vipers, sea serpents. In that context, the preacher introduces the reference to Wade as an example of chivalric arrogance. “It’s like when a modern priest quotes the Black Eyed Peas to connect with wedding attendees ,” Falk joked.

Also included is the story of Hugh de Gournay , a knight who repeatedly betrayed his allies during the Anglo-Norman Wars and, in repentance, knelt before the French king with a noose around his neck. “It’s a powerful image of the knight’s humility,” both experts suggest.

The fragment was first discovered in 1896 by M.R. James , the celebrated scholar, antiquarian, and ghost story writer. While reviewing a collection of Latin sermons, he found some missing English verses. He collaborated with Israel Gollancz and concluded that they belonged to a lost 12th-century legend. They called it Wade's Song . James promised to publish more information, but never did.

For over a century, scholars have tried unsuccessfully to decipher the passage. “Many very intelligent people have been driven mad by the spelling, punctuation, literal translation, and context of a few lines,” acknowledges James Wade. The new analysis, by correcting key paleographic errors, proposes a coherent reading in which Wade, son of Hildebrand, becomes a symbol of chivalric excess rather than a hero of epic fantasy.

“This sermon still resonates today,” Wade concludes. “It warns us that danger comes not from supernatural monsters, but from human greed, deceit, and ambition. And it does so by leveraging medieval pop culture , just as TikTok or Netflix are used today to illustrate moral values. The sermon demonstrates sophistication, humor, and a strategic command of language. And the most incredible thing is that it was written more than 800 years ago.”