WOLF! WOLF! BEOWULF!

The value of the study of Anglo-Saxon, inevitable fate of any man having aspirations toward a Summa Cum Laude in the Department of English in Harvard College, is questioned by the Daily Princetonian in a recent editorial. One gathers that the situation is even more stringent at that University than here at Cambridge. The Princetonian decries the fact that "undergraduates are forced to take this course"' and the Princetonian objects, although conscious that such objections are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Fortunately Harvard undergraduates are not forced to take Anglo-Saxon. As noted above, however, those concentrating in English and attempting to secure highest honors in that field are faced with the restrictive option of either learning the language by extra-classroom methods or enrolling in that course which of all courses hold least attraction for the average man, interested in English literature though he may be--Beginning Anglo-Saxon. The result is that often even an illusory hope of a Summa is crushed in its natal travail: a half year spent in the acquisition of a tongue which may be an asset to some but is certainly not an intellectual necessity for all, is frequently considered so valuable that it cannot be sacrificed, even though the ultimate goal be Honors.

If an A. B. degree in English were synonymous with an ability to comprehend the English language as a philologist then there would be ample justification in requiring from the most brilliant candidates a knowledge of Anglo-Saxon. An A. B. Degree in English, however, concerns itself primarily with the literature of the country and not in its etymological sources. Those desiring to become proficient in the latter should be allowed to do so; those who do not should be allowed the freedom of choice.