The Exeter Book of Old English Poetry.

Kemp Malone; R. W. Chambers; Max Forster; Robin Flower

doi:10.2307/2912680

The origin of the Exeter Book of Old English poetry

Anglo-Saxon England ◽

10.1017/s0263675100001988 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 25 ◽

pp. 135-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Richard Gameson

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Critical Edition ◽

Eleventh Century ◽

Exeter Book ◽

English Poetry ◽

Documentary Evidence ◽

Vernacular Literature ◽

Old English Poetry ◽

The Third ◽

English Verse

Exeter, Cathedral Library, 3501, fols. 8–130, the celebrated Exeter Book of Old English Poetry, preserves approximately one-sixth of the surviving corpus of Old English verse, and its importance for the study of pre-Conquest vernacular literature can hardly be exaggerated. It is physically a handsome codex, and is of large dimensions for one written in the vernacular: c. 320 × 220 mm, with a written area of c. 240 × 160 mm (see pl. III). In contrast to many coeval English manuscripts, particularly those in the vernacular, there is documentary evidence for the Exeter Book's pre-Conquest provenance. Assuming it is identical with the ‘i mycel Englisc boc be gehwilcum þingum on leoðwisum geworht’ (‘one large English book about various things written in verse’) in the inventory of lands, ornaments and books that Leofric, bishop of Crediton then Exeter, had acquired for the latter foundation, then it has been at Exeter since the third quarter of the eleventh century. This, however, is at least three generations after the book was written, and it has generally been assumed that it originated else where. Identifying the scriptorium where the Exeter Book was made is clearly a matter of the greatest interest and importance. A recent, admirably thorough monograph has put forward a thought-provoking case for seeing Exeter itself as the centre responsible, and has proceeded to draw a range of literary and historical conclusions from this. The comprehensive new critical edition of the manuscript has favoured the thesis, and it has been echoed elsewhere. If correct, this is extremely valuable and exciting – but is it correct? The matter is of sufficient importance to merit further scrutiny.

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A Poem of the Cross in the Exeter Book: ‘Riddle 60’ and ‘The Husband's Message’

Traditio ◽

10.1017/s0362152900008734 ◽

1967 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

pp. 41-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

R. E. Kaske

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Literary Theory ◽

Exeter Book ◽

English Poetry ◽

Old English Poetry ◽

Early Christian ◽

The Cross ◽

Christian Thought ◽

Disproportionate Number ◽

To Come

To propose a unified religious allegory in what hitherto has been accepted rather generally as two distinct Old English poems, and universally as secular poetry carrying no meaning beyond the literal, is to risk being categorized as a ‘pan-allegorist’ in literary theory and an evangelist in temperament. Let me begin, therefore, by protesting that if the corpus of Old English poetry should ever be unmasked as a series of impeccably Christian allegories, no one will be more astounded or dismayed than I. It would be difficult to deny, however, that the great scholars who laid the foundations for our study of this poetry were, in most instances, more interested in Germanic antiquity than in Latin Christianity; and that as a result, a disproportionate number of our own major discoveries are likely to come out of the once-neglected Patrologia Latina. If this observation is accurate, we may do well to suspend temporarily our belief in certain universal negative conclusions—like, for example, the familiar pronouncement that Old English poets characteristically do not employ allegory—and to inquire whether some of the ‘secular’ poems that have puzzled us for so long may not become less puzzling in the light of early Christian thought. Much as we may revere the spirit of Germanic antiquity, we shall do it small service by attributing to it attitudes or works that it might not have cared to claim.

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Introduction: Early Medieval Earth Consciousness

Old English Ecotheology ◽

10.5117/9789463723824_intro ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Courtney Catherine Barajas

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Exeter Book ◽

English Poetry ◽

Turn Of The Millennium ◽

Early Medieval ◽

Old English Poetry ◽

Religious Lyrics ◽

Broad Audience ◽

Aelfric Of Eynsham

The existential threat of environmental collapse loomed large in the early medieval English imagination. In particular, the work of Wulfstan, Archbishop of York and Ælfric of Eynsham pointed to the imminence of the apocalypse. Wulfstan explicitly attributed environmental collapse to human sin, while Ælfric urged the faithful to look hopefully to the post-apocalyptic establishment of a new Earth. The broad audience and didactic intent of these prolific and well-connected theologians makes their work a useful representation of English theology at the turn of the millennium. Similarly, the 10th-century manuscript called the Exeter Book—the largest, most diverse extant collection of Old English poetry, including religious lyrics, obscene riddles, and elegies—may serve as a representative of the contemporaneous poetic corpus.

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Old English Power Structure in the Warlike Nature in Riddles no. 3, no, 29, no. 50 from the Exeter Book

JoLLA: Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts ◽

10.17977/um064v1i42021p427-436 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 1 (4) ◽

pp. 427-436

Author(s):

Herditya Wahyu Widodo

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Power Structure ◽

Exeter Book ◽

English Poetry ◽

Natural Phenomena ◽

Anglo Saxon ◽

Male And Female ◽

Cultural Interpretation ◽

Old English Poetry ◽

Power Hierarchy

Abstract: This study focuses on Old English nature-themed riddle texts from the Exeter Book, analyzing the natural imageries that are significant in investigating how the literary content of Old English riddles, as accepted forms of poetry, reveals the Anglo-Saxon culture of their original authors. I focus on the power structure in Anglo-Saxon society revealed in the riddles, by analyzing the topic of warlike nature in them, focusing on the riddles no. 3, “Storm”, no. 29 “Sun and Moon,” and no. 50, “Fire.” Natural experience described in these riddles is rendered by the Anglo-Saxons to reflect power hierarchy between male and female, servant and master, and human with God. The Anglo-Saxon riddles identify and assign the potent warlike attributes and actions of nature, and assign them to the more powerful factions (God, Master, Male) over the weaker factions (Humans, Servants, Female). This is done by the authors as an acceptable cultural interpretation of these natural phenomena, put in the riddles to make it possible for the riddles’ intended Anglo-Saxon audience as clues to arrive at a culturally agreeable answer. Keywords: old English, old English riddles, natural imagery, old English poetry, war imagery Abstrak: Studi ini berfokus pada teks teka-teki (Riddles) Inggris Kuno (Old English) bertema alam dari the Exeter Book, dengan menganalisa imaji alam yang signifikan, untuk mengetahui bagaimana teka-teki Inggris Kuno, sebagai salah satu karya sastra berbentuk puisi, mengungkapkan budaya Anglo-Saxon dari penulis aslinya. Saya berfokus pada struktur kekuasaan (power structure) dalam masyarakat Anglo-Saxon yang terungkap dalam teks teka-teki, dengan menganalisis topik sifat suka perang di pada teka-teki no. 3, "Badai", no. 29 “Matahari dan Bulan,” dan no. 50, "Api." Pengalaman hidup mengenai alam digambarkan dalam teka-teki ini oleh para penulis Anglo-Saxon dengan mencerminkan hierarki kekuasaan antara laki-laki dan perempuan, hamba dan tuan, dan manusia dengan Tuhan. Teka-teki Anglo-Saxon mengidentifikasi dan menetapkan atribut dan tindakan alam yang suka berperang (warlike) kepada faksi yang lebih kuat (Dewa, Tuan, Laki-Laki) di atas faksi yang lebih lemah (Manusia, Pelayan, Wanita). Hal ini dilakukan oleh para penulis sebagai interpretasi budaya atas fenomena alam yang mereka lihat, dan dimasukkan ke dalam teka-teki untuk memungkinkan pembaca Anglo-Saxon sebagai petunjuk untuk sampai pada jawaban yang dapat diterima secara budaya. Kata kunci: old English, Inggris kuno, teka-teki Inggris kuno, imaji alam, puisi Inggris kuno, imaji perang

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Cynewulf's Christ 1665-1693

PMLA ◽

10.2307/457797 ◽

1930 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 354-367

Author(s):

Edwin J. Howard

Keyword(s):

Old English ◽

Exeter Book ◽

English Poetry ◽

Old English Poetry ◽

External Evidence

The authorship of the twenty-nine lines following line 1664 of Cynewulf's Christ in the Exeter Book is, in common with that of much Old English poetry, disputed. The lines are variously considered an independent poem, the conclusion of Christ, and the beginning of Guthlac. Since external evidence is, of course, entirely lacking, an effort will here be made to decide the authorship by means of internal evidence.The thought contained in Christ IV, as the disputed lines 1665–93 will for convenience be designated in this article, is much closer to that of the concluding passage of Christ III than it is to the beginning of Guthlac. Thomas Arnold has said that the line of thought of IV agrees in no way with that which marks the opening of Guthlac, while Gollancz, who insists that IV is a prelude to Guthlac, finds it necessary to say that the ‘motives’ of IV are ‘derived from the concluding portion of the Christ.’

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