Old English Biblical Verse

This is an extended study of the Old Testament poems of the Junius collection as a group. The circumstances surrounding their composition and transmission are mysterious: none is ascribed to a named author and none situated even relatively within the development of Anglo-Saxon Christian poetry. This book seeks to breach this critical impasse by allowing the biblical content of the Junius poems to tell its own story. Paul G. Remley compares them with genuine early medieval texts that are most likely to have circulated in Anglo-Saxon centres, and sets out the full range of variants. He offers engaging exercises in hermeneutic and reader-response criticism. The introductory chapter reviews five centuries of Anglo-Saxon history. All citations of Old English, Latin, and Greek texts are accompanied by modern English translations, making the book accessible to general readers as well as specialists.

• Uses a wide range of neglected early medieval biblical material • All citations of Old English, Latin and Greek texts have modern English translations • Highlights details of the day-to-day life of early medieval Christian communities

List of tables; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. The biblical sources of Genesis A and B; 3. Exodus and the liturgy of baptism; 4. Daniel and Greek scriptural tradition; 5. The renditions of Oratio Azariae and Canticum trium puerorum in Daniel; 6. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.