Cynewulf, Christ II

Mercedes Salvador-Bello (Universidad de Sevilla)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.01: English Writing and Culture: Old English, 500-1066.
Vol. editors: Richard William Dance (University of Cambridge), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 970

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

Christ II (also called Christ B or Ascension), usually comprising lines 440-866 of the Christ triad of poems, is the second work of the Exeter Book (fols. 14a-20b). The poem's contents, divided into five sections by means of capital letters and spacing in the manuscript, seem to be drawn from various scriptural and patristic sources, although scholarship in general agrees that the most important one is Gregory the Great's Homily no. 29 on Ascension Day. Despite the poem's occasional slavish dependence on this source, critics have identified passages in which the Gregorian model is deliberately adapted to the tradition of Germanic heroic poetry, as observed in the characterization of the apostles as the …

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1252 words

Citation: Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. "Christ II". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 January 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14719, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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