Genesis Myth in Beowulf and Old English Biblical Poetry

Joseph St. John

$284

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Routledge
31 July 2024

Poetry; Literary studies: classical, early & medieval; Old Testaments

Series: Routledge Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture

Genesis Myth in Beowulf and Old English Biblical Poetry explores the adaptation of antediluvian Genesis and related myth in the Old Testament poems Genesis A and Genesis B, as well as in Beowulf, a secular heroic narrative.

The book explores how the Genesis poems resort to the Christian exegetical tradition and draw on secular social norms to deliver their biblically derived and related narratives in a manner relevant to their Christian Anglo-Saxon audiences. In this book it is suggested that these elements work in unison, and that the two Genesis poems function coherently in the context of the Junius 11 manuscript. Moreover, the book explores recourse to Genesis-derived myth in Beowulf, and points to important similarities between this text and the Genesis poems. It is therefore shown that while Beowulf differs from the Genesis poems in several respects, it belongs in a corpus where religious verse enjoys prominence.

By: Joseph St. John
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781032621784
ISBN 10: 1032621788
Series: Routledge Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture
Pages: 208
Publication Date: 31 July 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Joseph St. John completed his doctoral degree at the University of Malta in 2023. The focus of his research was the adaptation of Genesis themes in Old English poetry, specifically Genesis A, Genesis B, and Beowulf. He also published an article titled ‘The Meaning Behind Beowulf’s Beheading of Grendel’s Corpse’, on Leeds Medieval Studies, in 2021; a note titled ‘The Character Helle in De Resurrectione Domini, the Old English Cotton Vespasian D.xiv Version of Christ’s Descent into Hell in the Gospel of Nicodemus’, on ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, in 2022; an article titled ‘Ac ic to þam grunde genge: an analogue for Genesis B, line 834a’, on The Explicator, which first appeared online in 2023, and an article titled ‘The Archetype in the Genesis A Adaptation of the Cainite Genealogy’, on ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, again in 2023. Moreover, the author has delivered lectures about Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chaucer’s early poetry at the University of Malta.