Old Testament Narratives

Name: Old Testament Narratives
Brand: Unknown
SKU: 9780674053199
Price: 71.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

Series: Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library

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Summary

Old Testament Narratives presents a collection of Old English poems that retell biblical stories with imaginative and vivid reinterpretations. These poems transform familiar figures, portraying Satan with pride reminiscent of Milton, Eve with sympathy and tragedy, and Moses as a formidable Germanic warrior-king. The volume includes three sequential epics found in the Bodleian Library manuscript: the Old English Genesis, covering creation and Abraham's struggle; Exodus, following Moses leading the Hebrews to freedom; and Daniel, recounting trials during Babylonian exile. The final poem, Azarias, depicts the apocryphal tale of the three youths in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace, showcasing lyrical nature poetry.
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Format: Hardback

$71⁹⁹

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Old Testament Narratives

$71⁹⁹

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This book will appeal to readers interested in religious literature, Old English poetry, and historical reinterpretations of biblical narratives. Scholars of medieval studies and those fascinated by the interplay between scripture and early European vernacular traditions will find it particularly engaging.

The Old English poems in this volume are among the first retellings of scriptural texts in a European vernacular. More than simple translations, they recast the familiar plots in daringly imaginative ways, from Satan's seductive pride (anticipating Milton), to a sympathetic yet tragic Eve, to the lyrical nature poetry in Azarias.

Description

Whether or not the legendary Caedmon authored any of the poems in this volume, they represent traditional verse in all its vigour. Three of them survive as sequential epics in a manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

The first, the Old English Genesis, recounts biblical history from creation and the apocryphal fall of the angels to the sacrifice of Isaac; Abraham emerges as the central figure struggling through exile toward a lasting covenant with God.

The second, Exodus, follows Moses as he leads the Hebrew people out of Egyptian slavery and across the Red Sea. Both Abraham and Moses are transformed into martial heroes in the Anglo-Saxon mould.

The last in the triad, Daniel, tells of the trials of the Jewish people in Babylonian exile up through Belshazzar's feast.

Azarias, the final poem in this volume (found in an Exeter Cathedral manuscript), relates the apocryphal episode of the three youths in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace.