Christ II (Cynewulf)

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Christ II, or alternatively The Ascension , is one of four Anglo-Saxon poems from the 9th century attributed to the poet Cynewulf . The homiletic work is contained in the Exeter Book and draws on a number of ecclesiastical sources, in particular a sermon given by Pope Gregory the Great on the feast of Christ's Ascension .

Background and content

The poem consists of a total of 1664 lines and is assigned to a triad of spiritual poems, which are collectively referred to as Christian . It deals with the ascension of Christ . In addition, in the first lines it takes up some images of the Advent O-antiphons .

The Christian was originally believed to be the work of a single author. However, some scientists now assume that it consists of three texts by different authors. Christ I deals with the arrival ( Advent ), Christ II the Ascension and Christ III describes the contact on the day of judgment . Christ in its entirety is the longest poem in the Exeter Book. Christ II thematically overlaps with Christ III , but also differs significantly from this. All three parts have their own characteristics and narrative style, which means that they are now assigned to different authors.

The English philologist and writer JRR Tolkien was so fascinated by two lines in Christ I that he incorporated them into the development of his mythology about the fantasy world of Middle-earth . These lines read "Eala Earendel engla beorhtast ofer middangeard monnum sended." ("Hail Earendel, brightest of angels, above Middle-earth sent unto men". - "Greetings, Earendel, most radiant of angels, sent to Middle-earth to the people" or "Heil Earendel, the angels stole window, sent to men over the middle earth".)

literature

  • Albert S. Cook: The Christ of Cynewulf: A Poem in Three Parts, the Advent, the Ascension and the Judgment (1900). Kessinger Pub Co., 2008, ISBN 978-1-4365-3744-5 .
  • Charles Huntington Whitman: The Christ of Cynewulf: a poem in three parts: the advent, the ascension, and the last judgment. Nabu Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-141-54182-9 .
  • Herbert W. Jardner : JRR Tolkien's Earendil saga. Third chapter: Éarendel, Aurvandillr and Earendil: The Old Norse Sources. 2. In: Vingilot - Contributions to Anthropology. Earendil in the old Germanic culture. (PDF, from p. 6).
  • Michael Hageböck, To the Cynewulf reception at Tolkien - Does Middle-earth found in the O-Antiphon of the winter solstice? , in: Quarber Merkur 116, Verlag Lindenstruth 2015, ISBN 978-3-934273-95-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Third chapter. Cynewulf. Riddle. Christian. Juliane. Elene. on projekt-gutenberg.org, accessed on June 19, 2020. (The section begins with: "This second part, the Ascension ...")
  2. ↑ Is the “Christ” of Cynewulf a single poem? on degruyter.com, accessed March 21, 2013.
  3. ↑ Antje Wendler: The figures of the discourse partners and their use in Old English poetry. Waxmann, Münster 1998, ISBN 3-89325-586-9 , p. 175, ( books.google.de ).
  4. ↑ Annie Hamilton: The Mythic Well II. On katspace.com, accessed March 21, 2013.
  5. ↑ Herbert W. Jardner: JRR Tolkien Earendil saga. […] Earendil in the old Germanic culture. (PDF, from p. 7).