The Exeter Anthology of Old English Poetry : An Edition of Exeter Dean and Chapter MS 3501

by Bernard J. Muir (Editor)

Commonly referred to as The Exeter Book, this important anthology is the earliest and largest surviving book of vernacular poetry from Anglo-Saxon England.

The book is published in a two-volume set. Volume One contains the Introduction and Texts. Volume Two contains the Commentary, Bibliography, Index to Bibliography.

817 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 1994

About the author

Prof. Bernard James Muir is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Professor of Medieval Studies in the English Department of the University of Melbourne.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Exeter Book, Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, also known as the Codex Exoniensis, is a 10th century composite bound codex that contains a substantial collection of vernacular Anglo Saxon poetry and was donated to the Exeter Cathedral Library in 1072 by Leofric the first bishop of Exeter. The poems bound in the codex are some of the most popular and well known Old English poems that have survived from the period, these include the Elegies, Riddles, Widsith, poems attributed to Cynewulf and many more.

Bernard Muir's Two volume edition contains an introduction that focuses on the history, preservation and textual complexities of the codex. The edited text uses modern punctuation and also includes Modern English translations of the short Latin introductions to the Old English transcriptions. The second volume is taken up by Muir's commentary to the text and exhaustive bibliography.