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The Apocryphal Adam and Eve in Medieval Europe: Vernacular Translations and Adaptations of the Vita Adae et Evae
What happened to Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise?
Where the biblical narrative fell silent apocryphal writings took up this intriguing question, notably including the Early Christian Latin text, the Life of Adam and Eve . This account describes the (failed) attempt of the couple to return to paradise by fasting whilst immersed in a river, and explores how they coped with new experiences such as childbirth and death.
Brian Murdoch guides the reader through the many variant versions of the Life , demonstrating how it was also adapted into most western and some eastern European languages in the Middle Ages and beyond, constantly developing and changing along the way. The study considers this development of the apocryphal texts whilst presenting a fascinating insight into the flourishing medieval tradition of Adam and Eve. A tradition that the Reformation would largely curtail, stories from the Life were celebrated in European prose, verse and drama in many different languages from Irish to Russian.
Where the biblical narrative fell silent apocryphal writings took up this intriguing question, notably including the Early Christian Latin text, the Life of Adam and Eve . This account describes the (failed) attempt of the couple to return to paradise by fasting whilst immersed in a river, and explores how they coped with new experiences such as childbirth and death.
Brian Murdoch guides the reader through the many variant versions of the Life , demonstrating how it was also adapted into most western and some eastern European languages in the Middle Ages and beyond, constantly developing and changing along the way. The study considers this development of the apocryphal texts whilst presenting a fascinating insight into the flourishing medieval tradition of Adam and Eve. A tradition that the Reformation would largely curtail, stories from the Life were celebrated in European prose, verse and drama in many different languages from Irish to Russian.
308 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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About the author
Brian Murdoch
57 books3 followersBrian Oliver Murdoch FRHistS is an English philologist who is Emeritus Professor of German at the University of Stirling in Scotland. He specializes in the study of early Germanic and Celtic literature, on which he has authored and edited several influential works.
He has published monographs, articles, editions and edited collections on early medieval heroic and biblical literature, mainly German, English and the Celtic languages, plus a comparative study of the legend of Hero and Leander. He has also published extensively on the literature and songs of of the World Wars, most recently on the theme of Everyman in German war-plays. He has translated from classical and medieval Latin and from medieval and modern German, notably Erich Maria Remarque's 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1994) and The Way Back (2019).
He has published monographs, articles, editions and edited collections on early medieval heroic and biblical literature, mainly German, English and the Celtic languages, plus a comparative study of the legend of Hero and Leander. He has also published extensively on the literature and songs of of the World Wars, most recently on the theme of Everyman in German war-plays. He has translated from classical and medieval Latin and from medieval and modern German, notably Erich Maria Remarque's 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1994) and The Way Back (2019).
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