The Ruthwell Cross and its Texts
The Ruthwell Cross is one of the finest Anglo-Saxon high crosses that have come down to us. The longest epigraphic text in the Old English Runes Corpus is inscribed on two sides of the monument: it forms an alliterative poem, in which the Cross itself narrates the crucifixion episode. Parts of the inscription are irrevocably lost. This study establishes a historico-cultural context for the Ruthwell Cross’s texts and sculptures. It shows that The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem is an integral part of a Christian artefact but also an independent text. Although its verses match closely with lines of The Dream of the Rood in the Vercelli Book, a comparative analysis gives new insight into their complex relationship. An annotated transliteration of the runes offers intriguing information for runologists. Detailed linguistic and metrical analyses finally yield a new reconstruction of the lost runes. All in all, this study takes a fresh look at the Ruthwell Cross and provides the first scholarly edition of the reconstructed Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem—one of the earliest religious poems of Anglo-Saxon England. It will be of interest to scholars and students of historical linguistics, medieval English literature and culture, art history, and archaeology.
Autor: | Majewski, Kerstin |
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ISBN: | 9783110785395 |
Auflage: | 1 |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Seitenzahl: | 397 |
Produktart: | Gebunden |
Verlag: | De Gruyter |
Veröffentlicht: | 24.10.2022 |
Untertitel: | A New Reconstruction and an Edition of The Ruthwell Crucifixion Poem |
Schlagworte: | Altenglisch + Literatur Epigraphik Kreuz Middle Ages Mittelalter Old English literature Runen cross epigraphy runes |
Kerstin Majewski, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München.