is a poem in the ‘Junius manuscript' of Old English poetry (Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 11), named after the Dutch scholar Francis Junius who studied it and published its contents in the seventeenth century. Compiled in the second half of the tenth or the early eleventh century, and illustrated with many line drawings, the manuscript contains three poems based on Old Testament narratives —

,

and

— and a fourth,

, which complements the others with ideas from the New Testament. Together, these poems explore some of the major themes of Christian history, including above all sin and redemption.

, the longest of the poems with its 2936 surviving lines, is in fact a hybrid work, for interpolated in it are more than six hundred…

1070 words

Citation: Marsden, Richard. "Genesis A". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13221, accessed 21 November 2024.]