(also called

or

), usually comprising lines 440-866 of the

triad of poems, is the second work of the Exeter Book (fols. 14a-20b). The poem's contents, divided into five sections by means of capital letters and spacing in the manuscript, seem to be drawn from various scriptural and patristic sources, although scholarship in general agrees that the most important one is Gregory the Great's Homily no. 29 on Ascension Day. Despite the poem's occasional slavish dependence on this source, critics have identified passages in which the Gregorian model is deliberately adapted to the tradition of Germanic heroic poetry, as observed in the characterization of the apostles as the retainers of Christ's comitatus. [For a similar conception of the gospel's narrative in…

1252 words

Citation: Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. "Christ II". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 January 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14719, accessed 21 November 2024.]