Bibliography Detail
Sweet Odors and Interpretative Authority in the Exeter Book Physiologus and Phoenix
Papers on Language and Literature, 2006; Series: Volume 42, Issue 2
A recurring question in Anglo-Saxon studies is why certain texts were selected for inclusion in specific manuscripts, and the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library, Exeter Dean and Chapter MS 3501), a tenth-century miscellany that corresponds with the first part of the Benedictine Reform era in England (roughly 950-1000), is no exception. The manuscript was probably compiled between 950 and 970, although there is scholarly debate about when and where it was written. (1) The manuscript's most numerous texts are a series of riddles, but it is also notable for lyrics, maxims, religious narrative verse, and elegies. The variety of genres in the manuscript suggests that it was a repository for material used in preaching to the laity and religious instruction for the clergy, and perhaps one of the major goals in the manuscript's compilation was to focus attention on issues of textual interpretation, as the inclusion of the riddles suggests.
Language: English
Last update March 23, 2024