the Crucifixion, and present exilic state. For the poet, these instances of exile man’s provided thematic unity between the while also voicing concerns of the poem’s divisions is the personal cry for salvation and grace, and it is the singer’s times; ‘This indeed poet’s cry of his generation.’ Anglo-Saxon Christian poets used Biblical accounts of exile to interpret their own history and place in the world. Nicholas Howe has argued for similar symbolic and literal contemporary interpretive connections between biblical accounts and Anglo-Saxon history in his discussion on the Old English The author of as Howe suggests, Exodus. Exodus, knew of the migratory past of the Anglo-Saxons who crossed over from the continent to England, but was also keenly aware of his conversion history. By incorporating people’s the language and meanings of his own time and people, How argues that the poet recast the Exodus story in a way that told of the foundations of Israel and simultaneously evoked the post-conversion Anglo-Saxons. The Exodus of the Jews had served as an exemplar for histories of pre-conversion Christian people elsewhere, most notably in Vita Eusebius’ wherein the Roman Emperor Constantine was depicted as a type of Moses. Constantini However, Howe demonstrates that the historical similarities between the experiences of the Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons, specifically as migratory crossers of seas, may have been of importance to the Old English project of suggesting a correspondence poet’s between the two the ancestral migration meant the entry of the peoples: ‘Because Saxons into Old Testament history, it gave a biblical warrant to their preconversion ideas about Old Testament exile and dislocation were crucial to experience.’ Thus, concepts of identity as a Christian people. More about exile figures from the Hebrew Bible will be discussed in each of the chapters below. Understanding exile requires understanding what constitutes Patrick ‘homeland’. assessment of English unity discusses the gradual process of unification, a Wormald’s concept promoted earlier by Frank Stenton, but Wormald forcibly argues that early ‘no
the Crucifixion, and man’s present exilic state. For the poet, these instances of exile provided thematic unity between the poem’s divisions while also voicing concerns of the singer’s times; ‘This indeed is the poet’s personal cry for salvation and grace, and it is the cry of his generation.’ Anglo-Saxon Christian poets used Biblical accounts of exile to interpret their own history and place in the world. Nicholas Howe has argued for similar symbolic and literal contemporary interpretive connections between biblical accounts and Anglo-Saxon history in his discussion on the Old English Exodus. The author of Exodus, as Howe suggests, knew of the migratory past of the Anglo-Saxons who crossed over from the continent to England, but was also keenly aware of his people’s conversion history. By incorporating the language and meanings of his own time and people, How argues that the poet recast the Exodus story in a way that told of the foundations of Israel and simultaneously evoked the post-conversion Anglo-Saxons. The Exodus of the Jews had served as an exemplar for histories of pre-conversion Christian people elsewhere, most notably in Eusebius’ Vita Constantini wherein the Roman Emperor Constantine was depicted as a type of Moses. However, Howe demonstrates that the historical similarities between the experiences of the Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons, specifically as migratory crossers of seas, may have been of importance to the Old English poet’s project of suggesting a correspondence between the two peoples: ‘Because the ancestral migration meant the entry of the into Old Testament history, it gave a biblical warrant to their preconversion experience.’ Thus, ideas about Old Testament exile and dislocation were crucial to concepts of identity as a Christian people. More about exile figures from the Hebrew Bible will be discussed in each of the chapters below. Understanding exile requires understanding what constitutes ‘homeland’. Patrick Wormald’s assessment of English unity discusses the gradual process of unification, a concept promoted earlier by Frank Stenton, but Wormald forcibly argues that ‘no early Saxons