The Ruthwell Cross and its Texts
Author | : Kerstin Majewski |
Publisher | : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
Total Pages | : 400 |
Release | : 2022-10-24 |
ISBN-10 | : 9783110785470 |
ISBN-13 | : 3110785471 |
Rating | : 4/5 (471 Downloads) |
Download or read book The Ruthwell Cross and its Texts written by Kerstin Majewski and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-10-24 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.