‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel
The ruined-city motif in the Old English poem The Wanderer (lines 73–87) has long been read as a reflex of traditional Germanic diction, and as a symbol of material transience. In line with more recent biblical readings of the poem, this paper identifies a number of analogues and possible sources fo...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2023
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| _version_ | 1826312873999073280 |
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| author | Burns, R |
| author_facet | Burns, R |
| author_sort | Burns, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The ruined-city motif in the Old English poem The Wanderer (lines 73–87) has long been read as a reflex of traditional Germanic diction, and as a symbol of material transience. In line with more recent biblical readings of the poem, this paper identifies a number of analogues and possible sources for both the excidio urbis image and other images of transience, in the biblical Book of Ezekiel. Among these correspondences between The Wanderer and the prophetic biblical narrative are references to scavenging animals, traditionally read as Germanic ‘beasts of battle’ when encountered in the Old English elegies. Reading this passage alongside Gregory the Great’s Homilies on Ezekiel further illuminates how the poem’s structure and changing use of tense corresponds with contemporary thought on the revelatory processes of prophecy. It is here proposed that the Old English poet has chosen to use images and devices which resonate with both biblical and traditional vernacular poetic diction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:26:25Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:8e3984f5-0d01-4fe3-ba16-47178e870c7f |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:03:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:8e3984f5-0d01-4fe3-ba16-47178e870c7f2024-05-08T09:51:45Z‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of EzekielJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:8e3984f5-0d01-4fe3-ba16-47178e870c7fEnglishSymplectic ElementsSpringer Nature2023Burns, RThe ruined-city motif in the Old English poem The Wanderer (lines 73–87) has long been read as a reflex of traditional Germanic diction, and as a symbol of material transience. In line with more recent biblical readings of the poem, this paper identifies a number of analogues and possible sources for both the excidio urbis image and other images of transience, in the biblical Book of Ezekiel. Among these correspondences between The Wanderer and the prophetic biblical narrative are references to scavenging animals, traditionally read as Germanic ‘beasts of battle’ when encountered in the Old English elegies. Reading this passage alongside Gregory the Great’s Homilies on Ezekiel further illuminates how the poem’s structure and changing use of tense corresponds with contemporary thought on the revelatory processes of prophecy. It is here proposed that the Old English poet has chosen to use images and devices which resonate with both biblical and traditional vernacular poetic diction. |
| spellingShingle | Burns, R ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title | ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title_full | ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title_fullStr | ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title_short | ‘And you shall know that I am the Lord’: The Wanderer and The Book of Ezekiel |
| title_sort | and you shall know that i am the lord the wanderer and the book of ezekiel |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT burnsr andyoushallknowthatiamthelordthewandererandthebookofezekiel |