![Bodleian Libraries, Cædmon Manuscript 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Bodleian_Libraries%2C_C%C3%A6dmon_Manuscript_13.jpg)
''Genesis B'', also known as ''The Later Genesis'', is a passage of
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
poetry describing the
Fall of Satan
In the Abrahamic religions
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible ...
and the
Fall of Man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
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, translated from an
Old Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It i ...
poem known as the ''
Old Saxon Genesis
''Genesis'' is an Old Saxon Biblical poem recounting the story of the Book of Genesis, dating to the first half of the 9th century, three fragments of which are preserved in a manuscript in the Vatican Library, ''Palatinus Latinus'' 1447. It and th ...
''. The passage known as ''Genesis B'' survives as an
interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points.
In engineering and science, one often has a n ...
in a much longer Old English poem, the rest of which is known as ''
Genesis A
''Genesis A'' (or ''Elder Genesis'') is an Old English poetic adaptation of the first half or so of the biblical book of Genesis. The poem is fused with a passage known today as '' Genesis B'', translated and interpolated from the Old Saxon Genesi ...
'', which gives an otherwise fairly faithful translation of the biblical
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
. ''Genesis B'' comprises lines 235-851 of the whole poem.
''Genesis B'' and ''Genesis A'' survive in the partially illustrated
Junius Manuscript
The Junius manuscript is one of the four major codices of Old English literature. Written in the 10th century, it contains poetry dealing with Biblical subjects in Old English, the vernacular language of Anglo-Saxon England. Modern editors have ...
. The manuscript is incomplete, having in particular missing pages (conjectured to be two leaves, or four sides) between pages 22 and 23, meaning that the transition point between ''Genesis A'' and ''Genesis B'' is lost.
Background
![Bodleian Libraries, Cædmon Manuscript 16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Bodleian_Libraries%2C_C%C3%A6dmon_Manuscript_16.jpg)
Scholars once believed that the legendary first Old English poet
Cædmon
Cædmon (; ''fl. c.'' 657 – 684) is the earliest English poet whose name is known. A Northumbrian cowherd who cared for the animals at the double monastery of Streonæshalch (now known as Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of St. Hilda, he wa ...
was responsible for not only the Genesis poems but also the entire Junius Manuscript. This theory has long since been disregarded.
Eduard Sievers
Eduard Sievers (; 25 November 1850, Lippoldsberg – 30 March 1932, Leipzig) was a philologist of the classical and Germanic languages. Sievers was one of the ''Junggrammatiker'' of the so-called "Leipzig School". He was one of the most influent ...
realised that ''Genesis B'' was originally separate from ''Genesis A'' in the 1870s: by philological and stylistic analysis, he showed that these lines must have been translated from an
Old Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It i ...
(continental
Low German
:
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:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle L ...
) original. In 1894 his hypothesis was dramatically confirmed by the discovery of parts of
the Old Saxon original in a manuscript in the Vatican: about two dozen lines of the Old Saxon text coincide almost word-for-word with part of ''Genesis B''.
Content and controversy surrounding the text
''Genesis B'' is a strikingly original and dramatic retelling of the
Fall of the Angels
In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...
and the
Fall of Man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
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.
''Genesis B'' depicts the fall of
Lucifer
Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...
from heaven, at which point he is renamed "
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
" and assumes authority as the ruler of Hell. The text goes on to describe the temptation and subsequent fall of
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
from God's grace, but the account presented in this manuscript differs largely from any other version. Oldrieve addresses this controversy in terms of the language used to describe Satan's bodily form. According to ''Genesis B'', Satan appears to Adam as an angel, as opposed to the serpent which typically represents Satan. Woolf even goes as far as to compare Satan to
Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
of
Norse mythology
Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...
, stating that the similarities between the two are "undoubtedly sufficient". The controversies, however, are not as superficial as the depiction of the devil, which is still crucial to the overall meaning of the poem, but complicate much more significant plot points and characters. One of these major differences that Hill cites is the portrayal of Eve; while ''
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
A'' claims that Eve is motivated by the desire to be more God-like, ''Genesis B'' shows that she was tempted by Satan and is instead trying to help save Adam by fulfilling God's wishes. Oldrieve's conclusion that Eve was so deceived by the devil and his words that she believed she saw an angel instead of a serpent blend these two controversies and offer further support of Eve's innocence and lack of manipulation, much like the discrepancy noted by Hill.
The issue of language, the
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
, is also a concern of Timmer's, a scholar referenced several times throughout other scholars’ interpretations of ''Genesis B''. He discusses the discrepancies between versions of the fall of
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
and attributes them to problems with the translation from
Old Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, was a Germanic language and the earliest recorded form of Low German (spoken nowadays in Northern Germany, the northeastern Netherlands, southern Denmark, the Americas and parts of Eastern Europe). It i ...
to Old English, offering reason as to how specific words are construed to have a meaning different than those found in any other Old English manuscript. A different explanation is offered by Doane; he argues that many of the discrepancies are a result of the extended time period between the oral telling of the story and the transcribing of the story by the Old
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, causing embellishment to heighten the literary drama of the text.
Translations
Many scholars who translate ''Genesis B'' give significant evidence to the reasoning behind their translations, due to the complicated nature of the text. Oldrieve chooses to focus on maintaining the beauty of the text in her translation in order to portray the “vivid and lifelike characterization of Satan, Adam, and Eve”. Similar to Oldrieve, Woolf uses the text to further explore the portrayal of the devil throughout Old English poetry; in ''Genesis B'' alone, she compares Satan to
Loki
Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...
, as mentioned before, along with other Norse gods, and Weland of Beowulf, the latter which she cites as Timmer's original idea. Timmer's goal in transcribing the text, since he does not offer a direct translation, was to represent a complete rendering of the text based on manuscripts and several other transcriptions and translations he encountered, similar to Doane. He goes on to acknowledge the discrepancies he still encounters, despite his thorough investigation of the text.
Relationship with ''Paradise Lost''
''Genesis B'' makes Satan a central character, giving him a monologue which provides an extensive opportunity for character development. This literary approach is similar to that of
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
's seventeenth-century epic ''
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
''. Since Milton was acquainted with
Franciscus Junius (the younger)
Franciscus Junius (29 January 1591 – 1677), also known as François du Jon, was a pioneer of Germanic languages, Germanic philology. As a collector of ancient manuscripts, he published the first modern editions of a number of important texts. I ...
, who owned Julius 11 and made some attempt to read it, it has been speculated that ''Genesis B'' was one inspiration for ''Paradise Lost''.
Editions and translations
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See also
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Old Saxon Genesis
''Genesis'' is an Old Saxon Biblical poem recounting the story of the Book of Genesis, dating to the first half of the 9th century, three fragments of which are preserved in a manuscript in the Vatican Library, ''Palatinus Latinus'' 1447. It and th ...
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Genesis A
''Genesis A'' (or ''Elder Genesis'') is an Old English poetic adaptation of the first half or so of the biblical book of Genesis. The poem is fused with a passage known today as '' Genesis B'', translated and interpolated from the Old Saxon Genesi ...
References
Bibliography
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Additional reading
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{{Authority control
Book of Genesis
Cultural depictions of Adam and Eve
Fiction about the Devil
Apocrypha
Old English poetry
Biblical paraphrases