The details of the life of Anglo-Saxon poet Cynewulf (flourished 8th or 9th century) are shrouded in mystery. What is known is that he was one of the earliest religious poets and wrote beautiful verses steeped in Christian belief. Old English poetry...

Old English poems are the written versions of oral and oral-derived works, and like all compositions of tradition-dependent societies, they are primarily anonymous. Because of the influence of the Christian missionaries and of monasticism, Anglo-Saxon...

In the essay that follows, Wilson studies the Christ in detail and claims, in contrast to the conclusion reached by some critical scholarship, that the poem is arguably the work of a single author.

In the essay that follows, Kennedy reviews what is known about Cynewulfs identity and the four poems signed with his name and suggests that the scholastic religious tradition which directs the primary content of Cynewulfs poetry is interlaced with more "romantic" overtones.

In the following essay, Wittig claims that the critical "dissatisfaction" with Cynewulf's Juliana neglects the poem's successful representation of the significance of the saint's passion.