Genesis and Myth in Beowulf and Old English Biblical Poetry

Genesis Myth in Beowulf and Old English Biblical Poetry explores the adaptation of antediluvian Genesis and related myth in Genesis A, Genesis B, and Beowulf, exploring the manner whereby the texts adapt biblical myth with reference to the Christian exegetical tradition and Anglo-Saxon secular social values.

Joseph St. John completed his doctoral degree at the University of Malta in 2023. The focus of his research was the adaptation of Genesis themes in Old English poetry, specifically Genesis A, Genesis B, and Beowulf. He also published an article titled ’The Meaning Behind Beowulf’s Beheading of Grendel’s Corpse’, on Leeds Medieval Studies, in 2021; a note titled ’The Character Helle in De Resurrectione Domini, the Old English Cotton Vespasian D.xiv Version of Christ’s Descent into Hell in the Gospel of Nicodemus’, on ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, in 2022; an article titled ’Ac ic to Þam grunde genge: an analogue for Genesis B, line 834a’, on The Explicator, which first appeared online in 2023, and an article titled ’The Archetype in the Genesis A Adaptation of the Cainite Genealogy’, on ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, again in 2023. Moreover, the author has delivered lectures about Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Chaucer’s early poetry at the University of Malta.