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Abstract
Considered the most important compilation of Old English poetry that is extant, the Exeter Book opens with twelve poems known as the Advent Lyrics or Christ I. Although little attention has been drawn to this group of poems, its study may however off er us a valuable insight into the manuscript and its context. As Clayton and Deshman have already noted, the signifi cance of the Marian topic in the Exeter Book Advent sequence seems to agree with the ideological concerns of the monastic reform of the late tenth century, an idea that prompts a possible contemporary dating of the Lyrics. In the line of these scholars’ arguments, this paper aims to provide an analysis of Lyrics 4, 7 and 9 of the Exeter Book Advent sequence, focusing on the imagery employed to depict the Virgin Mary. I will then consider the antiphonal sources of the Lyrics as well as the scribe’s departure from them to highlight Mary’s outstanding role in the Advent Lyrics. In addition to this, I will examine the signifi cance of the fi ve manuscript sections, paying special attention to punctuation and capitalization. The paper intends to add further evidence to the hypothesis held by some scholars that the first part of the Exeter manuscript was compiled during the heyday of the Benedictine revival, when the prominence of the Virgin Mary reached the utmost peak of popularity in the Anglo-Saxon period.
Keywords: Virgin Mary, Exeter Book, Advent Lyrics, Benedictine revival, Marian imagery, liturgy, Anglo-Saxon queens.