Abstract

This thesis addresses the addition of apocryphal material to two translations of the Book of Genesis into Old English and argues that these additions requore us to rethink the meaning of fidelity to the original source in the context of Anglo-Saxon translations of scripture. The additions exist in both the Genesis poem from MS Junius 11 and the prose translation of Genesis found in a number of manuscripts, including the Illustrated Old English Hexateuch. Both works begin with accounts, in text or in illustration, of the fall of the angels. These accounts go beyond what can be understood from the exegesis of canonical scripture. They also both add apocryphal details surrounding the life of Enoch, seventh patriarch from Adam. These insertions serve to frame the Old Testament text in a Christian context. Both prose and verse texts use these apocryphal materials to bring out the themes of good and evil and gesture to the greater narrative that begins with Creation and end with Judgment. Paradoxically, then, the addition of apocryphal material helps guide a less learned reader in their understanding of the Book of Genesis and its position in relation to Christian doctrine. The texts thus have a different approach to the tension between "word for word" and "sense for sense" fidelity to the source, focusing instead on maximizing the accessibility of the text to an audience that may not ever be able to study the Latin original.