| Abstrakt: |
The Old English Prose Psalms, contained in the Paris Psalter, have been discussed almost solely with regard to authorship (principally, the question of their attribution to Alfred the Great) or to their use of unusual and distinctive sources that emphasized Davidic and other Old Testament interpretations of the Psalms. In spite of this, recent work on their strategies of translation and interpretation has begun to incorporate the Prose Psalms into broader debates on the literary culture of Anglo-Saxon England. The Prose Psalms and their interpretative apparatus, consisting of Old English introductions and Latin rubrics, can help us better understand how Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards the Old Testament and Judaism informed their conception of national and religious identity. The Paris Psalter shows us a strikingly personal appeal to the Old Testament, especially to the experiences of Hezekiah and other righteous Jewish figures of that period. Rather than highlighting the divide between Christians and Jews, the Prose Psalms are focused on the conflict between the people of God and their enemies, in any era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
