Vercelli

The English Faculty have decided to give me £400 for a trip to Vercelli, Italy! I'll be able to look at a number of amazing medieval manuscripts.

The best of these is one of only four major manuscripts containing Anglo-Saxon poetry, the Vercelli Manuscript. It some of my very favorite religious poems. The very best of these is called The Dream of the Rood. It is a short poem about the crucifixion told from the perspective of the cross. I still contend that it is one of the greatest poems ever written in English. You can read my translation of it here.

I'm very grateful to the English Faculty for funding my trip and I look forward to writing more about it later.