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| The Old English Exodus | |
|---|---|
| Publication Information | |
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Editor | Joan Turville-Petre |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Released | 28 January 1982 |
| Format | Hardcover |
| Pages | 95 (original edition) 125 (HarperCollins edition) |
| ISBN | 0198111770 |
The Old English Exodus is a book collecting J.R.R. Tolkien's text and prose translation of the Old English poem Exodus, accompanied by a commentary which was organized from a series of Tolkien's lecture notes from the 1930-40s. The published edition was edited by Joan Turville-Petre, a former pupil of Tolkien's.
Exodus does not refer to the second book of the Bible, but an Old English retelling in the form of an alliterative poem; it contains 590 lines. It re-tells the story of the Israelites' flight from Egyptian captivity and the Crossing of the Red Sea in the manner of a "heroic epic", similar in style to Beowulf.
The book was published in 1982 (though dated 1981),[1] with only 3000 copies printed.
Contents
- Editor's Preface
- Select Bibliography
- Text
- Translation
- Commentary
- Index to Commentary
New edition
Having been out of print for more that 40 years, this book is now brought back into publication by HarperCollins in 2026, as part of a boxed set titled Myths and Legends. The box set was released on May 21, 2026 in the UK, and will be released in August in the US. As of now, The Old English Exodus is not available as a standalone volume.
The text has been reset in this new edition, with the addition of a preface written by Thorlac Turville-Petre, the son of the original editor.
From the publisher
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Old English Exodus comes from detailed lecture notes created for advanced student at Oxford between the 1930s and 1950s. While he never meant to publish a formal edition, Tolkien carefully created his own version of the Old English text to use in teaching. His goal was to interpret the poem, reconstruct what the original might have looked like, and demonstrate how it fits into the broader tradition of Old English poetry.
Tolkien's teaching style was notoriously difficult to follow and his lectures famously challenging, but he could also connect ideas in brilliant flashes revealing his intellectual processes as he navigated complex material.
Many of the problems and confusions Tolkien tackled in The Old English Exodus have either been solved or changed form. Nevertheless, his scholarship still holds up well. Editing the professor's lecture notes, Joan Turville-Petre decided to include selected excerpts in order to better showcase Tolkien's teaching abilities and highlight the insights that remain most relevant today. This approach gives readers the best sense of Tolkien's methods and his most important contributions to understanding this ancient poem.
First published in 1981, this edition brings Tolkien's work back into publication with a new preface by the editor's son, Thorlac Turville-Petre, situating Joan's commentary within the context of its initial publication.
Publication history and gallery
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1982 first edition
-
2026 new edition (boxed set)
- Oxford University Press, hardcover (1982), pp. 95. ISBN 0198111770
- HarperCollins hardcover with reversable dustjacket (2026), pp. 125. ISBN 978-0008795184 (box) - (Myths & Legends #2)
External links
- Myths and Legends #2 box set on Amazon UK
- Myths and Legends #2 box set on Amazon US
References