Authorship and Date
The consensus held by modern scholars allocates Judith to the authorship of Cynewulf, though several opposing theories have been proposed. The atypical absence of Cynewulf’s runic signature has led many not to attribute authorship to him (Nelson, pg. 4). Stylistically, the poem so strongly reflects the Cynewulfian school that it may just as likely been written by one of Cynewulf’s successors (Cook, pg. xx-xxi). The poem is also commonly thought to be the work to Cædmon, which would place it around 680 A.D. (Cook, pg. xvi). However, many other scholars believe the poem to have been written during various years between the eight and tenth centuries. The existing manuscript of "Judith," following the "Beowulf" manuscript, was copied by the second of two scribes.
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