Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England: Divina in Laude Voluntas

"While the book does serve as an introduction of some sort, it surpasses this rather modest goal by offering insights into each of the Latin epic poets, their reception among the main Anglo-Latin poets, and biblical old English poetry."

Tristan Major, Qatar University, Speculum vol. 93 no. 4, Oct 2018

"McBrine has done a major service to Anglo-Saxonists by so lucidly marshalling the evidence for the importance of the Latin Biblical epics of Antiquity to any robust understanding of early English literary culture."

Manish Sharma, Concordia University, Journal of English and Germanic Philology

"This ground-breaking study draws long-overdue attention to a magnificent body of Latin epics from late antiquity, including Sedulius’s Carmen Paschale and Arator’s Historia Apostolica. McBrine traces the promulgation of these poems in Anglo-Saxon England, where scholars like Aldhelm and Bede treasured the depth of learning and pleasure in them, and their influence extends even to vernacular epics like the Old English Genesis and Exodus. Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England does more than fill a gap; it fundamentally reconfigures our understanding of literary production in Anglo-Saxon England."

Daniel Donoghue, John P. Marquand Professor of English, Harvard University

"Biblical Epics in Late Antiquity and Anglo-Saxon England is a very accessible introduction to the Latin biblical poets and the major poetic features of their biblical epics. This book is a major contribution to Anglo-Saxon studies and provides new context for the development and reception of Anglo-Latin poetry."

Miranda Wilcox, Department of English, Brigham Young University

"This elegantly written and meticulously researched book may well prove a milestone in Anglo-Saxon studies, combining as it does a magisterial overview of some of the most important Latin texts taught in Anglo-Saxon schools with an intricate and intriguing assessment of their impact on Old English texts that evidently echoed in the vernacular their range and purpose. Brilliant close readings sit alongside sweeping vistas, in a book that should both surprise and stimulate all serious scholars and students of Anglo-Saxon England."

Andy Orchard, FBA FRSC , Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford