NOTE: This work is generally believed to be a composite of two
separate poems, usually referred to as "Genesis A" (or "The
Earlier Genesis") and "Genesis B" (or "The Later Genesis").
"Genesis A" is the work at lines #1-234 and #852-2935; "Genesis
B" is interpolated into "Genesis A" at lines #235-851.
The reason for this interpolation is not known. Perhaps the
original compiler preferred the version of the story presented in
"Genesis B", or perhaps the text of "Genesis A" from which he was
working with was missing this section. Adding to this confusion
is evidence that "Genesis B" appears to be a translation from an
earlier and separate Old Saxon retelling of the biblical "Book of
Genesis", a fragment of which (corresponding to lines #791-817 of
"Genesis B") survives.
"Genesis", like the other poems of "Codex Junius 11", is not a
direct translation into Anglo-Saxon of the Old Testament "Book of
Genesis". Rather, it is an effort to retell the story in the
poetry and style of the Germanic Epic, a style still popular with
the Anglo-Saxons at the time "Junius 11" was compiled.
--DBK