The Old English Exodus

2026-01-28T05:43:11Z

Lochlannjj: Small capitalisation change.

{{book
|title=The Old English Exodus
| image = Exodus.jpg
|author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
|editor=Joan Turville-Petre
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|date=[[28 January]] [[1982]]
|format=Hardcover
|pages=95 (Original Edition)<br>140 (HarperCollins Expanded Edition)
|isbn=0198111770
| precededby=[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]] (1981)
| followedby=[[The Book of Lost Tales: Part One]] (1983)
}}
'''''The Old English Exodus''''' is a book collecting [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s text and prose translation of the [[Old English]] poem ''[[wikipedia:Exodus (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 ''[[wikipedia:Beowulf|Beowulf]]''.

The book was published in [[1982]] (though dated 1981),<ref>[[Wayne G. Hammond]], [[Douglas A. Anderson]] (1993), ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography]]'': B35</ref> with only 3000 copies printed.

==New edition==
After being out of print for more that 40 years, the book is receiving a new edition, this time published by [[HarperCollins]], and to be released in May of 2026 as part of a boxed set of Tolkien's "Myths and Legends" (along with [[Finn and Hengest]], [[The Story of Kullervo]], [[The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun]], and [[The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth |The Battle of Maldon]]). The book will not be sold separately<ref>[https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7003 Myths and Legends (Boxed Set) #2]</ref>. It will include a preface by Thorlac Turville-Petre, the original editor's son.

==Contents==
*Editor's Preface
*Select Bibliography

*'''Text'''
*'''Translation'''
*'''Commentary'''

*Index to Commentary

==From the editor==
{{blockquote|The Old English Exodus is based on full notes for a series of lectures delivered to a special class in Oxford in the 1930s and 1940s; the notes were retouched in the following decade. It was never intended to be an edition, although the lecturer scrupulously drew up and edited text as basis of his commentary. It is an interpretation of the poem, designed to reconstruct the original (as far as that is possible), and to place it in the context of Old English poetry.}}



{{references}}
{{title|italics}}
{{Publishedmajorbooks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old English Exodus, The}}
[[Category:Books by J.R.R. Tolkien]]
[[Category:Publications by title]]
[[Category:Posthumous publications]]
[[Category:Scholarly books]]
[[de:The Old English Exodus]]
[[fi:The Old English Exodus]]

The Old English Exodus

2026-01-28T05:09:44Z

Lochlannjj: Added the new page count for the HarperCollins Edition of the text.

{{book
|title=The Old English Exodus
| image = Exodus.jpg
|author=[[J.R.R. Tolkien]]
|editor=Joan Turville-Petre
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|date=[[28 January]] [[1982]]
|format=Hardcover
|pages=95 (Original Edition)‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎140 (HarperCollins expanded edition)
|isbn=0198111770
| precededby=[[The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien]] (1981)
| followedby=[[The Book of Lost Tales: Part One]] (1983)
}}
'''''The Old English Exodus''''' is a book collecting [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s text and prose translation of the [[Old English]] poem ''[[wikipedia:Exodus (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 ''[[wikipedia:Beowulf|Beowulf]]''.

The book was published in [[1982]] (though dated 1981),<ref>[[Wayne G. Hammond]], [[Douglas A. Anderson]] (1993), ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive Bibliography]]'': B35</ref> with only 3000 copies printed.

==New edition==
After being out of print for more that 40 years, the book is receiving a new edition, this time published by [[HarperCollins]], and to be released in May of 2026 as part of a boxed set of Tolkien's "Myths and Legends" (along with [[Finn and Hengest]], [[The Story of Kullervo]], [[The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun]], and [[The Battle of Maldon: together with The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth |The Battle of Maldon]]). The book will not be sold separately<ref>[https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=7003 Myths and Legends (Boxed Set) #2]</ref>. It will include a preface by Thorlac Turville-Petre, the original editor's son.

==Contents==
*Editor's Preface
*Select Bibliography

*'''Text'''
*'''Translation'''
*'''Commentary'''

*Index to Commentary

==From the editor==
{{blockquote|The Old English Exodus is based on full notes for a series of lectures delivered to a special class in Oxford in the 1930s and 1940s; the notes were retouched in the following decade. It was never intended to be an edition, although the lecturer scrupulously drew up and edited text as basis of his commentary. It is an interpretation of the poem, designed to reconstruct the original (as far as that is possible), and to place it in the context of Old English poetry.}}



{{references}}
{{title|italics}}
{{Publishedmajorbooks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old English Exodus, The}}
[[Category:Books by J.R.R. Tolkien]]
[[Category:Publications by title]]
[[Category:Posthumous publications]]
[[Category:Scholarly books]]
[[de:The Old English Exodus]]
[[fi:The Old English Exodus]]

Tolkien Gateway - User contributions [en]

The Old English Exodus

The Old English Exodus