1. Judith Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1598

2. Historical Context • Stories of the Bible inspired much of the poety and prose that was created in the Middle Ages • The Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham (died ca. 1010) translated some of the stories of the Pentateuch for Anglo-Saxon audience • Aelfric’s translation of Judith is thought to have been composed sometime in the tenth century • This story was translated in order to motivate the Anglo-Saxons to defend their territory against invading Vikings • “set down in our manner in English, as an example to you people that you should defend you land with weapons against the invading army” – Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham (Norton, 101)

3. Aelfric Abbot of Eynsham • 955 – 1010 • An English abbot and writer • "a man comparable both in the quantity of his writings and in the quality of his mind even with Bede himself.” - Peter Hunter Blair (wikipedia) • Was educated at Benedictine at Winchester, where he gained a reputation as a scholar • Wrote homilies, works to teach and learn Latin, guides in monastic living, and Old Testament translation • He protested this last project because he feared uneducated audiences would assume the actions of the Old Testament Israelites as acceptable for Christians

4. Aelfric’s Translation of Judith • Poetic translations of the Bible were based on these stories but not as strictly literal translations of the text • A story could be translated in a more recognizably Germanic cultural setting • Judith takes Holoferne’s battle gear as apposed to his household treasures in the Biblical narrative • Aelfric’s translation of Judith is from the apocryphal books of the Bible • Apocryphal – not regarded as an authentic part of the Old Testament to Protestant Churches

5. Recounts the campaign of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in his punishments of other kingdoms who will not come to his aid in the destruction of Media • Holofernes, Nebuchadnezzar’s general, defeats all armies and towns in his way, and lays siege to the Israelite town of Bethulia • The people of Bethulia are about to surrender to Holofernes, but Judith persuades them not to • Aelfric may have translated this story in particular to encourage Anglo-Saxons to stand up again Viking Invaders

6. Judith and Holofernes, Lucas Cranach Judith Victorious, Lucas Cranach, 1530

7. Judith and Holofernes, Michelangelo, 1509