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Context - Stage 2

STAGE 2 - The Rediscovery of the Exeter Book

The 19th century

After centuries of overall disinterest in the Exeter Book, it finally had its major revival in the 19th century. This was due to the gorwing interest in 10th Century English history. In 1842, the first translated versions of the poems “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer” were created by Benjamin Thorpe. As these were the first translations of the Exeter Book into modern English, it could be considered that this marked a “rebirth” of interest in the Exeter Book, in addition to a “rebirth” of the book itself.