A Note in Defense of "The Partridge" (Exeter Book 97v)

Abstract

It has been argued in the pages of Neophilologus that the fragmentary third poem of the Old English Physiologus series in the Exeter Book is not about the partridge but about the phoenix. The grounds for this argument are speculative, and the case for the partridge is presented as one weaker than it actually is. Throughout the vast Physiologus tradition, the panther-whale-partridge sequence is widespread, occurring in the first Greek redaction and translations into Ethiopic, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Latin, Old French, and Old Icelandic. This tradition should not be overlooked in attempts to identify the theme of the Old English fragment. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]