Thinking about the Future: The Psychology of the Mind and Soul in Judgement Day I

The Exeter Book poem Judgement Day I has long been considered by scholars to be an inferior Old English poem, failing to reach the literary heights or vivid drama of Judgement Day II or Christ III. However, this comparison is caused largely by the presuppositions that the modern title imposes, rather than matters of content. This paper argues that Judgement Day I is not meant to warn about the Final Judgement but instead is concerned with the present time of the reader as a way to encourage contemplation of their present actions in order to safeguard their soul's future. To accomplish this, the poem draws on a psychological model of mind-body-soul primarily identified by Malcolm Godden, Soon-Ai Low, and Leslie Lockett. The presence of this psychological model has been previously noted by scholars in other Exeter Book poems such as The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and Soul and Body II. This study draws Judgement Day I into conversation with some of these poems and argues that its focus on safeguarding the soul for its final journey, or siof AE t, is a motif with which many of the Exeter poems engage. Judgement Day I can thus be read as a poem that engages with the themes of many other Exeter Book texts and participates actively in a larger poetic sequence throughout the manuscript.