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Christ III (also known as Christ C or Judgement Day), normally numbered lines 867-1664, is the third poem appearing in the Exeter Book (fols. 20b-32a). With the Second Coming and the Last Judgement as central topics, this work has been generally acknowledged as a logical coda for the Christ triad. In fact, just as Revelation offers a suitable end for the New Testament, the account of Doomsday offered in Christ III effectively closes the threefold sequence of poems, as it entails the accomplishment of the divine plan for mankind’s Redemption. As scholars have pointed out, the combination of the concepts of Advent, Ascension and Judgement is also illustrated in Blickling Homily 7, a notion which reinforces the assumption that the consecutive occurrence of the three Christ poems was deliberately sought by the Exeter compiler(s). [See...

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Citation: Salvador-Bello, Mercedes. "Christ III". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 January 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14720, accessed 06 December 2025.]

14720 Christ III 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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