Agape and the Antichrist: Soteriological and Eschatological Masculinities in the Homilies of Wulfstan

This article offers a focused analysis of the construction of masculinity as a byproduct of Wulfstan's rhetoric in his Old English homilies. Wulfstan presents Christ and the Antichrist as the singular and physically embodied poles in a system of moral masculinity that is instrumental in shaping his representation of the wider Christian community. Wulfstan depicts the Antichrist as performing a seemingly attractive and powerful but ultimately hollow and fraudulent form of masculinity. This, in turn, means that the hegemonic form of masculinity practised by saints, disciples, and priests is atypically strongly characterised by watchfulness and vigilance as means of safeguarding against both deception and corruption.