Runcofa and the Inner Temple in the Alfredian Metres of Boethius

This article will argue that the author of the Old English Metres of Boethius enhanced the mystical themes of the B text (the prose text) in the light of ideas articulated in John Scottus Eriugena’s Periphyseon, permeated by the Greek thought of Gregory of Nyssa, pseudo-Dionysius and Maximus the Confessor. In particular, it presents a mystical reading of the unique poetic compound runcofa, “the mystery chamber,” which appears in Metre 22 paired with incofa, “an inner chamber,” proposing that these terms bear the mark of what Eriugena terms adyta, “the inner sanctuary,” the dwelling place of “obscurissimas tenebras excellentissimae lucis,” “the uttermost darkness of the most excellent Light” (Eriugena, Periphyseon V, 983B). Interpreting Metre 22 as a theophany, the article focuses on Mod’s descent into the innermost heart— runcofa—the place of mystical union.