The practice of differentiating between the author's intention and the deeper meaning of a piece of literature—carried to the extreme by Fulgentius—provided the framework for the commentaries of this period. The Mythologies in particular proved to be an essential storehouse of resources for the Medieval commentators who carried on his tradition of discussing classical poetry in moral terms. Further, his exotic language and use of rare words seemed to influence the writing style of a number of poets throughout the Middle Ages. Fulgentius's manuscripts date as far back as the early 8th century. As a testament to his popularity, a copy of the Mythologies may have been available in England as early as the 9th century. Fulgentius remained a standard part of collections of antique mythology up until the 19th century, when his work began to come under popular criticism as being absurd and factually unreliable. It has been suggested that Fulgentius' work, which is thought to have been commonly known throughout most of the Middle Ages, may have been a source for the structure of the famous Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. Criticism While Fulgentius's works remained popular during and well after the Carolingian period, his factual inaccuracies and questionable interpretations came under harsh criticism in the 19th century. His work has been overwhelmingly dismissed as trivial and misleading ever since. Historically, Fulgentius's work has been criticized as being bombastic and foolish. His Latin prose is obscure and often corrupt, making it difficult to decipher his meaning. He is known for unnecessarily long and wordy prose and highly obscure allusions. Fulgentius is also known to make significant mistakes in his retelling of history, like his conflation of Augustus with Julius Caesar in On the Ages of the World and of Man. In addition, many of his facts, as well as his etymologies, are suspected of being based on second-hand sources or completely fabricated. Editions Wolff, Étienne (ed., trans., comm.). Fulgence. Virgile dévoilé. Mythographes (Villeneuve-d'Ascq: Presses universitaires du Septentrion, 2009). See also Notes Sources Albu, Emily, "Disarming Aeneas: Fulgentius on Arms and the Man," in Andrew Cain (ed), The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity: The Power of Religion in Late Antiquity (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2009), 21-30. Gardner, John. "Fulgentius' Expositio Vergiliana Continentia and the plan of Beowulf: another approach to the poem's style and structure," Papers on Language and Literature 6, No. 3 (1970): 227-262. Hays, Gregory. "Varia Fulgentia", Illinois Classical Studies,