The Apostles (Elgar) many delays, Elgar finally started formal composition of the music in mid-December 1902. Composition of the work in vocal-score format was complete by the end of June 1903, with scoring complete on 17 August. "The Apostles "is a narrative work, dealing with the calling of the Apostles and their experiences of Jesus' preaching, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. "The Kingdom" would carry the story onward. Elgar was more interested in human motivations than philosophical underpinnings, and two of the most prominent characters in the work are the two sinners Mary Magdalene and Judas Iscariot. Elgar's conception outgrew the confines of
The Fates of the Apostles in this poem so that the meaning of the runes become a riddle with no unequivocal meaning. The Fates of the Apostles "The Fates of the Apostles" (Vercelli Book, fol. 52b–54a) is the shortest of Cynewulf’s known canon at 122 lines long. It is a brief martyrology of the Twelve Apostles written in the standard alliterative verse. "The Fates" recites the key events that subsequently befell each apostle after the Ascension of Jesus. It is possible that "The Fates" was composed as a learning aid to the monasteries. Cynewulf speaks in the first-person throughout the poem, and besides explaining the