Interactions of Thought and Language in Old English Poetry

ISBN-13: 9780521307116 / Angielski / Twarda / 1995 / 542 str.

Peter Clemoes

Opis

Peter Clemoes brings a lifetime's close study of Anglo-Saxon texts to this fresh appreciation of Old English poetry, with a radically new interpretation that relates the poetry to the entire Anglo-Saxon way of thinking, and to the structures of its society. He proposes a dynamic principle of Old English poetry, very different from the common notion of formulas slotted into poems for stylistic variation. Carefully thought out and elegantly written, this book is also accessible to students: its numerous quotations are accompanied by modern English translations.

Recenzje

'The sheer volume of information about the Old English language and the poetry makes the book challenging and valuable.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Spis treści

Illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Part I. The Poetry of an Aristocratic Warrior Society: 1. The chronological implications of the bond between kingship in Beowulf and kingship in practice; 2. Society's ancient conceptions of active being and narrative living; 3. Poetry's tradition of symbolic expression; 4. The language of symbolic expression; 5. Types of symbolic narrative; 6. Basic characteristics of symbolic story; Part II. The Poetry of a Universal Religion: 7. Vernacular poetic narrative in a Christian world; 8. Poet, public petitioner and preacher; 9. Symbolic language serving the company of Christ; 10. Adaptation to a new material morality; 11. From social hero to individual sub specie aeternitatis; 12. Loyalty as a responsibility of the individual; 13. This world as part of God's spiritual dominion; Works cited; Indexes.