The Composition of Old English Poetry

This book offers an imaginative way of understanding the relationship betweensyntax and metre in Old English verse. It challenges the view that Old Englishpoetr... » 

This book offers an imaginative way of understanding the relationship betweensyntax and metre in Old English verse. It challenges the view that Old Englishpoetry is composed in loose syntax to compensate for the strict requirements ofprosody such as metre and alliteration. It proposes instead that Old Englishpoetry has incorporated prosody into its system. This prosodical syntax isintended to replace the famous syntactic laws of Hans Kuhn through its greateraccuracy and wider range of application. The author formulates three conciserules which apply not only to Beowulf and other classic AngloSaxon poems butto the entire Old English poetic corpus. Prosodical syntax bears witness to theoral origin of Old English poetry and sheds light on some aspects ofperformance it enables the poet to produce an infinite variety of verse whilekeeping its grammar clear. «