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Beowulf is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars;the only certain dating is for the manuscript,which was produced between 975 and 1025. Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet". The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf,a hero of the Geats,comes to the aid of Hrothgar,the king of the Danes,whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel. After Beowulf slays him,Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then defeated. Victorious,Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later,Beowulf defeats a dragon,but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death,his attendants cremate his body and erect a barrow on a headland in his memory.
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England,from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066,a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work Cædmon's Hymn is often considered as the oldest surviving poem in English,as it appears in an 8th-century copy of Bede's text,the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Poetry written in the mid 12th century represents some of the latest post-Norman examples of Old English. Adherence to the grammatical rules of Old English is largely inconsistent in 12th-century work,and by the 13th century the grammar and syntax of Old English had almost completely deteriorated,giving way to the much larger Middle English corpus of literature.
Philology is the study of language in oral and written historical sources;it is the intersection of textual criticism,literary criticism,history,and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of literary texts as well as oral and written records,the establishment of their authenticity and their original form,and the determination of their meaning. A person who pursues this kind of study is known as a philologist. In older usage,especially British,philology is more general,covering comparative and historical linguistics.
Heorot is a mead-hall and major point of focus in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. The hall serves as a seat of rule for King Hrothgar,a legendary Danish king. After the monster Grendel slaughters the inhabitants of the hall,the Geatish hero Beowulf defends the royal hall before subsequently defeating him. Later Grendel's mother attacks the inhabitants of the hall,and she too is subsequently defeated by Beowulf.
Thomas Alan Shippey is a British medievalist,a retired scholar of Middle and Old English literature as well as of modern fantasy and science fiction. He is considered one of the world's leading academic experts on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien about whom he has written several books and many scholarly papers. His book The Road to Middle-Earth has been called "the single best thing written on Tolkien".
Hrethel is a king of the Geats.
Breca was a Bronding who,according to the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf,was Beowulf's childhood friend. Breca defeated Beowulf in what,by consensus,is described as a swimming match.
"Beowulf:The Monsters and the Critics" was a 1936 lecture given by J. R. R. Tolkien on literary criticism on the Old English heroic epic poem Beowulf. It was first published as a paper in the Proceedings of the British Academy,and has since been reprinted in many collections.
Modthryth,Thryth,and Fremu are reconstructed names for a character who figures as the queen of King Offa in Beowulf.
Næġling is the name of one of the swords used by Beowulf in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem of Beowulf. The name derives from "næġl",or "nail",and may correspond to Nagelring,a sword from the Vilkina saga. It is possibly the sword of Hrethel,which Hygelac gave to Beowulf. Næġling is referenced many times as a fine weapon—it is "sharp","gleaming","bright","mighty","strong",and has a venerable history as an "excellent ancient sword","ancient heirloom",and "old and grey-coloured". However,the sword does not survive Beowulf's final encounter with the dragon,snapping in two—not because of the dragon's strength,but because of the hero's strength:
Frederick J. Klaeber was a German philologist who was Professor of Old and Middle English at the University of Minnesota. His edition of the poem Beowulf,published as Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, is considered a classic work of Beowulf scholarship;it has been in print continuously since 1922 and is now in its fourth edition.
The Battle of Finnsburg was a conflict in the Germanic heroic age between Frisians with a possible Jutish contingent,and a primarily Danish party. Described only in later Anglo-Saxon poetry,if the conflict had an historical basis it most likely occurred around 450 AD.
Rolf Hendrik Bremmer is a Dutch academic. He is professor of Old and Middle English,and extraordinary professor of Old Frisian,at Leiden University.
The "Finnesburg Fragment" is a portion of an Old English heroic poem about a fight in which Hnæf and his 60 retainers are besieged at "Finn's fort" and attempt to hold off their attackers. The surviving text is tantalisingly brief and allusive,but comparison with other references in Old English poetry,notably Beowulf,suggests that it deals with a conflict between Danes and Frisians in Migration-Age Frisia.
John D. Niles is an American scholar of medieval English literature best known for his work on Beowulf and the theory of oral literature.
Helen Damico was a Greek-born American scholar of Old English and Old English literature.
Leonard Neidorf is an American philologist who is Professor of English at Nanjing University. Neidorf specializes in the study of Old English and Middle English literature,and is a known authority on Beowulf.
Haruko Momma is a philologist and a scholar of Old English literature and language. She has published on Old English poetic composition,Beowulf,philology in the nineteenth century,and teaching Old English. She is currently Professor of English at New York University.
Hugo Gering was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.
Geoffrey Richard Russom is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of English at Brown University.
References
- 1 2 3 "Curicculum Vitae" (PDF). Home page of R. D. Fulk. February 28, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2015. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- 1 2 "Robert D. Fulk". Indiana University Bloomington . Retrieved August 27, 2020.
- ↑ "Old English Philology - Boydell and Brewer". boydellandbrewer.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12.
