Focusing on the Old English poem "Beowulf", on various Old Norse rune poems, and on the Old Icelandic mythological and legendary poems of the Elder Edda, this study addresses the following questions: what does it mean to compose with formulas; was repetition in these poems fixed or flexible; how do formulas relate to more large-scale poetic strategies and motifs; and in what sense are such formulas a part of oral tradition? The introductory essay places oral-formulaic theory into a larger theoretical context, relating it to structuralist activities in folklore and mythology. The author then continues on to employ a linguistically-based stylistic criticism, investigating the use of fixed and flexible language in the poetry. Throughout the book the author attempts to negotiate a shift from and older, structuralist theory of oral-formulaic composition to a more recognizable contemporary oral theory.
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Paul Acker has written a very useful and timely book.
–Speculum
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In his study of Homeric verse, Hainsworth redefines the formula as a "mutual expectantly of terms" (57) which, if compositionally useful, may coalesce into a strictly repeating fixed formula, but which may also occur in a more flexible representation. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rune poem, rune name, memorial transmission, flexible formulas, flexible levels, formulaic composition, formulaic systems, oral theory, formulaic theory, opening pattern, bound expressions Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Old Icelandic, Codex Regius, Survey of Oral, Middle English, Criticism of Eddic Poetry, The Singer of Tales, Old Norse, Saga Conference, Geoffrey Russom, Migration Period, Robert Kellogg, The Battle of Alaldon, The Memory of Caedmon New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In his study of Homeric verse, Hainsworth redefines the formula as a "mutual expectantly of terms" (57) which, if compositionally useful, may coalesce into a strictly repeating fixed formula, but which may also occur in a more flexible representation. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
rune poem, rune name, memorial transmission, flexible formulas, flexible levels, formulaic composition, formulaic systems, oral theory, formulaic theory, opening pattern, bound expressions Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Old Icelandic, Codex Regius, Survey of Oral, Middle English, Criticism of Eddic Poetry, The Singer of Tales, Old Norse, Saga Conference, Geoffrey Russom, Migration Period, Robert Kellogg, The Battle of Alaldon, The Memory of Caedmon New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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- The Singer of Tales by Albert B. Lord on 4 pages
- The Nature of Narrative (Galaxy Books) by Robert Scholes on page 91, page 95, and Back Matter
- Poetic Edda Vol 1 Dpe C (Dronke Poetic Edda Series Dpe) (v. 1) by Dronke on page 110, and Back Matter
- Preface to Plato (History of the Greek Mind,) by Eric Havelock on page 103, and Back Matter
- Reading "Beowulf": An Introduction to the Poem, Its Background, and Its Style by J. D. Ogilvy on page 85, and Back Matter
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- The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology (Garland Medieval Casebooks) by Paul L. Acker on 5 pages
- Old Icelandic Literature and Society (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature) by Margaret Clunies Ross on page 55
- Anglo-Saxon England: Volume 30 by Michael Lapidge in Back Matter
- Anglo-Saxon England: Volume 29 by Michael Lapidge in Back Matter
- A History of Old English Literature (Blackwell History of Literature) by Robert D. Fulk in Back Matter
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