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The four funerals in Beowulf
It is well known that the old English poem Beowulf begins and ends with funerals and includes the third as a digression part way through. Now, for the first time, a fourth funeral (hitherto disguised as poetic imagery) is identified from archaeological evidence. A detailed analysis of the four funerals establishes their thematic and structural importance, revealing them as pillars around which the poem is built. The poet is revealed as a literate antiquarian of considerable structural skill; one who explores feminist issues, plays with numbers and enjoys a pun; who establishes an ideal then probes its darker side.
The author's unique knowledge of Anglo-Saxon culture provides constant surprises and enlightenment. This book will be invaluable to all students of the poem for its fresh and detailed reading, its identification of a coherent structure and its establishment of the integrity of the surviving texts.
The author's unique knowledge of Anglo-Saxon culture provides constant surprises and enlightenment. This book will be invaluable to all students of the poem for its fresh and detailed reading, its identification of a coherent structure and its establishment of the integrity of the surviving texts.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Gale R. Owen-Crocker
47 books3 followersFor books published in her early career, see also: Gale R. Owen.
Prof. Owen-Crocker's chief research interests are Anglo-Saxon literature and culture and medieval dress/textiles. She has lectured by invitation at universities in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and the USA. She has advised museums and archaeological units on medieval dress. She appeared in this role on BBC TV's 'Meet the Ancestors' and has broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and in Radio 3's 'Anglo-Saxon Portraits' series. She is co-founder/editor of the journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles and was Chief Editor of the Brill Encyclopaedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles c. 450-1450 (published 2012) She is Director of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, and directs a 5-year AHRC funded project 'The Lexis of Cloth and Clothing' http://lexisproject.arts.manchester.a...
Prof. Owen-Crocker's chief research interests are Anglo-Saxon literature and culture and medieval dress/textiles. She has lectured by invitation at universities in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and the USA. She has advised museums and archaeological units on medieval dress. She appeared in this role on BBC TV's 'Meet the Ancestors' and has broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour and in Radio 3's 'Anglo-Saxon Portraits' series. She is co-founder/editor of the journal Medieval Clothing and Textiles and was Chief Editor of the Brill Encyclopaedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles of the British Isles c. 450-1450 (published 2012) She is Director of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, and directs a 5-year AHRC funded project 'The Lexis of Cloth and Clothing' http://lexisproject.arts.manchester.a...
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May 5, 2013
It is observable by even the most casual reader of Beowulf that three of the most important events in the poem are the funerals of Scyd Scefing, the funeral embedded in the Finnesburh section and Beowulf own funeral at the end of the poem.
In this study the author puts forward the idea that there is a fourth funeral embedded in The Lay of the Last Survivor. Owen-Crocker suggests that the man of the ancient race who stores the treasure and then dies is in fact a fourth funeral and that the whole poem is structured around these four sections.
The rest of the book expands on ideas first put forward by Fred C. Robinson in the 1980s in the lecture series published in Beowulf and the Appositive Style.
In this study the author puts forward the idea that there is a fourth funeral embedded in The Lay of the Last Survivor. Owen-Crocker suggests that the man of the ancient race who stores the treasure and then dies is in fact a fourth funeral and that the whole poem is structured around these four sections.
The rest of the book expands on ideas first put forward by Fred C. Robinson in the 1980s in the lecture series published in Beowulf and the Appositive Style.
Displaying 1 of 1 review