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.
Author(s): Gale R. Owen-Crocker
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Year: 2000
Language: English
Pages: VIII+264
List of figures page vi
Acknowledgements viii
1. Introduction 1
Part one: The four funerals 9
2. The first funeral: Scyld Scefing's ship of death 11
3. The second funeral: the cremation of Hildeburg's kin 4 3
4. The third funeral: the Last Survivor's lament 61
5. The fourth funeral: Beowulf's complex obsequies 85
6. Classicising the past 114
Part two: The funerals and the structure of the poem 131
7. Rings and fitts 133
8. The funerals and elliptical structures I: the inner funerals as frames 158
9. The funerals and elliptical structures II: the outer structures 178
10. The funerals and elliptical structures III: the funerals as centres 202
11. Coexistent structures: three movements and a coda: 'Beowulf's' feminist middle; elements and seasons 217
12. Conclusions 234
Bibliography 241
Index 255
