Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > English
Old English Literature
Gopa B. Caesar:
The lord surrounds himself with a band of retainers (many of them are his blood kindred) who are member of his household.
He leads his men in battle and rewards them with the spoils; royal generosity is one of the most important aspects of heroic behaviour.
In return, the retainers are obliged to fight for their lord.
Gopa B. Caesar:
The Messages…
Blood vengeance is regarded as a sacred duty and in poetry everlasting shame waits for those who fail to observe it.
The message of Christianity teaches us that we should ‘forgive those that trespass against us’ and that ‘all that take the sword shall perish with the sword’.
Christianity and heroic ideas are poignantly blended in The Wanderer which laments the separation from one’s lord kinsmen and the transience of all earthly treasures
Gopa B. Caesar:
OLD ENGLISH
The style of such poetry inevitably seems strange in a modern prose translation, which does not attempt to convey the rhythm of the alliterative meter. Because special vocabulary and compounds are among the chief poetic effects, the verse is constructed in such a way to show off such terms by creating a series of theme in apposition.
The overall effects of the language are formalized and elevate speech. Instead of being straight forward, it moves at a slow and stately pace with steady indirectness.
Gopa B. Caesar:
A grim irony pervades heroic poetry even at the level of diction where fighting is called ‘battle-play’. An irony is also a mood perception in old English poetry.
The Anglo-Saxon invaders brought with them a tradition of oral poetry because nothing was written down before the conversion to Christianity.
Gopa B. Caesar:
Oral Literature
They arise from the necessity of the not breaking down during performance.
It was not be thought of that the oral poets memorized their lays; of course they had the main outline of the story by heart, but any theme or episode could be embroidered ,contracted, changed or dropped altogether, according to the receptivity of the audience on that particular evening.
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