The Waning Sword
The image of a giant sword melting stands at the structural and thematic heart of the Old English heroic poem Beowulf. This meticulously researched book investigates the nature and significance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely relatives within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fields of...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Open Book Publishers
2025
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| Online Access: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100639 |
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| _version_ | 1869522786085502976 |
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| author | Pettit, Edward |
| author_browse | Pettit, Edward |
| author_facet | Pettit, Edward |
| author_sort | Pettit, Edward |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | The image of a giant sword melting stands at the structural and thematic heart of the Old English heroic poem Beowulf. This meticulously researched book investigates the nature and significance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely relatives within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fields of Old English and Old Norse language and literature, liturgy, archaeology, astronomy, folklore and comparative mythology. In Part I, Pettit explores the complex of connotations surrounding this image (from icicles to candles and crosses) by examining a range of medieval sources, and argues that the giant sword may function as a visual motif in which pre-Christian Germanic concepts and prominent Christian symbols coalesce. In Part II, Pettit investigates the broader Germanic background to this image, especially in relation to the god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr, and explores the capacity of myths to recur and endure across time. Drawing on an eclectic range of narrative and linguistic evidence from Northern European texts, and on archaeological discoveries, Pettit suggests that the image of the giant sword, and the characters and events associated with it, may reflect an elemental struggle between the sun and the moon, articulated through an underlying myth about the theft and repossession of sunlight. The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' is a welcome contribution to the overlapping fields of Beowulf-scholarship, Old Norse-Icelandic literature and Germanic philology. Not only does it present a wealth of new readings that shed light on the craft of the Beowulf-poet and inform our understanding of the poem’s major episodes and themes; it further highlights the merits of adopting an interdisciplinary approach alongside a comparative vantage point. As such, The Waning Sword will be compelling reading for Beowulf-scholars and for a wider audience of medievalists. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-158191 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| publisherStr | Open Book Publishers |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1581912025-07-30T09:00:11Z The Waning Sword Pettit, Edward Old English;Old English heroic poem;Beowulf;Old Norse;god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr;medieval studies;medievalism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English The image of a giant sword melting stands at the structural and thematic heart of the Old English heroic poem Beowulf. This meticulously researched book investigates the nature and significance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely relatives within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fields of Old English and Old Norse language and literature, liturgy, archaeology, astronomy, folklore and comparative mythology. In Part I, Pettit explores the complex of connotations surrounding this image (from icicles to candles and crosses) by examining a range of medieval sources, and argues that the giant sword may function as a visual motif in which pre-Christian Germanic concepts and prominent Christian symbols coalesce. In Part II, Pettit investigates the broader Germanic background to this image, especially in relation to the god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr, and explores the capacity of myths to recur and endure across time. Drawing on an eclectic range of narrative and linguistic evidence from Northern European texts, and on archaeological discoveries, Pettit suggests that the image of the giant sword, and the characters and events associated with it, may reflect an elemental struggle between the sun and the moon, articulated through an underlying myth about the theft and repossession of sunlight. The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' is a welcome contribution to the overlapping fields of Beowulf-scholarship, Old Norse-Icelandic literature and Germanic philology. Not only does it present a wealth of new readings that shed light on the craft of the Beowulf-poet and inform our understanding of the poem’s major episodes and themes; it further highlights the merits of adopting an interdisciplinary approach alongside a comparative vantage point. As such, The Waning Sword will be compelling reading for Beowulf-scholars and for a wider audience of medievalists. 2025-04-08T11:08:00Z 2025-04-08T11:08:00Z 2025-04-07T09:45:43Z 2020 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100639 9781783748273 9781783748280 9781783748303 9781783748310 9781800646025 9781783748327 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/158191 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/100639/1/obp.0190.pdf Open Book Publishers 10.11647/OBP.0190 10.11647/OBP.0190 b014b543-78bd-4c3b-bc71-b68e2ac855b9 9781783748273 9781783748280 9781783748303 9781783748310 9781800646025 9781783748327 564 Cambridge open access |
| spellingShingle | Old English;Old English heroic poem;Beowulf;Old Norse;god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr;medieval studies;medievalism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English Pettit, Edward The Waning Sword |
| title | The Waning Sword |
| title_full | The Waning Sword |
| title_fullStr | The Waning Sword |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Waning Sword |
| title_short | The Waning Sword |
| title_sort | waning sword |
| topic | Old English;Old English heroic poem;Beowulf;Old Norse;god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr;medieval studies;medievalism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English |
| topic_facet | Old English;Old English heroic poem;Beowulf;Old Norse;god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr;medieval studies;medievalism thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies::DS Literature: history and criticism::DSB Literary studies: general::DSBB Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval thema EDItEUR::D Biography, Literature and Literary studies thema EDItEUR::2 Language qualifiers::2A Indo-European languages::2AC Germanic and Scandinavian languages::2ACB English::2ACBA Anglo-Saxon / Old English |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/100639 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pettitedward thewaningsword AT pettitedward waningsword |