The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf'
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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| Materyal Türü: | Online |
| Dil: | İngilizce |
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Open Book Publishers
2021
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| Online Erişim: | 43353 |
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| _version_ | 1869529652130742272 |
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| author | Edward Pettit |
| author_browse | Edward Pettit |
| author_facet | Edward Pettit |
| author_sort | Edward Pettit |
| 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-62488 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| publisherStr | Open Book Publishers |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-624882022-01-31T19:18:41Z The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' Edward Pettit PR1-9680 Old English Beowulf Old Norse god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr Old English heroic poem 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. 2021-02-12T08:17:17Z 2021-02-12T08:17:17Z 2020-01-16 15:58:03 2020 book 43353 0 9781783748297 9781783748273 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/62488 eng image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/1090 https://www.openbookpublishers.com/reader/1090 Open Book Publishers 10.11647/OBP.0190 10.11647/OBP.0190 b014b543-78bd-4c3b-bc71-b68e2ac855b9 9781783748297 9781783748273 562 open access |
| spellingShingle | PR1-9680 Old English Beowulf Old Norse god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr Old English heroic poem Edward Pettit The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title | The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title_full | The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title_fullStr | The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title_short | The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' |
| title_sort | waning sword conversion imagery and celestial myth in beowulf |
| topic | PR1-9680 Old English Beowulf Old Norse god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr Old English heroic poem |
| topic_facet | PR1-9680 Old English Beowulf Old Norse god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr Old English heroic poem |
| url | 43353 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT edwardpettit thewaningswordconversionimageryandcelestialmythinbeowulf AT edwardpettit waningswordconversionimageryandcelestialmythinbeowulf |