The Metrical Organization of Beowulf

This book provides a systematic account of the meter of the Old English Beowulf from a strictly synchronic perspective. Drawing on recent developments in prosodic phonology, as well as paying close attention to philological details, the work examines the paradigmatics and syntagmatics of the hierarchical integrated metrical units in their underlying configurations and surface manifestations through association with linguistic material. The meter of Beowulf is presented here as an open-ended, prototype system of rules and representations that leaves areas of indeterminacy and ambivalence at its periphery; it is a code for determining metricality in gradient terms since it is subject to a complex of linguistically motivated preference conditions. The metrical system of Beowulf consists of two subsystems, differing in level of abstraction, one of metrical types and one of metrical schemes, with a set of linguistically determined derivational rules mediating between the two; the metrical rules and representations are shown to be in large measure isomorphic to linguistic structure; and finally, behind diverse metrical phenomena a ubiquitous principle of maximal contract is found to be in operation. Exhibiting a firm command relevant data, capable devices, and a solid understanding of the research history, the book constitutes a synthesis of the multiplicity of contesting accounts that have been advanced in the traditional scholarship.