THE ORIGINS OF BEOWULF by Richard North ( 9780199206612 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

THE ORIGINS OF BEOWULF
FROM VERGIL TO WIGLAF

By:

Richard North

Format:

Hardback

List price:

£142.50

Our price:

£138.23

Discount:

3% off

You save:

£4.27

ISBN 10:

0199206619

ISBN 13:

9780199206612

Availability:

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Stock:

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Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

8 February, 2007

Pages:

400

Description:

This fascinating study suggests that the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf was composed in the winter of 826-7 as a requiem for King Beornwulf of Mercia on behalf of Wiglaf, the ealdorman who succeeded him. The place of composition is given as the minster of Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire (now Derbyshire) and the poet as Eanmund, abbot of Breedon.

Synopsis:

This book suggests that the Old English epic Beowulf was composed in the winter of 826-7 as a requiem for King Beornwulf of Mercia on behalf of Wiglaf, the ealdorman who succeeded him. The place of composition is given as the minster of Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire (now Derbyshire) and the poet is named as the abbot, Eanmund. As well as pinpointing the poem's place and date of composition, Richard North raises some old questions relating to the poet's influences from Vergil and from living Danes. Norse analogues are discussed in order to identify how the poet changed his heroic sources while four episodes from Beowulf are shown to be reworked from passages in Vergil's Aeneid. One chapter assesses how the poem's Latin sources might correspond with what is known of Breedon's now-lost library while another seeks to explain Danish mythology in Beowulf by arguing that Breedon hosted a meeting with Danish Vikings in 809. This fascinating and challenging new study combines careful detective work with meticulous literary analysis to form a case that no future investigation will be able to ignore.

Illustrations:

numerous tables, 2 maps, 2 line drawings and 3 halftones

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Returns:

Returnable

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