The Functions of Digressions in Beowulf

• Authors: Urbanowicz Michał

Title variants

EN

The Functions of Digressions in Beowulf

• Languages of publication: PL RU EN DE

Abstracts

EN

The article aims at establishing the reasons why digressions constitute an integral part of Beowulf. It shows the wide variety of ways how these stylistic devices are related to the main plot of the poem and the latest approach towards the task of analysis. Moreover, the author rejects the misguided notion of digressions being nothing more than just “tasteless intrusions”. Even though the purpose of some digressions may not seem perfectly straightforward, all of them contribute to the artistry of the poem. Therefore, Beowulf has to be analysed in terms of a work of art and should not be regarded as valuable for merely historical significance.

Keywords

EN

Old English literature; Beowulf; digressions; Adrien Bonjour; John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie
• Journal: Acta Neophilologica
• Year: 2013
• Issue: XV/2
• Pages: 213-223

Dates

published

2013

Contributors

author

Urbanowicz Michał

• Olsztyn

References

• Bjork, R.E., Niles, J.D. (1997). A Beowulf Handbook. Nebraska, University of Nebraska Press.
• Bonjour, A. (1950). The Digressions in Beowulf. Oxford, Blackwell.
• Brodeur, A.G. (1959). The Art of Beowulf. California, University of California Press.
• Heaney, S. (2000). Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York, London, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
• Huffman, R. (2009). The Purpose of Digressions in Beowulf. Available on-line: <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Purpose-of-Digressions-in-Beowulf&id=2909879/>. Date of access: 6.12.2012.
• Johns, R. Scot (2012). The Saga of Beowulf. Boise, Fantasy Castle Books.
• Tolkien, J.R.R. (1936). Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. London, British Academy.
• Tristram, H.L.C. (1997). Medieval Insular Literature Between the Oral and the Written II: Continuity of Transmission. Tübingen, Gunter Narr Verlag.

Identifiers

ISSN

1509-1619