Anglo-Saxon Audiences

251 Pages·67.537 MB·English

by  Eugene Green

GRAD
820.9
G79SSan
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A n l o - S a x o n A u d i e n c e s
B e r k e l e y I n s i g h t s
i n L i n g u i s t i c s a n d S e m i o t i c s
Irmengard Rauch
General Editor
Vol. 44
PETERLAHG
New York.• Washington, D.C./Baltlmore •Bern
Frankfurt am Main • Berlin • Brussels • Vienna • Oxford
Eugene G r e e n
~
PETER LANG
Hew York.• Washington, D.C./Baltimore •Bern
Frankfurt am Main • Berlin • Brussels • Vienna • Oxford
..
Library of Congress Catalogtng-ln-Publicatlon Data
Green, Eugene.
I
Anglo-Saxon audiences Eugene Green
p. cm - (Berkeley insights in linguistics and semiotics; vol 44)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
L English literature-Old English, ca 460-1100-History and criticism
2. Epic poetry, English (Old)-History and criticism 3. Preaching
England-History-Middle Ages, 600-1500. 4. Sermons, English (Old)
History and criticism 8. Oral tradition-England-History-To 1500.
6. Anglo-Saxons-Intellectual life. 7. Audiences-History-To 1800.
8. Law, Anglo-Saxon 9. Beowulf. I. Title. II. Series.
PR173.G68 829'.09-dc21 99-16498
ISBN 0-8204-4880-9
ISSN 0893-6938
Die Deutsche Blbllothel(.-CIP-Elnheitsaufnahme
Green, Eugene:
I
Anglo-Saxon audiences Eugene Green
-Hew York; Washington, D.C./Baltimore; Bern;
Frankfurt am Main; Berlin; Brussels; Vienna; Oxford: Lang.
(Berkeley insights in linguistics and semiotles; Vol 44)
ISBN 0-8204-4860-9
The paper in this book. meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book. Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.
2001 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., Hew York.
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All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offs et strictly prohibited.
.
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
Foreword ................................................................................................ ix
Acknowledgments ................................................................. xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1
1. The challenge of other minds ........................................................... 1
2. Semiotic approaches to Anglo-Saxon minds .................................... l
3. Time as an element in semiotic approaches to Anglo-Saxon
m.i11cfs ..............................................................................................
~
CHAPTER 2: ANGLO-SAXON ROY AL CODES
and AUDIENCES ................................................................................ 11
1. Establishing an audience for the laws of the king .................... 11
2. Definitional preliminaries .............................................................. 12
3. The problem of ''reghwelc mon'' in Anglo-Saxon royal codes ...... 13
4. Scope and reference in quantifiers ................................................. 14
5. A semiotic tradition in royal codes ................................................ 18
6. Sources of presuppositions for the first law in Alfred's code ........ 24
7. Discussion ...................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 3: HOMILETIC SPEECH ACTS and INCULCATION ...... 31
1. Cultural and clerical contexts ......................................................... 3 I
2. On speech acts as a for111 of parenesis ............................................ 34
............................................................................................
~- M~thC>d :3~
4. Hallidayan grammar and speech acts ............................................. 39
~. Rh~t<>ri~ctl \IC1.riel.ti<>11 •.•..............••......•.......................................•...... ~LJ
6. Authorities, witnesses, and speech acts .......................................... 56
7. For111 and theme in speech acts ....................................................... 59
8. On the need to obey God the Father ............................................... 59
9. Speech acts in the family and community ...................................... 68
IC>. ......................................................................................
C()11~lllsi<>11 '7~
CHAPTER 4: THE EXPLORATION of MIND in BEOWULF ............. 83
1. Contrasts in directing and exploring minds ..................................... 83
2. Exploratory perspectives on modes of thought and feeling ............ 85
3. The se11tinel scene ........................................................................... 91
T
••• Contents
VIII
4. The narrator's perspective on the flyting episode ............................ 98
5. Succession in hall scenes: Heorot and elsewhere ........................... 101
6. Consultation in Hygelac's hall and Freawaru's marriage ...... ........ 108
7. The tradition of leave-taking scenes ............................................... 113
8. The tradition of the death song ........................................ ............... 117
9. Phrases for the mind of God ........................................................... 122
10. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 131
CHAPTER 5: POEMS for AUDIENCES in CRISIS ........................... 137
I. Themes on the future in Anglo-Saxon discourse ........................... 13 7
2. Discourse and the presuppositions of Anglo-Saxon audiences ..... 13 7
3. The need for discourse on uncertain power and times .................. 13 8
4. Apprehension and discourse in The Battle ofM aldon ................... 145
5. Apprehension and discourse in three Exeter Book poems ............. 157
6. Apprehension in De or ................................................................... 15 8
7. Apprehension, displacement, and the possibility of deliverance ... 164
8. Apprehension and The Wanderer's for111 and language ................ 165
9. The voice of The Seafarer and eleventh century apprehension ..... 169
I 0. Conclusion ..................................................................................... 173
NOTES ................................................................................................. 177
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................ .................... ............ 209
IN'DEX .................................................................................................2 25
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