Old English poetic diction not in Old English verse or prose – and the curious case of Aldhelm's five athletes
Mark Griffith
Abstract Three contexts characterized by the occasional appearance of Old English poetic diction outside poetry — debased verse, rhythmical prose, and prose passages with rhetorical heightening have been surveyed previous scholars, but no serious consideration has given to use lexis be found in surviving glosses glossaries. The article first looks at some examples these non-poetic texts words used as markers heroic, elegiac, sublime, exotic monstrous, before moving on a detailed analysis significant discovery. glossary batches Aldhelm's extended simile De Virginitate comparing educational development Christian nuns exertions various athletes display (when taken together) unique cluster diction, comparable density (and perhaps also motivation) that only most enriched traditional heroic poetry.
Anglo-Saxon England