Convention and originality in the Old English ‘beasts of battle’ typescene

Abstract

The main part of this paper will deal with the typescene of the beasts of battle, and will describe its content and use as rigorously as possible in formulaic terms. In particular, the relationship between the conventional and the original will be examined in order to show that the scene is more traditional than has been thought and that many of the variations occur within conventional parameters. The term ‘typescene’ has been used with too much flexibility by Anglo-Saxonists, and will here be used with the meaning outlined by G. S. Kirk:

Ravens (Corvus corax corax L.) in the British landscape: a thousand years of ecological biogeography in place‐names

“…The Anglo‐Saxon Chronicle ( ad 878) represents our first written record of the war flag ( gunfari ) of the Vikings – the raven banner – a symbol of menace to Anglo‐Saxons if ever there was one. Ravens and eagles permeated battle typescenes in Anglo‐Saxon poetry, including in that greatest of all Old English epic poems ‘Beowulf’ (Griffith, 1993). Christian English tradition, however, associated the bird with King Arthur, our legendary defender against the first invasions of Odin's worshippers (Seth‐Smith, undated), and early Christians made it the bird of St Martin, who was credited with possessing powers of prophecy similar to those of Odin (Clair, 1967).…”

The departure of the hero in a ship: The intertextuality of Beowulf, Cynewulf and Andreas

“…Scholars have identified a number of 'motifs', 'themes' or 'type scenes' in Old English poetry. Two of the best-known such motifs are 'the beasts of battle', typically featuring the carrion eagle, wolf and raven, anticipating or rejoicing in slaughter (Magoun 1955, Bonjour 1957, Griffith 1993, and 'the hero on the beach', wherein a hero is depicted with his retainers in the presence of a flashing light, as a sea-journey is completed (or begun), usually at dawn (Crowne 1960: 368;Fry 1966Fry , 1971). 2 Broadening the focus to consider both Old English verse and prose, Mercedes Salvador Bello identified the 'leitmotif' of 'the arrival of the hero in a ship' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Beowulf, featuring "a recurrent thematic pattern which presents the story of the heroes (or the hero) who arrive from northern lands in a boat and become the ancestors of Anglo-Saxon dynasties" (1998: 214).…”