Speech as Gift in Beowulf

Bjork, Robert E.

doi:10.1017/s0038713400030177

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…They involve "a reciprocal thrust of résumés turned weapon, of words coinciding with, or leading inexorably to, deeds." 39 After all, Ong argues, "[i]n oral-aural cultures it is […] eminently credible that words can be used to achieve an effect such as weapons or tools can achieve." 40 The fact that in Present-Day English we still use very frequently manifestations of the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR (e.g.…”

Section: Verbal Confrontationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fights and Games: Terms for Speech in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Pons‐Sanz

2020

The Journal of English and Germanic Philology

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Section: Verbal Confrontationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fights and Games: Terms for Speech in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Pons‐Sanz

2020

The Journal of English and Germanic Philology

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Reinterpreting Threats to Face: The Use of Politeness in Beowulf, ll. 407–472

Kightley

2008

Neophilologus

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Beowulf's introductory speech to Hroðgar is a petition for permission to confront the monster, Grendel; this petition intimates that Hroðgar has failed in his role as protector of the Danish people and, therefore, qualifies as a Face-Threatening Act, as per Brown and Levinson's politeness model. An application of their theory to both the petition and Hroðgar's response demonstrates that Beowulf is baldly asserting a claim to superior social capital in relation to the Danish king. Hroðgar, however, is able to reinterpret the variables of the petition into the dynamic of a traditional gift exchange, thereby averting the threat to face.

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HROÐGAR AND THEGYLDEN HILTINBEOWULF

Cronan

2017

Traditio

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The account of the destruction of the giants in the flood presented in lines 1689b–93 ofBeowulfis probably the commentary of the narrator and not part of the inscription on the hilt. It is addressed to the audience, and it completes our understanding of the significance of Beowulf's victory beneath the mere. Hroðgar's extended gaze at the hilt before he begins his speech is a sign that he is also reaching toward a new understanding of theeotenaswho have plagued his people. Regardless of whether he is able to read the runic inscription on the hilt, he can read the hilt itself against Beowulf's account of his struggle. The presence of the hilt in his hands implies an extensive social nexus for his apparently solitary enemies, who are now revealed as the enemies of God as well. Hroðgar knows nothing of the biblical stories of Cain and Abel or the flood, but his understanding of the meaning of Grendel's attacks now tracks that of the audience fairly closely. Although his “sermon” is not a direct response to the brief account of the flood, this account provides us with a context for understanding his speech.

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Speech as Gift in Beowulf

Cited by 8 publications

References 24 publications

Fights and Games: Terms for Speech in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Fights and Games: Terms for Speech in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Reinterpreting Threats to Face: The Use of Politeness in Beowulf, ll. 407–472

HROÐGAR AND THEGYLDEN HILTINBEOWULF

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