3 options
Representations of the natural world in Old English poetry / Jennifer Neville.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Neville, Jennifer, 1968- author.
- Series:
- Cambridge studies in Anglo-Saxon England ; 27.
- Cambridge studies in Anglo-Saxon England ; 27
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- English poetry--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism.
- English poetry.
- Nature in literature.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (x, 224 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- Language Note:
- English
- Summary:
- This book examines descriptions of the natural world in a wide range of Old English poetry. Jennifer Neville describes the physical conditions experienced by the Anglo-Saxons - the animals, diseases, landscapes, seas and weather with which they had to contend. She argues that poetic descriptions of these elements were not a reflection of the existing physical conditions but a literary device used by Anglo-Saxons to define more important issues: the state of humanity, the creation and maintenance of society, the power of individuals, the relationship between God and creation and the power of writing to control information. Examples of contemporary literature in other languages are used to provide a sense of Old English poetry's particular approach, which incorporated elements from Germanic, Christian and classical sources. The result of this approach was not a consistent cosmological scheme but a rather contradictory vision which reveals much about how the Anglo-Saxons viewed themselves.
- Contents:
- Introduction: defining the natural world
- Defining and confining humanity
- Constructing society: outside and inside, powerlessness and control
- Standing outside, standing out: defining the individual
- Representing God; power in and against nature
- Enclosing the natural world: knowledge and writing
- Conclusion.
- Notes:
- Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-216) and index.
- ISBN:
- 1-107-11601-5
- 0-521-03053-6
- 1-280-16192-2
- 0-511-11720-5
- 0-511-14981-6
- 0-511-30985-6
- 0-511-48337-6
- 0-511-05137-9
- OCLC:
- 475870842
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.