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Six Traditional Phraseology in Beowulf and Old English Poetry
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The Spectrum of Traditional Phraseology in Beowulf

With these tradition-dependent features of Old English prosody in mind, we should be able to predict the shape of traditional expression to be encountered in Beowulf . First, because there is a definite half-line structure to the alliterative line, there should arise a collection of verse formulas and formulaic systems . To the extent that the half-line is a functional unit in the act of composition, these "classic" phrases, analogous but not directly comparable to colonic formulas in ancient Greek and Serbo-Croatian epic, should constitute some reasonably extensive part of the poet's and tradition's wordhoard. Of course, there will be qualifications, such as the matter of idiolect versus traditional dialect as


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illustrated for the guslar in chapter 5,[9] but prior research has shown that a significant number of such verse units actually does exist and that they arc functional.

But here the synchronic model of formulaic structure will no doubt require further articulation from a diachronic point of view—for, as we have seen with other traditional phraseologies, not every "formula" or "system" in a given poetic tradition will answer precisely the same definition. To put it more tellingly, not all of the verse-length patterns found in Beowulf and Old English poetry are likely to be exactly equivalent in terms of semantic, rhythmic, or syntactic complexity. If Anglo-Saxon phraseology is as multi-leveled as ancient Greek and Serbo-Croatian, then some half-line patterns will be able to be defined rigorously using all of these three criteria, some will depend more on one or another of the measurements, and some will be mere predispositions that nonetheless recur with regularity and must be recognized as traditional. We may wish to reserve the classical term formula only for those units that answer a rather strict definition, but we shall still need in some fashion to explain and to take account of those obviously traditional elements that do hot fit the imposed definition. In short, we may expect, if prior experience is any guide, a whole spectrum of formulaic diction that has evolved differentially (and was no doubt continuing to do so)[10] under the tradition-dependent rules of Old English verse-making.

In addition to verse-length units, we should expect to find whole-line formulas and systems ; the whole-line dimension of the alliterative meter, both the linkage made by alliteration between verses and the whole-line metrical formulas, would promote the formation and maintenance of such longer units. Once again, however, we shall have to make allowance for the probability that not all such longer patterns will readily conform to a single synchronic definition. No less than the verse-length units, whole-line patterns are likely to reveal a spectrum of forms, from absolutely constant verbatim repeats such as lines of introduction, through systemic lines in which one verse is regularly associated with, for example, a given alliterating word in the other verse, and on to weaker associations involving metrical predispositions. Positing both half- and whole-line phraseological units does not amount to a contradictory hypothesis; rather it recognizes the hybrid character of the meter and anticipates its reflection in the poetic diction.

Given the tradition-dependent nature of Old English prosody, and especially its emphasis on stressed elements and relative inattention to the unstressed syllables that surround these metrical peaks, it is not difficult to understand


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why recurrent single words play such an important stylistic role in this poetry. If the meter is such that it foregrounds these words—that is, the root syllables of alliterating and other stressed elements—then these are also the words that are likely to be constant as the poet uses and re-uses his traditional diction. Indeed, this is no more than, for example, Fry (1967b, 203) has pointed out by defining his "formulaic system" in terms of "the identical relative placement of two elements, one a variable word or element of a compound usually supplying the alliteration, and the other a constant word or element of a compound, with approximately the same distribution of unstressed elements."

But can single words or root syllables also function as traditional elements outside the verse or whole-line formula? It would seem logical that, especially because the Anglo-Saxon metrical filter is so relatively permeable, roots of single words could form traditional complexes of their own, with their half- or whole-line contexts assembled, as it were, at the moment of composition—although under the traditional rules of poetic composition. Two possibilities, with some middle ground in between them, emerge: first, an associative "bundle" of roots might form around some concept or event and bring along with it the formulas and systems in which the words in question are most often found; or, second, the associative package might supersede verse and linear formulaic structure, just as enjambement is in effect encouraged by the balanced structure of the line. If such morphemic bundles can occur in a phraseology as colonic and relatively tightly bound as ancient Greek,[11] then how much more likely are they to surface in Old English poetry? In fact, to look ahead just slightly, it may be that we can trace the origins of the well-known Anglo-Saxon principle of "verbal echo"[12] in this ultimately prosodic feature of emphasis on roots of single words.

This in turn means that we must hold open the possibility of formulaic structures not only lesser than but also greater than a single verse or line . There may be such things as three- or even four-verse patterns which are not multi-line "runs" so much as integral structures—that is, they are not concatenations of unitary elements but rather elements in and of themselves. Albert Lord (1986b) has suggested that such longer patterns exist in Anglo-Saxon poetry, and the balanced, additive prosody would seem to favor their formation. If they do exist, then we shall have another very clear example of the tradition-dependent character of Old English verse.

To these working hypotheses we must add a caveat. If analysis of a sample from the Beowulf text turns up even a portion of what might be expected on the basis of the alliterative prosody, and especially if—as in ancient Greek and Serbo-Croatian epic—not all members in a certain category can be considered equivalent in form and function, then we shall need a further explanation


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that somehow rationalizes the variety. That is, if the synchronic model of the half-line system cannot account for the richness of Beowulf 's traditional diction, then another, more fundamental solution must be sought. But first let us see what the poem itself has to tell us.


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Six Traditional Phraseology in Beowulf and Old English Poetry
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