99 - 116 Flashcards
(14 cards)
What happens in this passage?
This finishes off the poem, highlighting the general suffering of man, ending on a hopeful note that he will be okay after death, when he is reunited with his lord in heaven
waepan waelgrifru
weapons greedy for slaughter
variation on spears (asca)
double alliteration
latter is a poetic word
stanhleopu / stormas cnyssad
storms dashed against the stony slops
stony slopes is poetic word
pathetic fallacy
hrid hreosende
falling snow storm
hrid is a hapax legomenon
the close noun-verb relationship structure
layering of aggressive winter imagery
wintres woma
howling winter
seasonal imagery personified
variation on winter
niped nihtscau
the shadow of night grows dark
poetic word
hreo haeglfare / haelepum on andan
fierce hailstorms to the malice of the warriors
hailstorm is hapax legomenon
warriors is a poetic word
onwended wyrda gesceaft
ordered course of events changes
the verb implies a change for the worse
her bid feoh laene
here money is transitory
another rhetorical set piece
anaphoric structure implies that all elements of life are transitory
eorpam gesteal / idel weorped
earth’s foundation will become worthless!
exclamatory phrase and change in tense
implied contrast with heaven
swa cwaed snottor on mode
so spoke the wise man in his mind
switch to hypermetric lines marks the switch from his dialogue
til bip se pe his treowe gehealdep
it is good that he keeps his truth
treowe can also be translated as loyalty
this implies the lord and retainer relationship and suggests he keeps convenant with god
beorn + elne
poetic words
fofre to Faeder on heofonum
consolation from the father in heaven
hypermetric lines makes it stand out as a conclusion
gnomic statements establish permanence in heaven
father is the ultimate familiar name
