EliseKRasha > June 26th, 2019, 02:13 PM
Michael > July 13th, 2019, 12:08 PM
EliseKRasha > July 13th, 2019, 07:42 PM
Michael > July 18th, 2019, 01:42 AM
august > July 18th, 2019, 01:34 PM
EliseKRasha > July 18th, 2019, 02:48 PM
(July 18th, 2019, 01:42 AM)Michael Wrote: I'm not sure the scholars would quite agree with "Norse", although I haven't read recent literature. "Beowulf" dates from a time when the northern peoples (Scandinavians and Germans) spoke dialects of the same Germanic language, not separate languages. There was a phonetic shift that occurred (if memory serves me) sometime in the 600s-700s, and that resulted in the Scandinavian languages breaking off from the Germanic languages. They then came back to influence English, helping to pull it away from other Germanic languages (although English is still considered a Germanic language).
So, allowing for the possibility that current linguistic theory has changed since I last reviewed it, I would say (on the basis of my somewhat dated knowledge) that "Beowulf" is a Northern European composition, dating from a time when there was essentially one "common" language in the northern world. There are a few other poems (much shorter) from the same period that, like "Beowulf", would have been heard in the same form and language in Angle-land, Dane-land, Scandia, etc. Two names that come to mind are "Widsith" and "The Wanderer" but there are a few others.
(July 18th, 2019, 01:34 PM)august Wrote: Yep, I've just always considered it to be an Old English poem/epic, based on myths and folk tales from earlier Nordic/northern European traditions. So like if I wrote my own version of Pinocchio, and retailed all the Italian names and settings and references, kept the same plotline, but wrote it in contemporary American English - it would seem like a new American story, but also an old Italian one.
august > July 19th, 2019, 08:16 AM
badlands > January 3rd, 2020, 06:58 PM
august > January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM
EliseKRasha > January 5th, 2020, 01:34 PM
(January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM)august Wrote: ummm.... I don't recall any monk characters. I think it's from a sort of limited omniscient point of view. But no, it's about adventures in a kingdom of people called Danes.
Michael > January 6th, 2020, 02:27 PM
(January 5th, 2020, 03:04 AM)august Wrote: ummm.... I don't recall any monk characters. I think it's from a sort of limited omniscient point of view. But no, it's about adventures in a kingdom of people called Danes.
august > January 6th, 2020, 10:40 PM