IMC 2010: Sessions
Session 101: The Mock Heroic in Old English Literature
Monday 12 July 2010, 11.15-12.45
Organiser: | Jennifer Neville, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London |
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Moderator/Chair: | Pirkko Koppinen, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London |
Paper 101-a | Shaking the Foundations: The Mock Heroic in the Old English Riddles (Language: English) Index terms: Daily Life, Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Mentalities |
Paper 101-b | Mock Heroic Style in Andreas: The Relationship with Beowulf (Language: English) Index terms: Hagiography, Language and Literature - Old English, Literacy and Orality, Mentalities |
Paper 101-c | Blessed Are Those Who Mourn: Figures of Compunction in Old English Literature (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Lay Piety, Religious Life, Theology |
Abstract | Old English literature is well known for being dominated by the heroic idiom, which represents value, whether in literal descriptions of physical battles or metaphorical descriptions of metaphysical battles. It is also well known for being earnest, even dour. Yet, as the three papers in this session demonstrate, it is possible that modern scholarship has taken the serious issue of heroic action too seriously. Looking in turn at the Old English riddles, Andreas, and religious texts, these three papers argue for a re-examination of the heroic idiom, whose familiar formulae mask subtle and sometimes humorous ironies. |