Abstract

이동일  고대영시 두운과 변어 사이의상관관계에 관한 고찰  21 ~ 48  Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Volume 25 No. 1 (2017)
  [Dongill Lee  A Study on the Correlation between Alliteration and Variation in Old English Poetry]

With regard to the art of composition in Beowulf and other Old English poems scholars generally agree that the art of improvisation is firmly grounded upon the poet's control of traditional components. I believe that the composition of Old English Poetry was much influenced by the techniques of oral literature, but I contest the supposition that Old English Poetry was purely based on oral tradition. Instead, I believe that Old English Poetry from the outset bears specific features of written literature as has been proven in Old English poems. One of the common features in oral composition is the use of pleonasm, which is called variation or apposition in Old English scholarship; a word or expression is repeated, not identically, and each repetition adds a new attributes or quality to the concept. His technique is conspicuous in the combination of alliteration and words containing key meanings in the line. As is shown in the lines of Old English poems key words or words containing major meanings of the line alliterate each other. This again proves that the choice and arrangement of words are not constructed in accordance with oral tradition. It is quite certain that the use of alliteration is not coincidental but exquisitely devised by the poet who intends to heighten the focal meanings. This also proves that the poet is very much constrained in the course of choosing a specific word agreeing with alliteration among lots of variations or synonyms. In general Old English poetry follows this pattern of pleonasm but contains more complicated and various patterns than oral style. The delicate combination of features of inwardness and outwardness proves that the poet is well aware of the oral tradition. However, the fact that words match with the application of alliteration shows that the poet's techniques of composition exceed the scope of oral tradition.



Keywords
Alliteration, Hypermeter, Variation, Apposition, Outwardness and Inwardness