Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The foot; 3. The verse; 4. Light feet and extra-metrical words; 5. Metrical archaisms; 6. Alliteration; 7. Metrical subordination within the foot; 8. Resolution; 9. Word order and stress within the clause; 10. Old Saxon alliterative verse; 11. Hildebrandslied; 12. Conclusions.

Promotional Information

This 1998 book is a clear account of early Germanic alliterative verse and how it was treated by the Beowulf poet.

Reviews

"...the fact that Russom...has made such significant empirical predictios from the relevant generalization is a striking result of what is a remarkable, erudite, and necessary book." C.B. McCully, Journal of Record for Theoretical Linguistics "...on special topics. I am convinced that this inspiring new theory will...benefit." Dirk Huth, The Medieval Review "Russom's book is a splendid contribution to our understanding of early Germanic metrical systems and the linguistic rationale for them. That he leaves some questions unanswered, and that he raises a wide range of new ones, is not the least of its virtues." Speculum