Didn't that |g| to |y| consonant shift occur much earlier than the Christian faith was
established in England, but....?
More damned paradoxies, much prefer real ones!
Roger
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roger Collett" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: Beowulf's Yogh
> So, back to my thought that Beowulf must have been composed before the |g| to |y| consonant
> shift, but after the main establishment of the Christian faith in England (assuming that it
> was composed in England!) and written down with a faithful rendering, probably by copying
> earlier versions, of the |g| alliteration.
>
> Makes some kind of sense that!
>
> Roger
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robin Hamilton" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 8:14 PM
> Subject: Re: Beowulf's Yogh
>
>
>> <<
>>
>> I'll go on from this, if you consider the enormous investment in time
>> and labour that pre-printing manuscripts involved can one really
>> consider anything as representing a kind of unpremeditated untextual
>> poetry?
>>>>
>>
>> I don't think anyone is suggesting that the Beowulf MS represents "unpremeditated
>> [unmediated?] untextual poetry", dave, simply that it has its origins in an earlier oral
>> text.
>>
>> And, if we accept the evidence of the "g" alliteration, composed well before the 1010 date of
>> the Beowulf MS itself, as I seem to remember you arguing for a consciously archaising 11th C
>> scribe.
>>
>> He'd have had to be *bloody clever to retro-engineer the "g" alliteration for the purposes of
>> a new composition. <g>
>>
>> Robin
>
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