HE SWORD IN THE MERE: TRANSCULTURAL MEMORY, NATIONHOOD, AND THE CASE FOR BRITTONIC INFLUENCE IN BEOWULF.
Previous studies exploring the possibility of “Celtic†influence in Beowulf have categorically neglected Brittonic parallels, even though the early English historically had more direct contact with the Britons during the early settlement period than any other Insular people (which may be symptom...
| Publicado en: | Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval & Renaissance Studies Vol. 56; pp. 1 - 28 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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University of California at Los Angeles, Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=189020865&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 189020865 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00696412 TIY jtl: Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval & Renaissance Studies issn: 00696412 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2025 vid: 56 pid: 20754 pub: University of California at Los Angeles, Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies artinfo: ui: 189020865 10.1353/cjm.2025.a972539 ppf: 1 ppct: 27 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 4.5MB tig: atl: HE SWORD IN THE MERE: TRANSCULTURAL MEMORY, NATIONHOOD, AND THE CASE FOR BRITTONIC INFLUENCE IN BEOWULF. aug: au: Gutbezahl, Tristan su: Beowulf Celtic languages Britons Ethnicity Votive offerings sug: subj: Beowulf Celtic languages Britons Ethnicity Votive offerings keyword: Brittonic Celtic Gaelic landscape liminality votive offerings ab: Previous studies exploring the possibility of “Celtic†influence in Beowulf have categorically neglected Brittonic parallels, even though the early English historically had more direct contact with the Britons during the early settlement period than any other Insular people (which may be symptomatic of the neglect of Brittonic traditions in other early English texts, such as the works of Bede and other church authors). The present study unearths the ancient Brittonic traditions of dual-natured female water deities and the offering of votives, particularly swords, to sacred bodies of water, among others, the resonances of which may be detected within the lines of Beowulf, particularly as they relate to Grendel’s mother, the mere, and the “giant’s sword†Beowulf finds in the Grendel-kin’s aquatic lair. The following analysis suggests that these traditions, which likely persisted throughout the early English period, may have provided an effective foil for English ideologues-an antagonist “other,†in a sense-from which to construct an early instance of English ethnic identity based upon the conquest and redefinition of the preexisting physical, cultural, political, and religious landscapes of early medieval Britain. The archaeological record also turns up widespread features of the Brittonic landscape that offer continuous parallels for long sequences of lines in Beowulf, far surpassing the relatively minor details that crop up in the Irish analogues. Consideration of these themes may expand scholarly consensus regarding Brittonic and Gaelic influences in Beowulf from existing merely as idiosyncratic borrowings to agents crucial to the text’s exploration of identity formation and the seeming inseparability between physical space and cultural memory. The paper concludes with an invitation to scholars to more actively consider ancient Brittonic influences in early medieval English texts outside of Beowulf. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval & Renaissance Studies is the property of University of California at Los Angeles, Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval & Renaissance Studies holder: University of California at Los Angeles, Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies dt: @attributes: year: 2025 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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