tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post115008166961029318..comments2023-11-02T09:18:44.063-04:00Comments on Old English in New York: WVU Summer Seminar, Part TwoMary Kate Hurleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14892991966276345782noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150214999784533202006-06-13T12:09:00.000-04:002006-06-13T12:09:00.000-04:00I'll buy cohhede as coughed. After all, swelgan (...I'll buy <I>cohhede</I> as coughed. After all, <I>swelgan</I> (did I spell that right?) -- to swallow -- also has onomatopoetic qualities, put to great use in Beowulf's show-down with Grendel.<BR/><BR/>Btw, on a non-sound-related and perhaps silly note, I always thought it was funny that Holofernes' men were "bench-sitters" (<I>bencsittende</I>). In fact, I find <I>Judith</I> full of dark, ironic humor.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150182183530703922006-06-13T03:03:00.000-04:002006-06-13T03:03:00.000-04:00Dr. V -- Judith's a great text for reading aloud, ...Dr. V -- <BR/><BR/>Judith's a great text for reading aloud, isn't it? The part you cite is definitely a part we talked about (in fact, we started there). The way the rhyme comes in, just at the moment when he speech is getting most rowdy, most noisy -- it's a fascinating moment. Another one -- at line 12 and perhaps another time too, a word that's used is <I>cohhede</I>. According to Bosworth Toller (to whom I also owe the line reference!) it means to bluster -- however someone implied that it also could have to do with coughing. Which is interesting, given how much like coughing it feels to say it!<BR/><BR/>Glad it cna be helpful.MKHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11773335756057041042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150160265810812632006-06-12T20:57:00.000-04:002006-06-12T20:57:00.000-04:00Darn, I wish I'd been at the seminar after all. I...Darn, I wish I'd been at the seminar after all. I mean, I had good reason to withdraw, but from what you report this Middle English person would have actually had something to contribute to that Judith discussion! Just this semester, in my OE class, we translated the passage where Holofernes roars and rages and creates a huge din. In the OE, there's not only alliteration, but even some *rhyme* and the words themselves are 'noisy' -- full of consonant clusters.<BR/><BR/>These are the lines I'm thinking of (21b-27, especially the highlighted one -- Blogger won't do the spaces between half lines, btw):<BR/><BR/> Ðā wearð Hōlofernus,<BR/>goldwine gumena on gytesālum,<BR/><I>hlōh ond hlȳdde, hlynede ond dynede</I>,<BR/>þæt mihten fīra bearn feorran ġehȳran<BR/>hū se stīðmōda styrmde ond ġylede<BR/>mōdiġ ond medugāl, manode ġeneahhe<BR/>benċsittende þæt hī ġebǣrdon wel.<BR/><BR/>Thanks so much for blogging about this -- it gives me new ideas for teaching.Dr. Viragohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03960384082670286328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150123541866006622006-06-12T10:45:00.000-04:002006-06-12T10:45:00.000-04:00Although--the general trend of hagiography is towa...Although--the general trend of hagiography is towards the universal rather than the local so in Cuthbert's case I'd think that a more natural trajectory.Derek the Ænglicanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11625110461660458291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150123443411794432006-06-12T10:44:00.000-04:002006-06-12T10:44:00.000-04:00Interesting. And in an ironic way, the Danes are i...Interesting. And in an ironic way, the Danes are in the midst of both, huh... :-)Derek the Ænglicanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11625110461660458291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150120493985571892006-06-12T09:54:00.000-04:002006-06-12T09:54:00.000-04:00Actually, strike that -- I think it was agreed tha...Actually, strike that -- I think it was agreed that she *is* the first person to think about them together. So, to clarify the connection, it was through the idea of place. Yeesh, I'm having a Monday morning (can't formulate coherent thoughts).MKHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11773335756057041042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150120423622149272006-06-12T09:53:00.000-04:002006-06-12T09:53:00.000-04:00Good question -- that was Prof. Lees' idea, to put...Good question -- that was Prof. Lees' idea, to put them together (I think she's the first to do it) -- but it was, essentially, as a way of thinking about "place" through the different versions of Cuthbert (and how he becomes dissociated with his roots as a Northumbrian Saint through progressive versions of the story).MKHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11773335756057041042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22992265.post-1150119178743807732006-06-12T09:32:00.000-04:002006-06-12T09:32:00.000-04:00Wait--where did Cuthbert fit in?Wait--where did Cuthbert fit in?Derek the Ænglicanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11625110461660458291noreply@blogger.com