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04225aam a2200373Ii 4500 001 AA1E522ECF3111EB9A1890BA3BECA4DB 003 SILO 005 20210617010040 008 200128s2020 enka b 001 0 eng d 020 $a 9781783748280 020 $a 1783748281 020 $a 9781783748273 020 $a 1783748273 035 $a (OCoLC)1137850738 040 $a YDX $b eng $e rda $c YDX $d CBY $d YDXIT $d OCLCF $d OCLCQ $d SILO 050 4 $a PR1585 $b .P48 2020 082 04 $a 829.3 $2 23 100 1 $a Pettit, Edward, $d 1968- $e author. 245 14 $a The waning sword : $b conversion imagery and celestial myth in Beowulf / $c by Edward Pettit. 264 1 $a Cambridge, UK : $b Open Book Publishers, $c [2020] 300 $a xxi, 537 pages : $b illustrations (chiefly color) ; $c 24 cm 520 $a "The image of a giant sword melting stands at the structural and thematic heart of the Old English heroic poem Beowulf. This meticulously researched book investigates the nature and significance of this golden-hilted weapon and its likely relatives within Beowulf and beyond, drawing on the fields of Old English and Old Norse language and literature, liturgy, archaeology, astronomy, folklore and comparative mythology. In Part I, Pettit explores the complex of connotations surrounding this image (from icicles to candles and crosses) by examining a range of medieval sources, and argues that the giant sword may function as a visual motif in which pre-Christian Germanic concepts and prominent Christian symbols coalesce. In Part II, Pettit investigates the broader Germanic background to this image, especially in relation to the god Ing/Yngvi-Freyr, and explores the capacity of myths to recur and endure across time. Drawing on an eclectic range of narrative and linguistic evidence from Northern European texts, and on archaeological discoveries, Pettit suggests that the image of the giant sword, and the characters and events associated with it, may reflect an elemental struggle between the sun and the moon, articulated through an underlying myth about the theft and repossession of sunlight. The Waning Sword: Conversion Imagery and Celestial Myth in 'Beowulf' is a welcome contribution to the overlapping fields of Beowulf-scholarship, Old Norse-Icelandic literature and Germanic philology. Not only does it present a wealth of new readings that shed light on the craft of the Beowulf-poet and inform our understanding of the poem's major episodes and themes; it further highlights the merits of adopting an interdisciplinary approach alongside a comparative vantage point. As such, The Waning Sword will be compelling reading for Beowulf-scholars and for a wider audience of medievalists."--Provided by the publisher 504 $a Includes bibliographical references (pages 471-518) and index. 505 0 $a Introduction : Beowulf, an early Anglo-Saxon epic -- Part 1 : Ice, candle and cross: images of the giant sword in Beowulf. The giant sword and the ice -- The giant sword and the candle -- The giant sword and the cross -- Part 2 : Sun-swords and moon-monsters: on the theft and recovery of sunlight in Beowulf and other early northern texts. Whose sword is it, anyway? -- Ing, Ingvi-Freyr and Hro©ʻgar -- Freyr, Skirnir and Ger©ʻr -- L©Åvateinn and the Maelstrom-Giantess -- Freyr's solar power and the purifying sword -- Freyr, Heorot and the hunt for the solar stag -- A tale of two creatures: the theft and recovery of sunlight in riddle 29 -- Another tale of two creatures: the loss and recovery of the solar draught-beast in Wi©ʻ Dweorh -- The solar antler in Solarljo©ʻ -- Grendel, his mother, and other moon-monsters -- The Sun in the pike -- Conclusion : Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon song of ice and fire. 630 00 $a Beowulf. 630 07 $a Beowulf. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01356023 650 0 $a Swords in literature. 650 0 $a Epic poetry, English (Old) 650 7 $a Epic poetry, English (Old) $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst00913869 650 7 $a Swords in literature. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01140684 655 7 $a Criticism, interpretation, etc. $2 fast $0 (OCoLC)fst01411635 941 $a 1 952 $l OVUX522 $d 20220317030629.0 956 $a http://locator.silo.lib.ia.us/search.cgi?index_0=id&term_0=AA1E522ECF3111EB9A1890BA3BECA4DBInitiate Another SILO Locator Search