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Metaphorical Space and Enclosure in Old English Poetry CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Oregon Scholars' Bank METAPHORICAL SPACE AND ENCLOSURE IN OLD ENGLISH POETRY by BENJAMIN S. WALLER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Benjamin S. Waller Title: Metaphorical Space and Enclosure in Old English Poetry This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of English by: James Earl Chairperson Martha Bayless Core Member Warren Ginsberg Core Member Mark Johnson Institutional Representative and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded December 2013 ii © 2013 Benjamin S. Waller iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Benjamin S. Waller Doctor of Philosophy Department of English December 2013 Title: Metaphorical Space and Enclosure in Old English Poetry While the political and social spaces of Old English literature are fairly well understood, this project examines the conceptual spaces in Old English poetry. The Anglo-Saxons possessed a richly metaphorical understanding of the world, not merely in the sense of artistically ornamental metaphor, but in Lakoff and Johnson’s sense of conceptual metaphor, which reflects the structures of thought through which a culture understands their world. Three domains exhibit developed systems of conceptual metaphor for the Anglo-Saxons: the self, death, and the world. First, the Anglo-Saxon self is composed of four distinct entities—body, mind, soul, and a life-force—which each behave independently as they compete for control in poems like The Wanderer , The Seafarer , and Soul and Body . Second, death for the Anglo-Saxon is expressed through a number of metaphors involving the status or placement of the body: removal to a distant place; separation of the body and the soul; location down on or within the earth; and the loss of life as a possession. Predominance of a particular metaphor contributes to the effects of individual poems, from The Fates of the Apostles and Beowulf to The Battle of Maldon and The Wife’s Lament . Third, the Anglo-Saxon world is a large structure like a building, with its three primary components—heaven, hell, and earth—each themselves presented as building-like structures. Old English poetry, including native versions of iv Genesis, reveal heaven to be a protective Anglo-Saxon hall, while hell is a cold prison. The earth, in poems like Christ II and Guthlac B , is either a wide plain or a comforting house. Christ I connects these worlds through gates, including Mary, characterized as a wall-door. Finally, the apocalyptic Christ III employs metaphorical spaces for all three conceptual domains treated in this study but dramatizes their breakdown even as it reveals spatial enclosure the overarching structure of metaphorical concepts in Old English poetry. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Benjamin S. Waller GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene California State University, Sacramento University of California, Davis DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, English, 2013, University of Oregon Master of Arts, English, 2004, California State University, Sacramento Bachelor of Arts, Linguistics, University of California, Davis AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Old English Poetry Metaphor Theory PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Assistant Professor of English, Hastings College, 2008- Visiting Instructor of English, Hastings College, 2007-2008 Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2004-2007 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Invited Faculty Lecture, “‘Death, Thou Shalt Die’: Metaphors for Death from Old English to Monty Python,” Hastings College, 2012 Student Alumni Ambassadors Polished Apple Award, Hastings College, 2010 Graduate School Research Award, University of Oregon, 2006 Dominic J. Bazzanella Literary Award (second place in critical analysis), “In Possession of Ashes: Byatt’s Romance and the Ygdrassil Myth,” California State University, Sacramento, 2003 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere thanks to Professors James Earl for his long patience, kind encouragement, and thoughtful wisdom in preparing this project. I also thank Professor Martha Bayless for her insightful critiques and timely pressure. I am grateful, as well, to Professors Warren Ginsberg and Mark Johnson for their service on my committee. Mike Stamm has provided invaluable help, enabling me to complete this project from afar. My colleagues Antje Anderson and Constance Malloy have lent much appreciated support and encouragement. Finally, thanks to Emily Bennett for her understanding as I have worked many solitary hours on this project. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 The Spatial Trend in Old English Studies.............................................................. 1 Theories of Space ................................................................................................... 5 Theories of Metaphor ............................................................................................. 10 Plan of the Present Project ..................................................................................... 19 II. THE SELF ............................................................................................................... 27 Introduction: The Mind of The Wanderer ............................................................. 27 Overview of the Anglo-Saxon Self ........................................................................ 32 Who’s in Charge? Soul and Body .......................................................................... 41 The Disappearing Mind: The Seafarer .................................................................. 56 The Mind Fails (and a Good Thing Too): The Wanderer ...................................... 72 Conclusion: The Shape of the Anglo-Saxon Self .................................................. 88 III. DEATH AND LIFE ............................................................................................... 91 Introduction: Beowulf ............................................................................................. 91 Departing for Death: The Fortunes of Men ............................................................ 98 Death’s Destination and Martyrs’ Gifts: The Fates of the Apostles ...................... 108 The Loss of Beowulf .............................................................................................. 122 The Dead of Beowulf ............................................................................................. 130 Death as Choice: Empowering Heroes and Saints ................................................. 136 Downward Death: The Battle of Brunanburh and The Battle of Maldon .............. 141 Living Death: The Wife’s Lament .......................................................................... 157 viii Chapter Page IV. THE WORLD ........................................................................................................ 165 Introduction: The Anglo-Saxon Cosmos ............................................................... 165 Heaven: The High Fortress Home ......................................................................... 169 Hell: A Cold and Wet Prison (Still Fiery, Though) ............................................... 198 A Middle Earth: Safe House or Wide Plain? ......................................................... 217 When Worlds Collide: Christ I .............................................................................. 232 V. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................... 243 The Collapse of Enclosure: Christ III .................................................................... 243 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................ 256 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Spatial Trend in Old English Studies In 1989 Nicholas Howe published his groundbreaking work, Migration and Mythmaking in Anglo-Saxon England , which explores the ways in which the Anglo- Saxons conceived of and structured their own experience in spatial, geographic terms, specifically their founding sea voyage of migration: “the Anglo-Saxons honored the ancestral migration as the founding and defining event of their culture” (xvii). This dynamic myth of movement was invoked in times of crisis, such as the Viking invasions which inspired Wulfstan’s Sermo Lupi ad Anglos (8-28) and some entries of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle (28-31). Howe argues: “Whether remembered as a cautionary tale from the past or as an exodus to a promised land or as an impetus for missionary work, the ancestral migration from continent to island stood as a founding event in the ecclesiastical history of the Anglo-Saxons” (143). Howe further maintains that the spatial movement of the migration structured time and history for the Anglo-Saxons (34). The biblical exodus was the prototype for this movement, as expressed in the Old English poem Exodus . Howe explains that “[b]y offering various images of God guiding the Israelites
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