Aspects of grammar in Beowulf

Beowulf was written in Britain but it is set in Scandinavia, and it is known only from a

single manuscript which dates from close to AD 1000. It is the oldest surviving epic poem in

British literature. Beowulf is admired for the richness of its poetry - for the beautiful sounds of

the words and the imaginative quality of the description. About a third of the words in Beowulf

are words known as kennings. Kennings are words that are in themselves metaphorical

descriptions, and were a typical feature of AS poetry.

As far as it concerns its grammar, Beowulf presents problems, because most of the early

texts are either poetic or translations. The patterns of meter and alliteration exhibited in the poem

were not imposed by the poet on his language, but were part of the language that he spoke, the

rules of which constituted his metrical grammar. The half-lines of the poem, which are the basic

units of composition, are marked by the metrical grammar for placement in the verse clause.

As a result of its antiquity and native tradition, in determining the basic structure of the

sentence, the linguists rely heavily on the texts that appear to be least modified by literary

conventions or introduction of non-native patterns through translation.

SOV order could be supplied from the earliest literary texts. We can find evidence for

OV Order in simple clauses in Beowulf too. The first three lines of the Old English

Beowulf provide strong support for the conclusion on OV order:

Hwæt, wē Gār-dena in gēardagum

þēodcyninga þrym gefrūnon,

hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.

Listen, we have heard of the glory of the Spear-danes,

of the kings of the people, in days of old,

how the heroes performed deeds of valor.

Order in comparative constructions. Among other patterns characteristic of OV

sentence structure are comparative constructions attested in the early texts. Beowulf

doesn’t represent an exception:

þæt þē Sǣ-Gēatas sēlran næbben

that than-you the Sea-Geats better-one not-have

that the Sea Geats do not have a better one than you

The use of postpositions:

Scyldes eafore Scedelandum in

Scyld's offspring in the Scandinavian lands or

frēawine folca Frēslondum on

lord of the people in Friesland.

Demonstrative pronouns used to introduce relative clauses; in Beowulf forms of the

demonstrative pronoun sē, sēo, þæt were used without a particle (Gothic used a particle)

to introduce relative clauses:

beaduscrūda betst, þæt mīne brēost wereð,

the best of military garments, that protects my breast

OV order for adjectives and genitives:

Þæt wæs gōd cyning! He was a good king.

þēodcyninga þrym the glory of the kings of people

wuldres Wealdend the Lord of glory

Word order in marked constructions; the basic structure of sentences may be modified

to emphasize elements, especially in poetry, as in the following example where æfter is

placed for the purpose of emphasis.

Ðǣm eafera wæs æfter cenned

To-them son was after born

A son was then born to them.

The word order of questions:

Hwanon ferigeað gē fǣtte scyldas

Whence do you bear ornamented shields?

Expression of negation: negation is expressed by means of the particle ne, as also in

Proto-Indo-European and some of the other dialects. It may be found in its full form with

reference to an entire clause where ne is commonly placed before the verb, as in:

Hē bēot ne ālēh, He didn't fail to perform the promise

As is widely found with negatives, words were often added to strengthen the negation; the

strengthening element is commonly a noun, as in Old English and Old High German wiht 'being,

thing', but a form of the negative itself may also be added:

Nē hīe hūru winedrihten wiht ne lōgon, They did not blame their lord a whit

Sentence adverbials: Adverbs are very prominent in the early texts. Examples from

poetry illustrate that prominence. They often fill the third accent in the poetic line, as in:

lēof landfruma lange āhte.

The beloved king had long ruled.

Formed with various suffixes, they referred to time, place and manner. Those with a nasal suffix

indicated action away from a point:

Sægde sē þe cūþe

frumsceaft fīra feorran reccan,

He said, he who could

tell the origin of men from far in the past.

Adverbs of manner were based on various suffixes, some with u-stems, as is still clear in OE

gearwe, as in:

gamol of geardum; hine gearwe geman

old in years him readly recalls.

Expression of uncertainty and modality: Shorter expressions may also be inserted in

the middle of sentences, such as the formula used twice in Beowulf:

gif mec hild nime

if the battle should take me

Expression of tense and aspect: While tense is the primary meaning expressed by

inflections of verbs, residues of aspect are also attested, though chiefly with verb forms

prefixed with ga-. For example, the form of feallan in Beowulf clearly indicates

completed action of the wounded Grendel:

mōdes geōmor meregrund gefēoll

sorrowful in mind he fell to the bottom of the sea

By contrast, the unprefixed forms express continued action:

Þā wæs wundor micel, þæt se wīnsele

wiðhæfde heaþodēorum, þæt hē on hrūsan ne fēol,

That was a great wonder, that the winehall

withstood the brave battlers, that it was not falling to the ground