In this thesis, the reception of classical mythology in the Old English adaptation of Boethius' 'De consolatione philosophiae' is analysed. It demonstrates that the author of the Old English...Show moreIn this thesis, the reception of classical mythology in the Old English adaptation of Boethius' 'De consolatione philosophiae' is analysed. It demonstrates that the author of the Old English Boethius is familiar with classical mythology, and that he has consciously adapted his material to make it more suitable for his Christian Anglo-Saxon audience unfamiliar with classical mythology.Show less
Gold, jewels and a cross that is able to speak: these elements are nowhere to be found in the Biblical story about the crucifixion of Christ, but they do appear in the Old English poem The Dream of...Show moreGold, jewels and a cross that is able to speak: these elements are nowhere to be found in the Biblical story about the crucifixion of Christ, but they do appear in the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood. This poem is a retelling of the Biblical story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and there are three characters in this poem: the Dreamer, the Cross and Christ. These characters are linked, because they all experience one or multiple physical or mental transformations. The poet intended for these transformations to be an inspiration for the reader of the poem. Especially the transformation of the Dreamer is supposed to be inspirational, because the Dreamer is the most relatable character for the reader through the focus on their human nature. The question that is discussed in this thesis is: what does the transformation of the Dreamer look like and why can it be inspirational for the reader? The suggested answer to this question is that the poet of The Dream of the Rood used the character of the Dreamer to illustrate the life-changing effect that knowledge of the Bible and following the example of Christ can have on a human being. The reader of the poem is encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the Dreamer, the first step being reading The Dream of the Rood.Show less
This thesis will discuss how Le Guin has adapted both the standard medieval dragon and the dragons in the narratives of Tolkien and Lewis in her own work, The Books of Earthsea.
The history of mankind is intrinsically linked to the history of narrative, since it is in our very being to communicate, and to produce narratives. In earlier times, people sat around the campfire...Show moreThe history of mankind is intrinsically linked to the history of narrative, since it is in our very being to communicate, and to produce narratives. In earlier times, people sat around the campfire or in the banquet hall to partake in the telling and hearing of stories about the world, about gods and higher powers, about heroes or extraordinary events, and so on. In the late 20th century, this oral tradition made a mainstream resurgence of sorts in western culture, with the rise of the (tabletop) Role Playing Game or ‘TTRPG’. These games, while not exact replications of oral tradition, are heavily reliant on its orality and collaborative storytelling elements, and its gameplay owes much to the narrative features and typescenes of oral tradition, especially medieval oral tradition, since the original TTRPG’s were inspired mainly by the medieval period. While scholars such as Walter J. Ong (Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, 1982) have already discussed oral tradition in detail, its link to the relatively new medium of the TTRPG has yet to be touched upon in scholarship. This thesis will attempt to close this gap to a degree, by investigating to what extent the non-linear narrative structure of the TTRPG Dungeons and Dragons resembles that of medieval oral tradition. First, this thesis will define what exactly constitutes medieval orality, by presenting (among others) Walter J. Ong’s theory pertaining to the “Psychodynamics of Orality,” and illustrating the presence of his characteristics in extant historical sources of medieval oral tradition, such as the Old English Beowulf and the Norse sagas. Second, an overview will be provided of the popular TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons, detailing its content, gameplay mechanics, history, and development. Finally, this thesis will demonstrate the relation between Dungeons & Dragons and medieval orality, by applying Walter J. Ong’s theory on oral characteristics to the TTRPG. In so doing, this thesis will demonstrate that (TT)RPG’s can provide valuable contributions to the scholarly fields wherein the topic is otherwise overlooked.Show less
It is a widely known fact that monks practice abstinence. Yet, the monastic scribes of the Old English riddles had to copy lines about a man raising up clothing and thrusting with something stiff,...Show moreIt is a widely known fact that monks practice abstinence. Yet, the monastic scribes of the Old English riddles had to copy lines about a man raising up clothing and thrusting with something stiff, about a girl gripping a swollen and boneless thing, and about something by a man’s thigh that often fully fills the same hole. Unlike these lines might suggest, these riddles do not concern any unholy acts, but merely butter churning, a girl kneading dough, and a key unlocking a door. The power of riddles lies in their ability to change a mundane act or object in something so vastly different it is hardly recognisable, which makes them both a fun and mentally stimulating challenge. In Anglo-Saxon times, riddles circulated in Old English as well as in Anglo-Latin; the two Anglo-Saxon riddling traditions. The majority of current research on riddles claims that the two traditions are very similar in every aspect, except for the presence of sexual riddles. That particular subtype of riddles is said to only occur in the Old English tradition. Although the classroom, where the Anglo-Latin riddles are generally believed to be used, does not strike as a fitting place for crude jokes, some evidence of traces of possible sexual riddling have been found by Andy Orchard and Mercedes Salvador-Bello. Exploratory studies such as theirs leave room for future research, which inspired this thesis.Show less
The fictional works of English author and Oxford philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, have been subjected to many literary and comparative analyses ever since they first came within the purview of academia...Show moreThe fictional works of English author and Oxford philologist, J.R.R. Tolkien, have been subjected to many literary and comparative analyses ever since they first came within the purview of academia. Source criticism (i.e. the analysis of how Tolkien drew inspiration from medieval texts, Catholicism, WWI, etc.) and thematic oppositions, such as light vs. dark, have especially attracted scholarly attention. What has not yet been satisfactorily explored within source criticism and light-dark opposition is Tolkien’s use of the ‘shadow’ as a literary motif in 'The Lord of the Rings' and its possible resonances with Old English conceptions of the shadow. This study combines a close reading, philologically-minded analysis of 'The Lord of the Rings' with a comparative approach centred on the occurrence of shadows in Old English poetic contexts. In so doing, the arguments and evidence brought forth in this study make a strong case for shadow as both a viable literary motif throughout the narrative and as a likely area of borrowing from early medieval Old English poetry.Show less
This thesis studies leadership in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion by way of social network analysis (SNA) methods. I combine the fields of leadership studies and social network analysis by...Show moreThis thesis studies leadership in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion by way of social network analysis (SNA) methods. I combine the fields of leadership studies and social network analysis by constructing and analysing the social networks in The Silmarillion. I analyse which characters act as leaders in a selection of tales from Tolkien’s Silmarillion, since these tales form the basis for Middle-earth and lay bare the roots of how power and leadership function in Tolkien’s secondary world. In order to do so, I use the social network visualisation software Visone, which also enables users to conduct various calculations on the constructed networks. Social networks can lay bare the key actors in a network and show the ways in which leaders exert their power, which is why I compare the Silmarillion network to networks that depict leaders and leadership types in real life. In doing so, I examine which characters come to the fore as leaders in The Silmarillion, how they exert their power, and how realistic the social networks in Tolkien’s fictional narrative are. The characters that came to the fore as leaders when observing the social networks of The Silmarillion were mostly kings and Valar. In this way, the results indicate that leadership is presented realistically in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Silmarillion, and they also provide information about the ways in which the leaders of the work exert their power. This thesis showed that SNA can be used successfully to study works of fiction, and that it could be further used in order to obtain a deeper understanding of Middle-earth, realistic fiction, and good leadership.Show less
This thesis compares the property rights and inheritance rights of women in the Germanic laws of the Visigoths, Lombards and Anglo-Saxons from the sixth to the ninth century AD.
This bachelor thesis (2020) explores how a target-oriented and a source-oriented translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood' into Dutch affect the choices in translation procedures...Show moreThis bachelor thesis (2020) explores how a target-oriented and a source-oriented translation of the Old English poem 'The Dream of the Rood' into Dutch affect the choices in translation procedures and how these choices ultimately shape the resulting target texts in prose and verse translation respectively.Show less
Reading Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings through the literary criticism trauma theory. Investigates the impact of war trauma on the presence of heroism, evil and post-war developments.
The Nowell Codex is popularly known as a book of monsters. It was a fascination with the monstrous which conceivably motivated the medieval compilers to assemble the codex's current constituent...Show moreThe Nowell Codex is popularly known as a book of monsters. It was a fascination with the monstrous which conceivably motivated the medieval compilers to assemble the codex's current constituent parts. This thesis argues for another unifying theme, that of 'community', which connects all of the Old English texts. As such, each text is subjected to a close reading centred around communal affairs such as the Germanic warband, kingship and hospitality in order to highlight their central importance to the understanding of the individual texts and the codex as a whole. Taken together, these close readings strengthen the main claim of the thesis that community represented a crucial driving force behind the compilation of the Nowell Codex.Show less
