Indo-European linguistics and classical philology
M. V. Yatsenko Nomina dicendi in Old English Caedmon’s poems (on the reception of Christian hymnody in Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition) (pp. 1051–1060)
Author
M. V. Yatsenko (The Bonch-Bruevich Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications)
Pages\n 1051–1060
Summary\n
The article deals with the problem of reception of Christian hymnody in Old English biblical paraphrases (so-called Caedmon’s poems). This page of Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition yields a surprising use of nomina dicendi. The Christian songs of Azarias and the three youths as presented in the poem Daniel are called neither song nor leoð (“song”) regardless of the fact that one of them was definitely sung during the liturgy (in Latin, of course). Whereas the Christian Songs of Moses (from Exodus and Deuteronomy) are replaced in Old English Exodus by the song (called both song and leoð) that has nothing to do with the thanksgiving chant of the Bible. That song in Exodus represents the departing of the Red Sea as ongoing process. Both episodes (from Exodus and Daniel) show specific view on the singing as a dramatic act that can have an influence on the outside world. The difference in the use of the names for these songs can refer to specific character of the genres of each of the poems (Exodus being more heroic, Daniel – more predicant) or just to the traditional attitude to these nomina dicendi. Probably this attitude is best explained by the parallel with the Old Icelandic songs in ljόðaháttr that look very much like the Old English Song of Moses – both in syntactic construction and in the sphere of use – portraying the things that are going on now or are to come in the nearest future. This likeness lies mainly in the function, because Old English metre was not so strictly regulated as that of Old Icelandic. The special “prophetic” use of the present tense that can refer to the future as well in all the discussed Old English songs helped to view them as a miracle but prevented them from expressing that the events will happen “ever after”, a concept inherent to a Christian prayer.
Keywords\n
Caedmon’s hymn, Old English poems Exodus, Daniel, Genesis, Christ and Satan, Caedmon’s poetry, Christian hymnody, nomina dicendi, genres of the Old English poems.
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