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participle). Next come forms of the finite verb. Further those of the (not 'nominal') adverb, important for the sense (as 'very', 'much', adverbs of time and place, adverbial prepositions after the verb). Further: pronouns, pronominal adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, particles. For the alliteration a word of a higher degree has precedence over a word of a lower degree."

In general the following relation holds for OE. poetry:

In a combination of two nouns, provided there is not double alliteration, it is the first which alliterates (e.g. marne pēoden Beow. 201, peoden marne 353; bearn Ecgpeowes 529, Ecglafes bearn 499; feond mancynnes 164, mancynnes feond 1276.

If a noun and a verb are in the first half-line, double alliteration is permitted (weox under wolcnum, grette Geata leod - penden wordum weold), but in simple alliteration the noun must alliterate, whether it stands first or second, e.g. aldrum neddon, ellen fremedon, him pa Scyld gewāt, pone god sende pā cōm of mōre, cōm on wanre niht, eode Wealhpeow ford, gehýrde on Beowulfe. Exceptions to this rule are met with only in later poems.

The infinitive and the participle stand in the same relation to a finite verb as the noun: findan mihte, gangan cwomon, ic gefremman sceal, pā him alumpen was eow het secgan.

'Nominal' adverbs are more strongly stressed than the verbs, e.g. þa ic wide gefrægn, þā cōm in gangan.

Sometimes demonstrative and possessive pronouns alliterate, e.g. on þam dæge pisses lifes, purh mine hand, eowra leoda.

Prepositions can alliterate only when they follow the word they govern, e.g. pā him mid scoldon, ic him æfter sceal.

§ 97. Vowel and Consonant Alliteration. The alliteration may fall on a vowel or on a consonant. The former is called vowel alliteration, the latter consonant alliteration.

It

All vowels can alliterate with one another. even seems that the use of the same vowel in the long-line was intentionally avoided and a change of vowels deliberately attempted, cp. e.g.

hu pa æđelingas ellen fremedon Beow. 3
egsōde eorl, siddan @rest weard 6

īsig ond ut-füs edelinges fær 33.

The reason why all vowels can alliterate promiscuously is that it is not the vowel sound itself, which is the real alliterating element, but the 'glottal stop', which preceded every initial vowel in OE. This 'glottal stop' still exists in modern German. Here, therefore, the alliteration is really consonantal.

NOTE: In ME., probably under Norman influence, the 'glottal stop' disappeared. In ME. alliterative verse, therefore, vowel alliteration is rare, and, where it appears, the same vowel is used as far as possible; cp. § 160 and Lawrence, Chapters on Alliterative Verse, pp. 54-113.

In consonant alliteration each consonant may

alliterate only with itself. In this the greatest care is taken, apart from later poems. But as in the case of vowel alliteration the glottal stop alone, and not the following vowels, bears the alliteration, so, too, in the case of consonant alliteration one consonant alone alliterates. Thus a simple consonant may alliterate with a group of consonants, e.g. bbl br; h: hl: hr: hn: hw; ssl sn: sw; cp.:

:

Beowulf was brēme, blæd wide sprang Beow. 18
hwile wid Hrödgar; hete-nidas wæg 152

snotor ond swÿd-ferhd sele Hrōđgāres 826.

Palatal and guttural c and g can alliterate, e.g. Hæt! we Gar-Dena in gear-dagum Beow. 1

geong in geardum, þone god sende 12.

Only the consonant combinations sp, st, sc are kept apart from one another and from simple s and other s-combinations (sl, sn, sw); cp.

ond on sped wrecan spel gerade 873
Stræt was stan-fāh, stīg wisōde 320
oft Scyld Scefing sceađena prēatum 4.

In later poems, e.g. Judith, other consonant combinations are kept apart, cp. from Judith: hæled under helmum of đære hālgan byrig 203 hlōh and hlýdde, hlynede and dynede 23 hringum gehrodene; hie hrade fremedon 37 hwealfum lindum þa þe hwile ær 214

breatum and þrymmum þrungon and urnon 164.

In The Battle of Maldon and Be domes dæge patatal and guttural g are kept apart according to Kluge, Gesch. d. engl. Sprache 2nd ed. p. 1000, note,

§ 98. How frequently the various Sounds

alliterate.

In Beowulf and in most other poems vowel alliteration is most frequent, 15-20% of all verses. The cause is evidently to be found in the fact that all vowels may alliterate with one another, thus vowel alliteration was the easiest kind of alliteration. In Beowulf alliteration of h, of w and of s occurs in 10-12% of all verses, then come f and g each 7—9%, m, l, b each 5—7%, d, þ 2-4%, lastly r, n, c, t, sc, st each 1%- The combination sp occurs only once in Beowulf, v. 873 (see § 97), and p does not occur. But compare Battle of Maldon 68:

Hi þær Pantan stream mid prasse bestōdon.

Of course the frequency in the use of the various sounds in the alliteration depends on the number of the words beginning with these sounds, but on a close examination it appears that certain poets prefer certain sounds for the alliteration. Thus the poet of Exodus prefers f, the author of Genesis B prefers h etc.; cp. Graz, Metrik der sog. Cadmonschen Dichtungen.

§ 99. Variety in Alliteration.

Generally the use of the same alliterating sound in two or more consecutive verses is avoided. Since certain sounds frequently alliterate, e.g. vowels, h. w, s, it is not always possible to avoid this. In every poem, therefore, it occasionally happens

that the same alliterating sound is used in consecutive verses. This sometimes causes scribes to omit a half-verse, cp. Beow. 403f. In the first 1000 verses of Beowulf two consecutive lines have the same alliterating sound twenty times. Once even three consecutive verses (897-899) have the same alliterating sound. Generally the verses are separated by a pause and belong to separate paragraphs, so that the sameness of the alliteration does not strike the ear, e.g.

Heado-Scilfingas heals-gebedda.

þā wæs Hrōdgare here-spēd gifen 63f. weras on wil-sīd wudu bundenne.

Gewät þā ofer wæg-holm winde gefysed 216 f.

sunne swegl-wered sudan scined.

þa was on salum sinces brytta 607f.

§ 100. Rime.

In addition to alliteration there is also occasionally rime in OE. poetry. This was at first probably accidental, e.g.

Hrōdgār madelōde, hylt sceawōde Beow. 1687
Wedera leode

on wang stigon,

sæ-wudu saldon; syrcan hrysedon,

güd-gewædo; gode pancedon

þæs be him yd-lāde eade wurdon. Beow. 225 ff. Later rime seems to be intentional, e.g.

dryht-guman sine drencte mid wine Jud. 29
wyrmum bewunden, wītum gebunden Jud. 115.

cp. Kluge, Zur Geschichte des Reimes in der angelsächsischen Dichtung, PBB 9, 422 ff.

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