Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
1974
Keywords
Deor, Ruin (Anglo-Saxon Poem), Wanderer (Anglo-Saxon poem), English poetry, Old English, History and criticism
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
English, General Literature, and Rhetoric
First Advisor
Zack Bowen
Second Advisor
Bernard F. Huppe
Third Advisor
Paul E. Szarmach
Series
Humanities
Abstract
With Bartlett and Huppé on which to rely, I will deal with three Old English poems: Deor, The Ruin, and The Wanderer. It is my belief that if we subject these poems to the kinds of analysis suggested by Bartlett and Huppé, we will be able to see that rhetoric is a determining factor in theme and structure. The elusive nature of the poems, their seeming illogic at times, may well be explained by the fact that the audience did indeed know the theme, the message, of the poem and that the delight of the poem was in proportion to the intricacy of the route which led them to this theme. Two questions arise from this which need explanation at the outset: 1. why discuss the elegies and, 2. why the elegies chosen?
Recommended Citation
Rubin, Gary I., "A rhetorical analysis of Deor, The Ruin and The Wanderer" (1974). Graduate Dissertations and Theses. 239.
https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/239