Browsing by Author "Van der Westhuizen, J E"

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    Beowulf - Hæleð under Heofonum
    (1986) Viljoen, Leonie; Van der Westhuizen, J E
    This study of the design of Beowulf examines the possible function of the 'digressions', the poet's concept of time, the nature of the hero and the generic status of the poem. Finally, a suggestion as to the possible intention of the poem is proposed.
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    Metaphors of the sea : a critical study of five Anglo-Saxon poems
    (1974) Green, Brian Keith; Van der Westhuizen, J E
    The object of this thesis is to contribute to the appreciation of five selected Anglo-Saxon poems - The Wanderer, The Seafarer, Exodus, Andreas, and Beowulf - by analysing their metaphoric use of the sea. Metaphor is an essential and distinctive element of all poetry and, to be genuine, to be alive, and to be ever-interesting, a poem must achieve itself through metaphor. A poem's unique mode of vision is metaphoric, and whatever it communicates we perceive in and through metaphor. This is an axiomatic tenet of the criticism of modern poetry. But criticism of Anglo-Saxon poetry, if it bases its insights on a detailed reference to metaphor, must justify itself on theoretical grounds.
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    Religious propaganda in selected Anglo-Saxton literature
    (1999) Keating, Lise Manda; Van der Westhuizen, J E
    This study of selected Old English texts, from the canons of Aelfric and Cynewulf, presents the argument that the primary purpose of the Saints' Lives in question is that of instruments of persuasion. After a description of the rites of Anglo-Saxon paganism, an attempt is made to outline the manner in which the Christian missionaries used certain aspects of pagan belief to promote Christianity. As such, these texts may therefore be viewed as religious propaganda in the Anglo- Saxon Church's attempt to win new converts to Christianity and to strengthen the faith of those already within its fold, firstly by promoting belief in the miraculous and secondly by investing Anglo-Saxon Christianity with the supernatural powers of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Pagan religions. Although the works of Cynewulf predate those of Aelfric, I have chosen to discuss the prose works of Aelfric first. However, I do not believe that reversing the historical order invalidates the argument.
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    Svinfellinga saga : a new critical edition of BL Add. 11, 127 fol
    (1995) Viljoen, Leonie; Van der Westhuizen, J E
    This is the first self-contained critical edition based on the most significant 17th century paper copy of the text of Reykjarfjarðarbók (AM 122b fol.), one of the two remaining vellum manuscripts of Sturlunga saga. Information about BL Add. 11,127 has hitherto been available only in annotations to editions of composite texts of the Sturlunga compilation and a few separate editions of its shorter sagas. This edition shows the nature of the 17th-century paper copy, its language, orthography and spelling, and reveals some linguistic change from the 14th century. Textual notes document all instances where BL Add. 11,127 differs from the other vellum manuscript, Króksfjarðarbók (AM 122a fol.), and two other paper copies: Stockholm pap. 8 4to and Adv. MS 21.3.17. The manuscripts have been examined and transcribed at first hand. The texts of the editions of Sturlunga saga by Vigfusson (1878), Kålund (1906-11), Jóhannesson et al. (1946) and Thorsson et al. (1988) are also considered. Lexical, syntactic, discursive and factual differences are shown to render a crisp, faster-moving, often more dramatic text, one which displays creativity and individuality in its processes of selection, abbreviation, addition and composition. The saga is placed in its social, historical and literary context and shown to reveal the tensions and contradictions of its age. The interpolation, hitherto excluded by editors, is shown to be part of the thematic and narrative design, linking the saga to the broader sweep of events in the Sturlung age which led to the loss of Iceland's independence. The glossary lists all words, their inflexions and conjugations, and gives grammatical and idiomatic explanations. The general notes, genealogical tables and the map of Iceland relevant to the text provide lexical, historical and literary background. Translations of sections difficult to trace elsewhere are appended.