<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The maxim <italic>Wyrd oft nereð // unfӕgne eorl, / þonne his ellen deah</italic> “Fate often spares an undoomed man when his courage avails” (<italic>Beowulf</italic> 572b-573) has been likened to “Fortune favors the brave,” with little attention to the word <italic>unfӕgne</italic>, which is often translated “undoomed”. This comparison between proverbs emphasizes personal agency and suggests a contrast between the proverb in 572b-573 and the maxim <italic>Gӕð a wyrd swa hio scel</italic> “Goes always fate as it must” (<italic>Beowulf</italic> 455b), which depicts an inexorable <italic>wyrd</italic>. This paper presents the history of this view and argues that linguistic analysis and further attention to Germanic cognates of <italic>(un)fӕge</italic> reveal a proverb that harmonizes with 455b. <italic>(Un)fӕge</italic> and its cognates have meanings related to being brave or cowardly, blessed or accursed, <italic>and</italic> doomed or undoomed. A similar Old Norse proverb also speaks to the significance of the status of <italic>unfӕge</italic> men. Furthermore, the prenominal position of <italic>unfӕgne</italic> is argued to represent a characterizing property of the man. The word <italic>unfӕgne</italic> is essential to the meaning of this proverb as it indicates not the simple absence of being doomed but the presence of a more complex quality. This interpretive point is significant in that it provides more information about the portrayal of <italic>wyrd</italic> in <italic>Beowulf</italic> by clarifying a well-known proverb in the text; it also has implications for future translations of these verses.</abstract>

Saving the “Undoomed Man” In <italic>Beowulf</italic> (572b-573)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">An important source of localisable Middle English dialectological data has recently become widely accessible, thanks to the published transcription of the 1377, 1379 and 1381 poll tax re-turns by Carolyn C. Fenwick (1998, 2001, 2005). As the only collection of onomastic data from the late fourteenth century with national coverage, the name forms in the records can be analysed to further our understanding of Middle English dialect distribution and change. As with many historical records, the poll tax returns are not without damage and so do not cover the country in its entirety, but provided their investigation is carried out with suitable methodological caution, they are of considerable dialectological value. Using the poll tax data, the distributions of two dialect features particular to the West Midlands (specifically rounding of /a/ to /o/ before nasals and /u/ in unstressed positions) are presented and compared with the patterns given for the same features in Kristensson’s (1987) dialect survey of data from 1290-1350. By identifying apparent discrepancies in dialect distribution from these datasets, which represent periods of no more than 100 years apart, it seems that the spread of certain Middle English dialect features may have changed considerably over a short space of time. Other possible reasons for these distribution differences are also suggested, highlighting the difficulties in comparing dialect data from differ-ent sets of records. Through this paper a case for further dialectological study, using the poll tax returns, is made, to add to the literature on Middle English dialect distribution and to improve our knowledge of ME dialect phonologies at the end of the fourteenth century.</abstract>

The Onomastic Data of the Fourteenth-Century Poll Tax Returns: A Case for Further Dialectological Study of Late Medieval English

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article addresses the question of Old English alternations with a view to identifying instances of allomorphic variation attributable to the loss of motivation and the subsequent morphologization of alternations. The focus is on the strong verb and its derivatives, in such a way that the alternations in which the strong verb partakes can be predicted on the basis of phonological principles, whereas allomorphic variation with respect to the strong verb base is unpredictable. Out of 304 derivational paradigms based on strong verbs and comprising 4,853 derivatives, 478 instances have been found of phonologically motivated vocalic alternations. The conclusion is reached that the most frequent alternations are those that have /a/ as source and those with /y/ as target, because /a/ is the point of departure of i-mutation and /y/ its point of arrival. Sixteen instances of allomorphic variation have also been found, of which /e/ ~ /eo/, /e/ ~ /ea/ and /i/ ~ /e/ are relatively frequent.</abstract>

Alternation vs. Allomorphic Variation in Old English Word-Formation: Evidence from the Derivational Paradigm of Strong Verbs

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">For medieval audiences women occupied a specific, designated cultural area which, while they could freely form it according to their will and nature, was in fact imaginary and immaterial. Women in social, legal, and religious contexts were mostly counted among the receptive, inactive, and non-ruling groups. On both levels, there was a group of features universally defining all women: the strong, virtuous and independent model Aquinas lamented was replaced in real life by the sinful, carnal and weak stereotype, and the erotic, emotional, mysterious, and often wild type present predominantly in literature. Indeed, women were a source of scientific, theological, and cultural fascination because of their uncanny and complex nature, producing both fear and desire of the source and nature of the unattainable and inaccessible femininity. In social contexts, however, the enchantress seems to lose that veil of allure and, instead, is forced to re-define her identity by suppressing, denying, or losing her supernatural features. With the example of Saint Agnes from the South English Legendary <italic>Life</italic><italic>of</italic><italic>Saint</italic><italic>Agnes</italic>, and Melior from <italic>Partonope</italic><italic>of</italic><italic>Blois</italic> (ca. 1450), the article will explore how medieval texts dealt with the complex and unruly female supernatural, and how its neutralization and subduing fitted into the moral, scientific, and cultural norms of medieval society.</abstract>

Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article is part of a body of research into the conventions which govern the composition of Gothic texts. Gothic fiction resorts to formulas or formula-like constructions, but whereas in writers such as Ann Radcliffe this practice is apt to be masked by stylistic devices, it enjoys a more naked display in the–in our modern eyes–less ‘canonical’ Gothics, and it is in these that we may profitably begin an analysis. The novel selected was Peter Teuthold’s The Necromancer (1794)–a very free translation of K. F. Kahlert’s Der Geisterbanner (1792) and one of the seven Gothic novels mentioned in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.There is currently no literature on the topic of formulaic language in Gothic prose fiction. The article resorts to a modified understanding of the term ‘collocation’ as used in lexicography and corpus linguistics to identify the significant co-occurrence of two or more words in proximity. It also draws on insights from the Theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition, in particular as concerns the use of the term ‘formula’ in traditional epic poetry, though again some modifications are required by the nature of Teuthold’s text. The article differentiates between formula as a set of words which appear in invariant or near-invariant collocation more than once, and a formulaic pattern, a rather more complex, open system of collocations involving lexical and other fields. The article isolates a formulaic pattern—that gravitating around the node-word ‘horror’, a key word for the entire Gothic genre –, defines its component elements and structure within the book, and analyses its thematic importance. Key to this analysis are the concepts of overpatterning, ritualization, equivalence and visibility.</abstract>

‘Thrilled with Chilly Horror’: A Formulaic Pattern in Gothic Fiction

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Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

 Studia Anglica Posnaniensia: An international Review of English Studies, was established in 1968 by the eminent Polish anglicist Jacek Fisiak and has been published continuously ever since by Adam Mickiewicz University Poznañ (Faculty of English). It is devoted to publishing high-quality research in English linguistics, literatures in English, and broadly understood culture of anglophone countries. It carries original studies in all the above areas, both devoted solely to English and those of a comparative natures, as well as book reviews and thematic issues. New contributions appear continuously throughout the year on the online-first basis, while the yearbook is closed and printed in late December. The primary mode of publication is on-line, with printed copies reserved in principle for the authors alone. The journal welcomes contributions on all aspects on English studies as defined above, theoretical as well as applied. The language of the journal is English. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia is a Gold Open Access journal and as such it does not have any article processing charges (APCs) nor article submission charges. Rejection Rate   65%   Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 

Studia Anglica Posnaniensia

Volume 49 (2014): Issue 2 (June 2014)

Saving the “Undoomed Man” In Beowulf (572b-573)

The Onomastic Data of the Fourteenth-Century Poll Tax Returns: A Case for Further Dialectological Study of Late Medieval English

Alternation vs. Allomorphic Variation in Old English Word-Formation: Evidence from the Derivational Paradigm of Strong Verbs

Uncovering the Secret: Medieval Women, Magic and the Other

‘Thrilled with Chilly Horror’: A Formulaic Pattern in Gothic Fiction

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