LITERATURE QUESTIONS
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE AND CULTURE
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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The term is an allusion to Beowulf’s golden torque.
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The term represents the comitatus ethic.
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The term is an example of kenning.
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The term is an example of caesura.
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Detailed explanation-1: -For example, “whale-road” is a kenning for the sea. Kennings are most commonly found in Old Norse and Old English poetry.
Detailed explanation-2: -Some of the kennings found in Beowulf include ‘battle-sweat’ for blood, ‘raven-harvest’ for corpses, ‘whale-road’ for the sea, and ‘sleep of the sword’ for death. Grendel, the monster, has several wonderful kennings to describe him: ‘Hell’s captive, ’ ‘sin-stained demon, ’ and ‘God-cursed brute’
Detailed explanation-3: -Whale road The ‘whale-road’ is the sea. The Anglo-Saxons liked to make word-pictures like this, especially in poetry. For example, the sun is called ‘the sky’s candle’ later in the story. The Anglo-Saxons used at least fifteen different words for the sea-another example is ‘swan’s riding-place’.
Detailed explanation-4: -Kennings can be used to describe everyday people, animals and objects, for example: Dog – face-licker. Baby – noise-maker. Computer – data-giver.