Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
noun-adjective compounds, Old English, poetry, Anglo-Saxon
College
Humanities
Department
English
Abstract
One of the marks of Old English poetic style is the compound word. Malcolm Godden calls compounds “the essence of Anglo-Saxon poetic language.”(1) The lexicon of words exclusive to poetry includes many compounds, and many of these compounds are used only once in the Old English corpus. Thus it seems Anglo-Saxon poem-making consisted not only in using a large number of compound words, but in true compounding, in coining new words by combining two old words.
Recommended Citation
Christensen, Ryan and Chapman, Dr. Don
(2013)
"Noun-Adjective Compounds in Old English Poetry,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 750.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/750