Beowulf Unlocked: New Evidence from Lexomic Analysis

Michael D.C. Drout · Yvette Kisor · Leah Smith · Allison Dennett · Natasha Piirainen

Ago 2016 · Springer

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The most original and ground-breaking work on Beowulf in several decades, this book uses “lexomic” methods that blend computer-assisted statistical analysis with traditional approaches to reveal new and surprising information about the construction and sources of the greatest surviving Old English poem. Techniques of cluster analysis identify patterns of vocabulary distribution that indicate robust similarities and differences among segments of the poem. The correlation of these patterns with knowledge gained from source-study, philological analysis, and neglected previous scholarship sheds new light on the material of which Beowulf was made and the way it was composed. The implications of this investigation for the dating, structure, and cultural context of Beowulf will overturn the current scholarly consensus and significantly improve our understanding of the poem, its nature, and origins.

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Michael D.C. Drout is Professor of English at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, USA. He is the author of How Tradition Works and Tradition and Influence in Anglo-Saxon Literature.

Yvette Kisor is Professor of Literature at Ramapo College of New Jersey, USA. Her essays on medieval literature, particularly Anglo-Saxon, include publications in Anglo-Saxon England, The Chaucer Review, and ANQ.

Leah Smith is an independent scholar, as well as a public artist and art educator, working in Providence, RI, USA. She was a member of the Wheaton Lexomics Research Group from 2011-2014.

Allison Dennett is an independent scholar and childcare provider, working in Portsmouth, NH, USA. She was a member of the Wheaton Lexomics Research Group in 2013.

Natasha Piirainen is an independent scholar and a project associate working for an education non-profit in Portland, Maine, USA. She was a Mars Fellow, a Gertrude Adams Professional Development Fellow, and a member of the Wheaton Lexomics Research Group in 2013.