Comments on: And in Lane 7, Next to Michael Phelps: Willard Spiegelman http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/2008/08/26/and-in-lane-7-next-to-michael-phelps-willard-spiegelman/ Arts and Culture for North Texas and Far Beyond Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:48:22 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jerome Weeks http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/2008/08/26/and-in-lane-7-next-to-michael-phelps-willard-spiegelman/#comment-2011 Jerome Weeks Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:46:36 +0000 http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/?p=1471#comment-2011 I should have known I'd be out-pedanted. Professor Spiegelman is right overall about <em>Beowulf</em>'s isolation and lack of influence for centuries -- hence my acknowledgement that it's "certainly defensible" to argue swimming really entered English literature post-Byron. The poem remained outside the traditions of commonly known literature. But I'm not sure about the "foreign language" part. <em>Beowulf </em>mixes Anglian and West Saxon dialects, but it's still definitely considered Old English. I should have known I’d be out-pedanted.

Professor Spiegelman is right overall about Beowulf’s isolation and lack of influence for centuries — hence my acknowledgement that it’s “certainly defensible” to argue swimming really entered English literature post-Byron. The poem remained outside the traditions of commonly known literature. But I’m not sure about the “foreign language” part. Beowulf mixes Anglian and West Saxon dialects, but it’s still definitely considered Old English.

]]> By: Willard Spiegelman http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/2008/08/26/and-in-lane-7-next-to-michael-phelps-willard-spiegelman/#comment-2010 Willard Spiegelman Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:36:40 +0000 http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/?p=1471#comment-2010 Actually, one school of thought holds that "Beowulf" isn't really part of English literature, because 1. it is written in a foreign language; and 2. the existence of the manuscript wasn't discovered until the 18th century, so it exerted no influence on the development of English literature during the middle ages and the Renaissance. But Jerome is correct, in part. Thanks for the notice. Actually, one school of thought holds that “Beowulf” isn’t really part of English literature, because
1. it is written in a foreign language; and
2. the existence of the manuscript wasn’t discovered until the 18th century, so it exerted no influence on the development of English literature during the middle ages and the Renaissance.

But Jerome is correct, in part.
Thanks for the notice.

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