The poetics of attention in Old English verse: A cognitive stylistic approach to the depiction of Grendel in Beowulf

Abstract

In this article, I apply Stockwell’s framework of attentional phenomena in language to Old English literature. I outline the special attentional features that we find in Old English poetry, encompassing alliteration, poetic vocabulary and apposition. I then move on to provide an analysis of the figure of Grendel through an attentional lens, arguing that the Beowulf-poet consistently pulls our attention towards his demonic or monstrous aspects rather than his residual humanity. In my discussion, I argue that alliterative patterning and its intersection with lexical content is central to how the poet filters our perception of Grendel. I then move on to examine how the poet uses stock poetic lexis to define him, drawing on the Cognitive Grammar concept of reference points, suggesting that the various synonyms for ‘man’ or ‘warrior’ applied to Grendel are consistently decentred from his overall description. Finally, drawing on Nuttall, I conclude with some observations on how the narrator controls our perception of Grendel’s mind.