Oral Tradition, Architecture, and Old English Poetry

FAIN: FT-54022-06

Lori Ann Garner
Unaffiliated Independent Scholar (Champaign, IL 61821)

“Oral Tradition, Architecture, and Old English Poetry,” a book under contract with the University of Notre Dame Press, examines depictions of buildings in the dual contexts of oral tradition and architectural studies. Past scholarship has analyzed structures such as Beowulf’s Heorot in isolation; the present manuscript, however, will offer the first comprehensive treatment of architectural description in Anglo-Saxon poetry, treating well-known texts such as “Beowulf” alongside lesser- known works, including charms, riddles, and maxims. The two complementary perspectives of architecture and oral tradition provide new and significant insights into the traditional associations embedded in architectural description.