The Signum Scene

Mythmoot V: 05 - JRR Tolkien's Guidelines for Translation and Sir Orfeo 25.07.2018 29:12 ↓

A translator is not free: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Guidelines for Translation and Their Application in Sir Orfeo Curtis Weyant While bemoaning his struggles with translating the Middle English poem “Pearl,” Tolkien declared to his aunt, Jane Neave, that ‘a translator is not free”: but he neglected to delineate the specific rules by which he believed translators were shackled. Fortunately, elsewhere in h...

Mythmoot V: 06 - Narrative Functions of Sickness in Egils Saga Skallagrimssonar and Laxdaela Saga 13.07.2018 19:50 ↓

Getting Sick of It: Narrative Functions of Sickness in Egils Saga Skallagrímssonar and Laxdæla Saga Laura Lee Smith Many characters die in the course of Egils Saga Skallagrímssonar and Laxdæla Saga, most from battle wounds or homicide, and some from old age or other natural causes. Characters may also take to their beds for various reasons, including grief. But in some instances, the narrator spec...

Mythmoot V: 07 - Crossing Frontiers from the Home front to the Battlefront 13.07.2018 41:37 ↓

The Bitter Watches of the Night: From Anne Elliot to Éowyn of Rohan—Crossing Frontiers from the Home front to the Battlefront Jennifer Ewing J. R. R. Tolkien is often accused of either not having enough female characters, or that those present are not as fully realized as his male characters. However, Tolkien’s keen understanding of the emotional challenges women face is revealed when we consider...

Mythmoot V: 04 - The composite authorship of Andreas 12.07.2018 27:29 ↓

The composite authorship of Andreas David Maddock The Old English poem “Andreas” has long been a source of controversy in the Anglo-Saxon scholarly community. Although it bears no runic signature, scholars have noted significant stylistic similarities between “Andreas” and the four signed poems of Cynewulf, suggesting that they may share a common author. Others have cited affinities with Beowulf o...