THE OLD WORK OF THE GIANTS — RUINS AND NOSTALGIA IN OLD ENGLISH POETRY
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Abstract
Nostalgia of some kind is a common concern in Old English literature, especially in poetry, and it is often most visible in images of ruin and decay. Destroyed buildings, abandoned homes, and ancient tombs in the Old English tradition speak not only about the lives and ways of those who dwelt or are now buried in them but also on behalf of those who have come to observe them or who have seen in them either a reflection of their own lives or the fate towards which each and every thing in the world is slowly going. This paper seeks to analyse the themes of nostalgia in Old English poetry by examining the images of architectural decay in order to explore and better understand the connection between nostalgia and the symbolism behind ruins in the Old English poetic tradition. The analysis relies largely on holistic studies of the Exter Book and other Old English manuscripts (cf. Ericksen, 2011; Reading, 2018; Niles, 2019) and aims to enter a dialoguew ith studies of nostalgia, transience and fate as some of the chief pillars of Anglo-Saxon poetry (cf. Di Sciacca, 2006; Fell, 2013; Trilling, 2008).
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