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Abstract
Abstract: This article assesses the authenticity of the three-position SxS verse type in Beowulf on the basis of its unambiguous incidence both in Beowulf and in a larger corpus of Old English poetry. The first part of this essay examines the metrical confi guration of thirteen verses fr om Beowulf that have recently been identifi ed as instances of the SxS pattern. In doing so, it demonstrates that nearly all of them furnish a standard four-position metrical structure. The second part discusses the empirical obstacles to accepting the formal legitimacy of the three-position SxS pattern in Old English verse, thereby reaffi rming the validity of the stricture of traditional Sieversian metrics against verses consisting of less tan four metrical positions.
Keywords: Old English Metre, Textual Criticism, Beowulf, Old English Literature, Early Germanic Poetry.
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