'The sheer volume of information about the Old English language and the poetry makes the book challenging and valuable.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

• Illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Part I. The Poetry of an Aristocratic Warrior Society: 1. The chronological implications of the bond between kingship in Beowulf and kingship in practice; 2. Society's ancient conceptions of active being and narrative living; 3. Poetry's tradition of symbolic expression; 4. The language of symbolic expression; 5. Types of symbolic narrative; 6. Basic characteristics of symbolic story; Part II. The Poetry of a Universal Religion: 7. Vernacular poetic narrative in a Christian world; 8. Poet, public petitioner and preacher; 9. Symbolic language serving the company of Christ; 10. Adaptation to a new material morality; 11. From social hero to individual sub specie aeternitatis; 12. Loyalty as a responsibility of the individual; 13. This world as part of God's spiritual dominion; Works cited; Indexes.

'The sheer volume of information about the Old English language and the poetry makes the book challenging and valuable.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

• Illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Part I. The Poetry of an Aristocratic Warrior Society: 1. The chronological implications of the bond between kingship in Beowulf and kingship in practice; 2. Society's ancient conceptions of active being and narrative living; 3. Poetry's tradition of symbolic expression; 4. The language of symbolic expression; 5. Types of symbolic narrative; 6. Basic characteristics of symbolic story; Part II. The Poetry of a Universal Religion: 7. Vernacular poetic narrative in a Christian world; 8. Poet, public petitioner and preacher; 9. Symbolic language serving the company of Christ; 10. Adaptation to a new material morality; 11. From social hero to individual sub specie aeternitatis; 12. Loyalty as a responsibility of the individual; 13. This world as part of God's spiritual dominion; Works cited; Indexes.

'The sheer volume of information about the Old English language and the poetry makes the book challenging and valuable.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

• Illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; Part I. The Poetry of an Aristocratic Warrior Society: 1. The chronological implications of the bond between kingship in Beowulf and kingship in practice; 2. Society's ancient conceptions of active being and narrative living; 3. Poetry's tradition of symbolic expression; 4. The language of symbolic expression; 5. Types of symbolic narrative; 6. Basic characteristics of symbolic story; Part II. The Poetry of a Universal Religion: 7. Vernacular poetic narrative in a Christian world; 8. Poet, public petitioner and preacher; 9. Symbolic language serving the company of Christ; 10. Adaptation to a new material morality; 11. From social hero to individual sub specie aeternitatis; 12. Loyalty as a responsibility of the individual; 13. This world as part of God's spiritual dominion; Works cited; Indexes.