Beowulf and the Appositive Style

Originally published in 1985, Fred T. Robinson’s classic study asserts that the appositive style of Beowulf helps the poet communicate his Christian vision of pagan life. By alerting the audience to both the older and the newer meanings of words, the poet was able to resolve the fundamental tension which pervades his narration of ancient heroic deeds.

Robinson describes Beowulf’s major themes and the grammatical and stylistic aspects of its appositive strategies. He then considers the poet’s...