The Lexical Domain of Beauty and Its Metaphors in the Anglo-Saxon Formulaic Style

"This monograph offers an analysis of the lexical domain of beauty and other additional lexical domains that are figuratively used to refer to beauty, highlighting their central role in the Anglo-Saxon formulaic style. Using different methods from computational and cognitive linguistics, this study is aimed at determining the exact semantic value of these terms, detecting possible patterns of metaphorization and metonymization and identifying strategies behind their usage, ultimately determining how beauty was conceptualised and experienced in early Medieval England and in its literature. This research evidences the importance of this aesthetic idea in the Old English poetry and its aesthetic paradigm and revealing the core associations between beauty and other religious and social ideas"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Acknowledgments 7 Abstract 9 Table of Contents 11 Introduction 13 1. From ‘Beauty’ to the Experience of Beauty 17 1.1. ‘Beauty’ as an Aesthetic Idea 17 1.2. Aesthetic Emotions and the Experience of Beauty 38 2. The Anglo-Saxon Mind, Senses and Aesthetic Sensibility 61 2.1. The Anglo-Saxon Senses, Emotions and Psychology 61 2.2. The Anglo-Saxon Aesthetic Experience 89 2.3. Anglo-Saxon Vernacular Verse: Some Considerations and Possible Subdivisions 105 3. The Lexical Domain of Beauty and Appearance 113 3.1. OE ansȳn 113 3.2. OE cȳm- 114 3.3. Adjective OE fæger 115 3.4. Adverb OE fægere 137 3.5. OE fægrian 143 3.6. OE wlite 144 3.7. OE wlitig 153 4. Beauty Is Cleanness 167 5. Beauty Is Colour 173 6. Beauty Is Uniqueness and Excellence 181 7. Beauty Is An Intricate Pattern 191 8. Beauty Is Light 201 9. Beauty Is Nobility 215 10. Beauty Is Aesthetic Pleasure 225 Concluding Remarks 239 Bibliography 257