The oldest British epic poem 'Beowulf' that influenced the 'Ring Story' might have been written and written by only one person
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For long time epic poem ' Beowulf ' who is said to have a great influence on J · R · R · Tolkien , the researchers said, 'For a long time, one author wrote consistently, Or we have argued the mystery, 'Who multiple authors wrote?' Researchers at Harvard University have argued that, as a result of statistical analysis, Beowulf is likely to have been written by a single author.
Large-scale quantitative profiling of the Old English verse tradition | Nature Human Behavior
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0570-1
Tolkien was right: Scholars conclude Beowulf likely the work of single author | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/tolkien-was-right-scholars-conclude-beowulf-likely-the-work-of-single-author/
Beowulf, one of the oldest traditions in English literature, is an epic that tells the adventure of the hero Beowulf. Set in the Scandinavian peninsula, the fantastic setting that the warrior Beowulf defeats the giant Grendel and the dragon is believed to have a major impact on Tolkien, who is known as the author of ' Hobbit's Adventure ' and 'The Ring Story '.
Such Beowulf is said to have been written between the 8th and 11th centuries, and identifying the exact time Beowulf was written is a major concern for researchers. In addition to that, the theory that 'Beowulf is not a single author but a compilation of several authors' has been discussed for many years. According to Madison Krieger, a researcher at Harvard University, questions about Beowulf's author have been raised since 1815.
'We know about the fight against Grendel and Dragon since high school, but when I read back the whole picture, I felt that the Beowulf's swimming was just touching, and I talked about the king hundreds of years ago. You'll receive, ”Krieger points out. In addition, in existing manuscripts, it is confirmed that the second writer has been replaced from the 1939th line.
It seems that until 1936 the view that 'Beowulf was written by several authors' was common, but Tolkien published an analysis on Beowulf in 1936, 'Beowulf was written by a single author. It is supported by the theory that Tolkien believed that Beowulf was written by a single author around the 8th century.
In the mystery of Beowulf's author, Krieger has devised to analyze using statistical methods. 'Study based on poetry content and author's belief is of course important, but style-based research is equally important,' Krieger argues, and that style-based analysis is quantitative and measurable. Is also a great advantage.
Krieger's analysis focuses on writing sentences in a slightly different style, such as poetry prosody and word combination patterns. By statistically analyzing a variety of items such as the order in which phrases appear and the richness of vocabulary, it is possible to identify whether the person who wrote one sentence and another sentence is the same person. For example, Polish researchers conducted
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Krieger et al.'S research team who analyzed Beowulf measured items such as 'prosody', 'pause of sentences', 'selection of words', and 'combination of words'. As a result of analyzing the measurement items, Beowulf's text seems to have consistently found strong commonality.
'The style of Beowulf's text is consistent and there are no major stylistic changes in the text,' Krieger says, supporting the theory that Beowulf was written by a single author. By measuring the style elements other than the items measured this time, it is possible to further increase the possibility that Beowulf was written by a single author.
However, the results of this study are based only on statistical analysis, and it is not necessarily determined that the author is one. In addition, Simon DeDeo, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, pointed out, 'It is difficult to identify who the author is.'
For example, in 1995, William F. Shakespeare researcher Donald Foster , as a result of analysis using a computer, claimed that 'the poem' Funeral Elegy for Master William Peter 'was written by Shakespeare'. . However, it turned out that John Ford , the writer of the same period, later wrote the poem, and Foster acknowledged the mistake.
Krieger is also aware of the difficulties with the attribution of the author that one case of Foster revealed. However, the research results of this time do not reveal the true identity of the author, and it is assumed that Beowulf's author is likely to be one rather than several, and it is distinguished from the task of identifying the author. I said that I should think.
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