The Thematic Relationship Between Weather and Emotions in Old English Poetry

Abstract

Joining the rise in scholarship approaching Old English literature with either an ecocritical or emotional approach, this thesis takes a critical look at the specific ways in which descriptions of weather interact with emotions. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that there is a connection between weather and emotions in Old English poetry that appears most strongly in five types of narratives. These narratives are exile, punishing floods, Judgment Day, sea storms, and paradise, and in each one the connection presents itself differently. This thesis also considers works from the Anglo-Saxon tradition in order to establish a stronger sense of the connection by comparing the Latin and vernacular traditions. The connection appears in four forms, with weather either causing emotions or emphasising the emotional tone of a scene, and emotions either instigating weather events or describing weather phenomena. A secondary objective of this thesis is to look at God’s emotional role in the narratives and how he controls or affects the weather.