Honour, Exchange and Violence in Beowulf

by Peter S. Baker

This book examines violence in its social setting, and especially as an essential element in the heroic system of exchange (sometimes called the Economy of Honour). It situates Beowulf in a northern European culture where violence was not stigmatized as evidence of a breakdown in social order but rather was seen as a reasonable way to get things done; where kings and their retainers saw themselves above all as warriors whose chief occupation was...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843843463
• ISBN13: 9781843843467
• Release Date: April 2013
• Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"