"Member of the Chorus with his Lyre" “Conversation may be compared to a lyre with seven chords - philosophy, art, poetry, love, scandal, and the weather”
by Anna Jameson I wonder what the 7th one is. More fun to guess right now than look it up, as I feel exceedingly something that makes you not do things.
That which accompanied the telling of Beowulf was an ancient cousin of the lyre. The poem (and prosified version for modern folks) survived as it was lucky enough to be written down - unusual! for the time - or it might! not have made it over millennium. It was never meant to be read from a written page... . Here is a link to information about names of ancient Saxon lyres. I like Cithara the best, just for the sound... of the name.Apparently Benjamin Bagby is the chap. Plus his site is all purty and informative, even though we've missed all the listed performance dates, and they're still the only lonely ones up. http://www.bagbybeowulf.com/Maybe a little breather break for Benjamin Bagby is becoming his birthright. Too silly for alliteration, thou art, old fool. Meaning me, not Mr. Bagby. Wanna know about the structure in three parts, the whispering and the screaming in the singing and all the rest? Either you can wait until the rest of my earlier piece.... or check here... http://www.bagbybeowulf.com/beowulf/index.html