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Old 04-09-2012, 11:20 AM   #49
Bęthberry
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron View Post
Amiable sort that I am, I would never seek to be disagreeable, Beth. However, since you dredged up a relic which I have not yet to perused, I will say that the sentence

Quote:
Borne upon the wind they heard the howling of wolves.
is particularly evocative and wonderful in construction. The sentence metre is reminiscent of the alliterative verse found in Beowulf.

Just saying.
Morth, you might be inclined to think that I dredged that up just to make a curmudgeon happy. And you wouldn't be far wrong.

(Since double posting is frowned upon, I've simply deleted the previous post and add here new thoughts . . . .)

You've hit upon the very point which I think is likely to account for the sentence, Morth, as The Professor was known to favour Old English elements of the language over French and Latin imports. This would not be the first time. (His query over his mum's point about 'great green dragons' being only the most obvious.)

Still, it is a useful example to demonstrate just how curmudgeonly an Oxford don could be, eh?
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