58
Old English Hwæt
the cases, the subject is a personal noun, denoting a human being, devil, angel,
or God. In only fi ve cases is the subject a non- animate noun. Furthermore, the
verbs in hwæt þa clauses are overwhelmingly dynamic, telic, and active or,
infrequently, passive. In only four cases are the verbs stative and in only two
cases are they modal.^22 Thus, hwæt þa clauses can be understood to express
foregrounded events, or mainline events in the plot development.
2.4.2 Functions of hwæt þa
In many instances, hwæt þa expresses a causal relation between the preceding
event and the following event; that is, it is a marker of result or consequence:
(12) a. and æfter ðysum wordum gewende se engel up. Hwæt ða se casere cafl ice
lihte þancigende Gode þære wissunge, (ÆLS [Exalt of Cross] B1.3.27
100– 02)
‘and after these words the angel went up. What then the emperor quickly
alighted, thanking God for the lesson’
b. Heo wearð swaþeah beweddad swa swa hit woldon hire frynd, anum æþelan
cnihte, se næs cristen þa git, ualerianus gehaten. se is nu halig sanct. Hwæt
ða Cecilia hi sylfe gescrydde mid hæran to lice and gelome fæste ... (ÆLS
[Cecilia] B1.3.32 10– 14)
‘She was nevertheless wedded, as her friends willed it, to a noble youth
who was not yet a Christian, named Valerian, who is now a holy saint. What
then Cecilia clothed herself with hair- cloth on her body and frequently
fasted ...’
c. Him comon to on swæfne þa soðan godes halgan, and sædon hwær heora ban
þa gebrohte wæron. Hwæt þa se bisceop of his bedde aras, and ferde mid
his preostum to ðam fl ode nihtes. (ÆLS [Forty Soldiers] B1.3.12 265– 68)
‘The true saints of God came to him in a dream and said where their bones
had been carried. What then the bishop arose from his bed and traveled with
his priests to the river by night’
d. þa het fabianus þæt he þam fulan Ioue recels geoffrode oððe eode him sylf
ofer byrnende gleda mid his barum fotum. Hwæt ða Tiburtius bealdlice
eode ofer ða byrnendan gleda, unforbærnedum fotum, ... (ÆLS [Sebastian]
376– 80)
‘then Fabianus ordered that he should offer incense to the foul Jove, or him-
self walk over burning coals with bare feet. What then Tibertius went boldly
over the burning coals with unburned feet ...’
22 This fi nding is also confi rmed by Cichosz ’s (forthc.) study. The stative verbs among my
examples could be seen as having a dynamic sense requiring an input of energy from the
subject: Two denote a king or bishop “holding” his domain for a number of years ( his cyne-
dom geheold , his bisceop- dom ge- heold ), one denotes a man keeping his wife unpolluted
( ungewæmmede heold his bryde ), and one denotes a person remaining in a place ( on ðære
byrig wunode ).