Hyperbole In Havelocks

Havelock relies frequently on merismus in order to express whole quantities and spreads of continuous classifications. As a result, the text becomes simultaneously inclusive and binary. That is, these literary devices extend to extremes, capturing everything in-between in the process. For Havelock, this acts as a microcosm of Havelock’s ascent from owning nothing—not even his life—to being king of all England. Furthermore, specific merismus such as “lef and loth,” and “heye and lowe,” use hyperbole and juxtaposition to influence their contexts and expand upon themes including the gravity of oath-taking and fealty, and the inclusion of all classes in Havelocks narrative.
There are too many instances of merismus in Havelock for the scope of this essay to cite and decipher each. For example, “Heye and lowe” itself occurs seven times—therefore I will focus on a few of the most repeated or interesting pairs in order to analyze the breadth as well as depth of merismus in the …show more content…
First I want to examine the repetitions of “lef and loth”, a pair which occurs five times throughout the romance. Each time, it appears at the end of the second line of a couplet. Moreover, it is always used as a modifier for the action of oath-taking (in each case, “loth” rhymes with “oth”). Thus lef and loth become integral to the definition of oath-taking in Havelock, a concept I will return to later. The depth of meanings belonging to each of these words complicates any discussion of them: lef in its relevant form can mean beloved, friend, and a pleasure; likewise, loth denotes fearsome, hostile, detestable, and monstrous among various other unpleasant things. Together, they are repeatedly glossed as “friend or foe”, but the translation does not capture the extremity of the middle English words. With