Time Metaphors in the Menologium: A Conceptual-Metaphor-Informed Analysis

Abstract

This article explores the predominant metaphorical construals of time in the Menologium. Drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and previous research on the role of space and motion in the conceptualization of time in Modern English and Old English, the Menologium is analyzed from a linguistic point of view to get an insight into how conventional time metaphors were used to describe the course of the Anglo-Saxon liturgical year. This analysis shows a persistent metaphorical link between time, motion and the circular and sagittal – front-back – spatial axes reflected in the use of lexical items such as the preposition ymb or motion verbs to describe the passing of time. The result is a complex time model which is simultaneously cyclical and linear, where days, months and years are conceptualized as circular but also bounded time units sequentially proceeding towards a stationary observer, the reader. In this view the various parts of a year and liturgical feasts are seen as periodically recurring in a time framework that also sees each point in time as unique. This analysis of the Menologium complements previous studies of the poem with a conceptual metaphor approach in which cognitive linguistics is brought to bear on literary analysis.