Your musings are interesting, as always, Svein. As I'm sure you know, oral poets often compose sections of narrative or description in hysteron-proteron order (ring composition), and the palindrome is an instance of that in which the elements not only correspond to one another in some abstract way, but actually are the same. Some scholars think that oral poets did this in order to give rhetorical prominence to the central element, but I have never thought that a plausible explanation. The introductory and concluding elements often mirror each other simply because of the way in which they are connecting the passage to the rest of the narrative. Such compositions often have a sense of unity that is satisfying, even when the reader does not notice the correspondences which organize the passage.
Thanks for posting this!
Tony
|