Jump to content

Bruce Mitchell (scholar): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Tag: Reverted
 
(4 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Australian scholar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2016}}
Line 15: Line 16:
Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at [[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] from 1954<ref name=MCreg /> to 1987, and after retirement was elected an [[emeritus]] [[fellow]].<ref name=Telegraph/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/index.php?action=view&id=153&module=newsmodule&src=%40random41940a897e943 |title=News: Dr Bruce Mitchell, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall |date=1 February 2010 |publisher=[[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref>
Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at [[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] from 1954<ref name=MCreg /> to 1987, and after retirement was elected an [[emeritus]] [[fellow]].<ref name=Telegraph/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/index.php?action=view&id=153&module=newsmodule&src=%40random41940a897e943 |title=News: Dr Bruce Mitchell, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall |date=1 February 2010 |publisher=[[St Edmund Hall, Oxford]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref>


Though he spent his entire life in Oxford since age 32, he never lost his Australian accent, and displayed his heritage by having an Australian flag and a [[eucalyptus tree]] in his garden.<ref name="definitive" /> In recognition of his antipodean links, he wrote an Australian Anglo-Saxon "song of home":
Though he spent his entire life in Oxford since age 32, he never lost his Australian accent, and displayed his heritage by having an Australian flag and a [[eucalyptus tree]] in his garden.<ref name="definitive" />

"Wor de Antarktisch Wellen trecken an de Strand,

Wor de Eukalypten bleuhn int brune land

Wor de schnelle Kangaruhn lufen ower Sand,

Dor is mine Haimat."


His specialty was [[Old English]] language and literature and particularly ''[[Beowulf]]''; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of ''Beowulf'', which he published with [[Fred C. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB915761062528139500?mod=googlewsj |title=The Anglo-Saxon Who Took Hollywood |last=Bukowski |first=Elizabeth |date=11 January 1999 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref> His "magisterial" and "phenomenal" book on Old English syntax is still the standard reference work in the field.<ref name="definitive"/>
His specialty was [[Old English]] language and literature and particularly ''[[Beowulf]]''; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of ''Beowulf'', which he published with [[Fred C. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB915761062528139500?mod=googlewsj |title=The Anglo-Saxon Who Took Hollywood |last=Bukowski |first=Elizabeth |date=11 January 1999 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=2 February 2010}}</ref> His "magisterial" and "phenomenal" book on Old English syntax is still the standard reference work in the field.<ref name="definitive"/>


Mitchell was [[Terry Jones]]'s tutor and believed he was the inspiration for the [[Monty Python]] "Bruces" sketch; he was disappointed to find out [[Eric Idle]] had written it and it was not based on him.<ref name=Telegraph/>
Mitchell was [[Terry Jones]]'s tutor and believed he was the inspiration for [[Monty Python]]'s [[Bruces sketch|"Bruces" sketch]]; he was disappointed to find out [[Eric Idle]] had written it and it was not based on him.<ref name=Telegraph/>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
Line 39: Line 32:
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1995|isbn=978-0-631-17436-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljV5N2JDcdkC}}
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|title=An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1995|isbn=978-0-631-17436-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljV5N2JDcdkC}}
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinsion |author2-link=Fred C. Robinson |author3=Leslie Webster |author3-link=Leslie E. Webster |title=Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1998|isbn=978-0-631-17226-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uujn741w2Y4C}} (first published 1998)<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reviewed Work: "Beowulf": An Edition by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson|author=Hill, Thomas D.|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=101|issue=3|date=July 2002|pages=437–439|jstor=27712258}}</ref>
*{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|author2=Fred C. Robinsion |author2-link=Fred C. Robinson |author3=Leslie Webster |author3-link=Leslie E. Webster |title=Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts|publisher=Blackwell|location=Oxford, Malden|year=1998|isbn=978-0-631-17226-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uujn741w2Y4C}} (first published 1998)<ref>{{cite journal|title=Reviewed Work: "Beowulf": An Edition by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson|author=Hill, Thomas D.|journal=The Journal of English and Germanic Philology|volume=101|issue=3|date=July 2002|pages=437–439|jstor=27712258}}</ref>

===Selected articles===
*{{cite journal|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|year=1992|title=Literary Lapses: Six Notes on ''Beowulf'' and its Critics|journal=[[Review of English Studies]]|issue=169|pages=1–17|doi=10.1093/res/XLIII.169.1}}
*{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Peter S.|author2=Nicholas Howe|author2-link=Nicholas Howe|title=Words and works: studies in medieval English language and literature in honour of Fred C. Robinson|publisher=U of Toronto P|year=1998|pages=143–58|chapter=''The Dream of the Rood'' Repunctuated|isbn=978-0-8020-4153-1|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M1c4WxIbNdYC&pg=PA143}}


===''Festschrift''===
===''Festschrift''===
Line 65: Line 54:
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of St Edmund Hall, Oxford]]
[[Category:Australian expatriates in England]]
[[Category:Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Australian Army officers]]
[[Category:Australian Army officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New South Wales]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New South Wales]]

Latest revision as of 07:49, 9 April 2024

Raymond Bruce Mitchell (8 January 1920 – 30 January 2010) was a scholar of Old English.

Biography

[edit]

Early life, Australia

[edit]

Mitchell was born in Lismore, New South Wales. He won a free place at the University of Melbourne but was unable to take it up and instead after leaving school at 15, worked as a student teacher while studying part-time. He earned a general Arts degree.[1]

He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1940 and served as an intelligence officer in the Australian Imperial Force from 1941 to 1946. He then ran a printing company before returning to the university, again part-time while working as a gardener, builders' labourer and railway porter, and tutoring English at the university. He took Firsts in English Language and Literature in 1948 and in Comparative Philology in 1952.[1]

Scholarly career, Oxford

[edit]

He entered Merton College, Oxford, on a scholarship in 1952, the same year he married Mollie Miller,[2] who had accompanied him from Australia. They received permission to be married from Mitchell's supervisor, J.R.R. Tolkien.[3] He received a doctorate in 1959 with a thesis entitled Subordinate Clauses in Old English Poetry.[1][4] In 1986 he gained the degree of D.Litt. (Oxon) for his contribution to Old English studies.

Mitchell was a Fellow and a Tutor at St Edmund Hall, Oxford from 1954[2] to 1987, and after retirement was elected an emeritus fellow.[1][5]

Though he spent his entire life in Oxford since age 32, he never lost his Australian accent, and displayed his heritage by having an Australian flag and a eucalyptus tree in his garden.[3]

His specialty was Old English language and literature and particularly Beowulf; his textbooks on Old English language are considered classics in the field, as is his edition of Beowulf, which he published with Fred C. Robinson.[6] His "magisterial" and "phenomenal" book on Old English syntax is still the standard reference work in the field.[3]

Mitchell was Terry Jones's tutor and believed he was the inspiration for Monty Python's "Bruces" sketch; he was disappointed to find out Eric Idle had written it and it was not based on him.[1]

Bibliography

[edit]

Works authored

[edit]
  • Mitchell, Bruce; Fred C. Robinson (2007). A Guide to Old English (7 ed.). Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-4690-6.
    • 8th edition, 2012, Wiley-Blackwell. (The 1st (1964) and 2nd (1968) editions were written by Mitchell alone — later editions, from 1982 onward, were co-authored by Mitchell and Robinson. Mitchell contributed to the 7th edition but the 8th edition was done after his death.)
  • Mitchell, Bruce (1985). Old English Syntax, Vol. 1: Concord, the parts of speech, and the sentence. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 978-0-19-811935-7.
  • Mitchell, Bruce (1985). Old English Syntax Vol. 2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order. Oxford: Clarendon. ISBN 978-0-19-811944-9.
  • Mitchell, Bruce (1988). On Old English: Selected Papers. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-15872-3.
  • Mitchell, Bruce (1995). An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17436-3.
  • Mitchell, Bruce; Fred C. Robinsion; Leslie Webster (1998). Beowulf: An Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts. Oxford, Malden: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-17226-0. (first published 1998)[7]

Festschrift

[edit]

Walmsley, John (2006). Inside Old English: Essays in Honour of Bruce Mitchell. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4051-1483-7.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Bruce Mitchell". The Daily Telegraph. London. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b Levens, R.G.C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 437.
  3. ^ a b c Godden, Malcolm (31 March 2010). "Bruce Mitchell: Anglo-Saxon scholar who wrote the definitive work on Old English syntax". The Independent. London. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  4. ^ Walmsley, John (2006). Inside Old English: Essays in Honour of Bruce Mitchell. Oxford, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4051-1483-7.
  5. ^ "News: Dr Bruce Mitchell, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall". St Edmund Hall, Oxford. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  6. ^ Bukowski, Elizabeth (11 January 1999). "The Anglo-Saxon Who Took Hollywood". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  7. ^ Hill, Thomas D. (July 2002). "Reviewed Work: "Beowulf": An Edition by Bruce Mitchell, Fred C. Robinson". The Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 101 (3): 437–439. JSTOR 27712258.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Mitchell_(scholar)&oldid=1218020826"