1. Metaphors, myths, ideologies and archives 3
1. Defining myths 3
2. Conceptual metaphors and myths 7
3. Language myths and conceptual metaphors 10
4. Foucault’s understanding of discourse 16
5. Discourse archives 18
6. Myths are the “stuff that ideologies are made on” 21
7. The structure of the book 23
2. Establishing a linguistic pedigree 28
1. The fire at Ashburnham House 28
2. The myth of the longevity of English 30
3. Tracing the growth of interest in the Beowulf manuscript 34
4. The dating of Beowulf 39
5. Kiernan’s arguments 42
6. Sociolinguistic arguments in favour of a Danelaw provenance for Beowulf 47
7. Switching discourse archives 50
……