1.2 Overview of Beowulf
Beowulfis the precursor of the entire English literature. Since 1805, the epic poem has beentranslated into Latin, English and subsequently other languages. In the anglophone world，Beowulf has been translated by a number of modem renowned scholars, such as HowellChickering, Francis Gummere, Edwin Morgan，Seamus Heaney, etc. Amongst all thetranslators, Gummere used strict word-to-word style with utmost archaic feature whileHeaney used free sense-to-sense style with maximum contemporary feature. Therefore,Gummere and Heaney's translations bear the strongest contrast not only between space andtime, but also between method and style. In the different versions, space deixis contains therichest linguo-cultural connotations and yet has been interpreted very differently byscholars. And the linguistic research and study of comparing space deixis, or even in agreater dimension，comparing deixis are almost absent so far, both in and out of home.
Chapter Two Theoretical Framework
This chapter introduces the three theoretical framework of the thesis，namely comparativelinguistics, comparative mythology and comparative religion, whcih are used for theanalysis of space deixis in the epic poem Beowulf, Amongst all the theories，Indo-Europeanetymological analysis stands out as the core theoretical basis employed in the thesis.
2.1 Comparative Linguistics
Comparative linguistics is a sub-branch of historical linguistics that is dealing withcopmaring languages in order to construct their historical relatedness. It is the coremethodology used in the thesis.Introduction to Comparative LinguisticsComparative linguistics is essentially to compare phonological，morphological，syntacticaland lexical systems of languages by use of comparative method. In the thesis, the spacedeixis in Beowulf \s analyzed mainly by etymology, and complemented by dialectology,phonology, morphology and syntax. The etymological analysis of space deixis is primarilywithin the Germanic branch, and subsequently extending to both centum and sat emdivisions in the Indo-European family. The etymology of each space deixis is traced backultimately to the Proto-Indo-European parent language in order to assess the ModemEnglish interpretations that are most proximate to the original Old English space deixis. Sub-Fields of Comparative LinguisticsThere are several sub-fields of comparative linguistics, namely etymology, dialectology,phonology, morphology and syntax. Moreoever, comparative linguistics is related to anumber of other approaches, such as linguistic typology, contact linguistics and contrastivelinguistics. Etymological AnalysisEtymology is the scientific study of the history of words, when they entered language, fromwhat source, and how their form and meaning have altered over time. There are severalways of a word entering a language, such as through derivational mo
