In this study I have sought comparative evidence for the word-foot theory of OEM, which was derived primarily from Beowulf, and I have also attempted to validate Lehmann's claim that the development of Germanic verse form was influenced by changes in stress and associated linguistic processes. Analysis of relevant problems at the level of fine detail has necessarily been somewhat piecemeal. Here I offer a synthesis. The survey of evidence for the word-foot theory takes the form of a comparison to the five-types system of Sievers, with attention to descriptive as well as explanatory issues.

LIMITATIONS OF THE FIVE-TYPES SYSTEM

Though often designated Sievers's Theory, the five-types system is primarily a method of classification, taxonomic rather than explanatory. As a taxonomist, Sievers has proved remarkably successful. Verses excluded from his system have been found wanting again and again by editors for reasons quite independent of the metre. The refinement of Sievers's system by Bliss is the current standard for philological application in the Old English field. Sievers's theoretical proposals are less widely accepted. As Bliss points out, the five-types system fails to explain just why certain verse patterns occur freely while others are avoided or subject to special constraints.

Sievers claims that the metrical constant of the verse is its number of stresses, supposedly two, but he applies this principle quite inconsistently, counting secondary stress as significant for classes B and C but not for classes A, D or E.