Weeping eyes and the Old English phrase wopes hring

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to reconsider the Old English poetic formula wopes hring, which is used in four poems, where the contexts indicate that the phrase refers to shedding of tears. However, the meaning of hring (?‘sound’ or ?’circle’) and the origin of the formula, long subject to scholarly debate, have not been conclusively clarified. The prevailing view was advanced by Kenneth Brooks, who claims that hring, meaning ‘circle, ring’, refers to the eye and the formula indicates eyes wet with tears. He supports his thesis by pointing to the use of the compound ēaghring (lit. ‘eye-ring’). In this essay, further lexical evidence is provided to uphold the connection between hring and the eye in wopes hring, which appears to be a learned coinage referring to the shedding of tears in contexts where crying plays an important role in the spiritual progress of the weeping characters.