The alliterative patterns of Beowulf are limited by three sets of conditions – the basic rules of alliteration and metre, the placement of sentence particles and proclitics within the half-line and the nature of the simplex or compound which takes metrical stress. A reader who knows these conditions can predict the potential placement in the a- or b-verse of practically any metrical–syntactical pattern, can say of any given half-line of the poem whether its alliterative behaviour is normal or not and can determine whether, if double alliteration is involved, the double alliteration is a reflex of the metrical grammar or a spontaneous option exercised by the poet. One of the principal objects of this study has been to provide this knowledge. There remain to be discussed the alliterative requirements of compounds.

The compounds which are the subject of this and the following chapter are all stressed elements. Notwithstanding this fact, the alliterative behaviour of these compounds is remarkably varied. Some compounds alliterate no matter where they are found and therefore are not found where the alliterative rules prohibit alliteration. Other compounds alliterate whenever they appear in the a-verse, but occur freely in the second lift of the b-verse without alliteration. And still others are found in the second lift of both the a-verse and the b-verse without alliteration. In short, three classes of compounds can be distinguished on the basis of their alliterative behaviour.