Francis Peabody Magoun | |
|---|---|
 Francis Peabody Magoun, 1918 | |
| Born | (1895-01-05)5 January 1895 New York, New York |
| Died | 5 June 1979(1979-06-05) (aged 84) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service | Royal Air Force (United Kingdom) |
| Unit | Royal Air Force |
| Battles / wars |  World War I |
| Awards | Military Cross,Order of the Lion of Finland |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
Francis Peabody Magoun Jr.MC (6 January 1895 – 5 June 1979) was one of the seminal figures in the study ofmedieval andEnglish literature in the 20th century, a scholar of subjects as varied as soccer andancient Germanic naming practices, and translator of numerous important texts. Though anAmerican, he served in the BritishRoyal Flying Corps (laterRoyal Air Force) as alieutenant duringWorld War I. Magoun was victor in five aerial combats and was also decorated with Britain'sMilitary Cross for gallantry.
Magoun was born to a prosperous family inNew York City. His parents were Francis Peabody Magoun (1865–1928) and Jeanne C. Bartholow (1870–1957). He received his primary education at theSt. Andrew's School inConcord,Massachusetts, and at theNoble and Greenough School inBoston. He took hisbachelors degree atHarvard in (1916), and in February of that year signed on with theAmerican Field Service. From 3 March – 3 August he was a volunteer ambulance driver.
After a brief return to the United States, he went toLondon and enlisted in theRoyal Flying Corps (to become eligible for service in the RAF, he lied and said he was Canadian; he claimed that he was from a town there where all birth records and other vital statistics had been lost in a fire). On 4 July 1917, he was commissioned asecond lieutenant and assigned toNo. 1 Squadron RFC on 14 November, flyingNieuport biplanes (later replaced bySE5a biplanes) against more manoeuvrableFokker triplanes. He downed his first enemy aircraft on 28 February 1918, nearGheluvelt, another on 10 March fifteen miles (24 km) east ofYpres, and a third on 15 March in the vicinity ofDadizeele. His fourth was on 28 March nearQuiery. He was wounded in action while strafing enemy troops on 10 April, but returned to his squadron in October and became anace on 28 October, downing aFokker D.VII nearAnor for his fifth victory.[1][2]
Magoun was awarded theMilitary Cross (MC) in June 1918:"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When engaged on bombing work he attacked and shot down an enemy machine, with the result that it crashed to earth. He has also engaged massed enemy troops and transport with machine gun fire from low altitudes, throwing the enemy into the utmost confusion and inflicting heavy casualties. His work has been carried out with consistent keenness and tenacity."[3]
Upon his return to the United States, he was appointed instructor in Comparative Literature at Harvard (1919); during this period, he completed hisPhD inphilology atHarvard University with his 1923 dissertation ontwo English version of theHistoria de preliis.[4] His work was also part of theliterature event in theart competition at the1936 Summer Olympics.[5]
At Harvard, he was made Instructor of English, and proceeded through the academic ranks thereafter (Professor of Comparative Literature, 1937; Professor of English, 1951).[6] His tweedy figure was familiar on campus; he was rumored to have no office, and it was said he could only be spoken to while walking.[7]
He was distinguished by a longstanding interest in popularantiquities. Along withAlexander Haggerty Krappe, he was the first scholarly translator of thefolktales collected by theBrothers Grimm into English. But he was also developing a theoretical and methodological framework for his eclectic interests. David Bynum, in his history of English studies at Harvard,[8] affirms Magoun's importance as a link between the pioneering work ofGeorge Lyman Kittredge in folklore andethnomusicology (as they related toliterary history) and the work ofMilman Parry; Magoun took inspiration from Parry and Lord's field observation of the oral poetry of theguslars ofYugoslavia (which they had compared to theHomeric poems), and extended their methods to the study ofAnglo-Saxonpoetry. The 1953 article onBeowulf, "The Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry," published inSpeculum, was of particular importance in the view ofAlbert Lord (for whom Magoun served as dissertation advisor; he was also one ofWalter Ong's teachers). Magoun argued that written Anglo-Saxon poetry was essentially a transcription of traditional oral performance, and furthermore, heavily imbued with pre-Christian ideas and values. The position has implications for how Anglo-Saxon poetry should be approached for purposes of literary criticism. His ideas sparked ongoing controversy among medievalists, with some accepting his view, others arguing for a written poetry inspired by traditional idiom and methods (and a complex layering of Christian and pre-Christian influences), and still others insisting that the entire Anglo-Saxon corpus consists of individually authored, written texts with an exclusively Christian matrix of belief. The essay has been anthologized many times.
In late middle age, he undertook to learn theFinnish language in order to explore another area of oral tradition, and exercised considerable influence upon Finnish studies; contemporaries remember the growing library of Finnish texts in his house on Reservoir Street. His 1963 prose translation of theKalevala remains a standard, and he was awarded theFinnishOrder of the Lion of Finland in 1964 for his contributions to the study of Finnish culture.
He retired from Harvard in 1961, and he was honored at the close of his career with a well-regardedFestschrift:Franciplegius; medieval and linguistic studies in honor of Francis Peabody Magoun, Jr., edited by Jess B. Bessinger and Robert Payson Creed.
In a legend circulating among medievalists, Magoun is said to have been the model for the characterMr. Magoo.[9] However, there is no evidence that artistJohn Hubley knew the scholar.
Magoun married Margaret Boyden on 30 June 1926, in Winnetka, Illinois. Their children were Francis Peabody Magoun III (1927–1999; m. Faith Gowen); William Cowper Boyden Magoun (1928–2014; m. Patricia Lavezzorio); Margaret Boyden Magoun (1932–2017; m. Guido Rothrauff); and Jean Bartholow Magoun (born 1937; m. Ward Farnsworth).
He is also credited for a few other works:
