Johanna is right. I didn't know that the reduntant pronoun was called "topic-comment" (it sounds like an odd term to me), but it seems to me that it can be very effective rhythmically. Labelling it as ungrammatical in all cases does seem extreme.

It occurs in French, too. I think it's a song by Edith Piaf that has the line, "Quand j'ai fame, moi j'ai le pain." It's a downright beautiful line!

Paul D.

Johanna Rubba <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

..........

As to topic-comment, this terminology appears in some writing manuals
with reference to structures such as "My father, he seldom votes". They
are labeled outright ungrammatical, which I find a little extreme. I
view the Beowulf example as similar. Topic-comment syntax is standard
in some languages. A rough example I recall from my
structure-of-Chinese course is "Elephant, nose is long", which would be
translated as "Elephants have long noses". I can imagine a novice
writer writing something like "As far as elephants, they have long
noses".

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