Alliteration (from Latin “litera,” alphabetic letter), means the repetition of an initial consonant sound or consonant cluster in consecutive or closely positioned words. This pattern is often an inseparable part of the meter in Germanic languages, where the tonic, or accented syllable, is usually the first syllable. Thus all Old English poetry and some varieties of Middle English poetry use alliteration as part of their basic metrical practice. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, “Sithen the sege and the assaut was sesed at Troye”.