Anglo-Saxon Period
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The Anglo-Saxon period is the earliest
recorded time period in English history.
Anglo-Saxon Literature
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Few people read
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Oral tradition – stories performed and/or sung by
a scop from memory in Old English.
For thought: Why are there so many versions of
stories from this time period?
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Scops – poet/minstrels
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(pronounced SHOPES)
Authors were unknown
Reconstructed Anglo-Saxon Village
Boat Sheds on Lindisfarne Island; similar to the AngloSaxon meade halls
BEOWULF
THE STORY OF BEOWULF
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Beowulf marks the beginning of English
literature
It is one of the earliest known pieces of
literature in the English language; written
in Old English
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Beowulf wasn’t written down until about 700 AD
by “The Beowulf Poet” who is unknown. He wrote
down the poem which for many years had been
only sung or spoken.
Scholars believe “The Beowulf Poet” was most
likely a Christian monk, thus adding a Christian
perspective.
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There is only one original Beowulf
manuscript existing today. It is in the
British History Museum in London.
BEOWULF is an EPIC poem.
 Epic
– a long, narrative poem that
relates the great deeds of a largerthan-life hero who embodies the
values of a particular society.
What are some other examples of
other EPICS?
The Iliad and
The Odyssey – Homer
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Harry Potter- Rowling
The Lord of
the Rings Tolkein
In every Epic is an EPIC HERO
!
Epic Hero– must undertake a quest to achieve
something of tremendous value to himself and
his society
Traditional features of an epic:
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Narrative poem form
Larger-than-life hero, often with super-human
characteristics
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Concerns eternal human problems like the struggle
between good and evil
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Tone is serious; author uses elevated (poetic) language
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Hero represents widespread national, cultural, or religious
values
Contains specific motifs
Motifs –a recurring theme or image in a piece of
literature
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Biblical and Judeo-Christian Allusions
Pagan Customs
Social Customs
Traits of the Warrior
Beowulf’s Boasts
Pagan vs. Christian Beliefs
Pagans existed before Christianity and became more and
more sparsely populated when Christian beliefs became a
government’s belief.
(Romans introduced Christianity – see timeline)
- polytheistic: each god oversaw different aspects of the
world (water, sun, earth, etc)
- believed in many evil monsters who fought to undo the
gods and their human followers.
- believed in wyrd (fate).
Christianity focuses on a belief in God (note capital G)
– one god who created Heaven and Earth
- one evil being: Satan (former angel betrayed God)
- do not believe in fate; instead believe that God
rewards and punishes for human behavior.
This epic poem is often divided
into 3 sections, each addressing
the traditional battle between _____
and _____.
…the Battle with
Grendel
(Grendel represents _____)
…the Battle with Grendel’s
Mother
(She also represents _____.)
…the Battle with the Dragon
(It not only represents _____ but also _____.)
Beowulf himself represents _____:
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loyalty
valor
selflessness
sense of justice
Setting: Where does Beowulf take
place?
Geatland and
Denmark
(Modern Denmark
and Sweden)
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Map of Baltic Region of Scandinavia
and the Viking Invasions (700-800)
Setting: The Scary, Horror Movie “Where”
Beowulf takes place in a
“once upon a time world”
which taps into “three
archetypal sites of fear.”
For thought: List places
people typically fear.
I like to think of them this
way:
Our bed on a stormy night when we are
alone in the house
(where we should feel safe.)
1. The barricaded warrior
house/ Mead Hall
A murky lake or a beach where Jaws takes
place.
2. The infested underwater lair
The dark recesses of the earth:
a cave, or even your own dark basement!
The reptile-taunted rocks of a
wilderness and cave
What is “mail”?
WHY?
Why do we read Beowulf?
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It’s a very creative, imaginative, poetic
masterpiece.
It gives us insight into the origins of the
British people, the culture, who, through
seafaring conquests, founded the world
we currently live in.
It gives us insight into the origins of our
language.
Why do we read it?
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It gives us insight into the values,
experiences, and emotions felt by all
people everywhere and throughout time
(time, birth, death, fame/success/glory, honor,
friendship, conflict, home, country, adventure,
spirituality – all of these things transcend
English literature and matter to all people)
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It’s challenging, and we love a good
challenge!
Why do we read it?
It’s scary and gets us to think about our
own worst fears
 It’s a VERY important piece of
literature historically (This is the
“because we have to” reason!!)
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Now let’s read Beowulf…
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P.30
Anglo-Saxon Themes in Beowulf:
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Triumph or failure in war and battle
Exploration and seafaring
Friendship and loyalty to men in battle comitatus
Great value placed on beautiful artifacts and
spoils of war
Acceptance of wyrd – fate (what will be will be –
predestined)
Fatal doom concurrent with joyous celebration
Comitatus
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The first century Roman historian Tacitus coined the term comitatus
in his observations of Germanic tribal culture in Germania.
The comitatus was a gathering of warriors under one governing lord,
representing a strategic interweaving of family threads so as
simultaneously to enlarge and secure tribal identity and allegiance.
The comitatus and intermarriages among tribes were physical
representations of intertribal treaties -- or rather the pre-literate
versions of treaties, called friths, in which physical objects of value
that represented the tribe were exchanged.
In much the same way, blood-money (wergild, or literally man-money)
is offered by one tribe as payment for those of another tribe whom
they kill. And tributes of swords and rings, necklaces and battle gear
are offered as seals of good faith -- physical objects in place of (nonexistent) written contracts. They are markers of agreements which,
without writing, have no other physical representation.
Characteristic features of AngloSaxon Literature
A-S lit typically features 3 specific literary
techniques…can you identify any?
 Alliteration
– repetition of sounds at the start
of words
 Kennings
– metaphorical phrase used to
replace a concrete noun
 Caesura
- a natural pause in the middle of a
line of poetry.
Alliteration
 The
repetition of beginning
consonant sounds in lines of poetry
Ex: She sells sea shells on the sea shore.
Kenning
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a metaphorical phrase used to replace a concrete noun
Ex: teacher = knowledge giver
Ex: sea = whale’s home
Ex: battle = spear play
It is like a poetic riddle or play on words.
Caesura
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2 part line – each line is separated by a pause or
break in the middle of the line; each part generally
has 2 strong beats.
(Put simply, it is a dramatic pause in the middle of a line.)
Then the Scylding warrior savage and grim,
Seized the ring-hilt and swung the sword
Struck with fury despairing of life
Thrust at the throat broke through the bone
rings:
The stout blade stabbed through her fated
flesh.
Biblical references and archetypes in Beowulf
•Beowulf as archetypal Christ figure (helping, sacrificing)
•Herot Hall as Tower of Babel archetype (hall built to reach
Heaven)
•Beowulf's comitatus as disciples
•Three days in underwater cave as symbol of three days in
dead/hell
•Return triumphant as symbol of resurrection
•Grendel as descendant of Cain
•Dragon- snake with legs- symbol of Satan
•Good vs. Evil struggle
Genesis 4
Cain and Abel
 1 Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave
birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought
forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course
of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to
the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn
of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was
very angry, and his face was downcast.
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6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your
face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it
desires to have you, but you must master it."
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let's go out to the field.” And
while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and
killed him.
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9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"
"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your
brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you
are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened
its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12
When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops
for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."
13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I
can bear.
14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be
hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on
the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
15 But the LORD said to him, "Not so ; if anyone kills Cain,
he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD
put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill
him. 16 So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived
in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Danes – citizens of Denmark; their country
is being attacked by Grendel
Herot – name of Danish warrior hall
Hrothgar – King of the Danish people;
(kenning – Healfdane’s son)
Geats – citizens of Geatland (modern-day
Sweden); home of Beowulf and his ancestors
Beowulf – heroic Geat warrior, son of Edgetho
Grendel – monster who attacks the Danes
Grendel’s mother – monster who attacks the
Danes out of revenge for son’s defeat
Dragon – monster who attacks the Geats
because a thief steals from its treasure
Higlac – King of Geatland; Beowulf’s uncle
Wiglaf – cousin of Beowulf; comes to Beowulf’s
aid in battle with dragon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_ages_english.shtml
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiBaSqO7n9U&feature=related