Beowulf Background
Anglo Saxons
• The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, (Germanic
Tribes), arrived in England in 449
• These tribes formed small tribal kingdoms
in the southeastern part of England
• They were hunters, farmers, and believed
in many different gods
Danes and Norse attacks
• 8th and 9th centuries – Danes and Norse
attack England – much had fallen to them
in the 9th century
• Alfred, Saxon king of Wessex wins battles
and returns England to peace
Christian influence
• By 650, Christian missionaries had
converted England into Christianity – in
name at least. There were still plenty of
pagan beliefs and stories still around
Pagan Influence: Norse Mythology
and the Norse hero
Death is inevitable (wyrd), so heroes strive to gain
glory and fame – keeping their names alive in
stories told through the ages
They fight in a brutal, uncaring, and treacherous
world – the Norse gods offer no solace
The only aspects the hero can control is his values,
attitudes, and behavior
Therefore, the hero strives to live in a such a way
that others honor him.
Wergild
• The Germanic and Norse cultures believed
in wergild, or man-price. This would come
about when a person was killed
accidentally – the family of the killer would
pay a wergild to the victim’s family.
Sometimes, the wergild would be a blood
vengeance, or payment in the life of
another.
Comitatus
• The system that ruled kings or other rulers and
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their warriors
A king was obligated to provide his warriors with
food, drink, weapons, armor, land, and jewels
A warrior was obligated to fight to the death to
defend the king.
Skill in battle and loyalty were principal virtues
Wyrd
• The Norse pagan belief in unalterable fate
(wyrd)
• Everyone was subject to their fates,
including death, and no sense of afterlife
• Immortality could only be achieved
through everlasting fame
• Achieving fame, receiving gifts, and
enjoying life were valued
Beowulf – a mix of pagan and
Christianity
• Beowulf is believed to be an old tale told from
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pagan times
Written down during the times of Christianity, by
someone believed to be a Christian who loved
Norse heroic stories
Written in Old English by an Englishman, but the
story is set in Denmark, Sweden, and Geatland
(southern Sweden)
The plot is Germanic in origin and also
references earlier Norse stories
Scop
• Scops were storytellers/professional poets
that traveled and told stories
• Beowulf was a story told through the
times, and was written down in the 700s
The Epic Poem: Characteristics
• Revolves around an
• Genealogies are given
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ideal hero
Setting is vast in
scope
The battles involve
superhuman strength
Ceremonial writing
style
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to give context
Extended formal
speeches are given
Written in verse
(poetry)
The Writing Style
• Written in Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
• Utilizes these 3 poetic aspects:
– Alliteration
– Kennings
– Caesura (though not written in the version we
are reading)
Alliteration, Caesura, Kenning
• Alliteration: Grendel came gliding; God’s wrath
he bore
• Caesura: a break in the middle of the line:
Then from the moorland under misty hills
• Kennings: Compound words that are metaphors.
Some examples are:
Whale’s road = the sea
Sky’s candle = the sun
Bone house = the body
The basic storyline
• Hrothgar, king of the Danes (Sheaf-
Danes), is troubled by a terrible monster,
Grendel.
• Beowulf, of the Geats, travels to the land
of the Danes to offer his assistance.
• 3 major battles ensue throughout the
course of the story, preceded and followed
by much ceremony and ceremonial story
telling