BEOWULF
and Anglo-Saxon Britain
The Anglo-saxon invasion
(449
C.E.)
• Rome had control of Britain from 55 B.C.E. – 409 C.E.
• There the Roman empire developed:
- Roads and public baths
- Hadrian’s Wall
- Christianity
• The Roman empire was too weak to
sustain itself in so many territories and
withdrew from Britain in 409 C.E.
Hadrian’s
Wall
The Anglo-saxon invasion
(449
C.E.)
• Britain was left with a weak government and open to
invasion.
• British king Vortigern first invited the Angles and
Saxons (of Germany) to help fight the Picts and
Scots.
• In 449 C.E., the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain by
the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (of Denmark) was
successful and quickly the Anglo-Saxon culture
became the norm in Britain.
The Anglo-saxon Control
(449 -
1066 C.E.)
• Britain was renamed England after the Angles.
Their language replaced Latin as the dominant
language.
• The Celt leaders resisted for as long as they
possibly could. They retreated into Wales and
settled there.
• Anglo-Saxon rule was not unified at first. It had
individual principalities each with their own “king”.
This was changed by King Alfred of Wessex.
Alfred the Great
(ruled 871-899 C.E.)
• King Alfred of Wessex united the Anglo-Saxons to fight off
the Danes (Vikings from across the North Sea). The Danes
plundered and destroyed everything in their path but
eventually settled in NE and Central England.
• Alfred was able to unify England thanks to the reemergence
of Christianity. It gave them all a common system of morality
and a connection.
• The Vikings continued to attack on-and-off until 1066 C.E.,
but unified England put up a good fight.
Anglo-Saxons:
The way of the Warrior
• The 1939 Discovery of Sutton Hoo
• Loyalty is the base of the Anglo-Saxon
culture.
• Christianity was accepted simultaneously
with the old Norse mythology.
• Arts were not a large focus, but bards
(known as scops) were as respected as
warriors.
• Monks and the Book of Kells
• Anglo-saxon rule was ended in 1066 with
the Norman invasion.
Book
of Kells
BEOWULF
The History and the
Language
The History of Beowulf
• The oldest surviving epic poem in the English language
– written specifically in West Saxon Old English.
• Somewhat based on truth, figures such as King
Hygelac have been identified as real people.
• May have been an elegy to the unknown king of
Sutton Hoo.
• Takes place around 500C.E. in Denmark and Sweden.
The History of Beowulf:
A Timeline
• ~700-900 C.E.: Beowulf is composed by Anonymous
• ~1000 C.E.: Monk scribes make the Beowulf manuscript,
likely the Christian elements of the poem are inserted at
this time.
• 1563 C.E.: Englishman Laurence Nowell acquires
scribes' manuscript after the Catholic monastery is
demolished.
• 1731 C.E.: After years of changing owners, the
manuscript is damaged in a house fire and then becomes
a part of the British museum so it remains preserved.
The Language of Beowulf
• Beowulf is written in unrhyming verse, without stanzas,
with a caesura (pause) in the middle of each line.
• Each part is called a hemistich, which is half a line of
verse. A complete line is called a stich. Each hemistich
contains two stressed (accented) syllables and a varying
number of unstressed (unaccented) syllables.
• Old English With a Space for the Caesura Translation:
Hwæt! We Gar-Dena
in geardagum,
oldþeodcyninga,
þrym gefrunon,
ða æþelingas
ellen fremedon.
BEOWULF
Prologue – Part 5
lines 1-370
Terminology + Vocabulary
• Kenning – a condensed metaphor, typically a hyphenated
compound word that characterizes a person, place or thing. A type
of epithet. Ex: whale-road, treasure-giver
• Comitatus - the basic idea that everyone protects the king at all
costs even if it means a warrior giving up his own life
• Interlacing – twisting and knotting imagery of this era, it
represented a concept that nothing in the Anglo-Saxon period was
independent. Everything depended on everything else whether
agricultural, cultural, personal, or any other way.
***
• mead - An alcoholic liquor made by fermenting a mixture of honey
and water
• thane - One who in Anglo-Saxon times held lands of the king or
other superior by military service
Lines
1-370
• The legacy of Dane Shield Sheafson
* Patriarchal lineage
* On the water / foundling and founder
* Great-grandfather of Hrothgar
• Herot – Danish king Hrothgar’s mead hall
* Ring-bearing, drinking, and songs for the loyalty of thanes
* Symbol of law and order amidst chaos (light vs. darkness)
• Grendel
* Descendant of Cain
* Symbolic destroyer of order
• Beowulf
* Position as the nephew of the Geatish king Hygelac
* His atmosphere of bravery as he presents himself to the
Danish watchman and herald Wulfgar.
Review Questions
• 1. What is the theme found in this passage?:
His father’s warriors were wound round his heart
With golden rings, bound to their prince
By his father’s treasure. So young men build
The future, wisely open-handed in peace,
Protected in war: so warriors earn
Their fame, and wealth is shaped with a sword. (l. 20-25)
• 2. Why hasn’t Hrothgar rid Herot of Grendel in twelve years?
• 3. Why does the sentry personally lead Beowulf and his men to
Herot after hearing their reason for coming to Denmark? Why
does Wulfgar do the same?
BEOWULF
Part
6 - 12
Lines 371–835
Terminology + Vocabulary
• foil - a character that contrasts with another character (usually the
protagonist) in order to highlight various features of the main
character's personality
• wergild - a “death-price” paid to compensate the kin of anyone a
warrior has killed
• ring-hoard - the 'treasury' of a nation or people; often made up
literally of gold formed into large rings, sometimes linked together.
Lines
371-835
• Edgetho’s debt
* Debt owed to Hrothgar over the death of Hathlaf
* Beowulf’s intentions
• Unferth’s allegations
* The swimming challenge with Breca – true heroism
* Unferth as a foil to Beowulf
* Welthow – womanly symbol of sincerity
• Versus Grendel
* Calm and clear-minded, Beowulf prepares
* Fear from Grendel’s perspective
* Overpowering strength and the trophy
Review Questions
• 1. How does Hrothgar know of Beowulf?
• 2. What is Beowulf’s response to Unferth’s taunts?
• 3.Why does this statement please Welthow?:
My purpose was this: to win the goodwill
Of your people or die in battle, pressed
In Grendel’s fierce. Let me live in greatness
And courage, or in this hall welcome
my death! (lines. 634-638)
• 4. Why does Beowulf meet Grendel bare-handed?
BEOWULF
Part
13 - 18
Lines 836-1250
Terminology + Vocabulary
• scop – a bard, a musician who sings stories of heroism
• wyrd - fate
• torque – a metal collar or neck-chain
Lines
836-1250
• The Scop and his Tales
* Sigmund and the dragon
* Hermod
* Finn, king of the Frisians
• Rewards and acclaim
* Hrothgar adopts Beowulf in his heart as a son
* Beowulf’s modesty over not killing Grendel
* Treasures
* Welthow presents the torque
* Mention of her sons
Review Questions
• 1. What is the song of Siegmund?
• 2. Who is Hermod?
• 3. What is the song of Finn?
BEOWULF
Part
19 - 23
Lines 1251-1650
Terminology + Vocabulary
• bulwark – a strong wall raised for protection and defense
• fetters - anything that confines or restrains
• surging - moving with a violent, heaving, swelling motion
Lines
1251 - 1650
• Grendel’s mother attacks
* A blood feud revisited
* Fear of no patriarchal lineage
* The death of Esher and Beowulf’s charge. (l. 1384-1389)
* The importance of armor
• Fighting deep within the lake
* Beowulf descends, beyond mortal limits deep into “hell”
* A “light” amidst darkness and evil
* Unferth fails, wielding of the giant’s sword
* Beheading of a corpse
* Only the Geats remain believing in Beowulf’s victory
Review Questions
• 1. Why is it frightening to the Danes and Geats that
Grendel’s father is not known?
• 2. How may the lake containing Grendel’s mother and her
lair be described?
• 3. How does Unferth’s behavior toward Beowulf change
now?
BEOWULF
Part
24-31
Lines 1651-2199
Terminology + Vocabulary
• NONE!
Lines
1651 - 2199
• The Shift from Brave Warrior to Mature Leader
* Rebirth from the water
* Hrothgar tells of evil King Hermod and the ways of a
good ruler
* ETERNAL treasures, not worldly ones
• The Return Home
* Gratitude and spoils for everyone, even the watchman
* Thrith as a foil to Higd
* Beowulf’s prediction of doom for Freaw’s wedding
* Presentation of gifts as honor, Beowulf humble and an
honorable subject
Review Questions
• 1. Identify these characters: Higlac, Higd, Thrith
• 2. What does Beowulf foresee will happen with Freaw’s
marriage? Why is this important?
• 3. What is the message of this quote said by Hrothgar:
O flower of warriors, beware of that trap.
eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow
illness or the sword to lay you low,
or a sudden fire or surge of water
or jabbing blade or javelin from the air
or repellent age. Your piercing eye
will dim and darken; and death will arrive,
dear warrior, to sweep you away. (l. 1758-1768)
BEOWULF
Part
31-35
Lines 2200 - 2601
Terminology + Vocabulary
• NONE!
Lines
2200 - 2601
• How Beowulf Became King
* Death of Higlac
* Beowulf’s loyalty to Herdred instead of taking the throne
* 50 years as a great king - ended the war with the Swedes,
built a great hall, was well-loved
* Story: Hrethel’s sons and the hunting accident
• The Dragon
* The origins of his treasure hoard
* Beowulf’s pride and the tone of death
* Beowulf is losing, his men flee
Review Questions
• 1. Do you consider Beowulf’s decision to fight the dragon
alone when he has little chance to win: brave, irresponsible,
or an inescapable destiny? Why?
• 2. Why does Beowulf lose when he battles the dragon?
• 3. How is comitatus broken in this section?
BEOWULF
Part
36-43
Lines 2602 - 3180
Terminology + Vocabulary
• Barrow - a large mound of earth or rocks placed over the
dead
Lines
2602 - 3180
• Beowulf’s Death
* Assisted in his final moments
* Giving a kingdom to Wiglaf
* The importance of treasure
* The chastised
warriors
• Post-mortem
* The inevitable attacks from other lands
* The barrow
* Why the treasure was left with Beowulf
Review Questions
• 1. Why does Wiglaf feel obligated to help Beowulf?
• 2. When Wiglaf returns from fulfilling Beowulf’s request,
what further request is made of him by Beowulf?
• 3. How may the Geatish king’s funeral pyre be described?
BEOWULF
TRANSLATION
ELEMENTS OF TRANSLATION
Alliteration: the repetition of stressed sounds, particularly consonants
Kennings: Kennings are a special form of compounding that are
metaphoric in meaning.
•
For example: the kenning banhus (ban + hus), literally "bonehouse," refers to the human body
Variation: Another common stylistic feature of Old English poetry is
the use of variation, which is the restatement of a concept or term
using different words. A complex form of variation can be seen in
the lines 1408 – 1411:
•
(The nobleman's son then passed
•
the steep rocky cliffs, the narrow path,
•
the narrow single-file path, an unknown way,
•
precipitous headland, the homes of many water-monsters.)
ELEMENTS OF TRANSLATION
Versification: Old English alliterative verse uses an accentual meter
of four stressed beats and an undetermined number of
unstressed beats per line. A typical Old English alliterative line
consists of two half-lines separated by a strong caesura. The third
stress of a line always alliterates with either the first and/or the
second stress, and the fourth stress never alliterates.
Readability: Can the reader make sense of the translator’s format?
*******
MOST IMPORTANTLY! – which of these elements do you think is
most important to maintain in a translation? Do you think these
should be secondary to a translation that is loose but makes the
best use of the Modern English language? Should the words be
translated literally despite the loss of alliteration and poetic verse?
This should be what you consider when you choose the “best”
translation.
Elements of EPIC
POETRY
ELEMENTS OF the EPIC
• Begins in in medias res, “in the middle of things”
• The epic hero archetype:
* Dutifully follows his culture’s code of honor.
* Importance placed upon his armor and arming
* Superhuman strength
* Faces trials and enemies
* Often tempted by women or chooses to remain celibate
• The form of the epic is verse -- marking it immediately as poetry.
• The language of epic poetry is often formulaic. Use of epithets
(kennings), alliteration, and repetition helped to make these
massive epics memorable enough to survive decades and
centuries through purely oral tradition.
ELEMENTS OF the EPIC
• The material of epic poetry is elevated; it does not dwell on the
banal details of life. The epic will take place during an age that
exemplified heroism.
• Epic poetry tends to make mentions of catalogues and family
histories. This includes long, detailed accounts of treasure,
weapons, and lineage.
• Speeches are frequent.
• Restitution. Often this takes the form of the hero regaining his
rightful place… either on the throne or earning the respect and
admiration of all.
Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh background
• Very loosely based on the Sumerian King Gilgamesh who
rulled over Uruk, Sumer some time between 2700 and 2500
B.C.E. Sumer is located between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers, and eventually became Babylon and is now
Southern Iraq.
• Gilgamesh is two parts god and one part human. His
human weakness, excessive pride, gives Gilgamesh the
single weakness found in most epic heroes.
• What makes Enkidu his foil?
• The Mesopotamian pantheon of gods contained over 1,000
deities. They were much like the Greek pantheon: very
“human-like” gods who quarreled, fell in love, and interfered
with human affairs.
Gilgamesh Questions
• 1. Summarize what happens in the cedar forest. Do events unfold
exactly as Gilgamesh anticipated? Explain.
• 2. How do Gilgamesh and Enkidu help each other on their
adventure? Are there any ways in which they hurt each other?
• 3. Enkidu repeatedly associates Humbaba with death. How does
Gilgamesh characterize Humbaba? What are we told about
Humbaba’s relationship with the gods?
Homer’s
Iliad
Iliad background
• The Trojan War, according to most historians, took place in
13th-11th century B.C. around modern day Turkey.
• The Iliad came into existence around 8th-7th century B.C. in
the oral form, making it the oldest extant (still existing)
pieces of Greek literature today.
• Homer is the “author” of the Iliad. But many speculate
whether he was a single man or a accumulation of many
poets.
• The main themes of the Iliad are:
* nostos – “homecoming”
* kleos – “glory”
* aristeia – “a warrior’s prowess”
* the importance of the guest-host relationship
Iliad Questions
• 1. How does Athena deceive Hector? Why does Zeus decline to
save Hector?
• 2. What is Hector’s dying request, and how does Achilles respond
to it?
• 3. Consider the role of the gods in Book 22. How do they direct
or influence events? Do you think their intervention turns the
human characters into puppets, or do the humans still make
choices that affect their fate? Why?
Gardner’s
Grendel
Grendel vocabulary
• Sycophant - a self-seeking, servile flatterer
• Transmogrified - to change in appearance or form, esp.
strangely or grotesquely.
• Dogmatism - Arrogant, stubborn assertion of opinion or belief.
• Nihilism - total and absolute destructiveness toward the world at
large and including oneself
• Concrescence - The growing together of separate parts.
• Petulant - showing sudden impatient irritation over some trifling
annoyance
Grendel Characters
• The Dragon
• Grendel
• Hrothgar
• Grendel’s mother
• Wealtheow
• The Shaper
• Hrothulf and Red Horse
• Unferth
• Beowulf
Themes
• Art as Falsehood
• The Power of Stories
• The Pain of Isolation
Motifs and Symbols
• Seasons
• The Zodiac
• The Bull
• The Corpse