WHO and WHAT is a hero?
• 3 movie examples:
• 3 literary examples:
•
3 real world examples:
• At least 5 character traits associated with above.
BEOWULF
BACKGROUND INFO
AND
ANGLO-SAXON
PERIOD CONTEXT
INFO
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: TIME/PLACE
30,000 lines of Anglo-Saxon (old English) poetry
survive today
 3, 182 (10%) of the lines are from Beowulf
 Setting of epic– Modern day Denmark (“Danes”)
and Sweden (“Geats”)
 Author - Unknown, probably a monk
 Composed in the 7th/8th cent. A.D (600-800)
 Oldest surviving English poem

EPIC POEM
Long narrative poem that
recounts the adventures of
a hero.
 Elevated language
 Invokes a muse (source of inspiration)**
 Begins in media res**
 Hero of well known origin, super strength,
vulnerability, rite of passage (birth/death)

TITLE OF EPIC POEM
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Anglo-Saxon word
Beo means “bright” or
“noble”
Anglo-Saxon word
wulf means “wolf”
Beowulf means bright
or noble wolf
Other sources say
Beo means “bear”
THE EPIC HERO

Noble Birth

“Larger than life” strength (physical and mental)

National heroism – reputation at home

Great warrior – reputation abroad

Goes on a journey – vast settings

Human – extreme humility, still flawed

Supernatural foes AND help
ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE
Belief in fate (Wyrd)
 Accumulated treasures amount to success
 Fame and fortune zealously sought after
 Loyalty to one’s leader crucial
 Importance of pagan, Germanic, and Christian
ideals to people whose lives
were often hard and uncertain

ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE
Fierce, hardy life of warrior
and seamen
 Strength, courage,
leadership abilities
appreciated
 Boisterous yet elaborately
ritualized customs of the
mead-hall
 Expected the hero to boast

ANGLO-SAXON IDEALS
CODES OF CONDUCT
Good defeats evil
 Wergild--restitution for murder or expect
revenge from victim’s relatives
 Boasts must be backed with actions.
 Fate is in control
 Fair fights are the only honorable fights

ELEMENTS OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY
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Chant-like effect of the four-beat line
Alliteration
Caesura-pause or break in a line of poetry(“Oft
to the wanderer - weary of exile”)
Enjambment-one line of poetry continues on to
the next, without pause
Kenning-metaphorical phrase used instead of a
name (“whale-road”, “battle-dew”, “ring giver”;
more modern examples “gas-guzzler” or “headhunter”)
Hyperbole-exaggeration
Setting: Beowulf’s time and place
Europe today
Insert: Time of Beowulf
Some terms you’ll want to know
scop
A bard or story-teller. The scop
was responsible for praising
deeds of past heroes, for
recording history, and for
providing entertainment
Wergild: “man payment” for
respect
Terms: Thane and Mead-Hall
thane
A warrior
mead-hall
The large hall where the
lord and his warriors slept,
ate, held ceremonies,
partied, etc.
MAIN CHARACTERS
BEOWULF
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Epic hero
Geat (from southern
Sweden)
Nephew of Higlac
(King of Geats at
story’s start)
Sails to Denmark to
help Hrothgar
HROTHGAR
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Danish king
Builds Herot (mead
hall) for men
Tormented by
Grendel for 12 years
Loses many men to
Grendel
Joyless before
Beowulf’s arrival
GRENDEL
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Referred to as demon
and fiend
Descendant of Cain
Lives below the sea
in a cave with mother
Attacks and kills
Hrothgar’s men night
after night in the
mead hall
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
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Referred to as “shewolf”
Lives under a lake
Challenges Beowulf
FIRE DRAGON
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Lives in a cave in
Beowulf’s kingdom
Woken up when a
slave stole a gem
studded cup
Guards countless
treasures
Who and what are monsters?
Monsters from movies:
• What are other words
associated with the term
“monster”?
Monsters from literature:
Real life “monsters”:
• What do monsters
symbolize?
• In what ways are
monsters beneficial or
necessary to the world?
GRENDEL ANALYSIS
What are words/phrases associated with Grendel? (5 textual examples)
What does Grendel symbolize to the Danes?
Explain.
What does Grendel symbolize to Beowulf?
Explain.
What do Grendel’s actions reveal about him?
What is something positive that comes from Grendel’s presence?