LIT 2001
Major English
Writers 1
Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf in Old English
The first three lines of the poem:
(Old English passage and sound file from the Old English at the University of Virginia Web site.)
Beowulf
Characteristics of Old English Poetry
litotes—a form of understatement in which a thing is
affirmed by stating the negation of its opposite
“Cain got no good from committing that murder” (109).
Grendel—“nor was this the first time / he had scouted the
grounds of Hrothgar’s dwelling” (716-717).
kenning—a figurative phrase, often a picturesque
metaphorical compound, used for a simple noun: whale-road,
swan-road, bone-house, word-hoard (unlocked his wordhoard), shadow-stalker.
Beowulf
In the Modern Translation:
Then as dawn brightened / and the day broke,
Grendel’s powers of destruction were plain:
Their wassail was over, / they wept to heaven
And mourned under morning. / Their mighty prince,
The storied leader, / sat stricken and helpless, (126-130)
Pauses (caesura) in lines = /
Two stresses per half-line
Alliteration = note alliterative connection between the half-lines
Note how the stresses and alliteration emphasize thematic
aspects of the poem: the sense of doom, temporality, and
mutability
Beowulf
Elegiac aspects of the poem
• Elegy = “a mournful poem; a lament for the dead” = a
poem or other work of literature that laments that passing
of a time
• Elegiac = “Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning
or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past”
• Theme of temporality and mutability
• Memento mori = remember death—even during
celebrations, the characters hear stories of death
• Notice especially the elegiac aspects in the last part of the
poem
Beowulf
Elegiac = “Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning or
expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past”
From the introduction in the textbook: “Christian writers like
the Beowulf poet were fascinated by the distant culture of their
pagan ancestors and by the inherent conflict between the
heroic code and a religion that teaches that we should ‘forgive
those who trespass against us’ and that ‘all they that take the
sword shall perish with the sword.’ The Beowulf poet looks
back on that ancient world with admiration for the courage of
which it was capable and at the same time with elegiac
sympathy for its inevitable doom.”
Beowulf
Beowulf as a “heroic-elegiac” poem
• A poem about heroes
• We will read about several heroes in the course
• Who might we consider to be heroes today, and why?
Any possible criticisms of the heroes?
• What makes Beowulf heroic?
• “Sapientia et fortitudo” (Wisdom and strength)
• Anything you do not like about Beowulf? Does he
have any weaknesses?
Beowulf
Lord/Thane Relationship
• Hundreds of “kings” in Anglo-Saxon England at the time
• Roles of the thane and the lord
• Comitatus: “the society . . . or brotherhood of men who
owed allegiance to a chieftain and expected his
benevolence in return.”
• “Disaffection or exile from one’s lord meant that one was
without a home, friends, affection, and respect from
others.”
• Beowulf is a thane in the first part of the poem; he is a lord
in the last part of the poem.
• Importance of gift-giving
Beowulf
Constant warfare (social instability and a strong code of
retribution)
• Imagine a society with no police
• Strong sense of “eye for an eye”
• Wergild—“man price” (as occurred with Beowulf’s
father—Ecgtheow killed another man, but Hrothgar
paid his wergild)
• Unferth = (Hrothgar’s spokesperson) killed his own
brother
Beowulf
What does Heorot (the mead hall) represent?
• human attempt at permanence
• symbol of Hrothgar’s success and pride
• community / happiness
Beowulf
Grendel
• What does Grendel look like?
• Projection of human fears (the unknown, evil)
• Concept of evil being necessary (From John Gardner’s
Grendel)
• One film interpretation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UATg4wpNges
Beowulf
Some Important Passages
• Lines 1529-1556: Beowulf and Grendel’s mother
• Lines 1591-1604: Things looking hopeless for Beowulf
• Lines 1758- 1778: Hrothgar warning Beowulf against
pride
• Lines 1866-1887: Hrothgar breaking down in tears
upon Beowulf’s departure
Beowulf
Some Important Passages
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•
•
•
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Lines 2312-2354: The dragon and Beowulf
Lines 2510-2541: Beowulf’s final boast
Lines 2626-2660: Wiglaf ready to help Beowulf
Lines 2846-2891: Wiglaf’s rebuke, the “battle-dodgers”
Lines 3169-3182: The end