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Anglo Saxon literature
First communicated orally
Copies written down in monasteries by monks
Handed down from generation to generation
variations
with consequent
additions
omissions
embellishment
Many changes due to
mistakes in translations misunderstanding
even intentional changes in the text
Anglo-Saxon poetry
epic elegiac
Old English
Different from modern English in spelling, pronunciation and grammar
Ðonne onwæcneð eft wineleas guma,gesihð him biforan fealwe wegas,baþian brimfuglas brædan feþra,hreosan hrim ond snaw hagle gemenged.
Þonne beoð þy hefigran heortan benne,sare æfter swæsne Sorg bið geniwad
• The Wanderer:Ðonne onwæcneð eft wineleas guma,gesihð him biforan fealwe wegas,baþian brimfuglas brædan feþra,hreosan hrim ond snaw hagle gemenged.
Þonne beoð þy hefigran heortan benne,sare æfter swæsne Sorg bið geniwad
Then the friendless man awakes again,He sees before him fallow waves,Sea birds bathing, preening their feathers,Frost and snow fall, mixed with hail.
Then are the heavier the wounds of the heart,Grievous with longing for the lord. Sorrow is renewed
Long narrative poem which tells the heroic deeds of a national hero
Primary epics
Elevated language
Literary devices
Didactic aim
Aristocratic- military society
Objective narration
Supernatural events
Epic poem
Narrative formulae
Divine Intervention
banquet, battle, voyage, funerals
myth, legend, and history
Wide setting
The hero
Generally male, of noble birth or high position
reflects important ideals of his society
performs courageous deeds that reflect the values of the times
his actions determine the fate of many
must face challenges and opponents that the ordinary person
could not handle.
Stresses
alliteration
caesura
kennings
litotesRepetitions Poetic form and devices
Poetic form and devices
Poetic form and devices
riddles
Alliteration
Repetition of the same initial consonant
Out from the marsh, from the foot of mistyHills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,Grendel came, hoping to killAnyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
Grendel gongan, godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða manna cynnes
Caesura
Punctuation reproduces pause effect of the caesura.
ða com of more under misthleoþum Grendel gongan, godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða manna cynnes sumne besyrwan in sele þam hean.
Out from the marsh, from the foot of mistyHills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,Grendel came, hoping to killAnyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
kenning
From the old Norse kenna To know
gold-shining hall= Herotguardian of crime = Grendelstrong-hearted wakeful sleeper = Beowulfcave-guard and sky-borne foe = dragonwhale-road = oceanwave-courser = ship
a metaphorical phrase often hyphenated or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly.
Beowulf’s Name
Bear WolfStrong cunning and speedy
Great Protectors in Norse mythology
In most cases, the son was named after the father
Beowulf’s father– Edgetho
This proves that Beowulf had his own powers and abilities (and was more important than his father)
Don - Donald (son of Don) - McDonald (son of son of Don) McDonaldson (son of son of son of Don)
BeeSweet
Background: Time and Place
The tale is not set in England, but in Scandinavia its characters are not English.
Three tribes involved: the Geats , the Swedes and the Danes
How does Beowulf come to be the first literary work of England?
During the VI and VII centuries, Scandinavian tribes invaded and settled the territory that would become England. Their legends and stories travelled with them
Background Unknown author; possibly one Christian author in
Anglo- Saxon England
Unknown date of composition (roughly 8th-11th Century )
Written in Old English
It was not until 1936 when the J.R.R Tolkien published a paper on the poem that it became popular.
It is from this poem that we derive many of the details for the reconstruction of Anglo-Saxon social life.
A blend of legend and history, as it also contains precise references to real historical events and tribal struggles
Structure
Beowulf's defeat of the dragon with the help of Wiglaf.
Chronologically, it is divided into two main sections
Beowulf as a young man
Beowulf as an old man
In terms of action, it is divided into three main sections
Introduction of the characters and Beowulf ‘s defeat of Grendel
1
2
1
2
3
Beowulf's defeat of Grendel's mother
Beowulf and the Ilyad
Both deal with warrior societies
The heroic code of a warrior society was always expressed in epic poetry
Homeric world Aedo
Germanic world Bard or scop
Beowulf is not introduced directly by naming him but by a traditional epithet
“Hygelac’s thane”
Fleet-footed AchillesPious Aeneas
The plot
Beowulf , nephew of Hygelac, king of the Geats, crosses the sea to help Hrothgar, king of the Danes
His palace of Heorot has been attacked over twelve years by a monster called Grendel
At night the monster comes, Beowulf struggles with it bare hands and kills it plucking off one of its arms
First part
Grendel’s mother wants to revenge her son
Beowulf has to fight her too
He finally kills her in a cave at the bottom of a pool, with the help of a mysterious sword
The plot Second part
Beowulf has been king of the Geats for fifty years
A fire-breathing dragon, after discovering the theft of the treasure it had been guarding, is trying to destroy the country
Accompanied by young Wiglaf, Beowulf confronts the monster.
Although he finally manages to kill it , he is mortally wounded.
He instructs Wiglaf to have a barrow constructed to mark the burial site of his remains from the funeral pyre.
Beowulf dies
It is unique: no other poem of its size and length has survived in Old English
It offers a noble picture of an age, its hierarchical society and the splendour of its warrior class
It combines the attraction of a tale of bravery with high moral values
Intermingled with the battles of monsters are tales of human struggle
Good against evilStrength of heart and spiritTruth and light vs. dark power
Why has this story lasted through the ages?
Grendel
Grendel is a monster, one of a giant race which survived the great flood. It is told that his origins stretch back to Cain, who killed Abel.
Grendel's mother is supposedly a smaller creature than her son. She is a vengeful creature who illustrates the constant cycle of war in the poem, even when the enemy appears to be defeated.
Grendel’s Mother
Beowulf tells of a period in the midst of religiouschange being neither entirely pagan, nor fully
Christian
It is likely that some monks, while copying texts, put in their own views about their work.
Christian or Pagan ?
Christian Elements
References to the Old Testament
Passages containing biblical history.: references to Cain, Abel, and the flood, heaven, hell, and the day of judgment.
Beowulf prays the Creator of all things, the ruler of the Heavens
God’s will: identical with Fate
Pagan elements• Beowulf's funeral ship
• The observance of omens
• The practice of cremation
• Gold/wealth as a hero’s reward
• Boasting
• Lack of belief in an after-life – pagan immortality
• Concept of fate – wyrd
• Monsters
The Feud
The eternal conflict between dark and light, good and evil
Courage as the quality that can stand against Fate.
Fate Themes
Top 8 Problems women have about dating Beowulf
• 1. Hangs out with dragons.
• 2. Chain mail rips up bed sheets.
• 3. Throws his swords around apartment.
• 4. Wakes up in the middle of the night screaming "She's
gonna eat me!”
• 5. Only washes twice a year.
• 6. Smells like Grendel breath.
• 7. Freezer full of dragon meat.
• 8. Leaves the toilet seat up.
He’s a queer fish!
The main characteristic of Old English poetry is alliteration. Another characteristic is a special kind of metaphorical ______, made up of several _____ which replaces a _____. An example is a kenning for the sun: “jewel of the sky”. Kennings are used a lot in Beowulf to add colourful descriptions to the story. But sometimes the ________ is not easy for modern _______. For example, the kenning for a chief or king is “breaker of the ring”. This kennings comes from a king’s custom of breaking off pieces of gold from spiral rings (which he often _____ on his arm) to give as _________ to his followers.
phrase
words
noun
meaning
readers
wore
rewards
Beowulf was king of the Geats True False
Ready for some questions?
Beowulf can be considered an epic True False
Beowulf killed Grendel cutting its head True False
It is written in middle English True False
The dragon began to attack the Geats because it wanted to avenge Grendel’s death
True False
The Christian scribes always gave a faithful reproduction of Anglo-Saxon works
True False
The brother of Abel A Geat who hated the Danes
A demon The brother of Cain
A kenning for the human body could be
Weaver of peace Candle of the sky
House of bones Sea wood
Who was Grendel?
Grammar stop
although, though, even though
in spite of ,despite
Despite (formal) and in spite of (informal) are followed by a noun or a pronoun: this, that, what or a verb with –ing
Although (formal) and though (informal) are followed by a subject and a verb (clause)
e.g. Although Grendel was incredibly strong, Beowulf pulled off his arm
e.g. Despite Grendel’s incredible strength, Beowulf pulled off his arm
Beowulf is old, it is still an exciting story
the antiquity, Beowulf is still an exciting story
Although
Despite
sub v
noun
__________the fact that I don’t have any experience with children, I have been offered a job on a children’s summer camp
________Judy wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t want to miss the concert.
John often feels lonely _________ having plenty of friends
_________Pavarotti’s origins were humble he became the richest opera singer in the history of music
________playing with only 10 men, Manchester united still won the match
Frank decided to walk home _________the fact that he was late
_________the collapse in profits for recording companies, more people are going to live concerts than ever
__________ Henry is a very talented actor, he finds it difficult to get good parts in plays
Despite
Despite
Although
despite
Although
despite
Despite
Although
Let’s practice!
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Beowulf was nephew of King Hygelac
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When reproducing these works, many writers eliminated any aspects which either contrasted or did not fit into their Christian belief
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It attacked the Geats because a thief had stolen its hoard
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He killed Grendel ripping its arm
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It was written in Old English
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It can be considered an epic as it is a long narrative poem which celebrates the deeds of a hero
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Beowulf was nephew of King Hygelac
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It was written in Old English
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When reproducing these works, many writers eliminated any aspects which either contrasted or did not fit into their Christian beliefs written in Old English
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It can be considered an epic as it is a long narrative poem which celebrates the deeds of a heroas written in Old English
That’s incorrect!
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He killed Grendel ripping its arm
That’s incorrect!
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It attacked the Geats because a thief had stolen its hoard
That’s incorrect!
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It can be considered an epic as it is a long narrative poem which celebrates the deeds of a hero
Old English was a Germanic language heavily inflected, i.e. Different word endings as in modern German or in the classical languages, Greek and Latin. Modern English, a syntactical language, still retains an example of this in the possessive case, the so called “Saxon genitive”
We must distinguish two types of epics:Primary or folk epic whose author is unknown and is oral. ( Examples are Iliad and Odyssey)Secondary or literary epics whose author is well known and is written( An example is Paradise lost by John Milton)
The poet’s point of view coincides with that of the literary characters described. The poet doesn’t criticize the customs and the ideals of the country he belongs to.
