Beowulf

Beowulf’s HistoryWhat we don’t know:

who wrote it

when exactly it was written

how much, exactly, is

based on historical truth

What we do know:

Beowulf is the oldest surviving English poem. It’s

written in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), which is

the basis for the language we speak today.

Some of the characters in the poem actually

existed.

The only copy of the manuscript was written

sometime around the 11th century A.D. (1000’s),

however…

The actual poem probably dates

from the 8th century (700’s) or so,

and…The story may be set even

earlier, around 500 A.D.

There are a lot of Christian

references in the poem, but the

characters and setting are

Pagan…this means a monk probably

translated it.

So why wasn’t it written

down in the first place?

This story was probably passed down

orally for centuries before it was first

written down.

It wasn’t until after the Norman

Invasion (1066) that writing stories

down became common in this part of

the world.

Angles and Saxons• The Angles and the Saxons

were Germanic warrior tribes

who invaded England.

• The Anglo-Saxon occupation

is often regarded as the

beginning of England and

the English people.

• The first written copy of

Beowulf was written by the

Anglo-Saxons

Setting: Beowulf’s time and place

Although Beowulf was

written in English, it is

set in what is now

Sweden, where a tribe

called the Geats lived.

The story may take

place as early as 400 or

500 A.D.

Setting: Beowulf’s time and place

Europe today Insert: Time of Beowulf

The Oral Tradition• Anglo-Saxon literature was not

written down until after the Christian Occupation.

• Stories were passed down by story tellers called scops

• When the nation was largely converted to Christianity, the Priests were literate and began to write down the classic tales, like Beowulf

• They, of course, removed a large portion of pagan imagery and converted it to Christian.

Old English• When speaking about the people of the time period, you say

“Anglo-Saxons”

• When speaking about the language, you say “Old English”

• Old English occasionally sounds similar to modern English but

the language looks and works completely different.

Old English• Instead of being similar to Modern English, Old

English was grammatically similar to Latin.

• Words had gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) that was not related to the physical gender.

seo sunne (the Sun) was feminine

se mona (the Moon) was masculine

pat wif (wife) was neuter.

Hello.Wes hāl (singular). (WESS haal) Wesaþ hāle (male)/hāla

(female)/hāl(mixed plural) (WES-ath haa-leh/haa-lah/haal)

How are you?Hū gǣþ? (HOO GAYTH?) used as a real question, not a form of

greeting.Fine, thank you.

Wel, þancie. (WELL, THAN-kih-eh)Nice to meet you.

Ēadig, þec tō mētenne. ("AY-diy THETCH TOE MAY-ten-neh")Pleased to meet you. ("informal")

Mē līcode þec tō grētenne. (MAY LEE-koh-deh THETCH TOE GRAY-ten-neh)

Please.Bidde. (BID-deh)

Thank you.Ic þē þancie. (ITCH THAY THAN-ki-eh)

Thanks.Þancas. (THAN-kahs)

You're welcome.Georne! (YOR-neh)

Yes.Gēse. (YEH-zeh)

No.Nese. (NEH-zeh)

Excuse me. (getting attention)Hīerstu. (HIEHR-stoo)

Excuse me. (begging pardon)Lāda mec. (LAH-dah METCH)

GoodbyeBēo gesund. (singular) Bēoþ gē gesunde (male)/gesunda (female)/gesund (mixed). (BAY-oh ye-SOOND,BAY-ohth YAY ye-SOON-deh/ye-SOON-dah/ye-SOOND)

Good morning.Gōdne morgen. (GOAD-neh MOR-khen)

Good evening.Gōdne ǣfen. (GOAD-neh AY-ven)

Good night.Ēadigne ǣfen giet. (AY-diy-neh AY-ven yet)

Good night (to sleep)Gōde niht. (GO-deh nisht)

The Geats: Beowulf ’s clan—a

seafaring tribe originating from the

south of Sweden.

Beowulf: Protagonist. Epic

Hero. Son of Edgetheow. Servant

of Hygelac.

Wiglaf: A young kinsman of

Beowulf.

Hygelac: King of the Geats.

Important Characters

Hrothgar: King of the

Danes. Builder of Herot.

Unferth: A Danish warrior

who is jealous of Beowulf.

Presents Beowulf with

Hrunting.

Herot: The great mead-hall

of the Danes. Where Grendel

attacks at night.

The Danes: Hrothgar’s clan--residents of

Denmark.

Grendel: A demon who

attacks King Hrothgar’s

mead-hall Herot and kills his

men.

Grendel’s Mother: A demon

who attacks Herot to get

revenge for her son’s murder.

The Dragon: An ancient

serpent who guards a horde

of treasure.

The Monsters: Beowulf

faces three monsters in his epic.

Themes and Important Aspects

Good vs. Evil

Religion: Christian and Pagan influences

The importance of wealth and treasure

Loyalty and allegiance

The importance of the sea and sailing

The sanctity of the home

Fate

Heroism and heroic deeds