Beowulf

1. Beowulf

2. Old English Literature • Few people read in this period • Oral tradition – was performed and/or sung by a Bard (Scop) from memory in Old English • This is why there are often • several versions of the • same story. • Scops – poet/minstrels • Authors were unknown

3. About Beowulf Beowulf was written in England, but is set in Scandinavia. It has variously been dated to between the 8th and the early 11th centuries.It is an epic poem told in historical perspective; a story of epic events and of great people of a heroic past. Although its author is unknown, its themes and subject matter are rooted in Germanic heroic poetry, in Anglo-Saxon tradition recited and cultivated by Old English poets called Scops.

4. There is only one original Beowulf manuscript existing today. It is in the British History Museum in London. This Epic poem of Beowulf is often divided into 3 sections; it is about Beowulf’s 3 epic battles with evil.

5. EPIC: a long, narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular

6. Beowulfhimself represents good society. • loyalty • valor • Selflessness • sense of justice

7. Motifs of Beowulf • Motifs: a motif is a recurring theme or image in a work of literature • Biblical and Christian Allusions • Pagan Customs • Social Customs • Traits of the Warrior • Beowulf Boasts

8. Beowulf Story The main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword of a giant that he found in her lair.

9. Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dares join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded. He is buried in a tumulus or burial mound, by the sea.

10. Some Lines from Beowulf Poem Beowulf spake, Ecgtheow’s son: “Recall now, oh, famous kinsman of Healfdene, Prince very prudent, now to part I am ready, Gold-friend of earlmen, what erst we agreed on, If I fail, act as a kind liegelord to my thanes, 5 Should I lay down my life in lending thee assistance, When my earth-joys were over, thou wouldst evermore serve me In stead of a father; my faithful thanemen, My trusty retainers, protect thou and care for, Fall I in battle: and, Hrothgarbelovèd, and send Higelac the jewels thou hast given me 10 Send unto Higelac the high-valued jewels

11. Why do we read Beowulf? • It’s a very creative, imaginative, poetic masterpiece. • It gives us insight into the origins of the British people, the culture, who, through seafaring conquests, founded the world we currently live in. • It gives us insight into the origins of our language.

12. It gives insight into all people everywhere and throughout time (time, birth, death, fame/success/glory, honor, friendship, conflict, home, country, adventure, spirituality – all of these things transcend English literature and matter to all people)

13. It’s scary and gets people to think about their own worst fears • It’s a VERY important piece of literature historically

14. Old English Phonetics • Phonology & Orthography: • - Different vowels sounds; no independent // sound. • Different characters: æ, þ, ð (Æ, Þ, Ð){asch, thorn, eth) • Many words that look very different in OE (e.g. ecg, scip, bæc, benc, þorn) were probably pronounced as they are now.

17. Old English Morphology Anglo-Saxon morphology changes before French influence, although some scholars think it would have changed anyway because it was so difficult to say. The system simplifies so that instead of having a lot of levels and even two loops it has only one level where everything attaches, though some disagree. This is called the Ease of Articulacy Argument, although it did not happen in other German languages.

18. Main Features of OE Morphology Loss of inflections: reduction of vowels in unstressed inflectional endings, need for syntactical support (word order) and prepositions The development of a weak verbal group in opposition to the inherited strong verb innovation of the Germanic verbal system.

19. Nouns • Old English nouns had grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), singular and plural number, and were also classified as "strong" or "weak" according to the distinctness of their inflectional endings

20. Cases • OE has four cases: • Example, bat ("boat") (a masculine, strong a-stem noun): • Singular • Nominative: batAccusative: batGenitive: batesDative: bate • Plural • Nominative: batasAccusative: batasGenitive: bataDative: batum

21. Old English Syntax The standard order of subject, object, and verb in a declarative sentence in Modern English is subject first, followed by verb, followed by object. Now the big secret about learning Old English is that Old English doesn't always use SVO order in its sentences and clauses. VSO order: ÞageascodeheþonecyningThen hediscoveredthe king.

22. Prepositions The funny thing about Old English prepositions is that they often come after their "object"; that is, an Old English prepositional phrase can consist of a noun or noun phrase followed by a preposition: God cwæðhimþusto.God said thus to him.

23. Old English order: Verb Phrases Negation:  Ne + verb - Ne geseahicnæafrefla burg. Not saw I ever that town. - se cynincg ne sceallarĩsan of ðāmbedde The king not shall arise from the bed.

24. Old English order: Nouns Adj-N: - Flabeorhtansteorran - The bright stars N-Adj: - Fearnunweaxen - Boy youthful

25. Old English Core Vocabulary The list below presents some Old English words which could be regarded as literary core vocabulary. Some of the words are among the most frequent in Old English literature; some are of particular importance on account of their literary or linguistic usage.

26. adl, noun, f., sickness, diseaseagen, adj., own andswarian, verb, to answer art - are betwixt – between. beon, verb, to be beorgan, verb, to save, protect boc, noun, f., book cempa, noun, m., warrior clipian, verb, to call cunnan, verb, to know canst - can. dost - do, does. ellen, noun, n., courage, strength. fere - friend, companion. hath - equivalent of modern has. thou - you shall or shalt - will

27. Graphics • At the beginning of Christian era, the alphabet employed by the Germanic peoples was the Futhorc or Runic alphabet; the sixth-century Christianization of England led to adoption of Latin/Roman alphabet; handwriting in early Old English manuscripts was influenced by Irish scribes and is known as Insular hand.

28. Special characters in Old English writing • : • thorn: þ (th), derived from the runic alphabet, example: þæt ("that") • eth: ð (voiced th), example: ðeoden ("prince") • ash: æ (a+e, pronounced like the "a" in "mat"), the name "ash" is derived from the name of a letter in the runic alphabet but the runic character is different; example: ælf ("elf") • wen/wynn: (w), example; æpen ("weapon") • was the Old English graphic sign for "g"

29. The End Anfal Al- Mouther Daniah Al- Dossary Hajar Al- Moshehin Leena Al- Muqbil Sara Al- Daeej Sara Al- Dossary Shaima Al- Dossary Arwa Al- Askar Yasmeen Al- Otaibi