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Monday, Oct. 3 – ELIT 46 Beowulf

Monday, Oct. 3 – ELIT 46 Beowulf. Themes Structure Ways of Looking at Beowulf. Old style quiz. ______ 1. The name of the great hall Hrothgar builds is a. Heorot b. Eadgils c. Eofor d. Thames ______ 2. The demon who attacks the Spear-Danes in their great hall is

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Monday, Oct. 3 – ELIT 46 Beowulf

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  1. Monday, Oct. 3 – ELIT 46Beowulf Themes Structure Ways of Looking at Beowulf

  2. Old style quiz • ______ 1. The name of the great hall Hrothgar builds is • a. Heorot b. Eadgils c. Eofor d. Thames • ______ 2. The demon who attacks the Spear-Danes in their great hall is • a. Horrendor b. Heardred c. Grendel d. Mordred

  3. ___________ 3. The demon is descended from what Biblical character? • a. Abel b. Cain c. Jacob d. Satan • _ 4. The character who is jealous of Beowulf and accuses him of vanity is • a. Uglif b. Unferth c. Hrethric d. Wealtheow

  4. End of old quiz • ______ 5. According to Beowulf, the reason Breca beat Beowulf in a swimming race was because • a. Beowulf was attacked by nine sea monsters that he eventually destroyed. • b. He had inadvertently drunk too much mead. • c. He stopped in the middle of the race to save a ship floundering at sea

  5. Actual quiz – answer 2 • Describe the battle between Grendel and Beowulf, including what Beowulf did to prepare for the battle. • Describe the battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. Why is Beowulf successful? • What is Wealhtheow‘s main worry – the promise that she seeks to get Beowulf to make?

  6. Review from last week • Themes: • Transitoriness of all things • Significance of generosity • Significance of loyalty • Question of immortality • Ideal King – walks his talk – but Kings frequently boasted under influence of alcohol and didn’t always fulfill the boasts • Insiders and outsiders • The decline of hope, the impossibility of community • The future will come and it will mean loss, death, and weakness

  7. Why start with Shield? • Parallel to Beowulf, who is going to win fame himself • Funeral – so the shape of the epic is clear • Funeral • Feast • Battle • Feast • Battle • Feast • 50 years • Dragon Battle • Funeral • Heorot (civilization) vs. Barbarism (Hrothgar vs. Grendel) and Barbarism is winning

  8. Beowulf (kenning of ____?) • Beowulf represents _______________ What lines tell you this? • 196-8 • His style of fighting Grendel • His response to Unferth • His response to Unferth’s offer of the sword • Spoils from the cave • How is Beowulf the opposite of Hrothgar?

  9. Epic • Compare what we have seen to usual ideas about the epic • 1. • 2. • 3. • 4. • 5. • and the 3 on the next page

  10. Different ways of looking at Beowulf • Anthropological • Psychological = every enemy is a mirror for Beowulf to see himself • Performance = focus on the scop and why the story is being told and how it is being told • Political – about identity and nation formation • Didactic - Teaching • Literary – Irony, poetry of the language, synecdoche, metonymy, litotes, etc.

  11. Connections to Christianity • Or Metaphoric – what does the arm of Grendel represent? • What does the whole day’s journey down into the cave, the fight with Grendel’s mother, and the day to return remind you of? • Why does he return only with Grendel’s head and the hilt of the sword? • Theory of types

  12. Why the head of Grendel, not Mom?

  13. Theme of Gold according to Patricia Silber • Gold can have a positive moral value: adorning people, places, and weapons – to give to deserving warriors • Plundering, cursing, hoarding and refusing to give gold • Beowulf achieves moral ascendency when he ____? • How does Wealhtheow use gold? (pages 60-1) • Compare to Sigurd the Volsung and the story of the gold taken from the Rhine Maidens, gold which made the river beautiful. Also RINGS (Ring of the Niebelung) • See the treasures actually used in England around the time of the composition of Beowulf (750)

  14. Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon ship burial

  15. Find out more about the Sutton Hoo ship burial Visit the main Museum website www.britishmuseum.org Use Explore to look at objects from Sutton Hoo www.britishmuseum.org/explore/introduction.aspx Learn more about Sutton Hoo and the Anglo-Saxons www.ancientcivilizations.co.uk

  16. Things to do • Success/ Survival/ Support Groups • Does a group want to begin tomorrow by asking questions? • People in Honors need to choose a time to meet

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