Beowulf

1. Beowulf The Epic

2. What is Beowulf? • Epic: a long poem telling a story about a hero and his exploits. • Components of an epic: • legendary figure • actions on a grand scale • requiring superhuman courage • supernatural forces are involved • style is elevated • Folk Epic: a work that pieces together its story from folk tales transmitted orally for centuries • Elegy: a somber poem or song that praises or laments the dead

3. Format and Point of View • 3,182 lines written in vernacular Old English (native language of the author's time and place) • Old English: language of the “common people” • Latin: the lofty language of “scholars” • The author of Beowulf based his tale in part on pagan myths, fables, Scandinavian history, and biblical and Christian history. Thus, Beowulf is a mixture of fiction and fact. • The poet tells the tale in omniscient third-person point of view from a Christian perspective. • Though describing events taking place in a pagan culture, the poet credits the Christian God and the Christian ethic for the triumph of good over evil.

4. The Time & Place of Beowulf • Beowulf was probably composed between 700 A.D. and 900 A.D. though the events took place hundreds of years earlier. • Northumbria: an important Anglo-Saxon kingdom between Scotland on the north and the Humber River on the south. • Home to Roman Catholic monks who excelled in learning and literature. http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/states21.JPG

5. Telling of the Story • The author of Beowulf did not write the story down. For one to three centuries, it was told orally. • In 1000 A.D. two English scribes write down the story • This Beowulf manuscript, considered one of the great heirlooms of world literature, is now preserved in the British Library in London. • After fire ravaged the library in 1731, the manuscript was rescued by British authorities. However, water damage and burned edges made it difficult to read.  http://ebeowulf.uky.edu/images/128v-129.jpg?1303236804

6. The Settings of Beowulf • Dark Ages between 500 and 700 A.D. • Denmark: Ruled by Hrothgar, on the island of Zealand (present-day Copenhagen, Denmark) • Herot: King Hrothgar’s great mead hall where Beowulf confronts a monster that has been terrorizing the Danes • The Lake: Home of the monster and his mother. Beowulf goes here to battle the mother • Geatland: Beowulf’s home country (present-day Sweden). 50 years later, he battles a dragon here

7. Main Characters • Beowulf: Illustrious warrior from Geatland. He possesses enormous strength and courageously confronts the monster in hand-to-claw combat. • Hrothgar: King of a Danes. He presides at Heorot, a great mead hall being terrorized by a monster. • Wealtheow: Hrothgar's wife and queen. • Grendel: Monster that terrorizes Heorot.  • Grendel's Mother: Monster that retaliates after Beowulf defeats Grendel.

8. Other Important Characters • Wiglaf: Beowulf’s friend. He helps him fight the dragon.  • Dragon: Monster that goes on a rampage in Geatland. • Hygelac: King of the Geatland. He is Beowulf's uncle. • Hygd: Hygelac's wife and queen. • Heardred: Son of Hygelac. Ecgtheow: Beowulf's father. Unferth: Danish warrior who envies Beowulf. Breca: Childhood friend of Beowulf. Aeschere: Counselor to Hrothgar. ScyldScefing: Once King of Denmark and great-grandfather of Hrothgar. He is referenced in the epic but does not take part in the action.

9. Verse Format • Beowulf is written in unrhyming verse, without stanzas, with a caesura (pause) in the middle of each line. • Caesuras are used to represent the pauses that speakers normally use in everyday speech • Thus, each line is divided into two parts. Each part is called a hemistich (HEM e stick), which is half a line of verse. A complete line is called a stich. Each hemistich contains two stressed (accented) syllables and a varying number of unstressed (unaccented) syllables.  • Following are the opening three lines of Beowulf in Old English, with the space in the middle representing the caesura: • Hwæt! We Gar-Dena         in geardagum,  Lo. we have heard of the glory in days of old þeodcyninga,         þrymgefrunon, of the Spear-Danes, of the kings of the people, huðaæþelingasellenfremedon. how the athelings did deeds of valor. 

10. Structure • Beowulf is divided chronologically into two main sections: • Beowulf as a young man • Beowulf as an old man (50 years later) • Beowulf is divided by action into three main sections: • Introduction to characters and Beowulf's conquest of Grendel • Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother • Beowulf's battle with the dragon with the help of Wiglaf

11. Writing Style • The imagery in Beowulf consists mostly of alliteration and metaphor. • Many apparent hyperboles describing the feats of Beowulf are not true hyperboles, since what appear to be exaggerations–such as a passage saying Beowulf swam from Sweden to Finland or a passage saying Beowulf had the strength of thirty–were intended to be taken literally. • Kennings: Compound expressions, often hyphenated, representing a single noun. A form of metaphor. Examples of kennings are the following: • whale-road for sea • sea-wood for ship • shield-bearer for warrior • battle-spoil for treasure • ring-nets for chain mail • sword-draught for a sword swallowing the blood of an enemy • twilight-spoiler for dragon