Beowulf

1. Beowulf Pre-Reading Notes

2. Am I going to like Beowulf? • If you like action movies, you will probably like Beowulf. • The hero has… • Amazing strength • Courage • A ruthless villain (actually two) • Suspense • Sustained action

3. About Beowulf • The first English epic • Self-portrait of a culture • Beowulf himself… • Sword-wielding slayer of monsters • Upholder of the right • Warrior-chieftain • Within the epic is recorded the dreams, aspiration, and fears of the culture

4. The Stuff of Legend • Action takes place in 6th Century Scandinavia, the epic was originally told in Old English by Anglo-Saxons between 500-1100 • Beowulf Story Background • Beowulf was a Geat (today a region in southern Sweden) • Aids Danish King Hrothgar against Grendel • Grendel terrorized Hrothgar’s great banquet hall (Mead Hall), Herot, for 12 years • This battle is the first of three mortal battles in the poem

5. Forging an Epic • Oral Tradition • Traveling minstrels called scopsrecited poems as entertainment • Poems changed and grew as they were passed from one scop to another • Beowulf was told and retold for hundreds of years • 11th Century it was written down • Grew out of Scandinavian or Celtic folk tales and specific details can be found in earlier tales

6. A Guide to Life • The poem creates a central reference for Anglo-Saxon culture by developing a unified tale and adding the influence of Christianity • An Anglo-Saxon could learn… • Bravery and loyalty • Spite and hatredare monsters • Heroism conquers all

7. From Oral Tradition to Cyberspace • The only original manuscript of the complete 3,182-line poem is from Sir Robert Cotton’s collection of medieval manuscripts. • In 1731 the manuscript caught on fire and lost over 2000 letters from the edges • The Electronic Beowulf Project has preserved the manuscript electronically and it is available online

8. The Epic • Theme: Good versus Evil • Epic – a long narrative poem, sometimes developed orally, that celebrates the deeds of a legendary or heroic figure. • One of the earliest forms of literature • Homer’s Iliad (Greek) • Gilgamesh (Sumerian) • Common features: • Hero battles forces that threaten the order of his world • Story is told in a serious manner, often in special, elevated language • Beowulf specifically uses Anglo-Saxon literary devices such as kennings and caesuras

9. Legendary Hero • A larger than life character whose accomplishments are celebrated in traditional tales • Beowulf possesses: • Boastful self-confidence • Feats of strength • Victories in battle • Beowulf upholds the values of his culture • Loyalty • Bravery • Honor • Beowulf teaches us about the Anglo-Saxon view of the world

10. Background • Pagan Anglo-Saxons held a strong belief in fate • They told grim tales of lives ruled by fate • Humans struggled against monsters for their place in the world • Missionaries converted Anglo-Saxons to Christianity • Taught the Anglo-Saxons that human beings had choices and their choices of good or evil were at the center of creation. • Beowulf reflects both pagan and Christian traditions

11. Reading Strategy • Beowulf has long, involved sentences • It will be necessary to paraphrase complex passages • Identify key details in a passage • Then restate them in your own words

12. Vocabulary Development • Reparation – something making up for a wrong or an injury • Solace – comfort; relief • Purge – purify; cleanse • Writhing – making twisting or turning motions • Massive – big and solid; bulky • Loathsome - disgusting

13. The Wrath of Grendel The selection opens during an evening of celebration at Herot, the banquet hall of the Danish King Hrothgar. Outside in the darkness; however, lurks the murderous monster Grendel.