Ancient English Literature Beowulf

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Ancient English LiteratureBeowulf

• Author Anonymous
• Ca. 7-9th Century A.D.

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Ancient England (Anglo Saxon) Background During
the Composition of Beowulf (7th-9th Century)

• Ancient England was made up of the Germanic and
  Scandinavian peoples who conquered the Roman
  empire
• They spoke Anglo Saxon or Old English
• These peoples became Christian (adopted religion
  from the conquered Romans)

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Ancient English (Anglo Saxon) Background During
the Composition of Beowulf (7th-9th Century)

• The anonymous poet who put Beowulf onto paper was
  certainly a Christian, but he writes of an older
  time when Christianity was very weak or even
  unknown
• This poet interprets many actions in Beowulf in a
  Christian manner, but Beowulf itself takes place
  in an older pagan era
• Pagan A term that describes a religion that is
  not part of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. A
  pagan belief system is usually not particularly
  organized, and falls into a Norse, Celtic,
  Wiccan, or other folk religion often involving
  magic/sorcery

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Pagan Era in Ancient Europe (Pre Anglo Saxon)
Ca. 500 A.D. Beowulf

• Anglo Saxon Tribal Society and Beowulf
• A major element in this society is incredible
  violence
• Tribal and intra-tribal competition is a major
  element. Society is defined by a lord and his
  warriors (thanes)
• The lord is a ring-giver because he distributed
  objects of value (e.g., bracelets, necklaces,
  land, power)
• In return, the warrior (thane) gives his
  unswerving loyalty, on the battlefield and in
  times of peace

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Germanic Tribal Background Continued . . .

• This bond establishes the most important element
  community in which individuals find meaning
• The Germanic peoples worst fear is that they
  would become an outlaw or wanderer, having no
  home
• The monster Grendel in the poem is alone-- a
  rover of borders, as the poet states
• This Christian poet interprets Grendel as having
  been descended from the race of Cain

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Some important Anglo-Saxon terms

• Wergild (Man-Price) very similar to blood-price
  with the ancient Greeks where a payment could be
  made to stop retaliatory killing
• Scop The Germanic equivalent of the singer/bard
  Beowulf is a short epic meant to be sung

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• Beowulf in the Latin Alphabet Runic Alphabet