Beowulf

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Beowulf
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The Basics

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?

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By Whom?

• By whom was it written?
• Most Anglo-Saxon poetry was oral at first,
  meaning it was transmitted or performed by a Bard
  (Scop) from memory it wasnt actually written
  down, per se until . . .
• Somewhere between the eighth and ninth centuries
  A.D., The Beowulf-Poet (his identity is
  unknown) wrote down the poem which for many years
  had been sung/spoken.
• The Beowulf-poet, scholars believe, was an
  English monk (and therefore, Christian) who
  probably lived in one of the Anglo-Saxon
  settlements in Western England (Mercia)

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About Whom?

• Even though the poet himself was English and
  Christian, the poem is about neither Englishmen
  nor (full-fledged) Christians
• It is the story of several Scandinavian peoples
  (tribes, really), mainly the Geats and the Danes,
  but also the Swedes. Beowulf is a Geat. He goes
  to the aid of the Danes, whose king is Hrothgar
• They live in . . .

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Map of Baltic Region of Scandinavia and the
Viking Invasions (700-800)
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Who? in Review

• The poems hero is Beowulf, a Geat who lives in
  Scandinavia. He is probably a fictional
  character. He is certainly an epic hero. More on
  this later. The poem is also about three races or
  tribes
• The Geats
• The Danes
• The Swedes
• It is written by an English (Anglo-Saxon) monk
  who is looking back in time to the days when his
  ancestors still lived in Scandinavia and by a
  different code of ethics. (The Anglo-Saxon code
  was on its way out, soon to be replaced by
  Christian values)
• The original audiences would have heard the poem,
  and they would probably have been distant
  relatives of those tribes who play major roles in
  the poem

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Who are the main characters?

• Beowulf (Geat)
• Hrothgar (Dane)
• Unferth (Dane)
• Wiglaf (Geat)
• Grendel
• Grendels mother
• The dragon

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Main Characters Part Deux

• Many people divide the poem into thirds it is
  about Beowulfs three epic battles with evil
  creatures
• Grendel
• Grendels Mother
• The Dragon
• However, as Heaney points out, it is also really
  about three tribes
• The Geats
• The Danes
• The Swedes

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What?

• What is it? Beowulf is an epic poem. An epic is
  a long narrative poem that relates the great
  deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the
  values of a particular society (Elements 1263).
  
• What is he? Beowulf is an epic hero the idea
  paper you write about this work may deal with one
  of the Anglo-Saxon or Christian values he
  represents
• What is it about? It is about a transitional
  point in history (though it is mostly
  mythological and fictional)
• It is poetic, creative, imaginative, and one of
  the earliest works of art in the English language
  (albeit Old English)
• It is also important to remember that it is NOT a
  work written in Latin. It is written in the
  vernacular (OE) and about people who were
  Englands founders (or conquerors) in the middle
  of the first millennium.

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What (else)?

• Fuller definition of epic An epic is a long
  narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a
  larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of
  a particular society. Most epics include elements
  of myth, legend, folklore, and history. Their
  tone is serious, and their language is grand.
  Most epic heroes undertake quests to achieve
  something of tremendous value to themselves and
  their society. Homers Odyssey and Iliad and
  Virgils Aeneid are the best-known epics in the
  Western tradition. The two most important English
  epics are the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf . . . and
  Miltons Paradise Lost (Elements 1263).

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Beowulf is also, in very many ways, allegorical.
An allegory is A story in which the characters,
settings, and events stand for abstract or moral
concepts (Elements 1259). It would be better to
say that there are allegorical features in
Beowulf than to call it an allegory. Just looking
at the three creatures Bewoulf defeats may help
show how the poem can be read allegorically Grend
el stands for the monstrous features of
fratricide consider that he is born of Cain (who
is know for killing his brother). The Geats,
Danes, and Swedes, were in many ways brothers,
but they were also at war. Who else kills his
brother (or kinsmen) in the poem? Grendels
mother may stand for the root of (or mother of)
our deepest animalistic aggressions. When heroes
go into the sea, it is said by some scholars that
they are actually going into the deepest recesses
of their psyche. IS Beowulf, by defeating
Grendels mother, simply killing the concept of
revenge for revenges sake? Dragons often
represent greed. They horde treasure and become
violent if the treasure is touched. By killing
the dragon, is Beowulf killing his own greed?
Notice what he bequeaths to his people after he
dies.
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When?

• When was it written? It was probably written
  sometime around 700 A.D.
• When did the events in it take place? Again, it
  is a fictional work. However, it is an
  imaginative work about people who occupied the
  Baltic region sometime in the fifth century A.D.
• Some events in the poem did take place
• The raid against the Franks by Hygelac, Beowulfs
  lord, took place in the sixth century A.D.
• It is important to remember the vast role time
  (Past, Present, and Future) plays within the poem
  itself. Beowulf and the other characters who
  populate the poem seem to be obsessed themselves
  with the human relationship to time (or when)
• Most important thing to remember is that it is a
  poem that reminisces about a previous, dead
  world.

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Where?

• Where was it written? It was written down, most
  likely, in the kingdom of Mercia (East Central
  Enlgand today).
• Where do the events in the poem take place? The
  action in the poem takes place in Geatland and
  Denmark (the island of Zealand and in Southern
  Sweden) . . . Or more generally, in the Baltic
  region of Scandinavia
• Also consider more specific settings
• The sea, the meadhall, the swamp, the cliff, the
  battlefield, etc.
• In the modern world, it is Denmark and Sweden and
  the islands in the Baltic between the two
  countries.
• But it is also indirectly about the poet who
  wrote the poem down we can say this because so
  many Christian features exist in the work. So it
  is also about Anglo-Saxon England, but only
  indirectly. None of the action takes place in
  England.

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The Scary, Horror Movie Where

• Heaney puts it nicely in his introduction when he
  says that Beowulf takes place in a once upon a
  time world and that it taps into three
  archetypal sites of fear
• The barricaded night house (Grendel)
• The infested underwater current (Grendels
  mother)
• Reptile-haunted rocks of a wilderness (dragon)
• I like to think of them this way, in terms which
  may mean more to your and my generation
• Our beds on a stormy night when we are alone in
  the house (where we should feel safe)
• A murky lake, or the beach where Jaws takes place
  (Ever been waterskiing and wondered what was
  nibbling on your toes?). Or, how about a dark
  forest by yourself?
• The dark recesses of the earth a cave, or even
  better, your own, dark basement

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Why?

• Why do we read it?
• Its a very creative, imaginative, poetic
  masterpiece (see the Heaney intro this is why he
  wants us to read itnot because we have to!!!)
• It gives us insight into the origins of the
  British people, the culture who, through
  seafaring conquest, founded the world we
  currently live in
• It gives us insight into the origins of our
  language
• It gives us insight into all people everywhere
  and throughout time (time, birth, death,
  fame/success/glory, honor, friendship, conflict,
  home, country, adventure, spiritualityall of
  these things transcend English literature and
  matter to all people)
• Its challenging and we all love a good
  challenge!
• Its scary and gets us to think about our own
  worst fears
• Its a VERY important piece of literature
  historically (this is the because we have to
  reason!).

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Important Themes in the Poem

• Past, Present, and Future (and Fate)
• Life and Death
• Fame (often achieved through war)
• Setting
• Geography (Denmark, Geatland, Sweden, . . . And
  England??)
• The Meadhall (Heorot)
• Good vs. Evil Religion
• Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Beast (Man vs. Himself? If allegorical)
• Good Christian Traits vs. Evil
• Good Pagan (Anglo-Saxon traits) vs. Evil
• Bad Pagan Traits
• Christianity vs. Paganism (Paganism not evil)
• Anglo-Saxon Code
• Friendship
• Loyalty
• Fame, Honor
• Bravery
• Generosity

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Review of Important Details

• Epic poem
• Written in Old-English about the early Christian,
  but still pagan, Scandinavians who eventually
  conquered most of England
• Epic hero represents the values of his culture