B e o w u l f

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B e o w u l f
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• Oldest surviving heroic epic written in Old
  English
• Written when?
• Early 8th cent - late 10th cent
• Only surviving manuscript
• 1000 A.D.
• Damaged in fire, 1731

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Long, long ago

• 6th century
• Denmark and southern Sweden
• Historical facts
• Hrothgar
• Hrothulf
• Great Hall of Heorot
• Fiction
• Beowulf
• Germanic historical legend
• Important to Anglo-Saxons
• legitimacy

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Anglo-Saxon Feasts

• Metaphor for kingdoms goodness
• Time of peacefulness and alliances
• Guests feel safe
• All welcome to mead-hall
• Entertained by poets and musicians
• Grendels intrusion
• Great violation of social values

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War Invasions

• Fyrds
• Anglo-Saxon armies
• journey or expedition
• Avg. infantry 100 soldiers
• 2 or 3 ships
• Fought for land
• Set up kingdoms that flourished

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Monsters

• Grendel
• Menaces Hall of Heorot
• Descendent of Cain
• Grendels mother
• Dragon
• Serpent
• symbol of ultimate sin
• Humans, Monsters, or Both?
• Pagan tale or Christian allegory?

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Themes

• Death
• Funerals
• War
• Pride
• Good vs. Evil
• Paganism vs. Christianity
• Loyalty
• Play loyalty game

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Important Terms

• Primary Epic
• Scop
• Heroic Ideal
• Comitatus
• Wyrd

• Wergild
• Kenning
• Alliteration
• Caesura
• Synecdoche

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Characters

• Scyld Scefing -- ruler of all the Danes
• King Hrothgar -- the strongest of Scyld's sons
  builder of Heorot
• Grendel -- archenemy of all things good the
  personification of evil
• Unferth -- rude, unpopular drunkard with a rotten
  boil believer in Grendel
• Queen Wealhtheow -- wife of Hrothgar
• Beowulf -- nephew of King Hygelac slayer of
  Grendel, Grendel's mother, the Firedrake, and
  nine sea monsters personification of true good
• She -- Grendel's mother totally evil

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Journey into Beowulf
If you dare
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Loyalty Game

• Consider the importance of group loyalty and how
  such loyalties sometimes conflict with individual
  needs or desires.
• Get into groups of 3 or 4
• Write a list of questions about what to do in
  situations that test one's loyalty to family,
  friends, self, country, city, etc.
• Write the questions on a set of cards for the
  whole class.
• Finally, take turns asking one another questions
  from the cards and discuss answers.
• Great Job!

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Resources

• http//www.bl.uk/services/learning/curriculum/chan
  glang/k3topicmenu.htmltitle (site that I used
  for Old English link)
• http//www.webenglishteacher.com/beowulf.html
  (site that has links to all of the sites that I
  used)