1. The Anglo-Saxon PeriodAD

2. Time Period: Anglo-Saxon
Key Ideas of Period
Heroic qualities
Community – Communal Hall & Loyalty
Poets (Scops) & Monks
Religious aspects
Christian vs. Pagan
Wyrd=fate
Aggressive society

3. Important dates… 300s: Celts rule England
c. 449: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain
597: King Ethelbert converted to Christianity at Canterbury
793: Vikings come
1066: William the Conqueror becomes English king

4. Heroic Qualities
The Britons were highly influenced by the Celtic legends.
Celtic legends valued bravery, loyalty, dedication to the king/queen, & fame/success in battle.
Heroes have fabulous adventures that are remembered and retold forever (think King Arthur).

5. Heroic Qualities
Comitatus – heroic ideal - A code of loyalty adopted by the warriors in a clan; loyalty, honor & respect to their lord and to one another.
Blood vengeance – fight to the death; avenge leader or die trying.

6. Community – Communal Hall & Loyalty
War with other clans
Law and order kept a clan alive
clan loyalty was valued above all else.
The Leader (king, ruler, father-figure) was responsible for everyone’s safety.

7. Community – Communal Hall & Loyalty
Success was measured by how loyal a warrior was to his lord.
communal hall –
shelter/protection
meetings
entertainment.

8. Poets/Scops (pronounced SHops) & Monks
Poets or scops
equal to warriors
immortalized warriors and heroes in their songs/poetry.

9. Poets/Scops (pronounced SHops) & Monks
preserved these stories
recorded these stories in Old English (the Germanic language of the Angles & Saxons)
preserved the original language of the people.

10. Religious Aspects – Pagan vs. Christian
Dual Authorship
Beowulf
Paganism
Christianity
Absence of Christianity
God
Animism
Christ-like figure
Worship of Natural or Spiritual
Biblical Stories
Fate/Wyrd
Presence of Hell

11. Religious Aspects – Pagan vs. Christian
Animism – “Spirit”; original, celtic religion
fatalistic (meaning no afterlife) view of the world.
“Wyrd” means fate. guided in all things.
Christianity spread and unified the Anglo- Saxons.

12. Aggressive Society
Absence of Roman control led to many kings/lords all attempting to control Britain.
Angles & Saxons from Germany, & Jutes from Denmark come to Britain in hopes of conquering for themselves.
warriors and lords had to defend against attacks and other clans to establish dominance.

13. Aggressive Society
King Alfred of Wessex led the Angles & Saxons against the Jutes (Danes), unifying those clans.
“Angle-land” became England.
In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded, and finally unified the country under one king.

14. Anglo-Saxon Literature
Beowulf
Anglo-Saxon Literature

15. Beowulf – Literary Devices
Alliteration – repeated beginning sound in 2 or more words that are close together
In Beowulf, this happens in almost every line of the poem, & there is no consistent pattern of rhyme.

16. Beowulf – Literary Devices
Kenning – type of metaphor that uses a compound expression to name a person or thing.
Ex: “whale road” = _______________ ; “life-lord” = ______________; “ring giver” = ______________

17. Beowulf – Literary Devices
Litotes – a figure of speech that uses the positive of a statement to mean something negative.
Ex: Getting your wisdom teeth removed with pliers would not be fun! = It would be horrible!
Ex: About the monster Grendel’s home, the king Hrothgar says “Not a pleasant place” = a horrific place!

18. The Poem Uncertain when, how, or who created
Originally written in Old English
Developed out of various influences (folk tales & traditions)
Performed by scops (“shops”)
a. Traveling bard/poet
b. Good ones made the most effective use of the common arsenals of oral storytelling formulas
c. Borrowing images or phrases was accepted and expected
May have changed as developed

19. Religious Relations Primarily a pagan poem
Christian allusions are present (developed as afterthought to make story appealing to Christians?)
Omnipotent God figure
Symbolic rebirth
Christ’s 12 apostles (Beowulf’s12 associates)

20. Epics
Typically emphasize heroic action as well as the struggle between the hero’s own ethics & mortality
2. Heroic values = comitatus = Germanic honor system that existed in Scandinavian countries in the 5th & 6th centuries between a king & his thanes (warriors).
a. Virtues of thanes = courage, loyalty, reputation
b. Lifelong devotion of thanes = protection, treasure, & land from king
Classic epic
a. journey/quest
b. tests/trials
c. divine intervention

21. Characters & terms Mead hall (Herot) – communal hall; beer/ale hall
Scylfing – Swede
Scylding – Dane
Higlac/Hygelac – King of Geats / uncle to Beowulf
Higd/Hygd – Higlac’s queen
Hrunting – sword given to Beowulf by Unferth
Naegling – Beowulf’s own sword
Brecca – Beowulf’s friend & swimming competitor

22. Characters & terms
Beowulf- (A Geat from Sweden –Scylfing) – Hero of the story; has superhuman powers/strength; owes a debt to Hrothgar (King of Danes)
Grendel – Monster who is terrorizing the Danes; cannot be hurt by human weapons
Herot – Mead/Communal Hall of the Danes
Hrothgar – (King of the Danes – “Scylding”) Owed a debt from Beowulf for saving B’s father’s life

23. Characters & terms
 Unferth – Warrior for the Danes; unable to beat Grendel; jealous of Beowulf
Welthow – Hrothgar’s wife, queen of the Danes
Wiglaf – Symbol of loyalty to Beowulf; B’s cousin  

24. 3 Trials of Beowulf
Grendel
Grendel’s Mother
Dragon

26. & Flow Chart Background Two Kings… HROTHGAR – King of the Danes
Higlac – King of the Geats

27. Flow Chart Background HROTHGAR – King of the Danes
Higlac – King of the Geats
Saved life long ago

28. Flow Chart Background Grendel attacks HROTHGAR – King of the Danes
Higlac – King of the Geats
Saved life long ago
Sends nephew Beowulf to defeat Grendel

29. Flow Chart Background Beowulf defeats Grendel Grendel attacks
HROTHGAR – King of the Danes
Higlac – King of the Geats
Saved life long ago
Sends nephew Beowulf to defeat Grendel
Debt is paid