1. Unknown Poet

2. Germanic traditional epic Specifically Anglo-Saxon Warring culture 3,000 line epic poem First literary composition in the English Language Composed sometime between 600-900 C.E. 700 is our best guess. Written down 200-300 years later.

3. Poem exists in one manuscript only (in British Library) Survived fire in 18 th century This scare led to the copying, editing, translating of the copy Now an integral part of the canon. A group of the most important literature of any given time period, genre, author, etc.

4. Poem written in England Set in Scandinavia Follows the Scandinavian prince, Beowulf. Poem has three major plots 1. Beowulf, a warrior for the Geats, crosses the sea to help the Danes kill the man-eating monster Grendel. He must also kill Grendel’s mother 2. Beowulf returns and rules for fifty years as king. A dragon terrorizes the country and Beowulf must confront it. 3. Beowulf slays the dragon but meets his own death. He enters the legend of his people as a hero.

6. Poem shows life in the Dark Ages. Begins with soldiers in a hall, drinking mead Grendel eats them all. Yum. Grendel is the spawn of Cain, the murderous brother in the Old Testament.

8. To identify elements of Anglo-Saxon culture Analyze use of literary elementys: Imagery Symbolism Alliteration Kennings Analyze central theme of the poem Analyze characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon hero Recognize pagan and Christian elements