Miss Alexander
Why study Beowulf? Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, so everything written since somehow stems from Beowulf. The story encompasses common themes that we still see in literature today. Studying Old English improves your understanding of Modern English. It is simply a great story!!
Background Originally told orally by scops (8th century) The poem was finally written down in the 11th century by a Catholic monk. Pagan (who don’t believe in God) vs Catholic Written in Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
Old English
Setting Although Beowulf was written in English, it is set in now what is called Sweden, where a tribe called the Geats lived.
Setting Europe today Beowulf’s time
Terms to know…
Beowulf is an epic poem An epic poem tells a large scaled story about the journey of a heroic character or group of heroic people
Hero Dependent Independent
Scop Traveling poet who sang stories of warriors and heroes as entertainment (How the story of Beowulf was kept alive for centuries)
warrior/knight Thane:
mead hall a large hall where the lord and his warriors ate, drank, slept, held ceremonies, partied, and hung out.
Comitatus Mutual loyalty of the warriors, ensured by gifts from the Lord
Wyrd = Fate In Anglo-Saxon, the term fate means making your own decisions, taking responsibility for them, and consequently finding ones place in life. “Fate goes as fate must”- does not mean he was destined to do this. It means he made his own choices and decided to help the Danes and fight Grendel.
quest Journey, battle, right of passage
Themes 1. Good vs Evil 2. Religion: Pagan vs Christian 3. Importance of the sea, sailing, and wealth
Themes 6. the sanctity of home 5. loyalty and allegiance 4. Heroism and heroic deeds
Characters: