Thursday, Sept. 25– ELIT 46A Beowulf Themes Structure Ways of Looking at Beowulf

Old style quiz ______ 1. The name of the great hall Hrothgar builds is a. Heorot b. Eadgilsc. Eofor d. Thames ______ 2. The demon who attacks the Spear-Danes in their great hall is a. Horrendorb. Heardredc. Grendeld. Mordred

___________ 3. The demon is descended from what Biblical character? a. Abelb. Cain c. Jacob d. Satan _ 4. The character who is jealous of Beowulf and accuses him of vanity is a. Uglifb. Unferthc. Hrethric d. Wealtheow

End of old quiz ______ 5. According to Beowulf, the reason Breca beat Beowulf in a swimming race was because a. Beowulf was attacked by nine sea monsters that he eventually destroyed. b. He had inadvertently drunk too much mead. c. He stopped in the middle of the race to save a ship floundering at sea

Actual quiz – answer 2 Describe the battle between Grendel and Beowulf, including what Beowulf did to prepare for the battle. Describe the battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. Why is Beowulf successful? What is Wealhtheow‘s main worry – the promise that she seeks to get Beowulf to make?

Have you seen any of these themes? Themes: Transitoriness of all things Significance of generosity Significance of loyalty Question of immortality Ideal King – walks his talk – but Kings frequently boasted under influence of alcohol and didn’t always fulfill the boasts Insiders and outsiders The decline of hope, the impossibility of community The future will come and it will mean loss, death, and weakness

Why start with Shield? Parallel to Beowulf, who is going to win fame himself Funeral – so the shape of the epic is clear Funeral Feast Battle Feast Battle Feast 50 years Dragon Battle Funeral Heorot (civilization) vs. Barbarism (Hrothgar vs. Grendel) and Barbarism is winning

Beowulf (kenning of ____?) Beowulf represents _______________ What lines tell you this? His style of fighting Grendel His response to Unferth His response to Unferth’s offer of the sword Spoils from the cave How is Beowulf the opposite of Hrothgar?

Epic Compare what we have seen to usual ideas about the epic and the 3 on the next page

Different ways of looking at Beowulf Anthropological Psychological = every enemy is a mirror for Beowulf to see himself Performance = focus on the scop and why the story is being told and how it is being told Political – about identity and nation formation Didactic - Teaching Literary – Irony, poetry of the language, synecdoche, metonymy, litotes, etc.

Symbolism within Beowulf Or Metaphoric – what does the arm of Grendel represent? What does the whole day’s journey down into the cave, the fight with Grendel’s mother, and the day to return remind you of? Why does he return only with Grendel’s head and the hilt of the sword? Theory of types

Why the head of Grendel, not Mom?

Theme of Gold according to Patricia Silber Gold can have a positive moral value: adorning people, places, and weapons – to give to deserving warriors Plundering, cursing, hoarding and refusing to give gold Beowulf achieves moral ascendency when he ____? How does Wealhtheow use gold? (pages 60-1) Compare to Sigurd the Volsung and the story of the gold taken from the Rhine Maidens, gold which made the river beautiful. Also RINGS (Ring of the Niebelung) See the treasures actually used in England around the time of the composition of Beowulf (750)