 Beowulf is the first great work of English literature  Oral epic handed down by story-tellers  Composed sometime between 700 A.D. and 750 A.D., although the setting is much older  Setting is Northumbria (Northeastern England)

 The only written manuscript was discovered in the 18 th century.  Preserved by Christian Monks.  Somehow survived Henry VIII’s destruction of all the monasteries only 200 years before…

 It dates from the year 1000 A.D.  Burnt and stained  It’s approximately 3,200 lines.  The author is unknown; however, some believe it may have been a Christian monk who recorded this version.

 Angles and Saxons from Germany invade Britain in A.D. 449 and overthrow Roman occupation  “Engla – land” becomes “England”  They bring their culture, warfare lifestyle, and language which eventually evolved into the “English” we use today. much of our vocabulary comes from Anglo-Saxon roots.

 Core Values: bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship  Dark Religion  Worshipped “Warrior-Gods” Woden – God of death, poetry, and magic – “Woden’s- day” = “Wednesday” Thunor – (Thor) God of thunder and lightning – “Thor’s-day” = “Thursday”  No hope in after-life, only fame in this life and being remembered by society for heroic acts

 “Scops” – (sk ä ps) also called bards, were story-tellers who sang poetic songs to a harp about the Gods and heroes  Esteemed in society – to Anglo-Saxons, creating poetry was just as important as fighting, hunting, farming, or loving.  Clans met in the Great Hall to hear the scops tell the stories

 Huge focus on heroes and bravery  Tight-knit clans with focus on loyalty to the leader  Anglo-Saxon literature is mostly elegiac: Sad, mournful strain Life is hard and ends only in death  “The Seafarer”

 871 A.D. – King Alfred the Great converts to Christianity and begins to unite England Because of this, Christian monks begin to write down and preserve much of the Anglo-Saxon literature  The Danes (Viking people) from the north invade England and fight for years  In 1066 A.D. William – Duke of Normandy invades and conquers both sides

 Part I: Burton Raffel’s translation,  Part II: Seamus Heaney’s (Irish poet) translation, 2000.

 Beowulf: a Geat, son of Edgetho (Ecgtheow) and nephew of Higlac (Hygalac), king of the Geats.  Grendel: man-eating monster who lives at the bottom of a foul mere, or mountain lake.  Herot: golden guest hall built by King Hrothgar, the Danish ruler. It was decorated with the antlers of stags.  Hrothgar: king of the Danes, builder of Herot – he had once befriended Beowulf’s father.  Wiglaf: a Geat warrior, one of Beowulf’s select band and the only one to help him in his final fight.