1. Beowulf

2. Epic Long narrative poem Recounts the adventures of a hero
Passed down orally
Uses elevated language
Begins in media res
Think about The Odyssey

3. The Epic Hero Predestined Mysterious origin Vulnerability
Embodies cultural ideals

4. The Epic Hero Responds to catastrophic situations
Supernatural intervenes to help him
Moral compass leads him to defend his society
Mortal but god-like

5. I Need A Hero

6. Background Information
Setting - Denmark and Sweden
Author - Unknown, probably a monk
Composed in the 7th or 8th century
Oldest surviving English poem

7. The Anglo-Saxon Era

8. The Big Three In 449 AD, three groups invaded Britain Anglos Saxons
Jutes
Area became known as Angle Land (England)
Angle-ish became English

9. The Setting Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia. Scandanavia= Denmark
Britain
Scandanavia=
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Scandanavia is Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Tie this back to our earlier map.
Scholars think Herot (a grand mead-hall where much of the poem is set) might have been built on the coast of Zealand, in Denmark.
How does a story about Danes and Scandinavians become the first national classic of Britain?

10. The Anglo-Saxon Invasion
Jutes
Angles
Saxons
Celts/Romans
QUESTIONS
Which three tribes are known as the Anglo-Saxons? [Angles, Saxons, and Jutes]
Where did they come from? [northern Germany, Denmark, and northern Holland]
How did they get to Britain? [They rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats.]
BACKGROUND
King Alfred the Great came from Wessex. By the middle of the tenth century, the Wessex kings had become the kings of all England.
In Sutton Hoo, East Anglia, a burial mound of an Anglo-Saxon king was discovered in 1939.
A.D. 449 The Anglo-Saxons push the Celts into the far west of the country
Angle-land is born.

11. Elements of Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds
“Then the grim man in green gathers his strength”
Caesura: a pause or break in a line of poetry
“Oft to the wanderer / weary of exile”
Kenning: compound metaphor used as a name
“battle-blade” and “ring-giver”
Hyperbole: exaggeration

12. The Poetry of Beowulf: Alliteration
The Anglo-Saxon oral poet also used the poetic device of alliteration.
Grendel gongan,         godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða         manna cynnes
Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty
Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill
Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
Because there are relatively few traditional rhymes in the English language, the first poetry was alliterative.

13. More Poetry: the Kenning
Kenning: a metaphorical phrase or compound word used to name a person, place, thing, or event indirectly.
A kenning is a way of enhancing the qualities of the thing it describes
Gold-shining hall= Herot, the meadhall
Guardian of crime = Grendel
Strong-hearted wakeful sleeper = Beowulf
Whale-road = the ocean
Cave-guard and sky-borne foe = dragon
Can you think of contemporary examples of kenning? Gas-guzzler, Beer-goggles, man-eater, surfing the web, lead-foot, card-shark.

14. Anglo-Saxon Culture Belief in fate (Wyrd) Treasure equals success
Fame and fortune
Loyalty to the leader
Pagan, Germanic, and Christian ideals

15. Anglo-Saxon Culture Fierce, hardy life of warrior and seamen
Strength, courage, leadership abilities appreciated
Rowdy rituals of mead-halls
Expected the hero to boast

16. The Mead Hall All social events began and ended in the Mead Hall
Mead is an adult beverage made from honey
The hall was built by the local lord or king for the entertainment of the Thanes
Thanes: warriors and soldiers loyal to the local lord or king
Safest place in the kingdom

18. Anglo-Saxon Hero
Strong
Courageous
Loyal
Desires fame
Generous

19. Anglo-Saxon Ideals Good defeats evil Wergild—restitution for a murder
Comitatus—code of loyalty
Boasts must be followed by actions
Fate is in control
Only fair fights are honorable

20. Title of Epic Poem Anglo-Saxon word Beo means “bright” or “noble”
Anglo-Saxon word wulf means “wolf”
Beowulf means bright or noble wolf
Other sources say Beo means “bear”

21. Beowulf Epic hero Geat (from southern Sweden) Nephew of Higlac
(King at story’s start)
Sails to Denmark to help Hrothgar

22. Hrothgar Danish king Builds Herot (hall)
Tormented by Grendel for 12 years
Loses many men
Joyless before Beowulf’s arrival

23. Grendel Referred to as demon and fiend Haunts the moors (swampy land)
Descendant of Cain
(kills his brother Abel in Bible)
Feasts on 30 men the night of 1st attack

24. Grendel’s Mother Referred to as a she-wolf Lives under a lake
Is not happy with Beowulf