Handwritten notes due on Thursday August 16th, beginning of class, MLA heading (google MLA heading format), titled "Beowulf Notes." Begin copying below--"Cultural Background" to end. If you do not turn in handwritten notes you receive a grade of zero. No late work ever accepted in this class (except in the case of an excused absence).
Background for Anglo-Saxon England: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/celts.htm http://www.localhistories.org/saxonlife.html-- http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/anglo-saxon_life/ -- https://oldenglishteaching.arts.gla.ac.uk/Units/2_Life_in.html (links to great pages on Anglo-Saxon life. You can also google Anglo Saxon and keywords to find more information.)
The literature of the Middle Ages dates from 500 AD to 1500 AD. Beowulf, created/composed sometime between 750 and 900 AD, was an oral composition. It was first written down in approximately 1000 AD.
The work is written in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, and is very difficult to understand in its original language. We do not know who wrote the poem, or the intended audience. Themes of heroism, courage, duty, and honor contrast with themes of foreboding, doom, transience, and betrayal. At 3,182 lines, the poem is a combination of Pagan and Christian elements. It is the only complete extant (existing) piece of literature we have from that time period. This does not mean that period of time lacked other great works, but indicates simply that Beowulf is the major piece of literature that has endured. There are other pieces of literature that exist, but this work is considered the greatest. In fact, it is probable, there were several other great literary works from that time period, but due to circumstance, these works did not survive. Beowulf survived in a single manuscript, and was rediscovered in a library in 1563.
Cultural Background of Beowulf
- The highest good in society was that of public esteem and the greatest evil was public disgrace.
- Public esteem was related to the giving of gifts.
- There was a strong ritual of revenge.
- Romantic passion between the sexes is absent in Old English literature.
- The idea of wyrd (fatalism) is strong.
- People were preoccupied with material things.
- Nature was perceived as hostile.
- Comitatus (bond between a warrior and his lord) was revered. To survive the leader and retreat from the battlefield is a lifelong disgrace.
Contrasts Within Beowulf
Good/Evil
Heaven/Hell
Light/Darkness
Creation/Destruction
Happiness/Sadness
High/Low
Company/Aloneness
Beowulf/Grendel
Christian/Pagan
Almighty God/Devil
Terms (Look up and write definitions and examples; use Google.)
kenning
alliteration
caesura
epic
elegy (elegiac)
fatalism
mood
tone
imagery
personification
simile
connotation
