Anglo-Saxon poetryThe Epic

1. Main Features• Eminently didactic – the hero’s deeds are examples to follow.

• Alliteration.

• Preserved and transmitted orally.

• Four stresses to each line

• Old English

It focuses on the heroic deeds of great warrior kings:risking life in battlefighting monsters and other supernatural creatures

2. Content

Historical or legendary kings or warriors endowed with qualities and

virtues superior to those of ordinary men.

3. Characters

All events are set in pre-Christian England soon after the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England

4. Setting

5. ThemeHeroic ideal:

strength courage loyalty