BeowulfBeowulf

The Anglo-Saxon Superhero

Timeline Timeline

The first surviving version of Beowulf was composed in 750

The surviving version of Beowulf was written out by Monks in 1000

In the year 597, Christianity spread to the Anglo-Saxons

The calculation for pi happened in 630

Gunpowder was invented in 800

VocabularyVocabulary

Alliteration – the same sound repeated in a line Example: The flamingos flew furiously to Florida.

Caesura - Strong rhythm divided by a pause Our version of a caesura is a comma, because the

reader pauses

Kennings - Descriptive phrase or compound word that substitutes for a noun

Beowulf describes Grendel as “Almighty’s enemy” and “sin-stained demon”

Stock Epithets – adjectives that point out special traits of particular persons or things Example: Homer describes Achilles as “swift-footed”

EpicsEpics

An epic is a long narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s deeds.

The earliest epic tales survived by oral tradition

Oral stories were usually told by scops or bards (oral poets)

The bards provided not only entertainment, but education for the audience

Oral poets had to be MASTER IMPROVISERS

Epics date back to the third millennium, where the Sumerians sung them

Name five epics from the twentieth or twenty-first centuries.

Preparing to ReadPreparing to Read

The famous tale of Beowulf takes place on a European mainland in the sixth century

The two civilizations that provide the setting are the Danes (Denmark) and the Geats (Sweden)

Beowulf is the leader of the Geats, and is the superhero of the Anglo-Saxons (No one knows if Beowulf really existed)

Beowulf was written in Old English, but the author is UNKNOWN

Mead HallsMead Halls

Etymology: The old name of such halls may have been sal/salr and thus be present in old place names such as "Uppsala”. The idea or concept may have been preserved in the German word Festsaal or the Dutch word feestzaal (feasting hall).

The king built the mead hall, where his subjects gather to make merry

QuizQuiz