Beowulf - ENGLISH 12/101...What we do know: Beowulf is the oldest surviving English poem. It’s...
Transcript of Beowulf - ENGLISH 12/101...What we do know: Beowulf is the oldest surviving English poem. It’s...
Beowulf’s HistoryWhat we don’t know:
who wrote it
when exactly it was written
how much, exactly, is
based on historical truth
What we do know:
Beowulf is the oldest surviving English poem. It’s
written in Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), which is
the basis for the language we speak today.
Some of the characters in the poem actually
existed.
The only copy of the manuscript was written
sometime around the 11th century A.D. (1000’s),
however…
The actual poem probably dates
from the 8th century (700’s) or so,
and…The story may be set even
earlier, around 500 A.D.
There are a lot of Christian
references in the poem, but the
characters and setting are
Pagan…this means a monk probably
translated it.
So why wasn’t it written
down in the first place?
This story was probably passed down
orally for centuries before it was first
written down.
It wasn’t until after the Norman
Invasion (1066) that writing stories
down became common in this part of
the world.
Angles and Saxons• The Angles and the Saxons
were Germanic warrior tribes
who invaded England.
• The Anglo-Saxon occupation
is often regarded as the
beginning of England and
the English people.
• The first written copy of
Beowulf was written by the
Anglo-Saxons
Setting: Beowulf’s time and place
Although Beowulf was
written in English, it is
set in what is now
Sweden, where a tribe
called the Geats lived.
The story may take
place as early as 400 or
500 A.D.
The Oral Tradition• Anglo-Saxon literature was not
written down until after the Christian Occupation.
• Stories were passed down by story tellers called scops
• When the nation was largely converted to Christianity, the Priests were literate and began to write down the classic tales, like Beowulf
• They, of course, removed a large portion of pagan imagery and converted it to Christian.
Old English• When speaking about the people of the time period, you say
“Anglo-Saxons”
• When speaking about the language, you say “Old English”
• Old English occasionally sounds similar to modern English but
the language looks and works completely different.
Old English• Instead of being similar to Modern English, Old
English was grammatically similar to Latin.
• Words had gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) that was not related to the physical gender.
seo sunne (the Sun) was feminine
se mona (the Moon) was masculine
pat wif (wife) was neuter.
Hello.Wes hāl (singular). (WESS haal) Wesaþ hāle (male)/hāla
(female)/hāl(mixed plural) (WES-ath haa-leh/haa-lah/haal)
How are you?Hū gǣþ? (HOO GAYTH?) used as a real question, not a form of
greeting.Fine, thank you.
Wel, þancie. (WELL, THAN-kih-eh)Nice to meet you.
Ēadig, þec tō mētenne. ("AY-diy THETCH TOE MAY-ten-neh")Pleased to meet you. ("informal")
Mē līcode þec tō grētenne. (MAY LEE-koh-deh THETCH TOE GRAY-ten-neh)
Please.Bidde. (BID-deh)
Thank you.Ic þē þancie. (ITCH THAY THAN-ki-eh)
Thanks.Þancas. (THAN-kahs)
You're welcome.Georne! (YOR-neh)
Yes.Gēse. (YEH-zeh)
No.Nese. (NEH-zeh)
Excuse me. (getting attention)Hīerstu. (HIEHR-stoo)
Excuse me. (begging pardon)Lāda mec. (LAH-dah METCH)
GoodbyeBēo gesund. (singular) Bēoþ gē gesunde (male)/gesunda (female)/gesund (mixed). (BAY-oh ye-SOOND,BAY-ohth YAY ye-SOON-deh/ye-SOON-dah/ye-SOOND)
Good morning.Gōdne morgen. (GOAD-neh MOR-khen)
Good evening.Gōdne ǣfen. (GOAD-neh AY-ven)
Good night.Ēadigne ǣfen giet. (AY-diy-neh AY-ven yet)
Good night (to sleep)Gōde niht. (GO-deh nisht)
The Geats: Beowulf ’s clan—a
seafaring tribe originating from the
south of Sweden.
Beowulf: Protagonist. Epic
Hero. Son of Edgetheow. Servant
of Hygelac.
Wiglaf: A young kinsman of
Beowulf.
Hygelac: King of the Geats.
Important Characters
Hrothgar: King of the
Danes. Builder of Herot.
Unferth: A Danish warrior
who is jealous of Beowulf.
Presents Beowulf with
Hrunting.
Herot: The great mead-hall
of the Danes. Where Grendel
attacks at night.
The Danes: Hrothgar’s clan--residents of
Denmark.
Grendel: A demon who
attacks King Hrothgar’s
mead-hall Herot and kills his
men.
Grendel’s Mother: A demon
who attacks Herot to get
revenge for her son’s murder.
The Dragon: An ancient
serpent who guards a horde
of treasure.
The Monsters: Beowulf
faces three monsters in his epic.