BEOWULFAn Introduction to the

English Folk Epic

The Anglo Saxon Period 440 AD-1066 AD

• Britons: Celtic people, original inhabitants of Britain

• 449 AD: the first people from North German plain settled in Kent

– Jutes: from Jutland in Denmark– Angles and Saxons followed– Britons were no match

• King Arthur, Whales

– Brought Old English– A/S England – military society

born in warfare

• 1066 AD: Norman Invasion ends A/S society

Anglo Saxon Civilization

• Admired men of courage

• Loyalty to leader and tribe

• Person of rank received with courtesy

• Ruler was generous to followers

• Believers in an impersonal fate

• Aware of short life span: ubi sunt

Christianity

• Christianity came to Britain in AD 314

• St. Augustine – 597 AD– First archbishop of

Canterbury

Folk Epics are tales of a national HERO

But what is heroic?

Characteristics of a Pagan Hero

• Good Fighter

• Loyal

• Persevering (Never Gives Up)

• Wins “Fame” (in Songs in a Mead Hall)

Pagan Characteristics, cont.

• Little Regard for Danger or Self: Brave

• Battle as a Way of Life

• Personal Vengeance as Familial Requirement

• FATE: Revenge and/or Death

Characteristics of a Christian Hero

• Recognizes God as Creator

• Humility in the presence of God’s Power

• Altruism in Action

Christian Characteristics cont.

• Contrast between Good and Evil Rulers

• Personal Vengeance transmuted into Fighting Evil

• Good is Rewarded and Evil is Punished (Evil in the World)

BeowulfHistorical Background

During a time of Old English Warriors

Called the “Dark Ages” - - a time of Barbarians

DARK AGES DOES NOT MEAN NO ART

VIKINGS LOVED GOLD, JEWELRY, WEAPONS, AND RINGS

Author/Composer• Likely an

educated Christian, possibly a monk

Author/Composer• Wove together

many oral traditions with consummate skill

• Sanitized slightly the pagan traditions

• Produced a single tale

Manuscript History• First English literary masterpiece• Beowulf was probably composed between 700

A.D. and 900 A.D• The place of its composition was probably

Northumbria• Northumbria was home to Roman Catholic monks

who excelled in learning and literature• First transmitted orally for one to three centuries

Manuscript History• Although its author did not write it

down, two English scribes did so in about 1000 A.D

• Saved from looting of monasteries under Henry VIII

Manuscript History• Saved from fire in Sir Henry

Cotton’s Library in 1731

• Danish scholar translated it in 1787; first published in 1815

Part of the Original Manuscript

BEOWULF

Setting

• Danish kingdom ruled by Hrothgar, situated on the island of Zealand (site of present-day Copenhagen, Denmark)

• A mead hall was a communal gathering place for feasting and drinking mead

– an alcoholic beverage made of water and fermented honey

– Mead was a popular drink in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries during the Middle Ages because grapes, a crop that thrives in warmer southern climates, were not readily available to make wine.)

Important Terms

• Heroic Ideal: A/S culture governed by ideals of bravery, loyalty and generosity

• Comitatus: loyalty to king and king to men

• Wyrd: Old English for fate

• Wergild: “manprice”

BEOWULF

Structure and Style

Style of the Folk Epic• Lyric

• Epic

• Narrative

Literary Devices

•Four Lifts per line; with a caesura

•Scops used harp to add beats to poetry

“chosen champions cheerlessly grievedfor the loss of their lord, leader and defender.They called him of captains, kings of the known world,”

•Allusionstwo or more words having the same initial sound

Literary Devices, cont.

Kennings: bardic formulae, used as appositives, for example,"bone-house," refers to the human

body "whale's road," refers to the sea"sky's candle," refers to the sun.

Themes

• Good vs. evil– Not moral but about fate and reputation

– Good will fight knowing that eventually they will be defeated

• Identity– Boasting = resume

• Strength and skill– Highly valued even in enemies

– Skill slightly devious

More Themes

• Wealth– Glory and treasure - immortality

• Religion– Christianity vs. paganism– Wyrd and providence

• Violence– Loyalty, vengeance and feud

• Courage– Fortitude and wisdom

More Themes

• Mortality– Ubi Sunt

• Supernatural– Monsters

• Tradition and customs– Comitatus– Wyrgild– boasting