The Anglo-Saxon Era–Beowulf,The Seafarer and The Wanderer

Fall 2013Lorentzen

Write the Past Tense of TheseWrite the Plural of These:What do These Mean?

1. Drive 1. Ox 1. Tebowing

2. Dive2. Box2. Texting

3. Squeeze3. Fox3. Te’oing

- Pre-historical (Celtic) Britain was ______and there was _____ recorded literature.

- During the Roman Invasion, Rome brought many developments including their language, ______,

and their religion ______.

- The Viking invasions brought the ______language and created political ______.

- The Norman invasion occurred in ______and brought the ______language.

English = ______+______+______+______

/ The weakest survives and the world continues,
Kept spinning by toil. All glory is tarnished.
The world's honor ages and shrinks
Bent like the men who mould it.
-Anonymous Anglo-Saxon Poet

Key Characters

Beowulf: strong Geatish warrior who leads his men to Denmark to fight Grendel.

Grendel: Grendel is the primary villain of the epic who kills and eats men.

Grendel's Mother: lives in a cave with her son; never comes into the light.

Hrothgar: King of the Danes.

Wealhtheow: Wife to Hrothgar

Unferth: Danish warrior whose suspicion and jealousy land him in trouble.

Wiglaf: warrior loyal to Beowulf. A crucial character for his loyalty.

Some Vocabulary to Make The Great Geat Proud

1. scop – composers and storytellers of Anglo-Saxon poetry

2. wergild – “man price” or a fine paid to the relatives of a murdered person to free the offender from further obligations or punishment.

3. mead – an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water (38, line 493)

4. sinews – tendons (48, line 816)

5. hoary – gray or white with age (51, line 887)

6. pyre – a bonfire for burning a dead body (58, line 1107)

The Epic / The Epic Hero

4 Notable Literary Techniques in Beowulf

1. Alliteration:the repetition of initial consonant sounds from the beginning of words or syllables. Poetically, alliteration has a similarfunction as rhyme.

An example of alliteration is:

2. Kennings:Kennings are a special form of compounding that are metaphoric in meaning. Beowulf contains over a thousand kennings.

bone-house (banhus ) - the human body

battle-light (beadoleoma) - sword

wave-floater (wægflota) - ship

Others include:whale road, fish home, seal bath, battle dew

An example of a modern day kenning is:

3. Variation:Another common stylistic feature of Old English poetry is the use of

variation, which is the restatement of a concept or term using different words.

An example:

“The nobleman's son then passed

the steep rocky cliffs, the narrow path,

the narrow single-file path, an unknown way,

precipitous headland, the homes of many water-monsters.”

Variation is not used as filler, but fulfills a few important functions.

  • On a practicallevel, variation reminds the audience of important facts.
  • Variation also allows the poet to present anevent, or image from multiple perspectives, each providing additional information orshedding new light on the events.

4. Synecdoche a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole.

- Iron for a sword

- Keel for a ship

-

An example of synecdoche:

The Battle with Grendel

1. Find a quote describing Herot.

2. Describe Grendel’s lair. How does it compare to Herot?

3. What is the significance of Grendel being descended from Cain?

4. Why does Grendel attack Herot?

5. What had Herot symbolized before the coming of Grendel? After?

6. Why can’t the other warriors come to Beowulf ’s aid?

7. How does Beowulf wound Grendel?

The Battle with Grendel’s Mother

1. Why does Grendel’s mother attack Herot? What does she take with her?

2. What does Hrothgar ask Beowulf to do?

3. Find a quote describing the lake.

4. How does Beowulf defeat Grendel’s mother?

5. What does Beowulf present to Hrothgar?

The Battle with The Dragon

1. Why does Beowulf want to fight the dragon alone?

2. What do Beowulf ’s followers do when they realize he’s losing? What does Wiglaf do?

3. How is the dragon killed?

4. Summarize Beowulf ’s last words to Wiglaf in the speech bubble below.

5. What does Wiglaf say to the rest of Beowulf ’s followers?

Putting all three poems (Beowulf, “The Wanderer,”“The Seafarer”) together… Record a sentence that describes the similarities among the three poems for each of the following.

1. Christian and Pagan Traditions

2. Tone

3. Anglo-Saxon (Man) Code - Lord Warrior