Beowulf 101

1. Anglo Saxon Poetry2. Social Hierarchy3. Themes

ða wæs on uhtan mid ærdæge

Grendles guðcræft gumum undyrne;

Then as dawn brightened and the day broke

þa wæs æfter wiste wop up ahafen,

Grendel’s powers of destruction were plain:

Their wassail was over, they wept to heaven

micel morgensweg. Mære þeoden,

and mourned under morning. Their mighty price …

At daybreak, with the sun’s first light, they sawHow well he had worked, and in that gray morningBroke their long feast with tears and lamentsFor the dead. Hrothgar, their lord, sat joyless ...

Some notes about the poetry ...

Anglo-Saxon …

Anglo-Saxon + French + Latin + a smattering of German = English

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Form

Epic = A long narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s

deeds

Kennings = Descriptive phrase that substitutes for a noun

Caesura = Pause between

two halves of a line

Alliteration = Words that begin with the

same sounds

Social Hierarchy

King

Thanes/Warriors Queen Everyone Else …

…Except me, the Outsider

Themes