BEOWULF

BEOWULF

WHAT KIND OF POEM IS IT?

Beowulf is perhaps the finest example of Anglo-Saxon EPIC POETRY

EPIC POEM:

• Long, narrative poem

• THEMES: Heroic deeds, religious themes, outstanding individuals

BEOWULF

HOW DID IT COME TO US?

Only one manuscript copy survives!

Cotton Vitellius Manuscript

BEOWULF

DATESWHEN WAS BEOWULF COMPOSED?

Nobody knows for certain, but many believe it was first composed in the early 8th century.

WHEN WAS IT WRITTEN?In the 10th century, by a Christian monk, after a period of oral transmission.

BEOWULF

SETTING

Beowulf narrates events which take place in the 6th century AD

TIME

BEOWULF

• Realistic geographical setting

• Accurate description of Danish society, uses and artifacts

• LEGEND and HISTORY are mingled!

PLACE

BEOWULF

IN WHAT LANGUAGE WAS BEOWULF WRITTEN?

The poem was written in the Wessex dialect

WHY???

Strong cultural ties between Anglo-Saxon England and Scandinavia

Overlapping cultural traditions

BEOWULF

HOW LONG IS THE POEM?

About 3200 lines

• HALF –LINES

• ALLITTERATION

BEOWULF

PLOT - IBeowulf is a noble warrior from Geatland, Southern Sweden, and a loyal servant of his king Hygelac. He receives the news of the misfortunes of the Danes, attacked by an evil monster called Grendel. He then decides to help Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and free Heorot, his mead-hall, from the threat of the monster.

He confronts Grendel and mortally wounds him in an unarmed fight. Later, Grendel’s mother kills one of Hrothgar’s best fighters to avenge her son’s death. Beowulf then tracks her down to her hiding place, a cave beneath a magical lake, and kills her with an enchanted sword.

BEOWULF

PLOT - II

The second part of the poem is set fifty years after the events in Denmark. A now aged Beowulf has become the King of the Geats and has to face a final challenge – a deadly fight with a fire-breathing dragon. Initially, the dragon has the upper hand in the fight, but Beowulf is aided by his faithful kinsman Wyglaf, who wounds the dragon and lets the dying King kill the monster.

The poem ends with Beowulf’s funeral and a lament for his death.

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

So [Hrothgar’s] mind turned

To hall-building: he handed down orders

For men to work on a great mead-hall

Meant to be a wonder of the world forever.

BEOWULF

THE MEAD-HALL

And soon it stood there,Finished and ready, in full view,

The hall of halls.  Heorot was the name

He had settled on it […]

BEOWULF

GRENDEL

So times were pleasant for the people there

Until finally one, a fiend out of Hell,               

Began to work his evil in the world.Grendel was the name of this grim demonHaunting the marches, marauding round

the heathAnd the desolate fens […]

BEOWULF

GRENDEL

[…]Suddenly then                               

The God-cursed brute was creating havoc:Greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men

From their resting places and rushed to his lair,

Flushed up and inflamed from the raid,Blundering back with the butchered

corpses.

BEOWULF

BEOWULF AND HIS COMPANIONS SET SAIL FOR DENMARK