& Anglo-Saxon Poetry Notes by Don Pogreba and Diane More

One manuscript in which Beowulf has survived to the present day. nearly destroyed in a fire in 1731 wasn’t until 1845 that efforts were made to preserve the text The manuscript dates to about 1000 CE, Exact date is unknown Most scholars assume the poem was written in about the 800s in England describes vaguely historical events in Scandinavia from the period between CE. Was originally dismissed as a piece of valuable literature. Most critics said the work had no literary merit, and studied it for its historical value. J.R.R. Tolkien reversed this view with his influential lecture in 1936, “The Monster and Its Critics”. dailymail.co.uk

King of the Geats, Beowulf leaves home to help Hrothgar, King of the Danes

Instead of rhyme or meter, Anglo-Saxon poetry relies on alliteration Lines are divided into two halves with a caesura in the middle. The halves are tied together by alliteration Some translations omit this in favor of meaning. Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah, oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra ofer hronrade hyran scolde, gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning!

Compound poetic phrases substituted for the usual name of a person or thing Whale-road (Ocean) Slaughter-dew (blood) Spear-din (battle) Common in Old English and Norse epics Help with alliteration Often rely on mythological stories for added meaning Can be combined for greater effect Slaughter dew worm dance (bloody battle to the death) Anglo-Saxon hall

The inclusion of God or Christ as the object of praise/worship. 53 times in the entire poem Biblical allusions The Flood The concept of Grendel as the descendant of Cain. The poet argues that Grendel was, like all monsters, descended from the cursed son of Adam and Eve Life-in-saxons-vikings.html

Role of Protection Norse Society was based on loose political relationships. A powerful warrior (a thane) would lead a group of warriors and their families. Often hereditary, but loose A weak thane could easily lose his warriors. Warrior Culture. The final goal for every warrior was to be defeated in battle. Death by old age was not preferred Only warriors who were killed in battle were accepted in Valhalla, the warrior “heaven” in Norse mythology.

Figure of speech in which understatement is employed for rhetorical effect An idea is expressed by a denial of its opposite, often employing double negatives To say that something is attractive, we might say it’s “not unattractive”. Good= Not Bad Like= Not unlike Old= Not as young as she used to be

Descriptive terms accompanying or occurring in place of a name William the Conqueror Star Cross’d Lovers Discreet Telemachus Often make use of repeated/stock phrases (clichés)

Difficult to translate Old English for a man's good name on others' lips 'fame, praise,' or dom, loosely meaning 'the good judgment of others,' related to the verb 'deem‘ The final goal of the heroic life. It is no accident that the last word of the poem should be lof-geornost 'most eager for fame.'

"To achieve a place in such a world, a nobleman had to rely on his own personal strength, which is always an ambiguous force for others' good.... The Anglo-Saxons believed that life was a struggle against insuperable odds and that a man's wyrd or 'lot' would be what it would be..... Even in early pagan days, they do not seem to have believed in a supernatural conception of Destiny. Wyrd originally meant simply 'what happens'.... Perhaps it was precisely because... life was potentially meaningless, that they looked to the heroic notion of personal fame to find the strength to resist wyrd. The Anglo-Saxons had an incomparable sense of the transience and pointlessness of mortal life. Only a man's name lived on, and then only in the mouths of others, usually the poets."

Reasonably predictable series of events that happen to heroes across cultures in poems like this. General requirements of the epic hero cycle: A charge, from a god or someone else to take on a quest/mission A test, to determine one’s worthiness to complete the task A mentor, to guide the seeker in his/her quest. Helpers (animal, human, or mystical) to assist in the quest A Main Antagonist, often supernatural A Magical/Unreal World visited by the hero that others are not able to enter An Escape from the Quest, where the hero questions his commitment A Resurrection, where the hero seems to return from death or a death-like state And a Restoration, where a character is restored to a rightful place.