Warm-Up: The Prologue and Chapter 1 of Beowulf present the genealogy of Hrothgar, King of the Danes--his noble heritage. Before you read, have a go at creating your own genealogy. If possible, go back at 3 generations. Add names of other relatives if you wish. Here is a possible model:

Your Genealogy YOU

Introduction to The Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066 CE

To best understand and therefore, enjoy works from the Anglo-Saxon Period, you need to know about the Anglo-Saxon people-- their history and customs.

Ancient Britain CELTS: The Native British tribe: Celts believed in the pagan religion of ANIMISM (The Celtic language survives today, as Welsh, Scottish, and Gaelic all derive from the Celtic language).

The DRUIDS were the priest class of the Celts The DRUIDS were the priest class of the Celts. They built and used STONEHENGE for religious and mystical ceremonies.

Druid ceremony reenactments are regularly held at Stonehenge every year.

ROMAN PERIOD 55 BC TO 407 AD ROME (Julius Caesar and others) invaded and took possession of Celtic Britain. (Rome, like Celtic Britain, was originally polytheistic, but gradually became Christian Rome brought the Latin of its scribes to record Anglo-Saxon history).

Roman Empire Many of the CELTS moved west to avoid being enslaved or killed, but Roman rule was generally beneficial

Rome built roads and fortifications throughout Britain, such as Hadrian’s Wall.

Rome also established political order But when Britain was threatened by Germanic tribes the Romans pulled out. The Roman Empire fell in 476 CE

Germanic Tribe Invasions 410-515 AD

The Saxons (Germany), Angles and Jutes (Denmark) invaded regularly, pushing Celts further west each time. These tribes brought their Germanic languages and traditions to Britain.

Germanic Invasions

Each invasion resulted in intermarriage between the Germanic tribes and the remaining Celts. By 650 AD, all of Britain was Christian in name, although many of the old Pagan beliefs continued and mingled with Christian ones.

The absorption of the Germanic tribes into the fabric of Britain also resulted in a new language, a mixture of those Germanic tongues and the Celtic tongue (Gaelic). This new language was called: Anglo-Saxon. We now call it OLD ENGLISH

The new Anglo-Saxon language was not written down until the 7th Century when King Alfred the Great created The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a running history of England English "began" in the 800s

The Anglo-Saxon Warrior Culture

Christianity softened the Anglo-Saxon warrior Christianity softened the Anglo-Saxon warrior. The Roman Catholic Church brought education and written language. The Monks who eventually copied down the oral history of Beowulf, wrote in Latin.

The Anglo-Saxons believed in Fate, which they called Wyrd.

The Anglo-Saxon warrior was called a THANE The Anglo-Saxon warrior was called a THANE. The Thane owed his King, or Gold-Giver total loyalty for life. He would fight for his king. He was obligated by honor to give his king a proper burial. In fact, he would die to protect his Gold-Giver, or willingly go to his death if he failed in that protection.

The thane was bound by honor to take vengeance for his lord's death in one of four ways: 1) Blood vengeance ("an eye for an eye) 2) Wergild (man-price, or bounty) 3) Marriage arranged as a treaty 4) Self-Sacrifice of his own life for failure to protect his gold-giver.

Why is it important for you to know this Why is it important for you to know this? You will see this concept of honor in Beowulf, as well as in the poem “The Seafarer”, and the novel Grendel, by John Gardner

THE MEAD HALL, OR COMMUNAL HALL The King (Gold-giver) took all the war prizes freely offered by his thanes when they celebrated victory in the Mead-Hall.

He, in turn, gave his thanes Heriot: horses and weapons, gold, land, and treasure to reward them for their particular service.

For his part, the King was responsible for all of his men's acts, even the ones they had committed before they became his retainers.

The Heroic IDEAL : EXCELLENCE The Heroic IDEAL : EXCELLENCE! The hero-king strives to do better than anyone else the things that an essentially migratory life demanded: sail a ship, swim, tame a horse, choose a camp site, set defenses, plow a field, and most important of all--FIGHT. Skill and courage were key to meeting the heroic ideal!

THE HEROIC BOAST TO MAKE A PUBLIC BOAST IS TO MAKE A SOLEMN VOW UPON WHICH ONE'S LIFE AND REPUTATION DEPEND. ONLY THE BRAVEST HERO WOULD BOAST AS BEOWULF DOES BECAUSE HE MUST THEN FULFILL THE PROMISE OR DIE TRYING.

THE HEROIC PARADOX By dying gloriously, one achieves immortality THE HEROIC PARADOX By dying gloriously, one achieves immortality. The hero-king was dependent on the poet or scop to sing his praises and thus assure his legend.

THE ORAL TRADITION The primary form for doing this was the EPIC, and as you have learned, the epic was passed down primarily from listener to hearer in what is called the Oral Tradition.

THE ROLE OF THE POET (also known as the SCOP, MINSTREL, GLEEMAN, or BARD—The hero-king was dependent on the poet or scop to sing his praises and thus assure his legend would live long after he was dead.

What is an EPIC? A long narrative poem which celebrates the exploits or victories of a religious or folk hero who is in some way responsible for the salvation or perpetuation of his people.

Archetypes The Epic often utilizes archetypes, or universal symbols that would be recognizable to most groups of people. Typical archetypes would be:

Archetypes (continued) The Wise Old Man The Vengeful Villain The Good Mother The Bad Mother

Archetypes in Beowulf: As you read, you will see all of these archetypes in Beowulf

You are about to experience the exciting adventures of the first super-hero: BEOWULF.

The story of Beowulf is an EPIC POEM The story of Beowulf is an EPIC POEM. Even though he is a citizen of Geatland, he is considered an Anglo-Saxon (or British) hero. Few people living today realize that for centuries, Britain was inhabited and ruled by Scandinavian tribes!

Beowulf's adventures were told for hundreds of years before the legend was ever written down, probably in the 9th century. Before it was written, though, the SCOP, a traveling poet, was responsible for keeping the oral histories of heroes like Beowulf alive.

By the time Beowulf was written down in the 9th century, it looked and sounded like a Germanic or Scandinavian tongue!

Hwæt! We Gardena        in geardagum,  þeodcyninga,         þrym gefrunon,  hu ða æþelingas         ellen fremedon.  Oft Scyld Scefing          sceaþena þreatum,  5 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  10 ofer hronrade         hyran scolde,  gomban gyldan.         þæt wæs god cyning!  ðæm eafera wæs         æfter cenned,  geong in geardum,         þone god sende  folce to frofre;         fyrenðearfe ongeat 

As you know, poetry usually has both rhythm and rhyme As you know, poetry usually has both rhythm and rhyme. In Modern English, rhyming in poetry most often occurs at the ends of lines.

In Anglo-Saxon poetry, rhyme was found in ALLITERATION, or the repetition of consonant sounds.

Rhythm in Modern English rhythm is measured in feet or beats Rhythm in Modern English rhythm is measured in feet or beats. We are most familiar with iambic pentameter (accent on every other beat with 5 beats to the line…

Old English also uses beats, but in a very stylized way: Every line of poetry is divided into 2 sides with a space between the sides indicating a pause, or caesura. Each side has 2 beats, so there are 4 beats to every line.

A good scop could memorize many hours of his poem by relying on the constant repetition of the Anglo-Saxon rhythm, and consonants. (Actually, this is is how most of us memorize complicated song lyrics today)…

The Anglo-Saxons invented an important new literary device that we still use today: The Kenning

What is a kenning? A kenning is an Anglo-Saxon metaphor in which 2 or more words are combined in a creative way to form an image or second level of meaning.

The history of the kenning:  It originated in Anglo-Saxon (Old English) and Old Norse poetry  It is a type of figurative language, specifically a METAPHOR  Some kennings were coined by poets and used repeatedly in various works  They sometimes utilized ALLITERATION

Types of kennings  Open compound (i.e.) wakeful sleeper or icy wave  Hyphenated compound (i.e.) gold-shining hall or whale-road  Possessive compound (i.e.) hell’s captive or Hrothgar’s son  Prepositional Compound (i.e.) shepherd of evil or proud with wine

Throughout time, kennings have become increasingly more complex and detailed.

For instance, a kenning might begin with: “Foamy-throated ship” Then progress to: “Foamy-throated sea-stallion” And conclude with “Foamy-throated sea-stallion of the whale-road”

A Viking Ship

Some kennings are Epithets An epithet is another name for a character that is used frequently and clearly identifies the character. For example, in The Odyssey, you will often see the epithets: Wily Odysseus, and Odysseus the Greek.

As you read, note the kenning epithets used to describe Beowulf, Hrothgar, Grendel, and other characters.

Modern example of kennings include:

Head-hunter

“Gold Digger

What might each of these kennings refer to or suggest: What might each of these kennings refer to or suggest: ...their ring-giving lord (p. 4) Higlac's follower (p. 11) sea-road (p. 12) fresh-tarred boat (p. 15) battle-hardened shields (p. 17) gold-ringed queen/bracelet-wearing queen (p. 28, 29) sin-stained demon (p. 36) wagging tongues (p. 48) cup-bearers (p. 51)

The End of Anglo-Saxon Britain The Anglo-Saxon rule and way of life came to an abrupt end in 1066 when William the Conqueror (William or Normandy) invaded Britain…

And defeated the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold of Hastings at the battle of Hastings. William, a Frenchman, brought a new system of government, land ownership, customs, and of course, language to Britain.

As the years passed, Norman French merged with Anglo-Saxon, or Old English to form Middle English, and the The Middle Ages were ushered in.