1. The Anglo-Saxon Period (The Dark Ages), 449AD-1066
The Anglo-Saxon Epic, Beowulf

2. Questions of the Times What makes a true HERO?
Early British literature shows a deep fascination with the hero as the embodiment of society’s highest ideals.
Does FATE control our lives?
The seafaring Anglo-Saxons led harsh, brutal lives, often cut short by violence, disease, or the unpredictable tempests of the icy North Sea. They admired strength and courage but ultimately saw humans as helpless victims of grim, implacable fate they called wyrd.
Hold McDougal, Literature, p.20

3. The Epic Tradition
The early literature of the Anglo-Saxon period mostly took the form of lengthy epic poems praising the deed of heroic warriors.
In the great mead halls of kings and nobles, Anglo-Saxons would gather on special occasions to celebrate in style. While feasting on pies and roasted meat they would listen to scops— professional poets—bring the epic poems to life. Strumming a harp, the scop would chant for hours on end with tales of courage, high drama, and tragedy.
The epic poem was a history lesson, a moral sermon, and pep talk all rolled into one, instilling cultural pride and teaching how a true hero should behave. Epics reminded the audience that they were helpless in the hands of fate and all human ambition would end in death. With no hope for an afterlife, only an epic poem could provide a measure of immortality.

4. What can a grand heroic poem (or epic) such as Beowulf do for its audience and culture?
To entertain (especially in a mead hall)
To transmit history, spread fame, and promote legacy
To honor and glorify deeds of heroes
To motivate warriors and provide role models
To promote values or morals
To promote national identity, pride, loyalty, and tradition (a connection to the people and events of the past)

5. Epic Poem, Beowulf
. In more than 3,000 lines, Beowulf relates the tale of a heroic warrior who battles monsters and dragons to protect the people.
The oldest surviving epic poem in English
Narrates events of 6th century
Unknown Author
Like other traditional epic poems, Beowulf, existed as part of oral tradition for hundreds of years before being written down
Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia among two groups of people: Danes (Denmark) and Geats (Sweden), Beowulf is a Geat warrior
“Christian writers like the Beowulf poet were fascinated by the distant culture of their pagan ancestors and by the inherent conflict between the heroic code and a religion that teaches that we should ‘forgive those who trespass against us’ and that ‘all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.’ The Beowulf poet looks back in that ancient world with admiration for the courage of which it was capable and at the same time with elegiac sympathy for its inevitable doom” (NA 5).
Beowulf proclaims, “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (NA 64, l ).

6. Images of the original Beowulf manuscript

7. Christian and Pagan elements of Beowulf
Major pagan beliefs found in Beowulf are:
The uncertainty of existence; the poem jumps forward and backward in time to represent man’s ability to come to terms with the uncertainties of life by trying to keep both past and future in view.
That all men are in the hands of fate (wyrd).
The Viking funeral (putting the body on a boat and sending it out to sea or burning the body).
None of the characters possess hope (i.e. no hope in an afterlife)
Belief in “old stone gods”-”stone” (idols) and multiple gods
Christian characteristics in the poem:
All of the men are monotheistic.
God is often praised
God of the Old Testament.
There are many allusions to the stories of the OT such as Cain and Abel, the Great Flood, etc.
The monsters are referred to as heathens.

8. Anglo-Saxon Characteristics of Beowulf
Pride in the genealogy of one’s family. Many of the characters are referred to as the son of…This was because of a rigid class system.
The unimportance of women.
The importance of weapons. Swords are passed down from father to son and given names.
The great emphasis placed on treasures.
Man had to prove himself in battle.
The belief in the old Germanic gods, such as the giants.
The belief in the super human feats.
Duality as in contrasting good against evil, darkness against light, etc.

9. Comitatus
The strict code of conduct/chivalry that warriors and their king or warlord were expected to honor and follow
The comitatus relationship requires that "the thane swear to defend a lord to their death, while he provides them with the protection and a share of his wealth and weapons."
In the story Beowulf the relationship between the ruler and his thanes is that of honor, friendship, and respect.
The lord and thane relationship is possibly one of the closest bonds in the epic.
A hero in Anglo-Saxon culture was a man with insurmountable strength, who always lived up to the comitatus code of conduct, and the only way in which he could be destroyed is through Anglo- Saxon fate.

10. Epic Poetry Terms
Wyrd - the Germanic personification of Fate. Wyrd was never kind and was not to be placated.
Mead – a drink like beer or ale but made from honey.
Mead Hall – a social hall which was the center of festivities for drinking, eating, and entertainment.
Thane – an Anglo-Saxon word meaning follower, attendant, warrior.
Scop-poets who would recite the epic poems

11. Anglo-Saxon Poetic Devices (Refer to the Literary Terms Packet)
Epic
Personification
Caesura
Kenning
Litotes
Foreshadowing
Onomatopoeia
Simile
Alliteration
Frame Story