1. Beowulf: The Beginning of English Literature

3. Bear Bee-hunter Wolf in Northern mythology:
Great Protectors and strong
Great Protectors,cunning and speedy

4. Introducing the Epic It derives from Scandinavian folk-tales and Sagas
It is a blend of legend and history
It contains precise references to real historical events and tribal struggles

5. The Epic Hero

6. Beowulf’s Name Beowulf’s father – Edgetho
In most cases, the son is named after the father :
Don
Donald (son of Don)
McDonald (son of son of Don)
McDonaldson (son of son of son of Don)
It proves Beowulf is an individual with his own powers and abilities (and more important than his father

7. The Geats ,Beowulf and his loyal Wiglaf)

8. The Danes (King Hrothgar)

9. Grendel (man-eating monster)

10. GRENDEL’S MOTHER

11. The fire-breathing dragon

12. Mythical elements Monsters Dragons Imaginary creatures
A fantastic world
Monsters
Dragons
Imaginary creatures

13. THE SETTING Beowulf takes place in Scandinavia.
Britain
Scholars think Herot might have been built on the coast of Zealand, in Denmark.

14. Gautland
Palace of Heorot

15. The presence of nature Unpleasant and cold winters
Spring hailed with joy
Rough and stormy northern sea
Biting winds
Black pools
Gloomy marshes
Forests and caves
Mist and Fog

16. The typical mounds

17. The general atmosphere
Gloomy
Fierce
Melancholic
Solitary
A strong sense of doom
Stoic resignation

18. SOCIAL LIFE It reveals a way of life ruled by simple laws: Eating
Drinking
Fighting
Hunting
Listening to the Scop during the feasts

19. Herot:
the golden guest hall built by King Hrothgar where warriors gathered to celebrate.
[End of Section]

20. THE PLOT
Two stories unified by the presence of the same hero Beowulf (2007): Short Version
The first: Beowulf is a young hero going to help Hrothgar, king of the Danes
after 50 years
The second: Beowulf in his old age as king of the Geats in Gautland

21. Features of the time The generosity of the lord
The fidelty of the subjects
The sense of honour
The duty to help people in need
Violence

22. The values of warrior society
Loyalty and kinship
The need to take revenge
Physical strength and courage
The search for glory in this life
weapons personalized with names
Fate / Wyrd

23. Themes The Feud = the tragic waste
Courage as the quality that can stand against Fate.
Fate
The eternal conflict between dark and light, good and evil
The Feud = the tragic waste
A system of revenge is repeated in the poem: feud  peace  feud
Animazioni: al primo clic il titolo, poi un punto per clic 24

24. LANGUAGE The Language is: elevated
the vocabulary used is rich and various
vivid and descriptive to render the melancholic mood of the poem.
The narration is objective, the poet’s point of view coincides with that of the characters, they don’t criticize the ideals and customs of the country they belong to.

25. Beowulf’s first page

26. BEOWULF : OLD ENGLISH
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! ðæm eafera wæs         æfter cenned, geong in geardum,         þone god sende folce to frofre;         fyrenðearfe ongeat

28. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS

29. Beowulf The Poetry of Beowulf
Beowulf was composed in Old English, which uses a caesura, or rhythmic pause, to create unity.
Locate the caesura in these lines:
ða com of more         under misthleoþum Grendel gongan,         godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða         manna cynnes sumne besyrwan         in sele þam hean.
Line divided into two parts by a caesura.

30. Beowulf The Poetry of Beowulf
Here are the same lines in modern English from Burton Raffel’s translation:
Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty
Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill
Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
Punctuation reproduces pause effect of the caesura.

31. Beowulf The Poetry of Beowulf
The Anglo-Saxon oral poet also used the poetic device of alliteration.
Grendel gongan,         godes yrre bær; mynte se manscaða         manna cynnes

32. Beowulf The Poetry of Beowulf
Find examples of alliteration in Burton Raffel’s translation of lines 1-5:
Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty
Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill
Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.

33. Beowulf The Poetry of Beowulf
The kenning is another poetic device that was used by the oral poet.
Examples of kennings from Beowulf:
gold-shining hall= Herot
guardian of crime = Grendel
strong-hearted wakeful sleeper = Beowulf
cave-guard and sky-borne foe = dragon

34. KENNINGS from the poem The Ship The Sea the bent-necked wood
Beowulf
KENNINGS from the poem
the bent-necked wood
the ringed prow
The Ship
the swan-road  
the whale-road
The Sea 
Animazioni: clic 1) titolo 2) the ship 3) the bent-necked… (con relativa freccia) 4) the ringed prow (e freccia) 5) the sea 6) the swan-road e freccia 7) the whale-road e freccia 8) prima immagine 9) seconda immagine 38

35. KENNINGS from the poem The Sword The Battle the leaving of the file
battle-lightning
The Sword
The Battle
the storm of swords
Animazioni: analoghe a quelle della slide precedente 39

36. KENNINGS from the poem The Lord/King The Dragon the twilight-spoiler
the ring-giver
the dispenser of treasure
The Lord/King
Animazioni: analoghe a quelle della slide precedente 40

37. Christian elements Beowulf= good struggling against evil
He prays the Creator of all things, the ruler of the Heavens
God’s WILL, identical with FATE ( Wyrd )
Reference to the Old Testament:
Heorot = symbol of the world
The Danes = mankind
The lake = hell
Grendel’s mother = the devil
The sword = the cross

38. THE EPIC It is a long narrative poem It was written in Old English
It was oral and extremely musical
It tells the deeds of the great warrior kings of the pre-Christian England
It displays qualities and virtues superior to those of the common man. , fighting monsters or other supernatural forces
The main theme is the war-like ideal in which the main character has the leadership in an heroic society

39. Paolo Uccello ( 1455) St. George and the Dragon