1. The Rise of Englaland and English
An Introduction to Beowulf

2. England: A brief history
Prehistory:
Stonehenge →
c BCE
The Celts: Rulers during the Iron Age
c. 600 BCE – 50 CE
← Celtic coins from Iron Age

3. Roman Invasion 43 CE – Under Claudius, Rome invades & conquers
“Britannia province” of the Roman Empire
Latin mixes in with local language

4. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (Danes) brought their Germanic languages to Britannia c. 450 CE.
The combination of all these languages created
Old English.

5. In 827 CE, King Egbert renamed Britannia, and called it Englaland (land of the Angles).
Old English or “OE” was spoken
c. 500 CE (Angle/Saxon Inv.) to 1100 CE (Norman Invasion)
In the first line, notice the word “Englaland” that King Egbert coined.

6. Norman Invasion William the Conqueror Norman (French)
1066 CE: Battle of Hastings
Killed king; made himself king
Addition of French turns OE into ME, or Middle English

7. The Epic of Beowulf - Written down in 11th century - after Norman Invasion - Middle English - before then, passed down orally for 100s of yrs.

8. The monsters and dragons in the story come from Scandinavian and Celtic folk tales. Elements of Christianity were added later.

9. Beowulf (the person) was actually a Geat from what is now southern Sweden.

10. Please turn to page 17 in your green text book for definitions..
Beowulf is an epic.
What is an epic??
Like the Anglo-Saxon lyric poems before it, Beowulf uses elements like kennings and caesuras.
Please turn to page 17 in your green text book for definitions..

11. Like epics of other cultures (Odyssey, Sundiata, Gilgamesh), Beowulf reflects its 8th century Anglo-Saxon culture.

12. Elements of The Epic (Please turn to the back of your BEOWULF guided reading.)
Epic Hero
Quest
Test
Divine Intervention
Supernatural World
Descent/Questioning of Self
Resurrection and Restitution
Connection to Culture

13. Coat of Mail

14. Hall Heorot

15. Fen

16. Beowulf’s Ship

17. Fjord