1. Epics/Beowulf 700 AD by Anonymous

2. Epics- Historical background to England and Beowulf
England actually became a country after the Norman Invasion of 1066 AD. The Anglo-Saxons arrived in 449 AD and then England started its transformation from tribes to one country under William the Conqueror (French).
With William came Feudalism- England went from the dark ages to the Middle Ages and then to its modern day form.
The English language is a combination of German, French, and Scandinavian. It’s a Germanic Language and only gained prominence from Shakespeare and other writers during the 1300s-1500s.

3. Epics- (Left-hand section)
Notes on right-hand section
Epic: A long narrative poem that tells the tale of a society and its morals.
Epic Hero: The hero within the epic that must:
Go on a journey
Fight supernatural creatures
Posses and use a weapon only he or she can wield
Has an extra-ordinary ability (his grip and swimming/holding of his breath)

4. Epics Continued (Left-hand section)
Right-hand section:
Beowulf is the one archetype that all heroes are based on. He is the ideal that most authors base their own heroes on. He is the original super-hero.
The main characters and places are:
Beowulf- Geat Prince Grendel- Villian
Hrothgar- Danish King
Wiglaf- Second in command to Beowulf
Herot- Mead Hall

5. Beowulf –New left-hand section
New right-hand notes
Beowulf starts “En Medias Res” or “In the middle.”
The story begins after Grendel has been attacking Hrothgar’s land and Mead Hall (Herot) for 12 years killing 30 of his men.
Beowulf, the Geat (Sweedish) Prince has come to payback a “wergild” a blood pact. Even though there was no murder or killing, Beowulf is there to payback his father’s, Ecgtheow, blood oath/pact because of Hrothgar’s help to his father.

6. Beowulf Continued- Left-hand section
Right-hand notes:
Beowulf arrives and Hrothgar’s men automatically feel threatened. Hrothgar is a great ruler and his second in command, Unferth, questions Beowulf and tries to humiliate him. Beowulf answers back and explains why he abandoned his challenge with Brecca in the ocean because of the tempest (ocean storm) and sea monsters that began to attack them.
He then boasts he will defeat Grendel without weapons.

7. Beowulf Continued Right-hand notes:
This is where we will start reading- It is when Beowulf arrives in Demark with 11 of his best men to help Hrothgar defeat Grendel- the descendant of Cain or the “Damned One.”
We will start reading on Wednesday, 9/5. We will start in class and then move on to out of class reading.

8. Summary Activity
On the left hand side of your notes write down summary activity and then below it write down: What makes a great leader (qualities)? On the right-hand side answer this question with 100+/- words.
We already presented on this topic when we did the pass the pen and leader activity.
Start a new page of notes and make sure to follow the on- line directions for notes for Part I.