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The Anglo-Saxons The Warrior Hero
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Historical Terminology
Bretwalda—ruling king Thane—loyal fighting man Mead—fermented drink made from barley, yeast, and malt (Anglo-Saxon beer) Meadhall—Anglo-Saxon bar (hangout of king and his thanes) Scop—singing poet (carried news and entertained)
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Beowulf the first masterpiece of English literature author unknown
describes a hero from Geatland (the southern part of Sweden) written in Anglo-Saxon England in 725 AD themes success friendship Honor-heroism good vs. evil
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Beowulf as Epic Epic--a long narrative poem (originally handed down through oral tradition) dealing with great heroes and adventures: epics had two purposes
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Epic Conventions journey (vast in scope; sometimes to heaven or an underworld) that lasts a long time likely to be a battle swords and war implements take on human characteristics and names (Personification) protagonist overcomes great obstacles to become hero God or the gods influence human nature elaborate funeral descriptions
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The Epic… Features a PARALLEL story…
parallel stories add to the stature of the hero, placing him in a line of heroic tradition
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Literary Terminology alliteration-the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words or within words, particularly in accented syllables: “Grim and greedy the gruesome monster…” epithet-compound adjective in front of a noun that describes that noun: wine dark sea, fleet-footed Achilles kenning-compound metaphor; picturesque way of renaming a noun (often hyphenated):whale-road (ocean) and world-candle (sun)
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Literary Terminology…
personification-endowing inanimate or inhuman objects with human characteristics
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Setting and Characters
Geatland: Denmark: Hygelac-King Scyld- legendary ruler Beowulf-Thane of Hygelac; hero Hrothgar- King Wiglaf- Heorot- famous meadhall Slave- Grendel- monster Dragon- Unferth- Hrothgar’s thane; battles Beowulf verbally Troll-Wife- Grendel’s mother; fights Beowulf also
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