1. A long narrative poem that celebrates the deeds of a great hero.
The Epic
A long narrative poem that celebrates the deeds of a great hero.

2. Epic Conventions Story opens in medias res (in the middle of things)
Setting is vast (multiple countries)
Plot involves supernatural deeds
Dialogue includes long, formal speeches
Theme reflects timeless values and universal ideas
Combines history, mythology, and folklore

3. Epic Hero Noble birth or historical importance
Character traits reflect ideals of society
Courageous and superhuman deeds
Actions determine the fate of a nation or group of people
Strives for honor and fame
Is on a QUEST!

4. Oral Epic
Originally, epic poems were an oral art form (both memorized and performed)
Epic poems combined history lessons, moral sermons, cultural pride, and character instruction.
Beowulf is a folk epic and an elegy.
Beowulf was written in the West Saxon dialect of Old English
449 A.D. Anglo-Saxon invasion results in mixture of German and Celtic languages producing Old English

5. Beowulf Terms Thane: warrior
Comitatus: loyalty between thane and king which was rewarded by treasure
Wergild: monetary value owed for a man’s death

6. Mead Hall A rectangular hall of entertainment
A communal gathering place for feasting and drinking mead
Mead: An alcoholic beverage made a water and fermented honey. Mead was a popular drink in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries during the Middle Ages because grapes were not readily available to make wine.
“Gloomy Hour starting at dusk: Free Mead if you survived!”

7. Scop
Revered poet/musician who recounted the history, traditions, and folktales of the culture
Performed in mead halls
Kenning: metaphorical compound word or phrase substituted for a noun or name
“sin-stained demon”
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds
Caesura: pause which divides each four-stress line in half which is essential to the rhythm (Anglo-Saxon poetry)

8. Beowulf and Language
Composed between 700 A.D. and 900 A.D. in Mercian dialect (transmitted orally for three centuries)
Written around 1000 A.D. in West Saxon dialect
Old English (Beowulf), Middle English (The Canterbury Tales), Modern English (Shakespeare)
Literacy was restricted to the clergy and all manuscripts were written at monasteries
Christianity infused into the local language and oral tradition

9. Beowulf and Culture
Literature is invested in the transmission of belief and identity
Literature is relative to the culture that produced it
Residual (original)
Dominant (intruding or additional)
Emergent (new form arising from fusion of cultures
Residual/Dominant/Emergent constantly changing and evolving (culture as an on-going process)