unknown poet. germanic traditional epic specifically anglo-saxon warring culture 3,000 line epic...
TRANSCRIPT
Unknown Poet
Beowulf
BeowulfGermanic traditional
epic Specifically Anglo-Saxon Warring culture
3,000 line epic poemFirst literary
composition in the English Language
Composed sometime between 600-900 C.E. 700 is our best guess.
Written down 200-300 years later.
History of the textPoem exists in one
manuscript only (in British Library)
Survived fire in 18th century
This scare led to the copying, editing, translating of the copy
Now an integral part of the canon. A group of the most
important literature of any given time period, genre, author, etc.
Beowulf Poem written in England
Set in Scandinavia Follows the Scandinavian prince,
Beowulf. Poem has three major plots
1. Beowulf, a warrior for the Geats, crosses the sea to help the Danes kill the man-eating monster Grendel. He must also kill Grendel’s mother
2. Beowulf returns and rules for fifty years as king. A dragon terrorizes the country and Beowulf must confront it.
3. Beowulf slays the dragon but meets his own death. He enters the legend of his people as a hero.
BeowulfPoem shows life in
the Dark Ages.Begins with soldiers
in a hall, drinking mead
Grendel eats them all.
Yum.Grendel is the
spawn of Cain, the murderous brother in the Old Testament.
Grendel
To identify elements of Anglo-Saxon cultureAnalyze use of literary elementys:
Imagery SymbolismAlliterationKennings
Analyze central theme of the poemAnalyze characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon
heroRecognize pagan and Christian elements
Objectives