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Beowulf Seminar Handout

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. It takes place in Scandinavia and follows the story of Beowulf, a Geatish hero who aids the Danes in their struggle against the monster Grendel and later Grendel's mother. Beowulf also defeats a dragon later in his life and dies in battle. The poem explores pagan Germanic heroic ethos and combines history and legend, featuring many poetic devices and kennings. It is one of the earliest surviving epic poems in a modern European language.

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36 views

Beowulf Seminar Handout

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. It takes place in Scandinavia and follows the story of Beowulf, a Geatish hero who aids the Danes in their struggle against the monster Grendel and later Grendel's mother. Beowulf also defeats a dragon later in his life and dies in battle. The poem explores pagan Germanic heroic ethos and combines history and legend, featuring many poetic devices and kennings. It is one of the earliest surviving epic poems in a modern European language.

Uploaded by

Barbora Pešatová
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BEOWULF

Old English poetry – characteristic features


1. Origin:
1. When, where, in which language was Beowulf composed? Where does it take place? Why?

2. Who wrote it? Was it really written? Who wrote the manuscript?
3. Who were scops? Where can we learn the most about them?

2. Content:

1. Who is Beowulf? What is he like?

2. What is Heorot? Why is it important?

3. What happens to Grendel and his mother?

4. Are there any pagan motifs and themes to be found in the text? Can you identify some?

5. How would you explain the very last line “to his kin the kindest, keenest for praise”?

6. How is the burial done? Who is being buried? Why did “the old man” want a “barrow high” and

“memorial mighty” to be erected?

3. Allusions to the Bible:


1. Find four different expressions which are used to refer to God.

2. Who is of Cain’s kin? What does it refer to?

3. Where does Grendel reside? What does Grendel do to the warriors?

4. Chapter XLII: Who does the “band of twelve” refer to?


4. Form:
1. Find and highlight examples of alliteration/alliterative rhyming/caesura1 on the following examples.

Ða wæs on burgum Beowulf Scyldinga,


……
heah Healfdene; heold þenden lifde

2. Compare Beowulf to William Shakespeare`s Sonnet 18 - is the form/ the organizing principle the same?
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

3. What is a kenning? Try to decipher the following examples of Old English kennings:
whale-road (or sail-road or swan-road) =
the world’s candle (or sky-candle or sky’s jewel) =
breaker of trees =
battle-sweat (or slaughter-dew) =
sleep of the sword =

4. Decipher the meaning of kennings from the text:


Chapter XXIII: “battle-droppings”:
Chapter XI: “wine-hall”: “shepherd-of-evils”;
Chapter XXII: “wolf-of-the-deep”; “the seemly blade sings its war-song wild on sb’s head”:

5. Decipher the meaning of the following metaphorical expressions, which purpose do they serve?
Chapter XI: “shepherd-of-evils”;
Chapter XXII: “wolf-of-the-deep”; “the seemly blade sings its war-song wild on sb’s head”:
Chapter XLII: Who is the “guardian of gold”; “the old man”?

6. What usually precedes or follows the description of any deed?

Further reading:

Béowulf. Praha: Torst, 2003 [translated by Jan Čermá k].

Bredehoft, Thomas A. The Visible Text. Textual Production from Beowulf to Maus. OUP, 2014.

Tolkien, J.R.R. Béowulf. A Translation and Commentary. HarperCollins, 2016.

+ teaching tips and ideas: The Signet Classic Edition, Liberty Edition etc.

1
/siˈzjʊərə/

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