CLT 3378 Ancient Mythology East and West Spring 2015 Lecture Outline Beowulf single manuscript Culture Anglo Saxon or Old English Work read Beowulf Type of work poem Date of work c 650 1000 CE Language of work Old English Beowulf I poem northern England c 650 1000 CE II Anglo Saxon Old English c 400 1066 III Christianization of England begins c 600 IV poem Anglo Saxon world c 500 a Anglo Saxons Germanic people like Norse b poem Old English language b poem set in Scandinavia V preserved on single manuscript copy c 1000 VI unknown Christian author a a monk or priest educated b Anglo Saxon heritage c virtue of pagan heroes d lines 175 88 e God in Beowulf VII main characters 1 Beowulf son of Ecgtheow nephew of Hygelac a Geat pronounced Yay at 2 Hygelac king of the Geats beowolfs uncle 3 Hrothgar king of the Danes or Shieldings 4 Unferth adviser to Hrothgar 5 and 6 Grendel and Grendel s mother both monsters 7 a dragon 8 Wiglaf relative and follower of Beowulf VIII Hrothgar s stronghold hall Heorot Beowulf I hall Heorot plagued by monster Grendel II Grendel is annoyed by noise of feasting in hall III for 12 years Grendel seizes people when they are drunk full after feast IV Beowulf hears of grendel so goes to help Hrothgar V gets a group of Geats to sail to Heorot meets with Hrothgar VI Beowulf will face Grendel alone no weapons VII Unferth advisor of Hrothgar a taunts Beowulf b says he heard he lost a swimming match to Breca c says yeah I lost but I was dragged to bottom of sea and defeated sea monsters VIII Beowulf a killed 9 sea monsters b you ve been here for 12 years Unferth Why haven t you defeated Grendel IX feast to honor Beowulf Geats X at night Grendel kills a man like happens at every feast XI grendel is grabbed by Beowulf XII Grendel is impervious to all weapons XIII Grendel a leaves shoulder arm with beowolf b mortally wounded XIV next night they feast to celebrate Grendel s defeat XV Grendel s mother a comes in after feast and attacks kills a Dane close friend of hrothgar b retrieves Grendel s shoulder arm beowolfs trophy XVI Beowulf gathers men to go find Grendel s mother s lair in woods b not hard to find b c of trail of danes body parts XVII pool of water in woods surrounded by body parts Grendels mothers lair is inside XVIII Beowulf a has armor on b sword Hrunting different b c first time he had no weapons c Hrunting from Unferth had change of heart and gave this sword to beowolf its his ancestors sword nords like to name inanimate objects XIX Beowulf a jumps into pool b seized by Grendel s mother c takes him to her lair underwater cave XX Grendel s mother a grapples with Beowulf b she has claws dagger vs Beowulf s armor armor protects him c Hrunting tries to use sword but it doesn t work it breaks XXI Beowulf a giant sword on floor of the liar b beheads Grendel s mother with sword in one swipe XXII uses same sword to behead Grendel s corpse magic swords Or just b c grendel is dead XXIII blade of sword melts magic blood XXIV Beowulf party return to Heorot Grendel s head four people carry it XXV feast at Heorot to celebrate XXVI Beowulf and Geats return home XXVII Beowulf tells Hygelac the story of him defeating monsters imbedded narrative XXVIII Beowulf tells Hygelac he got gifts from Hrothgar gives them to hygelac XXIX Beowulf gets gifts and land from Hygelac in return XXX later Beowulf a king b rules for 50 years beowolf is atleast 70 at this point XXXI dragon that has been sleeping a on it was first a burial mound dragon has treasure in it b theft of goblet slave that was on the run steals goblet c this wakes up dragon and he is mad XXXII at night dragon a attacks Geats b c he is mad b kills burns fire breathing XXXIII attacks continue until Beowulf s hall is desroyed XXXIV Beowulf a gathers party of 11 men b slave as 13th man he will be guide XXXV Beowulf ill face dragon alone in armor XXXVI beowolf calls dragon out of his liar exits XXXVII dragon attacks 1 beowolfs sword fails cant penetrate dragons skin XXXVIII Beowulf s men flee XXXIX Wiglaf only man that stays helps Beowulf wiglaf second man expected to die XL dragon attacks 2 sword breaks XLI dragon attacks 3 sinks fangs into beowolf XLII Wiglaf has his own sword stabs dragon s belly XLIII Beowulf a has knife stabs dragon s side b this is the fatal wound XLIV he is poisone so Beowulf dies instead of second man XLV burned on pyre by Geats XLVI mound for Beowulf filled with treasure XLVII Geats mourn for praise Beowulf same as dragon both have treasure Glory in Beowulf I pre Christian pre 600 Anglo Saxon culture view of afterlife II burials funerary goods belief in afterlife objects to take with them indicate belief in afterlife III Anglo Saxon afterlife probably like Norse afterlife IV Norse Hel cold dreary realm V lof Old English word 1 praise glory 2 based on the deeds you do in life VI lof as immortality die 1 lof praise by living deeds as long as people still talk about you you never 2 last word in Beowulf lof geornost keenest to win fame 3 Beowolf s desire for lof first and second battles were for personal fame Third was to protect his people
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