Beowulf

• Chivalric Code - courtly love, conflict in Sir Gawain & Green Knight
• Paganism in Beowulf - Pagan vs Christianity (Grendel & Mother descendants of Cain) Meed Hall//with Tower of Babylon
• Mid Renaissance moves into less Pagan/Christianity adopts Pagan stuff
• Ancestry/Aging super important in Medieval/Renaissance work - Beowulf
• Strong belief in Fate.
• Admiration of Heroic warriors who prevail in battle
• Heroic Code
• Hero's goal is to die being a successful Hero
• brave, adventure seeking, fearless, fate defying, loyal, strong, battle-smart 
• Pagan - Agent of God's justice.
• Beowulf destroys descendants of Cain
• Does for self rather than lady or kingdom.
• End scene of Beowulf is important
• Heroic=winning
• Chivalry=fair fight
• Denmark - Hrothgar is King
• Harot is Mead Hall - social Center
• Grendel attacks hall one night (Christianity attacking Paganism)
• Beowulf comes from Geats, because Hrothgar had done a favor for his father
• Unferth is little bitch who taunts Beowulf
• Wiltheo is Queen, who Beowulf promises to kill Grendel
• Grendel was immune to weapons made by man
• Beowulf rips Grendel's arm off and hangs over door. King adopts Beowulf as son.
• Grendel's mother then comes & attacks, takes arm with her
• Men follow mother to swamp.
• Unferth gives Beowulf a sword, swims to lair
• Beowulf grabs sword in cave, cuts mother's head off, Sees Grendel's corps, cuts his head off & takes it back
• King makes speech about fragility of life (aging theme), Beowulf goes home.
• 50 years go by, Beowulf prepares for battle himself with 11 warriors. Beowulf dies fighting. Makes Wiglaf his heir.
• Fate
• Hrothgar will share everything he can with his thanes
• Tribes from all over the earth help decorate Heorot
• The Danes lived happy lives in Heorot and praised God for the creation before Grendal appeared
• Grendel was of the seed of Cain so therefore exiled from man
• 12 years they deserted Heorot because of Grendel
• Grendel occupied Heorot instead of the Danes
• One mention of pagan sacrifices. The poem condemns the practice
• The guard can see that Beowulf is a hero
• Grendel operates on dark nights
• Hrothgar knew Beowulf's father. Comitatus bond, loyalty, family, all very important
• Once he decides to take the hero's course, he leaves his fate in God's hands
• Unferth wants no one to have more glory than him (Satan?)
• "Fate will often spare an undoomed man if his courage is good"
• Unferth committed fratricide
• Grendel doesn't have to fear the Danes but he will fear the Geats (Beowulf)
• Fighting with sword and shield = noble arts
• Beowulf's sailors do not expect to come out of this alive
• Driven from the hall echos driven from Paradise
• Hall received Grendel
• Beowulf is a great warrior Hrothgar is a great King
• Hrothgar invokes God when rejoicing in his meadhall
• Hrothgar talks about Beowulf's mother - parallel to Mary?
• Though your deeds you have ensured your glorious name will endure forever
• Beowulf didn't actually kill him, he ripped his arm off and let him go.
• Death is not easy to escape, fate has ordained this for all who have souls.
• Never serve your Lord's victor
• Vengeance=pagan Forgiveness=Christian
• Lots of illusions to the idea that Hrothgar's nephew will betray him. Rot at the heart of Denmark
• Beowulf's strength was a gift from God
• Grendel has no father which is hard in this patriarchal society
• Fire on the water=burning lake
• Beowulf expects patience from Hrothgar
• Beowulf sees Hrothgar as a father
• To achieve fame, you must trust to your own strength you must risk your life
• Beowulf's armor protects him
• "Soon you will die" = world is cold and going down
• Beowulf tells Hygalac he wasn't fated to die at the hand of Grendel's mother
• wastral - thane - warrior - counselor - king - valiant death
• success and failure, endings and beginnings, life and death
• The hoard is these because the people who gathered it had all died
• an elergy by the last survivor
• 300 year old dragon
• The cup was stolen as a bond of peace
• He who is undoomed will easily survive anguish and exile
• Beowulf is doomed (fated?)
• Sets out with 11 (like desciples?)
• Beowulf fights the battle alone
• His men do not come to his aid except Wiglaf
• Wiglaf stabs the dragon's belly
• The attack on the Geats after Beowulf's death is fated. 
• Genre:
• Epic, specifically a primary or folk epic. Poetry
• Plot summary:
• Beowulf goes to help the Danish king, Hrothgar, with the evil beast Grendel that has been killing his men. Beowulf defeats Grendel and then he has to defeat Grendel's mother whom he fights at the bottom of the lake. Finally, in the scene which Tolkein reproduced in "The Hobbit," Beowulf fights a dragon and is killed.
• Theme:
• Heroism - through deeds
• Stoicism
• Fatalism everything is winding down to a bad end
• How does this book embody the characteristics of the time period?
• Beowulf fulfills the heroic code. Nature is grim and beasts abound everywhere. the feel is cold. Anglo-Saxon literature revolves around fate and both Grendel and Beowulf meet an appropriate fate. It is a hard world and winter in always coming. Beowulf has the perfect path for an Anglo-Saxon Warrior. Despised wastral-thane-hero-counsellor-king-good death
• Beowulf (the man):
• Is the ideal embodiment of the heroic code
• Is an ideal that is unrealizable in this world (Beowulf is markedly superior to all others in the epic) 
• Is an ideal that is inappropriate even as an ideal. For he is undone by the Heroic code (betrayed by his men) and eventually, by his inevitable mortality (his fate)
• Beowulf (the epic)
• Is used by Christian poet to instill a pattern of right conduct (Beowulf the hero)
• Is used to show the limitations of human, worldly codes and ideals
• Insinuates the superiority of Christian codes and aspirations
• Comitatus bond is emphasized. 
• Others;
• This story contrasts with Sir Gawain where the Chivalric code is what is important.
• It connects with Sir Gawain as a story of a hero
• Connects with The Wanderer in its use of the comitatus bond
• Actually deals with Scandinavian tribes rather than English
• A Christinaized version of a pagan story. 

Title of Epic poem

• Anglo-Saxon word Beo means "bright" or "Noble"
• Anglo-Saxon word wulf means "wolf"
• Beowulf means bright or noble worf

Main Characters

• Beowulf
• Epic hero
• Geat
• Nephew of Hygelac (King of Story's start)
• Sails to Denmark to help Hrothgar
• Redeemer sent by God to save man from sin
• Christ arch type: correspondence between Beo's death & Christ's death
• Prince of salvation=life itself
• "In a rush she came in and left quite soon, to save her life, once they discovered her. But that one noble she quickly snatched up tight in her clutches, as she left for the den." (ll 1292-1295)
• That noble? Hrothgar's favorite warrior
• Grendel's mother=smarter than Grendel. Takes very important man of Hrothgar's. Grendel stays and eats at Heorot; Grendel's mother takes man with her
• Stronger than her son --> can match Beowulf's strength
• Grendel's mother = more challenging foe
• Can't be pierced by Unferth's magical sword (Hrunting)
• Yet seems more timid as she runs away from Heorot... or more smart?
• Only defeated because Beowulf notices a blade made by giants (that any normal man couldn't wield) in her cave
• cuts off mother's head
• sees grendel's corpse - cuts off his head and takes it back with him.
• Fire Dragon
• Lives in Beowulf's Kingdom
• Wakes up with thief steals cup. 
• Guards countless treasures

The Epic Hero

• Defeats his enemies using
• Physical strength
• skill as a warrior
• Nobility of character
• quick wits
• Is not modest - boasting is a ritual
• Embodies the ideals and values of his people
• is eager for fame
• because the Germanic tribes believed death was inevitable, warriors sought fame to preserve the memory of their deeds after death

 Beowulf Synopsis

• Denmark - Hrothgar is King
• Heorot is Mead Hall - social center
• Grendel attacks hall one night
• Christianity attacks paganism
• Beowulf comes from Geats because Hrothgar had done a favor for his father
• Unferth is little bitch who taunts Beowulf
• Wealtheow is Queen to whom Beowulf promises he will kill Grendel
• Grendel was immune to weapons made by man
• Beowulf fights him hand-to-hand and rips Grendel's arm off
• King Hrothgar adopts Beowulf as son
• Grendel's mother then comes & attacks
• Takes Grendel's arm and Hrothgar's favorite warrior with her
• Men follow her to swamp
• Unferth gives Beowulf a sword (Hrunting); Beowulf dons heavy armor & sinks down to Grendel's mother's lair
• Unferth's sword doesn't work - Beowulf grabs special giant-made sword in cave and cuts Grendel's mother's head off. Sees Grendel's corpse, cuts his head off and takes it back with him.
• King Hrothgar makes speech about fragility of life (aging theme); beowulf goes home.

*50 years go by...*

• Beowulf is king of own land
• Slave steals goblet from Dragon's lair
• Beowulf prepares for battle himself with 11 warriors
• Dragon = serpentine
• Satan reference in Garden of Eden
• Beowulf isn't doing to well - all his men abandon him except Wiglaf, his heir.
• Hoard had been under a spell so that no one could enter dragon's lair except by will of God
• Wiglaf pissed off. His fellow warriors should be rushing in to fight dragon & defend Beowulf rather than not doing anything - looking shame faced
• Beowulf dies
• Anglo-Saxon epics: tragic defeat better than triumph
• To Anglo-Saxons, real test of a warrior isn't whether he can win a fight but what he'll do on the day he finally loses and how he'll behave when he knows he's doomed to die. Then after he's dead you can see how much everyone else valued him by what amount of treasures there is at his funeral.
• Beowulf cared more about honor and valor than his own life.

Background

• preserved in single manuscript
• almost perished in a fire in 1731
• anonymous writer
• from Western side of England
• steeped in Norse culture
• peaceful exchange of culture between Norse and Anglo-Saxon
• Written in West Saxon dialect of Old English
• Composed sometime between 700-1000 AD
• Genres
• Folktale
• Postclassical European epic
• elegiac
• Primary Epic - originating in oral tradition and recounting the legendary wars and exploits of its audiences tribal ancestors from heroic age
• Values of Germanic tribal society:
• Tribal lord held to ideals of extraordinary
• rewarded his successful followers with treasure
• member of lord's comitatus - his band of warriors - expected to follow 
• heroic code - stresses bravery, loyalty, and willingness to avenge lord and comrades at any cost
• would suffer shame of exile if he should survive his lord in battle (i.e. speaker of The Wanderer)
• Qualities of Leadership in Beowulf
• Victory in Battle
• Honor in War
• Honest
• Generals
• if he makes a deal he keeps it
• doesn't undergo unnecessary danger for pride
• can resolve disputes without a lot of death

Role of Religion

• Accepts Pagan heroic code, but also refers to Christian concepts that are potentially conflicting
• Theme - reconciling Pagan and Christian religion
• makes argument that Hrothgar and other great leaders and heros always worship the true God, even if they didn't have the "right" words or rituals, and so they go to heaven
• lines 180-183 argue otherwise (but are by 2nd author); says they didn't know true God and will probably not go to heaven
• All characters Pagan (with loose Christian references)
• but monster Grendel described as descended from Cain & destined for Hell)
• Kenning - a kind of compressed metaphor, such as "whale-road" or "ocean" or "wave-cutter" for ship
• nostalgic Anglo-Saxon culture, always looking to the past, doomed but glorious
• fate will sometimes step in for those who help themselves (courageously)
• fatalistic society

Plot of Part 1

• King Scyld Scefing buried at sea
• came on a ship as ababy, then became a great king, then was buried at sea.
• Hrothgar is suffering under monster attacks
• Beowulf arrives wanting to help
• He is challenged by Unferth
• tale of sea battle (with sea beasts)
• After losing one man, Beowulf defeats Grendel by ripping his arm off
• Grendel dies. Beowulf = great heor & is given great treasure. Hrothgar basically adopts him.

• Anglo-Saxon period=earliest recorded time period in English history
• The Anglo-Saxon period ranges from 450-1066
• It ends with the Battle of Hastings where the French, under William the Conqueror's leadership, invaded England

Anglo-Saxon Literature

• Few people read in this period
• Oral tradition
• was performed and or sung by a Bard (Scop) from memory in old English
• This is why there are often several versions of the same story
• Scops = poets/minstrels

Story of Beowulf

• Beowulf marks the beginning of English literature
• Beowulf is one of the earliest known pieces of literature known in the English language; written in old English.

Contains Specific Motifs

• Motifs - a motif is a recurring theme or image in a work of literature
• Biblical & Christian Allusions
• Pagan customs
• social customs
• traits of the warrior
• Beowulf Boasts
• Scholars believe the "Beowulf Poet" who wrote the oral poem down was most likely a Christian monk, thus adding a Christian Perspective

• Beowulf=Epic poem
• a long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society
•  Epic Hero
• must under take a quest to achieve something of tremendous value to himself and his society

Summary of Epic Features

• A long narrative poem
• Larger than life hero; often with super-human characteristics
• Concerns eternal human problems like the struggle between good and evil
• Presented in a serious manner using elevated (poetic) language
• Hero represents widespread national, cultural, or religious values
• This EPIC poem of Beowulf is often divided into 3 sections; it's about Beowulf's 3 epic battles with evil
1. The battle with Grendel
• decendent of Cain, so unstoppable Biblical for Christianity attacking Paganism
• Grendel immune to weapons made by man
• Beowulf rips Grendel's arm off & hangs it over the door of Mead Hall (Heorot)
• Heorot like tower of Babel)
• King Hrothgar adopts Beowulf as son
2. The Battle with Grendel's Mother
• descended from Cain, so Biblical force
•  Grendel's mother comes & attacks Heorot; takes Grendel's arm with her
• Men follow Grendel's mother back to swamp
• unferth gives Beowulf
3. The Dragon