Beowulf Ray Winstone as Beowulf in Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, 2007.
Beowulf
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Transcript of Beowulf
BeowulfBeowulf
The Anglo-Saxon Superhero
Timeline Timeline
The first surviving version of Beowulf was composed in 750
The surviving version of Beowulf was written out by Monks in 1000
In the year 597, Christianity spread to the Anglo-Saxons
The calculation for pi happened in 630
Gunpowder was invented in 800
VocabularyVocabulary
Alliteration – the same sound repeated in a line Example: The flamingos flew furiously to Florida.
Caesura - Strong rhythm divided by a pause Our version of a caesura is a comma, because the
reader pauses
Kennings - Descriptive phrase or compound word that substitutes for a noun
Beowulf describes Grendel as “Almighty’s enemy” and “sin-stained demon”
Stock Epithets – adjectives that point out special traits of particular persons or things Example: Homer describes Achilles as “swift-footed”
EpicsEpics
An epic is a long narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s deeds.
The earliest epic tales survived by oral tradition
Oral stories were usually told by scops or bards (oral poets)
The bards provided not only entertainment, but education for the audience
Oral poets had to be MASTER IMPROVISERS
Epics date back to the third millennium, where the Sumerians sung them
Name five epics from the twentieth or twenty-first centuries.
Preparing to ReadPreparing to Read
The famous tale of Beowulf takes place on a European mainland in the sixth century
The two civilizations that provide the setting are the Danes (Denmark) and the Geats (Sweden)
Beowulf is the leader of the Geats, and is the superhero of the Anglo-Saxons (No one knows if Beowulf really existed)
Beowulf was written in Old English, but the author is UNKNOWN
Mead HallsMead Halls
Etymology: The old name of such halls may have been sal/salr and thus be present in old place names such as "Uppsala”. The idea or concept may have been preserved in the German word Festsaal or the Dutch word feestzaal (feasting hall).
The king built the mead hall, where his subjects gather to make merry
QuizQuiz