Beowulf Called the Dark Ages a time of Barbarians During a time of Old English Warriors Where does the word barbarian come from Just what WERE the Dark Ages What made them dark ID: 699568
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Slide1
An Introduction to the English Folk Epic
BeowulfSlide2
Called the “Dark Ages” - - a time of Barbarians
During a time of Old English Warriors
Where does the word “barbarian” come from?
Just what WERE the Dark Ages? What made them “dark?” Slide3
DRAGON
A Story About aSlide4Slide5
445-1485 A.D.
The helmet has become a symbol of the Sutton Hoo burial; it survived as a mass of small pieces, and was only reconstructed after years of painstaking work in the British Museum Laboratory.Slide6
VIKINGS
INVADESlide7
BeowulfSlide8
DARK AGES DOES NOT MEAN NO ART
VIKINGS LOVED GOLD, JEWELRY, WEAPONS, AND RINGS Slide9
Shield ClaspSlide10
Art resulted in stories, some of which were told in manuscripts that were beautifully decorated and colored.Slide11
Many of the artworks pictured in this presentation were a part of a discovery at Sutton
Hoo
, a Medieval burial ground.Slide12
Story Of:
ADVENTURESlide13
Grendel
The monster we love to hateSlide14
to the Rescue…
HeroesSlide15
Author/
Composer
Was a
Christian
Monk?Slide16
SONG
of PRAISESlide17
Folk Epics are tales of a national HERO
But What Is
HEROIC?Slide18
Characteristics of a Pagan Hero
Good Fighter
Loyal
Persevering (Never Gives Up)
Wins “Fame” (in Songs in a Mead Hall)Slide19
Pagan Characteristics, cont.
Little Regard for Danger or Self: Brave
Battle as a Way of Life
Personal Vengeance as Familial Requirement
FATE: Revenge and/or DeathSlide20
Characteristics of a Christian Hero
Recognizes
God as Creator
Humility in the presence of God’s Power
Altruism in ActionSlide21
Christian Characteristics cont
.
Contrast between Good and Evil Rulers
Personal Vengeance transmuted into Fighting Evil
Good is Rewarded and Evil is Punished (Evil in the World)Slide22
Historical Background
BeowulfSlide23
Part History
Part Fiction
The Poem
BeowulfSlide24
Author/Composer
Likely an educated Christian, possibly a monk
Wove together many oral traditions with consummate skill
Slightly sanitized the pagan traditions
Produced a single taleSlide25
Manuscript History
Authored in 1,000 B. C.
Saved from looting of monasteries under Henry VIII
Saved from fire in Sir Henry Cotton’s Library in 1731
Danish scholar translated it in 1787; first published in 1815Slide26
Structure and Style
BeowulfSlide27
Macrostructure
Begins and ends with a FUNERAL (
Scyld
Scefing
and Beowulf)
Arrival and Departure of a HERO
Youthful Adventure/Kingly exploitsGood and Evil Characters Contrasted
Begins and ends with a FUNERAL (
Scyld
Scefing
and Beowulf)
Arrival and Departure of a HERO
Youthful Adventure/Kingly exploits
Good and Evil Characters Contrasted
MacrostructureSlide28
Example: Death of Grendel and Aeschere
Seeming irrelevant digressions collections
Allusive incidents and characters
Suggestive of past and future
Complexity often lost on modern reader
Example: Death of Grendel and Aeschere
Seeming irrelevant digressions/ collectionsAllusive incidents and charactersSuggestive of past and future
Complexity often lost on modern reader
Microstructure
MicrostructureSlide29
Style of the Folk Epic
Lyric
Epic
Narrative
A poem, such as a sonnet or an ode, that expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet. A lyric poem may resemble a song in form or style.
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic figure. Two of the most famous epic poems are the
Iliad
and the
Odyssey
by HomerSlide30
Characteristics of Style
Elegiac tone
Concentration on feelings
Extra epithets delay narration and focus the point of view
A poem that laments the death of a person, or one that is simply sad and thoughtful.
Like “Richard the Lion-hearted” for Richard ISlide31
Literary Devices
Scops
used harp to add beats to poetry
Four Lifts per line; with a caesura
Understatement/Litotes
Allusions
A natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line. There is a caesura right after the question mark in the first line of this sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”
What is an allusion?
What do we mean when we say, “THAT’S an understatement
!
”Slide32
Literary Devices, cont.
Exalted Vocabulary
Ritual Objects
Kennings: bardic formulae, used as appositives, for example, “swan-road”
A phrase used instead of the simple name of a thing, characteristic of Old Teutonic, and esp. Old Norse, poetry. Examples are oar-steed = ship, storm of swords = battle.