Beowulf ‘Beowulf Is the greatest surviving poem in Old English. Set in Seen ee eran Ren er er rea king ofthe Danes, whose people are under deadly attack from the savage monster Grendel Later in life, he heroically faces a fire cred In this epic poem the Anglo-Saxon values of courage and pride are eee eet ets eat eee ee ee co ee ence «Dossiers Te Heroic Elements in Beowulf What Makes an Ep and emer ner ete eres eeecntiny ry ca 4 { Cee INContents EN The Historie Background The Cultural Background CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER six CHAPTER SEVEN Dossiers The Heroic Elements in Beowulf What Makes an Epic Christian Elements in Beowulf FEE rineThe Historical Background Pare id (oy 7h cet fn he Andes ln the fourth century the Roman Empl in westrn Europe began to bk up. The Roman semy ef itn in 410 and the Cele peopl, who the Romans cnquered and who then adapied oie under the Roman Empire, could not govern the country on their own. Inthe fifth century the Anglo-Saxons began to invade? Britain, These lnvaders came from north Germany and Denmark, and included different peoples: the mest important were the Angles (the word Engl’ cones rom this name) the Saxons an the utes The Celtic people were forced to move to the north and the wes, Where they kept thei language and culture in Wales and Comal Although many examples of Celtic art survive, none of their trate remains, By the seventh century, the Angles had established Kingdoms in the east, nd, the Saxons had established kingdoms in north and centre of En the south and south-west and there vrata Jutish kingdom inthe south- fst. Eventnlly, they wore united in the early ninth century under the Kingdom of Wessex (the West The Anglo-Saxons were pagans, and in 597 the Catholic Pope in Rome, Gregory, sent a priest called Augustine to Britain to convert? them ‘to Christianity. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury, and Within a hundeed years the Anglo Sxons had converted to Chistian although pagan ideas id not icoppen completly[A the end ofthe eighth century the Vikings lerce people fom ‘Noray’ and Denmark, began o cary out aso the Bish coast ‘The raids soon became invasions, and Vikings hegan to live permanently in parts of Bit Alfed the Great, king of Wessex foo 871 to $9, was the only king who sucesflly resisted thom ‘Alfeed fought many battles gains the Danes (the name dat was now given to the Viking Jnvaders) and funded the fist English navy. He also encouraged the development of English culture, and hed some important Latin works transoted ito Old English (he name given tothe language of the Anglo Saxons) Despite Alfred's successes, eventually Danish king, Cnt came king of Eglin in 1017 Anglo-Saxon rule stated. gin in 102, bt iid ast lng ar ht A Sen ing Pla ile he Bef Hating 11D ate age Taps 1, In 1066, the Anglo-Saxon King Harold was defeated by William, Jewder ofthe Normans, a people descended frm? the Vikings who went to live in Normandy in north-west France, After this ~ the ast Invasion of England - Will became King Wiis Io England Nowadays, you will often hear people refer fo the English-speaking ‘Peoples ofthe United Kingdom, the Commonwealth andthe USA as “Anglo Saxons. This term is inacurate, however: inthe British Ike, the Irish, Scos and Welsh are mostly descend from the Celts and the Vikings, while in the USA fewer than 15% ofthe peopl are descended rom the Bish@ comprehension check Say If the folowing satements are Tru (1) or Fale (). Then correct the fale ones 1 After the Romans lf Brian the cl formed neffectwe goverment on ther own. 3 calsieculre survived in some pare of Ban a 4 Augustine, the frst Archbishop of Canterbury, vwaraent England by Pope Grepony ao 5 When christian was intedscednt rand, pegen ways disappeared nmediately 1 ‘edhe cresae the ol kne who managed foresee bans. ADanewatkingofengandforashertine, [IL ‘The Normans who conquered England in 066, wereale argos oo os ‘word ‘Normans’ comes from ‘Northmen’, They aft vedi Weimer eae arcuate Saget of tye 000 monn pat oe sf Normandy but on ater tic ther Normans funded Sapam snot aan, ‘Spandau onmandy awa hepened ota The Cultural Background ‘ew poem of 3182 lines, isthe lange surviving poem in Old English Its aio the frst important example of poety ina European language that isnot Greek or Latin, and isthe only complete ‘example of Germanic folk epic that exists. ‘few historical references in Rou ae from the sith century, but the venom ofthe poem hat WET PE BARD), mh Din us erg Tek apap Wwe have now was probably composed between 700 and 750, We do not know the name ofthe author, butts thought that it was composed by just ‘one person. Like other early poetry, Beowulf was first tld orally and poss on from post to pot overa long tine before finally being writen down kn Beowulf there are some rences tothe Anglo-Saxon Poet ~ called scop (pronounce ‘shop’) in Old English ~ who save oral performances of Poems, usually by singing ‘hem, on special acon. The first writen verson of Bowlis manuscript from abot 1000, which can now be seen in the ‘Te events of the poesn are set in southern Scandinavia, and are mostly a mixture of Germanic myth ad legend, although there area fevy historical reference. The sain values ofthe poem are loyalty to chief and tribe and revenge sone ene From a Christin point of view Beowulf, like nearly all Germanic and Old English poetry, uses alliteration. This means thatthe sunds of consonants especially at fom enemies although there ate also the Beginning of words ~are repeated in words that are near 0 each other: Ty pt hi oy the at ane go ori English poetry ony sare ows shyme—in which the lat syllables ‘of words have the same sounds the Norman insosion of 16, when French styles oF poctey were ntouced nto England © comprehension check Make notes below 0 make aft ile about Bow 1 Tre easons whys famous lathe lrget rung aoen bl Egle 3 Why iewas not written down tet 4 When ew wen down. 5. Name of theport 6 Where the events are et, 7 Main values found inthe poem, {8 Mestimportant clement of ie 9 where the man Oe ae na ate hot an port pom your care Then ate your fc ft ake «paceman oth pce pou ‘have chosen, 7Before you read___CHAPTER ONE, He also hada daughter who married the Swedish king Onela, Hrothgar was lucky in war. Many men were keen te serve him and his army grew He decided to bulld a great mead hall a a sian of his power. He wanted the mead hall to be his throne oom, He also wanted It to be the place from where he would The old Danish kings were men of ES courage, and their exploits are famous. ‘One ofthese kings was called Shield Shesson He had been abandoned asa chi, bt he grew int & fierce share his goods with the people Hessummoned! workers from all over the world to come and build his mead hall, which was called Heorot Hall. Soon the boiling wa Finished, and It was splendid. ts towers ose high warlr who subdued= his enemies. He was a good king. into the sky, and its roof was wide, Shield Sheafson’s son was called Beow. Beow There were feasts and singing every day in Heorot Hall Harpsts? played theie musi, and poets told the story of how God created the earth, the sun andthe moon, ut there was a demon? that hated the happiness of Heorot all, His name was Grendel, and he lived on a bleak part ofthe monster than cy ‘Grendel's mother sw him immediately and grabbed hold of himtight Fortunately Beowulf then saw one ofthe monster’ great Osrecring ich of the events (AM) in the activity above did ou find the most 1 sta: rh wth Surprising? Dias this in pis, explain the reasons fr your choke ee Sedthenvoteinclae,Fim tights remember the diferent ways that Ueowulf and Grendel's mother ‘ight on pages 38-60. resent Perfect Simple we can ute expression that refer to unfinished tie, such std, his week ths ear Now ook atthe sentences below 1 Grendes mother attacks Beowul wth her han hey both ht ee ‘with thei hands ‘Preven Perfect Simple a | . 2 eomulf stacks Grendel mother wth hie sword. inteRNer prouect 44q ‘Sutton Hoo, the world's greatest Anglo-Saxon bua sit {Connect othe niet and go to wou lackzatidab com oF ‘nvocideDit Iert the le tne book int ou earch engine. en the page for Baomu. ick onthe internat projet ik, Go down the ge unt you nd hee of hs book an cek onthe evant Eas forts project Work sat groups end try to aseover: ‘who was bured ere how many eter burl mounds are tis ‘cometary Some ofthe objets the doa person was bured wth when twas dlecovered hat ts rlatlonship wi Beowul is. ‘On your own, decide which of he objets you fd moe baal or moat intoresing Explain wy to he ost othe clase, Ityou ihe, you can make comparisons wih burs customs in oar s0m10 “oye pu mae oso 20a 4p HL ‘hy er he EXPANSIVE READING SMigpoe kepnee sll eal 6 Spe total xk tl comet Seripegcsiy ee SoM sha oe ‘otinigtskiaer sa Step Four B2.1 et Re Sigal Prt ert Ct eid pe ior sce on goed pec net pe a SUES ymca oe ‘Chase omen: ve hah aos Available at Stop Four 1 Jak the Riper Pee Fras The Seno For Sic Ar Conn Daye ‘om Jones Hey ing = Warn Suey anes