Beowulf. Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what s said and what s done.

Transcription

1 Beowulf Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what s said and what s done.

2 Review: Historical Context the earliest surviving piece of extended narrative fiction in English literature; over 3000 lines long, the first surviving epic poem in the English language. Composed more than twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eighth century as late as the tenth century. Survived the fire that destroyed the building in London that housed the collected of manuscripts made by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem is thought to be an idealized and nostalgic recreation of the culture and values of the so-called "Heroic Age," i.e., the period of European history dominated by the northern "barbarians" who plundered and gradually dismembered the Western Roman Empire as the Roman imperial system broke down in the fifth and sixth centuries. The poem takes tales and memories of real and legendary kings of old Scandinavia (who were claimed as ancestors by some of the Anglo-Saxon kings) and weaves them around the central folktales of a hero's battles against swamp monsters and a primeval dragon.

3 the dark ages the Heroic age strength, courage, loyalty kenning whale-road ; shadow-stalker epic (vs. epyllion vs. lyric) progeny oral tradition and the Finnsburg episode society that is honor bound and blood stained, an eye for an eye Cain s curse out of which sprung orgres and elves and evil phantoms / and the giants too who strove with God (9). Terms

4 Review: Plot The story begins with a brief family history of the Danish royal family, starting with their mythic ancestor, Scyld Scefing or SHIELD SHEAFSON in Heaney's translation, who arrives in Denmark as an unknown child in a boat This history culminates (after the reign of his son, Beow --- no the hero of the poem) in the reign of HROTHGAR, who builds the great ceremonial palace or "hall" HEOROT. The hall is attacked by the monstrous swamp fiend GRENDEL, and word spreads overseas of the Danes' inability to deal with him. Young Beowulf, nephew of HYGELAC, king of a neighboring nation, the GEATS, responds to the challenge, crossing the sea to Hrothgar's kingdom with a small band of retainers.

5 Review: Ghouls and Heroes he is truly noble. This is no mere / hanger-on in a hero s armour H: O flower of warriors, beware of that trap. / choose, dear Beowulf, the better part, / eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride of U: Beowulf s coming, his seabraving, made him sick with envy. B: Now I cannot recall any fight you entered, Unferth The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen or courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity, attacks on your king. Yet there was no laying of blame on their lord, the noble Hrothgar; he was a good king. Grendel had cruelly killed earlier as he would have killed more. Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark, nursed a hard grievance A company of the best asleep from their feasting, insensible to pain and human sorrow So Grendel ruled in defiance of right, one against all

6 Grendel s Characterization (9, 11, , 115) grim demon / haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens dwelt for a time / in misery among the banished monsters, / Cain s clan, whom the Creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts insensible to pain and human sorrow God-cursed brute was creating havoc: / greedy and grim Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse dark death-shadow / who lurked and swooped murdering, guilt-steeped, God-cursed fiend maddened spirit terror of those twilights He d skulked away, exhausted in spirit And beaten in battle, bloodying the path, Hauling his doom to the demons mere. The bloodshot water wallowed and surged, There were loathsome upthrows and overtrunings Of waves and gore and wound-slurry. With his death upon him, he had dived deep Into his marsh-den, drowned out his life And his heathen soul hell claimed him there.

7 Dragon the sky plague (159) After 50 winters of Beowulf s rule, one began to dominate the dark, a dragon on the prowl slick-skinned, threatening the night sky / with streamers of fire People on the farms / are in dread of him HE rippled down the rock, writhing with anger Hot and savage belch out flames the Geat nation / bore the brunt of his brutal assaults / and virulent hate hoard-guard nightmarish destroyer the serpent on the ground, gruesome and vile, lying facing him. The fire-dragon was scaresomely burnt, scorched all colours. From head to tail, his entire length was fifty feed. He had shimmered froth on the night air once, then winged back down to his den; but death owned him now, he would never enter his earth-gallery again.

8 Gendered Ghouls Whoever she was Who brought forth this flower of manhood, If she is still alive, that woman can say That in her labour the Lord of Ages Bestowed a grace on her. But now his mother / had sallied forth on a savage journey, / grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge monstrous hell-bride now she would avenge her only child poisonous fiend ghastly dam terror-monger

9 Discussion Questions Themes and Tropes: what makes a monster; ghoul; villain; evil; inhuman creature? How are Grendel, his mother, and the dragon fashioned as other or a monster? What reasoning does the poet give? What are the differences between them and Beowulf? Them and Unferth? What are the repeated themes of masculinity in Beowulf? What gets mentioned over and over? How does violence assert masculinity? Any contradictions here? Is all violence good violence? Who speaks, and what are they allowed to speak of? Who feels human emotions? Is our narrator reliable? Is Beowulf reliable?

10 Reading Questions: Marie de France and Sir Gawain How has heroic masculinity changed, in contrast to that of the Heroic Age? What do monsters / antagonists look like in Bisclavret, Lanval, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? What do heroes / protagonists look like? What biographical details and / or speculations about Marie de France do you find relevant to uncovering meaning in Lanval and Bisclavret. How are the Queens in Lanval and Sir Gawain similar and / or different to the Queens we see in Beowulf?