Overview of Beowulf

Beowulf is an epic poem from the Anglo-Saxon period. It tells the story of a hero who fights monsters. The poem was probably written down not because it was considered ideal literature, but because the scribe was collecting stories and examples (possibly as a bestiary).

Beowulf includes both pagan and Christian ideas. Pagan beliefs show fate and personal honor. Christian ideas show God’s guidance and moral rules. This is interesting because, historically, paganism and Christianity did not get along, and their interchange involved a lot of bloodshed.

Main events:

• Beowulf kills Grendel, a monster attacking King Hrothgar’s hall, by pulling his arm off. Then the Danes hang Grendel’s arm as a trophy.
• Grendel’s mother gets revenge, kills the king’s advisor, and takes back her son’s arm, so Beowulf hunts her down and kills her, too (with a a magic sword)
• Beowulf goes back to Geatland, becomes a great king, and then, near the end of his life, fights a dragon that kills him.

Historical Context

• Anglo-Saxon poetry does not use rhymes. Instead, it uses alliteration, caesura, and kennings.
• Norman Conquest (1066) brought French influence and changed English poetry, adding rhymes.
• We studied some Anglo-Saxon culture, including dragons, gender roles, naming systems, and superstitions we still have in the Anglophone world today.

Literary Devices

We have studied several literary devices in Beowulf:

• Synecdoche – using a part to represent the whole.
• Metonymy – using a related word for something.
• Caesura – a pause in the middle of a line.
• Kenning – a compound metaphor, like “whale-road” for the sea.
• Alliteration, Assonance, Consonance – repetition of sounds to make rhythm.
• Epic Poem – a long story in verse about heroes and important events.

We looked at an EPIC acrostic poem about heroes:

• E – Embodies community values
• P – Possesses supernatural traits
• I – Identifies a need for a quest
• C – Carries themselves with confidence

Tone and Translation

We looked at three translations of the same passage of Beowulf. This helped us see how translation changes tone. Tone affects how we understand Beowulf and his actions. We also talked about translation interpretation, e.g., how the first word (Hwæt) can be translated as “So,” “Lo,” “Hear me,” “Listen,” and most informally, “Bro!”

Here’s a short video on how hard it is to translate the first word of Beowulf.

Monsters and Heroes in Other Literature

We compared Beowulf with Sun Wukong from Journey to the West. Wukong shows Daoist ideas, but Daoism is shown to be weaker than Buddhism. Beowulf shows pagan ideas, but paganism is shown to be inferior than Christianity. In that way, both stories showcase the conflict between religions during a time of religious interchange.

This shows that heroes and monsters reflect the culture they come from. Supernatural powers are limited by rules in both stories.

Next

Next, we will study Peter Mancall’s article on Columbus. We will look at how real explorers imagined monsters. Then, we will compare this to the fictional monsters in Beowulf. This will help us see how culture shapes the way people think about “other” beings.

This review helps us understand heroism, monsters, and culture in both Beowulf and other stories.