BEOWULF

1
BEOWULF

• It is a poem written in Old English

• It dates to 1000 A D

He is a hero, a person who has got values like
honour, courage and survival

• Settings
• Denmark
• Geatland
• Sweden

Old English is a mixture of Germanic dialects
It is a poem that celebrates the deeds of a hero
It is the first document written
EPIC POEM
He killed Grendel, his mother and a dragon, but
he dies too.
2
THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND

• Anglo-Saxons had an oral tradition, which was
  developed in the art of speech.

The conversion of England to Christianity
enriched Old English with Latin words

• Christianity introduced writing

Churches, monasteries and abbeys were built all
over the island
3
After the Norman Conquest...

• During the reign of King Alfred the Great,
  culture flowered

A lot of languages were spoken in England French
(nobility and court), Latin (clergy) and English
(ordinary people

• He founded schools and set scholars to translate
  texts from Latin into Old English

The Church continued to trasmit culture
Medieval books were written by hand in
monasteries
The universities of Oxford and Cambridge were
founded
4
ARTS, ARCHITECTURE AND MUSIC

• The Anglo-Saxons had great artistic skills for
  decorating weapons, jewellery and objects of
  daily use

• The architecture style was the Norman one, but
  later the Gothic style was imported from France

The earliest music was probably spread by the
bards they were itinerant or stationary musicians
It was sacred and the voices were most important
than instruments
They celebrated the deeds of the heroes