What is Beowulf?

1
What is Beowulf?

• It is a familiar theme a brave hero battles his
  archenemy, and evildoer who will stop at nothing
  to win.
• This theme of hero and villain goes back more
  than 1200 years to a time when Anglo-Saxon
  storytellers sang of the legend of Beowulf, the
  warrior.

2
Why is Beowulf important?

• the first English literary masterpiece
• one of the earliest European epics written in
  the vernacular, or native language, instead of
  literary Latin

3
Epics of other cultures

• You can compare the magnitude of Beowulf with
  that of the Iliad and the Odyssey of ancient
  Greece and the Sundiata of Mali.
• The Anglo-Saxons left few records of their life
  and history. Beowulf shows their dreams, goals
  and fears, as well as their values of loyalty,
  bravery and honor.

4
When was it written?

• Estimates of the date of composition range
  between 700 and 1000 AD. written in England

The story survives in one fragile manuscript
copied by two scribes near the end of the 10th or
the first quarter of the 11th century
5
History

• Beowulf began as an oral poem, passed by singers
  of one generation to the next.

• Its a good guess Beowulf would have disappeared
  along with those singers themselves if it had not
  been written down

6
Who wrote the poem?

• No one knows.
• Like all early oral poetry, it had as many
  authors as singers who performed it.

The singers may have performed it when warriors
gathered in meadhalls to celebrate like those
described in Beowulf.
It was originally spoken in Old English, the
language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons during the
years 500 to 1100.
7
Setting

• set around 500 AD
• the narrative also recounts historical events
  that happened much earlier.

8
Setting

• Denmark and Geatland (a region in what is now
  southern Sweden)

9
Trivia Beowulf as inspiration

• Beowulf has influenced
• classical music (the American composer Howard
  Hansons Lament for Beowulf, ca. 1926),
• a novel (John Gardner's Grendel, 1971),
• animated film (Grendel! Grendel! Grendel! with
  Peter Ustinov, ca. 1982),
• even a comic-book series (Beowulf, Dragon-Slayer,
  ca. 1975).

10
Get ready to read!

• Epic poem is on page 39