ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE: BEOWULF [English Literature I ]
Instructions:
In groups of 3, choose ONE question about the essay by Alexander and compose an answer. You will have to create a GoogleDoc to be able to work together as a group and make your contributions. Once you have your answer ready and checked for mistakes, you copy and paste it into the Blog. You should copy and paste the question first. At the end of your post, write ALL your names.
I
Bibliography [in your Booklet]:
Alexander, Michael. Beowulf :
A Verse Translation. England: Clays Ltd, St Ives plc, 2003. Pp
xiii- xli. Print.
DEADLINE: Fri 19, April, 2019 - 12:00 PM
(no entries will be evaluated after this time!)
Read the introduction to Beowulf
and answer these questions :
1.The Venerable Bede wrote the Historia
Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in 731. What do we learn about the Angles
there ?
2.How does the name « England » originate ?
3.Does Beowulf have any
historical characters ? Who ? What do we know about them ?
4.Who wrote Beowulf, when was
it written and what was its inteded audience ? Does the original
manuscript survive ?
5.Why did the monks need to translate the gospel into English instead of
leaving in Latin like they did in Gaul ? Why is this important for
Literature ?
6. What makes Beowulf a
remarkable poem ?
7.What is the primary theme of heroic poetry ?
8.What is Beowulf, the protagonist, like ? How is he different from
Achilles or Aeneas ?
9.What do these names suggest : Grendel, Bjorn, Heorot,
Beowulf ?
10.Beowulf belongs to the epic
genre. What are the 4 characteristics of this genre ? Explain them
briefly.
11.What do the monsters in the poem symbolise ?
12.Beowulf is different from other
epic poems such as Homer’s The Illiad
and The Odyssey ? Why ?
What is the Ethos of this poem ? ( Ethos : the set of beliefs, ideas, etc. about the social behaviour and relationships of a person or group)
13.What are the monsters and why do they attack ?
4- Who wrote Beowulf, when was it written and what was its intended audience? Does the original manuscript survive?
ReplyDeleteBeowulf was written by an unknown author. The writing is anonymous. We don’t know the circumstance of Beowulf composition, and its date is not agreed, but it is considered that it may have reached its present form before the year 850.
It is a literary poem, but many of its techniques and much of its material originate in older oral traditions. It is the first large poema written in English - it has more than three thousand lines. These lines made no reference to Britain. However, most of its audience were people settled in Britain for as many as ten generations. Later audiences have found it a good story, but for they first ones it was allegory of their ancestors.
The poem’s text survives in a single manuscript copy in the British library, dated to about the year 1010.
Cian, María Emilia
Ely, Cecilia
Scheidegger, Claudia
Yes, very well done girls.
Delete1.The Venerable Bede wrote the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in 731. What do we learn about the Angles there ?
ReplyDeleteVenerable Bade (AD 673- 735) was the earliest and most important prose writer. Among Bede’s many works, one of the most important is Ecclesiastical History of the English people, where we can find some of the most valuable information about A.S. history, and the growth of Christianity in the county. But he wrote in Latin, and only because his work was translated into Old English by King Alfred the Great, it is considered part of A.S. prose. Besides, his writings provide us with extensive reference of how Christian’s values were implanted and successfully combined within the barbarian society that existed at that time.
Daran, Melisa
Velazquez, Lionela
Let me first make two corrections on your spelling: Bede - country (not county, which means something different).
DeleteSomething else that we've learnt from this book is that Bede wrote about how the Roman province os Britannia was conquered by Germanic tribes in the 5th Century AD. He named the conquerors - the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. And also told us where they all came from ( the coasts of Denmark and the area of the Rhine, now Germany). If Bede hadn't written this History, we wouldn't have known all these facts about Britain's past.
You've answered the question well. Good work!
Why are you working in pairs when the instructions require a group of 3 students?
Delete8.What is Beowulf, the protagonist, like ? How is he different from Achilles or Aeneas ?
ReplyDeleteBeowulf is the nephew of hygelac, king of Geats. A valiant warrior of the Goths in southern Sweden. He is described as a man of inhuman strength and a brave fighter. He is almost a Christian Knight with extraordinary courage and self-confidence.
The main differences between Beowulf heroic history from those of Achilles or Aeneas is the path he use to win his glory. Despite being heroic poetry, Beowulf is surrounded by a world of fantasy, where he made his name renown killing monsters. In contrast with Achilles and Aeneas whose deeds in war were the ones that made them ancient warriors in old poetry.
Another Important difference is the power each one has. Aeneas and Achilles are both
half-gods, sons of the mixture between a human and a god, which made them arrogant
heroes thinking of themselves as immortals taking all the credit for his achievements. Whereas Beowulf is a human being with colossal strength who attributes his victories to God and to whom he offers prayers and gratitude.
Duarte, Gustavo Andres
Ledesma, Diego Iván Emanuel
Moreyra, Fabio Iván
Let me make some corrections first:
Delete1)"The main differences... Beowulf'S heroic... AND those of Achilles'S or Aeneas'S [the genitive MUST be present here, i.e., the possessive 'S ].
2) "Despite being written..." = Despite being the PROTAGONIST OF A HEROIC POEM, BEOWULF (not the poem, but the hero) is surrounded...
You've failed to mention ONE important difference between Beowulf, Achilles and Aeneas: the heroes of The Illiad and The Aeneid are not gentle, gracious or kind to their own people as Beowulf is. That is why Alexander says that Beowulf exemplifies the heroic ideal in a socially responsible form: yes, he is eager for battle and enjoys showing off his own prowess but he is also magnanimous to lesser men (Achilles and Aeneas are too absorbed in their self-importance to care about inferior men). Beowulf dies for his people, protecting them from the dragon. Achilles lives for his own glory and so does Aeneas.
Part of your answer is correct. You must read the whole text to be able to answer your question correctly next time.
Gustavo: Could you please send me an email? It seems that you wrote your email address with some mistake because it keeps bouncing back.
Delete2.How does the name << England >> originate ?
ReplyDeleteThe English name has its origins in the fifth century when the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes started conquering Britain. Modern English is derived from Old English Englisc, which meant 'pertaining to the angles’. Despite the Welsh called their conquerors Saxons, during the time of Alfred the Great all invading Germanic tribes were referred to as Englisc ‘English’. Alfred’s successors called their homeland Engla-land, the land of the English. Indeed, The Angles were fishing people or were originally descendant from such, so England would also mean “land of the fishermen, and English would be “the fishermen’s language”.
Loreley Rubianes
Ariana Rubianes
Melina Delbón
Allow me to make some corrections first:
Delete1) "Despite the Welsh..." = Despite THE FACT THAT the Welsh called..."
2) It is the Welsh ( i.e. the primitive inhabitants of Britain, also called CELTS, at that time hiding from the AS in Wales) who called the invading Anglo-Saxon tribes "ENGLISH" - a word that derives from ANGLES (King Alfred was descended from the Saxons, his ancestors had invaded England after the Romans left and settled down in Wessex). So "Engla-land" means "the land of the Angles /English". Remember that the Angles were the biggest of the 3 tribes that overran England when the Romans left to protect Rome, so it is fit that the country takes its name from them ( not from the Saxons or from the Jutes).
Your answer is therefore PARTLY right. Next time, read and re-read the whole text carefully. Your mistakes derives from failing to comprehend what you're reading.
7.What is the primary theme of heroic poetry?
ReplyDeleteThe primary theme of heroic poetry describes how a single man copes with unexpected and difficult situations through his incredible physical strength and greatest skills.
Beowulf, is a heroic poetry in the way that the protagonist demonstrates his bravery by fighting alone, and without any kind of weapons which makes him an immortal hero.
Solari, Daiana.
Borda,Mailen.
Banegas, Katerina.
It is important to mention that Heroic poetry is about the DEEDS of a hero, his world and his values. Heroes are men who seem to come from a godline race, and are almost demi-gods (almost gods in their superhuman strength). Heroic poetry is also about a society of the heroic age represented in Literature as a society in which a lord who is a "shepherd of his people" in times of peace or war - i.e., someone who guides and protects his people, someone who is "the ring-giver" [the AS leaders used to reward their men's courage and support by giving them gold rings or bracelets]. A good hero /leader is that who rewards his warriors' courage and loyalty in war so there must be solidarity between the King and his folk, and bonds of loyalty (not only obedience from his people towards his lord).
DeleteNext time, read the whole text and you'll get a more complete answer (because you'll understand what the question implies better). Your answer is PARTLY right.
13.What are the monsters and why do they attack?
ReplyDeleteThe monsters presented in Beowulf are symbolic representations of unprovoked aggression, vengeance, and avarice for gold.
Grendel is a troll; man, beast and demon, and a descendant of Cain, who was exiled by God. Therefore, he is cursed, the manifestation of envy and aggression. Nevertheless, he is also human, turned into a monster by the severity of his envy and lust for blood. His hostility is provoked by human enjoyment. Grendel’s mother is also a monster, yet her purpose is vengeance. She emerges from underwater caverns to avenge her dead son. As Grendel, she can’t be harmed by human weapons and her blood is capable of melting swords.
Lastly, dragons are also present in this poem. The dragon is roused by the stealing of a cup from its hidden treasures, and responds by destroying Beowulf’s hall by arson. The hoard-guarding dragon may symbolize avarice, contrasting with the generosity of a ring-giver. It may also be related to the curse of grave-goods.
Altamirano, Rocío
Carosino, Daiana
Gómez, Paulina
Let me add something to your answer:
DeleteHoard= Accumulate (money or valued objects) and hide or store away. So a hoard-guarding dragon is a mythological creature which protects a treasure ( gold, gold coins, jewels, etc.) [If you've seen the film, THE HOBBIT, you'll understand what I mean].
Very good answer - thorough and grammatically correct. Well done, girls!
5. Why did the monks need to translate the gospel into English instead of leaving in Latin like they did in Gaul? Why is this important for Literature?
ReplyDeleteNineteenth- century devotees for the Germanic past believed that Old English poetry was Pagan, but it was not like that. The English invaders were not mindful of God, unlike the Britons, but remaining verse written in English was Christian.
Christian Monks from Rome and later from Ireland brought literacy with them and they translated the gospels into English, and wrote down laws along with charters and poems in English. However, in France was not the same. The Franks who settled the northern part of Roman Gaul were a Germanic people. But forthcoming French learned to speak an unpleasant Latin, and the English did not.
The clergy had to put the gospel, the good recent events of Christian redemption, into English, in order to influence the people. That is why English was written. Only a few manuscripts in English persisted from the seventh century.
Vernacular verse survives in simple manuscripts and in single copies, anonymous and untitled. Nevertheless, enough suggest that verse and prose in Old English literature developed widely. Most of the 31,000 lines of verse from manuscripts from the year 1000 surviving are Christian, even though their Christianity is different from the diversities today.
Fabrissin, Kevin
Massin, Emanuel
Quatrín, Paula
I must correct something you've written, first:
Delete1) You write: "But forthcoming French learned to speak an unpleasant Latin, ..." What you mean is that the Franks spoke a BASTARD Latin, i.e., a form of Latin mixed with their own Frank dialect. But they understood Latin well enough from the Romans to be able to communicate - even with mistakes - with their Roman conquerors. The English, however, did not speak or understand Latin at all. That is why the translation is needed.
2) You also write: "The clergy had to put the gospel, the good recent events of Christian redemption, into English, in order to INFLUENCE the people. " The clergy didn't translate the Gospels "to influence" anybody but to teach the AS the CATECHISM [A summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for religious instruction.]. So the translation into English was done to teach the Pagans the new laws / principles of Christianity and to CONVERT THEM INTO CHRISTIANS (like it is done in Argentina before you take communion or before your Confirmation).
So why are these translations of the Gospels important for English Literature? Because English Literature starts there, i.e., it develops from the first translations of the Gospels (the translations are stories from the Bible , i.e., prose /narrative- and people would imitate these narratives and write about other topics). They're the beginning of the Literature we know today.
Next time, read the whole text to be able to comprehend and answer your question well.
Your answer is PARTLY right.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete9.What do these names suggest : Grendel, Bjorn, Heorot, Beowulf ?
ReplyDeleteA)
Names sometimes served to indicate something, for example: Grendel grinds that is, crush or pulverize the bones of those who devours.
As warriors are sometimes named after fierce animals, Bjorn is the modern Swedish noun that means warrior as it was “beorn”, which originally meant bear.
In Beowulf, Hrothgar name his great hall Heorot meaning Hart or Stag making allusion to a male deer.
As for Beowulf (or Biowulf as his name is spelt in the second half of the manuscript) is a name perhaps derived from “Bee+Wolf”, large wild animal to do with bees.
Barbona Nahir
Fernandez Gimena
Gomez Laura
Let me make a correction first:
Delete1) You write: Grendel grinds that is, crush or pulverize the bones of those who devours.
You mean: Grendel grinds... pulverise the bones of those HE [Grendel] DEVOURS...
2) BEOWULF = bear / bee/ warrior + wolf ( "Bee" is an insect that stings anyone who bothers it. It might mean that Beowulf "stings" his enemies with his sword, pierces their bellies).
Good anwer! Well done!
6. What makes Beowulf a remarkable poem ?
ReplyDeleteBeowolf has cultural and historical interest. By 1010 this poem was dated, and it survives in a single manuscript copy in the British Library.
This poem is considered as an epic poem because resolves questions of centre and periphery, of natural and supernatural, takes in all of life, representing with an archaic truth.
The author is unknown and it is the only manuscript that escaped from the fire in 1731 at British Library. In 1845, the manuscript remains fragile and can only be handled with the utmost care. Currently remains sheltered in the British Library, in London.
We would also like to highlight the fact that Beowulf takes place in the countries that were Anglo-Saxon, not in England, but it was written in Anglian (traditional and composite language) rather than local. In addition, it show us the culture and daily life of the Anglo-Saxons.
Although it is considered a literary poem, originally it was released through oral tradition.
Since Beowulf has been edited and translated, there have been 26 learned edition of a text, some revised and reissued several times.
Corgniali, Daiana.
Quiroz, Priscila.
Zechín, Milena.
Yes, indeed. Well done, girls.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete10.Beowulf belongs to the epic genre. What are the 4 characteristics of this genre ? Explain them briefly
Beowulf has the epic qualities of inclusive scope, objective treatment, unity of ethos and significant action. It shows the life-cycle of a hero in Beowulf and of a people in the Danes and the Grates. Representation is selective, the thief of the cup from the dragon’s hoard is the only slave mentioned, and all speakers and chief actors are lords ladies or nobles retainers. The mode is symbolic: the life of the people is involved in the fight of the hero-king with the dragon.
A second mark of epic is objectivity. Each of the many individual deaths in the poem is given its space. Death, irrespective of nationality, importance or merit, is accorded due respect. Much of the ‘truth’ of the poem comes from traditional presentation. The heroic life is crystallized into generic scenes: voyage, welcome, feast, boast, arming, fight, reward. If names and values are crystallized in epic formula, so are transitions: death is presented as sleeping as well as choosing one’s bed of slaughter or choosing God’s light.
A third epic characteristic is unity of consciousness a sense of solidarity with the universe and with the audience. Respect is felt towards the inscrutable, as where it is said of the funeral ship that moves out to sea with the body and trappings of Scyld. Some respect is accorded to Grendel and to the motives of the slaves who stole the dragon’s cup, and likewise to the reason for the attacks by Grendel’s mother and by the dragon. The system of epic formulations perpetuates accustomed interpretations.
A fourth characteristic of epic is that the story should have a kind of self-evident and axiomatic significance. The main story of Beowulf is of a hero who had killed all previous opponents and dies in a third encounter with a dragon, which he also kills. The theme of the hero`s life-story is the human challenge to death, and its glorious and tragics potentialities.
Cruz, Sofia
Martinez, Leisa
Scarel, Lourdes
I need to add some information here as regards the characteristics of the poem, those that make it an example of the Epic genre:
DeleteA-SCALE & SCOPE : This is not a poem about any ordinary hero or human being. It's SCOPE (=the extent of its subject matter, what it covers)is about the Rise and fall of the Danish and Geatish races, the history of the Swedes for 3 generations ( also of the Heathobards, Frisians & Franks). In other words, it talks about the history of a race. The SCALE of the poem (its range, what it covers) is the World of the Baltic and North seas ending the Age of Migration. It describes all these things in a Symbolic mode : the life of mankind is involved in the fight of the hero-king with the dragon. The poem represents the human cost of war through women (queens, wives, hostesses, brides, victims of marital alliances, etc).
THE INESCRUTABLE: what is impossible to understand or interpret. [You must explain the difficult words when you answer the questions].
The characteristics of the EPIC GENRE are:
1) Scale and Scope
2) Objective treatment / Objectivity
3) Unity of Consciousness
4) Significant action: the poem tells the story of a hero who braves life-or-death ordeals against monsters who had killed all previous opponents and dies in a 3rd encounter with a dragon. The 3 fights are encounters with death in different shapes. The theme of the hero’s life-story is the human challenge to death and its glorious / tragic potentialities. The reference to the Genesis universalises the theme, so that the hero is seen defending mankind against its enemies. Action moves in cycles : Hrothgar feasting in Heorot shows society working well but it’s replaced by Grendel feasting in the hall. Beowulf expels Grendel, restoring society. Then Grendel’s mother attacks the hall but Beowulf kills her and extirpates the monster. Later, the dragon destroys Beowulf’s hall, Beowulf & the dragon kill each other and society faces destruction.
Your answer is PARTLY right, but incomplete.
11.What do the monsters in the poem symbolize?
ReplyDeleteThe monsters in the poem symbolize evil, respectively unprovoked aggression, the law of vengeance and greed for gold.
For example, Grendel and his mother are, as the poem says, descendants of Cain the first-born human being, a fratricide, so the monsters are human too: they are us.
In Beowulf, Grendel is man, beast and demon, all three. He embodies envy and aggression, an uncivilized beast. He is also a demon: his eyes are full of hellish light, and his mother's blood melts the giant-sword. Yet he is also a human whose envy and blood-lust have made him a monster.
The significance of the dragon is the extent to which embodies evil.
Treasure-guarding dragons come from classical legend. They live in mounds, guarding buried treasure. Also flies by night, shooting forth flame. The dragon in Beowulf responds to the theft of a cup from its hoard by burning down Beowulf's hall. It symbolize possessive meanness, the opposite of a ring-giver.
Petrucci, Giuliana
Roldán, Julia.
Yes, indeed. Good work, girls.
DeleteWhy are you working in pairs when the instructions require a group of 3 students?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete3. Does Beowulf have any historical characters? Who? What do we know about them?
ReplyDeleteYes, the historical character that is mentioned is the uncle of Beowulf, whose name was Hygelac, the king of the Geats. The Geats where the clan of Beowulf, who were also referred to as the Geatas, Guð-Geatas (War-), the Sæ-Geatas (Sea-), and the Weder-Geatas (Weather-) and resided in the south of Sweden.
What we know about Hygelac is from the sixth-Century. Gregory of Tours, and two other Latin historians,where the ones who said that Hygelac fell in a warlike raid by the Hetware people living near the mouth of the Rhine in about the year 521, This event is also mentioned in the Poem
Jacobo Mehauod
Noelia Amereles
First of all,why are you working in pairs when the instructions require a group of 3 students?
DeleteGood work but respect the instructions next time or I won't evaluate your task.
Delete12. Beowulf is different from other epic poems such as Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey? Why? What is the Ethos of this poem? (Ethos: the set of beliefs, ideas, etc. about the social behaviour and relationships of a person or group)
ReplyDeleteThe main difference between Beowulf and other epic poems such as Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey are their enemies. Beowulf fights against men and monsters while Achilles fight against just other human warriors. Another difference is that Beowulf is anonymous although some critics believed that the unknown author was a pagan West Saxon.
Beowulf think about his glory all the time. He wants to show people that the is a reliable and protective leader. He tries to show his prowess, strength and courage of a single man, undismayed and undefeated in the face of all adversaries and all in adventures. However, Achilles only wants a glorious personal transcendence of human limitations.
The Ethos of his poem shows us how heroic society fails because others will not fight for Beowulf as he fought for them. He defends a lord and the lord’s people, giving his service but in his last fight, Wiglaf -the son of Weohstan- didn’t help him and he died.
Beowulf has ideals of responsibility towards kindred and of mutual service between a lord and his people. Besides, the poem shows the limits of heroism in the failure of the young companions and through the modification of the ideal hero.
The hero is ceremonious, eloquent, courteous, modest, almost urbane. He is a hero who is also an ideal thane and lord.
Another important aspect of Beowulf shows the cost of the obligation of vengeance. He is a good hero and a good king but is son of Edgetheow who killed a man and set off the greatest of all feuds according to Hrothgar.
Pérez, Milagros.
Villalba, Gonzalo.
Zalazar Magalí.
Another important difference between the heroes of these Epic poems is that Beowulf is a combination of Pagan warrior with Christian Knight: yes, he shows off his prowess in battle but he fights not only for his personal glory ( like Achilles or Aeneas) but for the survival of his people. In this, he's a typical knight in shining armour ( like those who would later appear in the Medieval Romances): he defends his Lord / King, his country, and his people even if that means that he'll be killed. Achilles and Aeneas only defend their property and their honour.
DeleteWell done, guys!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete11.What do the monsters in the poem symbolise ?
ReplyDeleteThe monsters in the poem symbolise us: humans. As it says in the book, Grendel and his mother are descendants of Cain- son of Adam and Eve- who committed fratricide- the crime of murdering your brother or a member of your own group or country- when he killed his brother, Abel.
The monsters show us how evil humans can be, having no mercy and compassion when it comes to the misery of others. We kill other people in wars and we are blind to the famine, we also want things that do not belong to us or did not win working hard, or at least in a fair way. We are greedy and we fight, or make other people fight, for our wishes. With all these characteristics WE are nothing BUT monsters.
Zorzon, Ornela.
Gianinetti, Milena.
Agustini, Yamil.
This questions was already answered above. Next time, choose one that no one has answered.
DeleteYour answer is correct, nevertheless.
GENERAL FEEDBACK:
DeleteOne thing that is evident in your answers is that each group read only the bit they needed to answer the question. Thus, the answers read as incomplete, showing that the writers do not comprehend the text very well. You must read the whole text next time or you will not be able to take in the meaning of it.
Secondly, in spite of my clear instructions, many of you chose to work in pairs, when the instructions (and the number of students in the class) indicated that you had to work in trios. Next time, I WILL NOT EVALUATE those students who do not respect the instructions.
Last but not least, you should copy and paste the answers and my comments onto a Word document so that you have a complete summary to study from for the Term exam and the Final exam.
BETIANA GREGORET: You have failed to do the task. You'll have to do another task to make up for this. I'll be emailing it to you.
Delete