Week 1 Lesson 1 Beowulf

[Daniel]

First Lesson : Beowulf and History of the English Language

Attachments:

[Daniel]

The History of English
Before the 5th Century
Brythonic
Goidelic
After the 5th Century
Anglo-Saxon
(Old English)

Beowulf – The Facts
Written between the 8th and 11th Century
Set in Scandanavia between the 5th and 7th Century
The story is structured into three battles:
First Battle: Grendel
Second Battle: Grendel’s Mother
Third Battle: The Dragon


1st Battle : Grendel

Beowulf begins with the story of King Hrothgar, who built the great hall Heorot for his people. In it he and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating, until Grendel, an outcast from society who is angered by the singing, attacks the hall and kills and devours many warriors while they sleep.

Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar's troubles and with his king's permission leaves his homeland to help.

Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. After they fall asleep, Grendel enters the hall and attacks, devouring one of Beowulf's men. Beowulf, who bears no weapon as this would be an unfair advantage over the unarmed beast, has been feigning sleep and leaps up to clench Grendel's hand. The two battle until it seems as though the hall might collapse. Beowulf's retainers draw their swords and rush to his aid, but their blades can not pierce Grendel's skin as he is immune to human weapons. Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel's arm from his body at the shoulder and Grendel runs to his home in the marshes to die..

2nd Battle: Grendel’s Mother
The next night, after celebrating Grendel's death, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot. Grendel's mother appears and attacks the hall. She kills Hrothgar's most trusted warrior, Æschere, in revenge for Grendel's death.

Beowulf tracks Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Beowulf prepares himself for battle; he is presented with a sword, Hrunting, by a warrior called Unferth. Beowulf dives into the lake. He is swiftly detected and attacked by Grendel's mother. However, she is unable to harm Beowulf through his armor and drags him to the bottom of the lake.

Beowulf, finding that Hrunting cannot harm his foe, discards it in fury. Beowulf is again saved from his opponent's attack by his armor and, grasping a mighty sword from Grendel's mother's armory Beowulf beheads her. Traveling further into the lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head.

3rd Battle: The Dragon
Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, late in Beowulf's life, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of an unnamed dragon (sometimes referred to as Sua) at Earnaness. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning everything in sight. Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but only one of the warriors, a brave young man named Wiglaf, stays to help Beowulf. Beowulf kills the dragon with Wiglaf's help, but dies from the wounds he has received.

After he is cremated, Beowulf is buried in Geatland on a cliff overlooking the sea, where sailors are able to see his tumulus. The dragon's treasure is buried with him, in accordance with Beowulf's wishes, rather than distributed to his people. There is a curse associated with the hoard and it is also a Germanic and Scandinavian burial practice.


Discussion
What kind of story is Beowulf?
Adventure
Revenge
Political
Fantasy
Religious
Elegy