Thursday, Sept. 25– ELIT 46A

BeowulfThemes

StructureWays of Looking at Beowulf

Old style quizOld style quiz ______ 1. The name of the great hall

Hrothgar builds is

a. Heorot b. Eadgils c. Eoford. Thames

 

______ 2. The demon who attacks the Spear-Danes in their great hall is

a. Horrendor b. Heardred c. Grendel d. Mordred

___________ 3. The demon is descended from what Biblical character?

a. Abel b. Cain c. Jacob d. Satan

_ 4. The character who is jealous of Beowulf and accuses him of vanity is

a. Uglif b. Unferth c. Hrethric d. Wealtheow

 

End of old quizEnd of old quiz ______ 5. According to Beowulf, the reason

Breca beat Beowulf in a swimming racewas because

a. Beowulf was attacked by nine sea monsters that he eventually destroyed.

b. He had inadvertently drunk too much mead.

c. He stopped in the middle of the race to save a ship floundering at sea

Actual quiz – answer 2Actual quiz – answer 2 Describe the battle between Grendel and

Beowulf, including what Beowulf did to prepare for the battle.

Describe the battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. Why is Beowulf successful?

What is Wealhtheow‘s main worry – the promise that she seeks to get Beowulf to make?

Have you seen any of Have you seen any of these themes?these themes?

Themes:

Transitoriness of all things

Significance of generosity

Significance of loyalty

Question of immortality

Ideal King – walks his talk – but Kings frequently boasted under influence of alcohol and didn’t always fulfill the boasts

Insiders and outsiders

The decline of hope, the impossibility of community

The future will come and it will mean loss, death, and weakness

Why start with Shield?Why start with Shield? Parallel to Beowulf, who is going to win fame himself

Funeral – so the shape of the epic is clear Funeral

Feast

Battle

Feast

Battle

Feast

50 years

Dragon Battle

Funeral

Heorot (civilization) vs. Barbarism (Hrothgar vs. Grendel) and Barbarism is winning

 

Beowulf (kenning of Beowulf (kenning of ____?)____?)

Beowulf represents _______________ What lines tell you this?

196-8

His style of fighting Grendel

His response to Unferth

His response to Unferth’s offer of the sword

Spoils from the cave

How is Beowulf the opposite of Hrothgar?

EpicEpic Compare what we have seen to usual ideas

about the epic

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

and the 3 on the next page

Different ways of looking Different ways of looking at Beowulfat Beowulf

Anthropological

Psychological = every enemy is a mirror for Beowulf to see himself

Performance = focus on the scop and why the story is being told and how it is being told

Political – about identity and nation formation

Didactic - Teaching

Literary – Irony, poetry of the language, synecdoche, metonymy, litotes, etc.

Symbolism within Symbolism within BeowulfBeowulf

Or Metaphoric – what does the arm of Grendel represent?

What does the whole day’s journey down into the cave, the fight with Grendel’s mother, and the day to return remind you of?

Why does he return only with Grendel’s head and the hilt of the sword?

Theory of types

Why the head of Why the head of Grendel, not Mom?Grendel, not Mom?

Theme of Gold according Theme of Gold according to Patricia Silberto Patricia Silber

Gold can have a positive moral value: adorning people, places, and weapons – to give to deserving warriors

Plundering, cursing, hoarding and refusing to give gold

Beowulf achieves moral ascendency when he ____?

How does Wealhtheow use gold? (pages 60-1)

Compare to Sigurd the Volsung and the story of the gold taken from the Rhine Maidens, gold which made the river beautiful. Also RINGS (Ring of the Niebelung)

See the treasures actually used in England around the time of the composition of Beowulf (750)