Beowulf

Old English Literature Few people read in this periodOral tradition – was performed

and/or sung by a Bard (Scop) from memory in Old English

This is why there are often several versions of the

same story .Scops – poet/minstrelsAuthors were unknown

About Beowulf

Beowulf was written in England, but is set in Scandinavia. It has variously been dated to between the 8th and the early 11th centuries. It is an epic poem told in historical perspective; a story of epic events and of great people of a heroic past. Although its author is unknown, its themes and subject matter are rooted in Germanic heroic poetry, in Anglo-Saxon tradition recited and cultivated by Old English poets called Scops.

There is only one original Beowulf manuscript existing today. It is in the British History Museum in London. This Epic poem of Beowulf is often divided into 3 sections; it is about Beowulf’s 3 epic battles with evil.

EPIC: a long, narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a

larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a

particular

Beowulf himself represents good society .

loyalty valor

Selflessnesssense of justice

Motifs of Beowulf

Motifs : a motif is a recurring theme or image in a work of literature

Biblical and Christian AllusionsPagan CustomsSocial Customs

Traits of the WarriorBeowulf Boasts

Beowulf StoryThe main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword of a giant that he found in her lair.

Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dares join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded. He is buried in a tumulus or burial mound, by the sea.

Some Lines from Beowulf PoemBeowulf spake, Ecgtheow’s son:“Recall now, oh, famous kinsman of Healfdene,Prince very prudent, now to part I am ready,Gold-friend of earlmen, what erst we agreed on,If I fail, act as a kind liegelord to my thanes, 5 Should I lay down my life in lending thee assistance,When my earth-joys were over, thou wouldst evermore serve meIn stead of a father; my faithful thanemen,My trusty retainers, protect thou and care for,Fall I in battle: and, Hrothgar belovèd,and send Higelac the jewels thou hast given me 10 Send unto Higelac the high-valued jewels

Why do we read Beowulf?

It’s a very creative, imaginative, poetic masterpiece .

It gives us insight into the origins of the British people, the culture, who, through seafaring conquests, founded the world we currently live in.

It gives us insight into the origins of our language.

It gives insight into all people everywhere and throughout time (time, birth, death, fame/success/glory, honor, friendship, conflict, home, country, adventure, spirituality – all of these things transcend English literature and matter to all people)

It’s scary and gets people to think about their own worst fears

It’s a VERY important piece of literature historically

Old English Phonetics

Phonology & Orthography: - Different vowels sounds; no independent // sound.-Different characters: æ, þ, ð (Æ, Þ, Ð){asch, thorn, eth)- Many words that look very different in OE (e.g. ecg, scip, bæc, benc, þorn) were probably pronounced as they are now.

OE Description; Position; Pronunciation Examples

aShort back vowel; Mainly in open syllables, when the

following one contains a back vowel; English cupmacian (to make), habban (to have)

á Long back vowel; In any kind of syllables; English star  stán (a stone), hátan (to call)

æ Short back vowel; Met mainly in closed syllables, or in open ones, if the next syllable contains a front vowel;

English bad

dæg (a day), wæter (water)

æ' Long back vowel; as Gothic é found only in some verbal

forms, as Gothic á is the result of the so-called i-mutation; German za"hlen 

 stæ'lon (stolen), hæ'lan (to cure)

e Short front vowel; as Gothic i, ai noticed only in some

infinitives, otherwise is result of the mutation of i; English bed

sengean (to sing) 

é Long front vowel; resulted from the i-mutation of ó;

German Meer déman (to judge) 

i

Short front vowel; can be either stable or unstable, the unstable

sound can interchange with ie and y; English still

bindan (to bind), niht - nyht (a night)

íLong front vowel; also stable and unstable (mutating to ý); English

stealwrítan (to write), hí - hý (they)

o  Short back vowel; English cost coren (chosen) 

ó Long back vowel; English store scóc (divided)

u Short back vowel; used only

when the next syllable contains another back vowel; English book

curon (they chose) 

ú  Long back vowel; English stool lúcan (to look)

y Short front vowel; i-mutation of

u; German fu"nfgylden (golden) 

ýLong front vowel; i-mutation of

ú, German glu"henmýs (mice)

a.A special short sound met only before nasals in closed syllables

monn (a man)

Old English Morphology

Anglo-Saxon morphology changes before French influence, although some scholars think it would have changed anyway because it was so difficult to say. The system simplifies so that instead of having a lot of levels and even two loops it has only one level where everything attaches, though some disagree. This is called the Ease of Articulacy Argument, although it did not happen in other German languages.

Main Features of OE Morphology

Loss of inflections: reduction of vowels in unstressed inflectional endings, need for syntactical support (word order) and prepositionsThe development of a weak verbal group in opposition to the inherited strong verb

innovation of the Germanic verbal system .

NounsOld English nouns had

grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), singular and plural number, and were also classified as "strong" or "weak" according to the distinctness of their inflectional endings

CasesOE has four cases:

Example, bat ("boat") (a masculine, strong a-stem noun):

SingularNominative: bat

Accusative: batGenitive: batesDative: bate

PluralNominative: batas

Accusative: batasGenitive: bataDative: batum

Old English SyntaxThe standard order of subject, object, and verb in a declarative sentence in Modern English is subject first, followed by verb, followed by object.Now the big secret about learning Old English is that Old English doesn't always use SVO order in its sentences and clauses.VSO order: Þa geascode he þone cyningThen he discovered the king.

Prepositions

The funny thing about Old English prepositions is that they often come after their "object"; that is, an Old English prepositional phrase can consist of a noun or noun phrase followed by a preposition:

God cwæð him þus to.God said thus to him.

Old English order: Verb Phrases

Negation:

 Ne + verb- Ne geseah ic næafre fla burg.Not saw I ever that town.

- se cynincg ne sceall arĩsan of ðām beddeThe king not shall arise from the bed.

Old English order: Nouns

Adj-N:

- Fla beorhtan steorran- The bright starsN-Adj:

- Fearn unweaxen- Boy youthful

Old English Core

VocabularyThe list below presents some Old English words which could be regarded as literary core vocabulary. Some of the words are among the most frequent in Old English literature; some are of particular importance on account of their literary or linguistic usage.

adl, noun, f., sickness, diseaseagen, adj., ownandswarian, verb, to answerart - arebetwixt – between.beon, verb, to bebeorgan, verb, to save, protect boc, noun, f., bookcempa, noun, m., warrior

clipian, verb, to callcunnan, verb, to knowcanst - can.dost - do, does.ellen, noun, n., courage, strength.fere - friend, companion.hath - equivalent of modern has.thou - youshall or shalt - will

Graphics

At the beginning of Christian era, the alphabet employed by the Germanic peoples was the Futhorc or Runic alphabet; the sixth-century Christianization of England led to adoption of Latin/Roman alphabet; handwriting in early Old English manuscripts was influenced by Irish scribes and is known as Insular hand .

Special characters in Old English writing

:thorn: þ (th), derived from the runic

alphabet, example: þæt ("that")eth: ð (voiced th), example: ðeoden

("prince")ash: æ (a+e, pronounced like the "a" in

"mat"), the name "ash" is derived from the name of a letter in the runic alphabet but the runic character is different; example: ælf ("elf")

wen/wynn: (w), example; æpen ("weapon") was the Old English graphic sign for "g"

The End

Anfal Al- MoutherDaniah Al- DossaryHajar Al- MoshehinLeena Al- MuqbilSara Al- DaeejSara Al- DossaryShaima Al- DossaryArwa Al- AskarYasmeen Al- Otaibi