Anglo-Saxon Literature

Anglo-Saxon Literature

aka Old English Lit

Review this PPT and answer the question items given in the presentation.

Multiple Choice

How many years did the Anglo-Saxon period last?

• 200

• 400

• 600

• 800

Multiple Choice

What are two types of Anglo-Saxon poetry?

• Elegiac and Haiku

• Elegiac and Heroic

• Elevenie and Heroic

• Elevenie and Hyperbole

Multiple Choice

An elegy is

• a poem or a song written in honor of someone who is deceased.

• a poem or a song written in to honor and celebrate a rite of passage.

• a poem or a song written in honor of someone who defeats evil.

• a poem or a song written in honor of someone who is a seafarer.

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of alliteration?

• I could spend hours walking in the flowers.

• Hear the mellow wedding bells.

• The car danced across the icy road.

• The terrible tiger tore the towel.

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of assonance?

• The terrible tiger tore the towel.

• I made my way to the lake.

• The car danced on the icy road.

• She's thinner than a toothpick.

Multiple Choice

Which is not true about a caesura in poetry?

• A caesura is always placed in the exact middle of a line of poetry.

• ´The purpose of using a caesura is to create a dramatic pause, which has a strong impact.

• ´It is usually marked by some form of punctuation such as a period, comma, ellipsis, dash, or two lines either slashed or upright //.

• It is a two-part line – each line is separated by a pause or break in the middle of the line.

Multiple Select

What does imagery do in poetry? Check all that applies.

• Imagery creates similar snapshots in a reader's mind.

• Imagery uses an object to represent an idea.

• Imagery can draw readers into a sensory experience.

• Imagery helps readers imagine exactly what is being described.

• Imagery appeals only to our sense of sight, smell, and touch.

Multiple Choice

What is a kenning?

• It is a figure of speech in which an idea or thing is given human qualities and/or feelings.

• It is the practice of using symbols to represent ideas and qualities.

• It is an exaggerated statement of claim not to be taken literally.

• It is the process of using a metaphorical two-word phrase in the place of a one-word concrete noun.

Multiple Choice

How many types of kenning are there?

• 2

• 3

• 4

• 5

Multiple Choice

All three poems, "The Seafarer," "The Wanderer," and "The Wife's Lament" can be found in the

• Bible

• Book of Ezekiel

• Exeter Book

• Epic of Gilgamesh

Multiple Choice

All three poems, "The Seafarer," "The Wanderer," and "The Wife's Lament" are considered to be examples of which type of poetry?

• Allegory

• Ballad

• Elegy

• Prose

Beowulf Pre-Reading Notes

Open Ended

List all of the super-heroes that you can think of.

Open Ended

What are some common traits that all super-heroes have?

Epic Poem

• An epic, long narrative poem that traces the adventures of a great hero, has the power to transport you to another time. 

• Beowulf transports you to the Anglo-Saxon period and to the land of the Danes and the Geats, where warriors battle real monsters.

Anglo-Saxon Background

• ­British history, culture, and literature was shaped by a series of invaders with varying cultures and languages.

• ­Those invaders were:

  –Celtic (speaking Gaelic)

  –Romans (speaking Latin)

  –Germans – Jutes/Angles/Saxons –called Anglo-Saxons (speaking German)

Resulted in a new language

• ­Britain's new language then became

  Latin + German = Anglo-Saxon/Old English

• This is the oldest known form of the language which developed into what we speak today!

• Beowulf is the earliest English poem to come to us.

Beowulf: The First Hero

• A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability

• An illustrious warrior/one that shows   

    great courage, as in a rescue

• A person admired for achievements and  

    qualities

• Think about the cycle from yesterday

A bit of background: take a minute and read!

­Around 700 AD. is when the Anglos, the Saxons, and the Jutes battled the Vikings to take over England. As a result, the best-known hero in the land emerged (Beowulf). ­Although Beowulf, the character, was fictitious, the story is based on historical people and made quite a splash in England! ­For over 200 years, Beowulf was told over and over again, passed down through the oral tradition (word of mouth) by the storytellers or scops.

Title of Epic Poem

• Anglo-Saxon word Beo means “bright” or “noble”

  Anglo-Saxon word wulf means “wolf”

  Beowulf means bright or noble wolf

  Other sources say Beo means “bear”

Open Ended

What are some common traits that all super-heroes have?

Open Ended

Why are super-heroes or the concept of super-heroes, so important to a society?

Epic Poem

• An epic, long narrative poem that traces the adventures of a great hero, has the power to transport you to another time. 

• Beowulf transports you to the Anglo-Saxon period and to the land of the Danes and the Geats, where warriors battle real monsters.

Characteristics of Epic Poetry

• Long narrative poem

• Hero embodies ideals of nation/culture

• Struggle symbolizes a value of the culture

• Heroes are aided by divine or supernatural forces

• Written in an elevated style

• Descriptions of armor: aspects of physical appearance, history, magical powers

Anglo-Saxon Background

• ­British history, culture, and literature was shaped by a series of invaders with varying cultures and languages.

• ­Those invaders were:

  –Celtic (speaking Gaelic)

  –Romans (speaking Latin)

  –Germans – Jutes/Angles/Saxons –called Anglo-Saxons (speaking German)

Resulted in a new language

• ­Britain's new language then became

  Latin + German = Anglo-Saxon/Old English

• This is the oldest known form of the language which developed into what we speak today!

• Beowulf is the earliest English poem to come to us.

Beowulf: The First Hero

• A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability

• An illustrious warrior/one that shows   

    great courage, as in a rescue

• A person admired for achievements and  

    qualities

• Think about the cycle from yesterday

A bit of background: take a minute and read!

­Around 700 AD. is when the Anglos, the Saxons, and the Jutes battled the Vikings to take over England. As a result, the best-known hero in the land emerged (Beowulf). ­Although Beowulf, the character, was fictitious, the story is based on historical people and made quite a splash in England! ­For over 200 years, Beowulf was told over and over again, passed down through the oral tradition (word of mouth) by the storytellers or scops.

Open Ended

If the only people who could read during the Dark Ages were priests, what types of things could you assume were added to Beowulf through the years?

Religion in Beowulf: Allusions

• Pagan: a person holding religious beliefs other than Christianity.

• Christian: a person who is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings.

• References to God

  Cain + Abel:

  Children of Adam and Eve, the first people on Earth according to the Bible. Cain killed Abel because God favored Abel’s sacrifices. Cain punished eternally

• ­An Anglo-Saxon was to be loyal to his king no matter what. (According to the Anglo-Saxon code of the comitatus, warriors must defend their lord to the death.)

• ­A warrior’s success was measured in gifts from his leader and from fame of doing well in battle.

• The Anglo-Saxons believed that “wyrd” or fate controlled lives.

  ­The perfect Anglo-Saxon was supposed to be loyal and brave.

Title of Epic Poem

• Anglo-Saxon word Beo means “bright” or “noble”

  Anglo-Saxon word wulf means “wolf”

  Beowulf means bright or noble wolf

  Other sources say Beo means “bear”

Beowulf

• Epic hero

  Geat

  (from southern Sweden)

  Nephew of Higlac

  (King at story’s start)

  Sails to Denmark to help Hrothgar

Hrothgar

• Danish king

  Builds Herot (hall)

  Tormented by Grendel for 12 years

  Loses many men

  Joyless before Beowulf’s arrival

Grendel

• Referred to as demon and fiend

  Haunts the moors (swampy land)

  Descendant of Cain

       (kills his brother Abel in Bible)

  Feasts on 30 men the night of 1st attack

Grendel's Mother

• Referred to as a

     she-wolf

  Lives under a lake

  Challenges Hrothgar when she kills one of his best men

Open up Schoology

Beowulf Timeline

• The exact date of the poem’s composition and author is unknown

• Scholars estimate that it originated from the 7th century

• The story takes place in 6th century Denmark and Sweden.

Beowulf's Geographical Location

Modern Day Geographical Location

Multiple Choice

The story takes place in...

• Metropolis

• Denmark and Sweden

• SET High

• England

Multiple Choice

The exact date of the poem’s composition and author is:

• 700 CE

• Unknown

• Ms. Butler created it to torture unsuspecting English students

Language of Beowulf

• Originally, the story was told orally like a bedtime story. However, when the story was first written down, it was in Old English.

• Beowulf – Old English

  The Canterbury Tales – Middle English

  Shakespeare – Modern English

  Currently – Post-Modern Englis

The Language of Beowulf

• Originally, the story was told orally like a bedtime story. However, when the story was first written down, it was in Old English.

• Beowulf – Old English

  The Canterbury Tales – Middle English

  Shakespeare – Modern English

  Currently – Post-Modern English

Multiple Choice

Originally, how was the story told?

• On IG

• Orally

• Through an old book

Excerpt from Beowulf: Prologue