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Increase Font Size Toggle Menu HomeReadSign in Search in book: Search Contents I. The Middle Ages (ca. 476-1485) 1. Bede (ca. 672-735) Bede: BiographyCaedmon’s Hymn 2. Dream of the Rood Dream of the Rood 3. Beowulf: Parts I & II Introduction: BeowulfStory SummaryThemesHistorical BackgroundLiterary StyleReading:Part IPart II 4. Beowulf: Part III Part III 5. Judith  Judith6. The Wanderer 7. Wulf and Eadwacer Wulf and Eadwacer 8. The Wife's Lament The Wife’s Lament 9. The Ruin The Ruin 10. Selection of Old English Riddles Selections from Old English Poems 11. The Myth of Arthur's Return Geoffrey of Monmouth: From The History of the Kings of BritainWace: From Roman de BrutLayamon: From Brut  II. Irish Literature 12. Cúchulainn’s Boyish Deeds Cúchulainn: IntroductionCuchulainn’s Boyish Deeds III. Anglo-Norman Literature 13. Tristan and Iseult 14. Guide for Anchoresses (Ancrene Wisse) The Sweetness and Pain of Enclosure15. Romances of Marie de France IV. Middle English Literature in the 14th and 15th Century 16. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ca. 1375-1400) 17. Sir Gawain: Parts I & II Part IPart II 18. Sir Gawain: Parts III & IV Part IIIPart IV19. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales 20. Canterbury Tales: General Prologue Prologue 21. Canterbury Tales: Miller's Prologue and Tale The Miller’s PrologueThe Miller’s Tale22. Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale23. Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale24. Canterbury Tales: The Nun's Priest's Tale25. Canterbury Tales: Close of Canterbury Tales26. Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love (Selections) 27. Margery Kempe: Excerpts from The Book of Margery Kempe The Birth of Her First Child and Her First VisionHer Pride and Attempts to Start a Business28. The Wakefield Second Shepherd's Play29. Middle English Lyrics30. Robert Henryson: The Cock and the Jasp31. Everyman32. Thomas Malory: Le Morte d'Arthur V. The Sixteenth Century 33. Sir Thomas More: Utopia UTOPIA34. From: The Book of Common Prayer 35. WOMEN IN POWER: Selected Readings Mary I (Tudor)Lady Jane GreyMary Queen of ScotsElizabeth I36. Edmund Spencer: the Faerie Queene (Book I) 37. Sir Walter Raleigh: Poems and From: The Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana Poems38. Sir Philip Sidney: From Astrophil and Stella 39. THE WIDER WORLD: Selected Readings The Wider World: Selected Readings Hakluyt’s Dedicatory Epistle to The Principal Navigations, 1589Leo Africanus on the North Africans, 1526An English Traveller’s Guide to the North Africans, 1547Voyage to the Arctic, 1577, with Reflections on Racial DifferenceAmadas and Barlowe’s Voyage to Virginia, 1584Hariot’s Report on Virginia, 1585General History of the Turks, 1603 40. Christopher Marlowe: Hero and Leander Hero and Leander 41. Christopher Marlowe: Doctor Faustus The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus 42. William Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets Selected Sonnets 43. William Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew THE TAMING OF THE SHREW VI. Early Seventeenth Century 44. John Dunne: Selections Songs and SonnetsA Selection of Holy SonnetsFrom: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions45. Aemilia Lanyar: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum 46. Ben Jonson: Epigrams and Poetry EpigramsPoemsFrom: Underwood 47. GENDER RELATIONS: Conflict and Counsel From: The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them Choose you WhetherRachel Speght: From A Muzzle for Melastomus William Gouge: From Domestical Duties48. Francis Bacon: Essays49. Margaret Cavendish: The Blazing World 50. George Herbert: The Temple The Temple 51. CRISIS OF AUTHORITY: The Beheading of Charles I From: King Charles, His Trial (1649)From: A Perfect Diurnal of Some Passages in Parliament, no. 288Robert Filmer: From Patriarcha John Milton: From The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates Gerrard Winstanley: From A New Year’s Gift Sent to the Parliament and ArmyThomas Hobbes: From Leviathan 52. CRISIS OF AUTHORITY: Political Writing Robert Filmer: From Patriarcha John Milton: From The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates Gerrard Winstanley: From A New Year’s Gift Sent to the Parliament and ArmyThomas Hobbes: From Leviathan 53. CRISIS OF AUTHORITY: Writing the Self Lucy Hutchinson: From Memoirs of the Life of Colonel John HutchinsonEdward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon: From The History of the RebellionLady Anne Halkett: From The Memoires 54. John Milton: Poems and Sonnets LycidasSonnets 55. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 1-3) BOOK 1BOOK 2BOOK 3 56. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 4-6) BOOK 4BOOK 5BOOK 6 57. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 7-9) BOOK 7BOOK 8BOOK 9 58. John Milton: Paradise Lost (Books 10-12) BOOK 10BOOK 11BOOK 12 Appendix An Open Companion for British Literature I 3 Beowulf: Parts I & II Introduction: Beowulf An epic poem of 3,182 lines, Beowulf is regarded as one of (if not the) most important works of Old English literature. This poem is known from a single manuscript found in the Nowell Codex, and dated to 1,000 CE. It suffered damage in 1731, during the Cotton Library fire at Ashburham House where it had been stored; efforts to bind and restore it were made but in the process some letters were lost.  Thankfully, the original was transcribed long before, likely by two different monks, the latter of whom  is also thought to be the scribe of Judith (which may account for their similarities in writing style). This manuscript also includes accounts of saints’ lives and tales of travel to the Orient; while wildly different in terms of content, all the stories in the Nowell codex focus on heroes and monsters, good and evil. Beowulf, as a literary work, represents the culmination of an era of early English history; several decades after its transcription, the Normans would invade and bring with them new customs, language and forever transform English literature. Story Summary This story, while written in England, is set in Scandinavia and follows the exploits of a great warrior of the Geats, Beowulf. At the story’s open, he appears to the aid of the Danes and their king, Hrothgar, by slaying a monster known as Grendel who has been attacking the mead-hall of Heorot for years. In the aftermath, Grendel’s mother is enraged to the point of attacking the mead-hall herself; she too is ultimately killed by Beowulf. Victorious, he sails back to his homeland and becomes king of the Geats, reigning without significant incident for 50 years. In old age, Beowulf must again take up arms to defeat a dragon who hoards gems and shining weapons. Though he wins handedly, he is mortally wounded in the process and dies as a revered warrior king. Themes The story is often divided into three parts (each devoted to the slaying of a monster) and though it may seem that the focus here is on the exploits of battle, there are some deeper themes here. The first monster, Grendel, is identified as “one of Cain’s clan” – a monster that is also vaguely human, an outcast who is “spurned and joyless.” He envies the comradery of Hrothgar’s men, their closeness as a tribe. When he is killed, it is maternal anguish that motivates his unnamed mother to avenge the death of her son and when he enters the dragon’s lair, it is Beowulf who is called “invader” (Puchner 887). The line between monster and man is murkier than one might, at first, assume. Similarly, the ties of kinship and clan speak to the importance of communal life during this time as an antidote to solitude and protection against certain death. In many ways, this story explores what it means to be human, to be part of a collective, and, most importantly, what the nature of heroism truly is. Historical Background The story appears to be set in the sixth century, a time when the British Isles were first settled by Germanic tribes from the north. These tribes likely brought with them folktales and songs from their native lands which may have filtered their way, thematically and linguistically, into this tale. We date it to this time as it does feature historical figures (such as Beowulf’s lord, Hygelac, who died around 520) though there is no known historical figure called “Beowulf”  (Robinson 14). The poem was recorded by Christian Anglo-Saxons, though it is set during a time period when the characters themselves would have held pagan beliefs. The Germanic warrior society presented shows the importance of hierarchy in that context, and while some scholars point to a particularly Christian or pagan reading of the text, what is certain is that there are only allusions to the Old Testament and Christ is never mentioned. Richard North, in discussing this ambiguity states: “As yet we are no closer to finding out why the first audience of Beowulf liked to hear stories about people routinely classified as damned. This question is pressing, given… that Anglo-Saxons saw the Danes as ‘heathens’ rather than as foreigners” (qtd. in “Beowulf”). Literary Style While it was written in 1000 CE, it likely has an older provenance through oral storytelling; those listening to the tale in the year 1,000 would have found its antiquated language strange and removed even in its own day. Written in a West Saxon dialect of Anglo-Saxon/Old English, the poem is most notable for its use of alliteration (repeated initial consonants), which is different from the French-inspired forms that would later dominate English poetry. The poem also consists of half lines, with two stressed words each, followed by a “caesura” or natural pause (Catlin). This lends a rhythm to the reading that is entirely different from other forms such as the iambic pentameter (which was also inherited from the French). An example can be found here as Justin A. Jackson, Professor of English, reads the opening lines.   Another standard feature of Anglo-Saxon (and Norse) writing is its use of kennings: a type of metaphor that signifies a person or thing by a characteristic or quality; examples from Beowulf include: “dwelling place” for residence, “earth hall” for burial mounds, “stout hearted” for bravery and “helmet bearer” for warrior (Paradine). This metaphoric language adds another level of meaning to a revered and often challenging text.   Works Cited “Beowulf.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Jan. 2019. Web. 29 Jan. 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf Catlin, Sally. “Anglo-Saxon Alliterative Epics.” Vision: A Resource for Writers, 2002. http://fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue9/poetry.htm Paradine, Gerald. “Kennings.” Pace University, n.d. http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projs991b/kenning.html Puchner, Martin, ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Norton, 2013. Robinson, Bonnie J. and Getty, Laura, British Literature I: Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century and Neoclassicism. English Open Textbooks, 2018. https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/17 Discussion Questions: While Beowulf is seen as an ideal character and hero, was there anything lacking in his character that makes him less honorable? Compare Beowulf to what we consider to be a hero in today’s society. How do they differ? Does the heroic code expressed in Beowulf conflict with a Christian sensibility? What is the status of gold and gift-giving in the poem? Who gives gifts, who receives them, and why? Are the modern concepts of wealth, payment, monetary worth and greed appropriate for the world of Beowulf? Can Beowulf’s journey be better described as an attempt to find oneself or to actually protect Herot, the Danes, and eventually his own life? Further Resources for Students: “In Our Time: Beowulf.” BBC Radio 4. 05 Mar. 2015. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0542xt7 “Of Monsters and Dragons: A Beowulf Infographic.” Medium.com. 21 Mar. 2016 https://medium.com/@coursehero/of-monsters-and-dragons-a-beowulf-infographic-1ebd46d6da39 Skitler Remix. “Beowulf: Parts I & II.” Youtube.com. 13 Apr. 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaB0trCztM0 Wisecrack. “Thug Notes: Beowulf.” Youtube.com. 24 Sept. 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh8akuq-MDI&t=195s Reading: Part I So. The Spear-Danes