Beowulf Notes

2-Part Structure

Sunrise
We can see the sunrise of Beowulf's career. We are introduced to him as a young man who is out to win fame and honor his father's debts. His defeat of Grendel and Grendel's mother come at the beginning of his fame. He will go on and win other honors.

Sunset
We see the sunset of Beowulf's career and life. The second part of the story takes place over 50 years after the first. Beowulf is an old man and has been king for a long time. We witness the end of a great career.

3-Part Structure
3 Monsters - 3 Battles - each battle increasing in difficulty.

This structure focuses on the monsters. This is a story of three monsters and three battles. The danger of each battle and each monster increases as the story progresses.

-Grendel: The battle with Grendel is fought in Herot and with Beowulf waiting to ambush him. Beowulf fights with his bare hands.

-Grendel's Mother: The battle with the mother is fought in her lair. Beowulf, the intruder, swims for a day the depth of a fiery lake while the mother waits and ambushes him. He saves himself by using an ancient sword that he finds in her hall.

-The Dragon: The worm breathes fire and contains venom. Nothing compares to it, and to make matters more complicated Beowulf is an old man.

Interweaving Stories or Interlacing of Narrative
Presenting the narrative with memories of the past. So you have Beowulf fighting Grendal and then a story of the past that corresponds with what happened, or comment on it.

Action and Reflection; Action and Wisdom; Glorious Deeds and Feuds; Battles and Wisdom and Peace.

This structure uses the idea of the Anglo-Saxon belt with the interlacing knots suggesting that all things past and present - are connected. Wryd.

Parallelism
What happens in the main story is parallel to a story that the scop sings. Example the scop sing of Sigmund killing a dragon. This song parallels and foreshadows Beowulf later killing a dragon. The stories of feuds and ambushes in the text (such as the story of Finn) parallels the ambush and burning of Herot.

Seamus Heaney
-Sees a fifth way to look at the poem:

-The story and destiny of three nations:

-Danes

-Geats

-Swedes

Line Structure in Old English Poetry
-Old English Poetry worked primarily on stresses and alliteration.

-Each line had four stressed words. There was a pause or a caesura after the 2nd stress.

-Each line held three alliterative words.

-Gomban glyldan: paet waes god cyning!

Literary Devices
-Ceasura: A strong pause within a line.

-Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of two or more words.

-Litotes: A kind of understatement, often humerous, where the speaker or writer uses a negative of a word ironically to mean the opposite. Example: She's not the prettiest girl (she's damn ugly). Literary Example: "The Grave's a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace.

-Kenning: A metaphorical phrase or compound metaphor (usually a two-word metaphor) used instead of the name of the thing (example: whale road or shepherd of evil). A compressed metonymy often involving a riddle.

Beowulf
-Bee Hunter. Kenning for bear.

Epic Hero
A hero in an epic. This hero usually has above average strength, intelligence, and morals. He is a symbol for what the culture stands for or believes in. Beowulf - represents the ultimate warrior in a warrior culture. Often the epic hero also has a flaw (a heroic flaw) that serves to remind the culture of faults even in the best of things.

Epic Boast
A kind of resume presented by the epic hero. It could be seen today as a type of bragging, but in the warrior culture it was expected of a warrior to discuss his achievements and prowess before asking for the right to fight a foe.

Flytes of Flyting
A game of verbal taunting between warriors. A type of epic boasting. A good example of this would be the verbal exchange between Beowulf and Unferth at the beginning.

Metonymy
A figure in speech in which one thing is represented by another that is commonly and often physically associated with it.
Example: Bendigeidfran's size, "No house could contain him, " could be a metonymy for the size of his army or kingdom.

Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part of something is used to represent the whole.
Example: Beowulf using "keel" to refer to his ship.

Appositive
A building up of phrases that mean the same thing. This was characteristic of oral poetry to have a set of stock phrases that could be used to fit a pattern. The build up is suppose to have climatic effect.
Example: The shepherd of evil, guardian of crime.

Motif
Any recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject, or narrative detail.
Examples: -Kin Killing -Feuds and ambushes -Women mourning -The arming of the warrior, swords -Heads and limbs -The giving of gifts.

Allusion
A reference to a person, event, statement, or theme found in literature, the arts, myths, religion, or popular culture.
Beowulf contains numerous allusions to the Bible...to contrast paganism.
Example: Cain killing Abel...Grendel is an offspring of Cain.

Symbols
-Heorot -Grendel's Lair -Grendel's Arm -Swords -The Dragon's Treasure -The three monsters -Many of the characters in the digressions.

Characters
-Beowulf -Hrothgar -Unferth -Brecca -Shield Sheafson (Scyld Scefing) -Heorogar -Wulfgar -Grendal

Setting
Takes place in Denmark and Sweden.
Three major groups Danes, Geats, Swedes.

Roles of Women
Women: The female role in Beowulf is twofold. First it involves peacemaking biologically through a woman's marital ties with foreign kings as a peace -pledge or a mother of sons. Secondly, it involves peacemaking socially and psychologically as a cup -passing and peace-weaving queen within a hall.

-Hostless -Peace Pledge -Monster

Comitatus
Comitatus: Germanic tribes which invaded Britain held strong beliefs in the basic family unit and were industrious and warlike. They chose their kings for birth and their generals for merit. Even poor tribal members could become rich and powerful if they were willing and able to prove themselves brave and adept in battle. The practice of comitatus (a term used by the early historian Tacitus) was an agreement by which a youth would attach himself to a strong leader for the purpose of gaining riches and prestige. This arrangement could have been the precursor of the lord-thane relationship of feudal institutions of the time, which can also be observed in Beowulf.

-Exile was the worst thing that could happen to a war.
-Kin-killing was the worst crime that one could commit in this society.
-Cowardice equaled failure. It was better to die well in battle than to run away and live to fight another day.

Warrior Culture
Warriors: Warriors kept their armor and weapons at their sides at all times. The Beowulf poet praises the Geats, "They were always prepared for war, whether at home or in the field, as their lord required" (1246-50). The warrior's kit would include a helmet, shield, spear and chain main, and, if he had high status, a sword. They used crested or combed helmets from the 7th and 8th century, with a very sturdy all-iron construction. Mail shirts consisted of rows of riveted rings alternating with of butt-welded rings. The rings were of gray steel, skillfully formed into an intricate mesh, and they linked and jingled on the move.

War: For Germanic tribes, was was considered a natural, desirable and constant part of life.

Wealth: One of the roles of the king was to share wealth. Part of the function of a hall was to provide a setting for the sharing of wealth with the king's warriors and thanes.

Christianity
Christianity: The poet of Beowulf is Christian, but the society he describes is not. Sometimes the narrator's voice comments from a Christian perspective on pagan values, beliefs, and customs.

Revenge: The death of a kinsman must be avenged by his male relations, in blood or in money.

Kinsmen: The Germanic tribe had an enlarged definition of kin, including friends and those to whom one owed favors, even over generations.

Boasting: Boasting was considered an art and the prerogative of a warrior.

Fate: Pagan tradition depicts nature as hostile and the forces of death as uncontrollable. Blind fate picks random victims.