Tyr s Day, 8/25: Beowulf

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1 Tyr s Day, 8/25: Beowulf EQ: What does Old English look and sound like? Welcome! Gather Beowulf PACKET, pen/cil, wits! Beowulf in Old English: Sight and Sound lofdaedum ELACC12RL-RI1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence ELACC12RL-RI2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of text and analyze their development over the course of the text ELACC12RL3: Analyze the impact of the author s choices ELACC12RL6: Analyze a case in which grasping point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant. ELACC12RL-RI9: Analyze works of British literary and historical importance for theme, purpose and rhetoric ELACC12RL10: Read and comprehend complex literature independently and proficiently. ELACC12SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions ELACC12SL2: Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to make informed decisions and solve problems ELACC12SL4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence

Excerpts from Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.

2 Excerpts from Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, The so-called Cotton Manuscript, the oldest version of Beowulf that exists. It was probably written by a Christian monk in about 1000 CE. It was badly damaged by a church fire in 1731.

3 Beowulf in Saxon (Old English) Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah, egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad, weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah, oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra ofer hronrade hyran scolde, gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning! ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned, geong in geardum, þone god sende folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat þe hie ær drugon aldorlease lange hwile. Him þæs liffrea, wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf; Beowulf wæs breme (blæd wide sprang), Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in. Swa sceal geong guma gode gewyrcean, fromum feohgiftum on fæder bearme, þæt hine on ylde eft gewunigen wilgesiþas, þonne wig cume, leode gelæsten; lofdædum sceal in mægþa gehwære man geþeon.

4 Excerpts selected and adapted from Beowulf: A New Verse Translation by Seamus Heaney. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by 1 And the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes heroic campaigns. There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. This terror of the hall-troops had come far. A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on As his powers waxed and his worth was proved. In the end each clan on the outlying coasts Beyond the whale-road had to yield to him 10 And begin to pay tribute. That was one good king. Afterwards a boy-child was born to Shield, A cub in the yard, a comfort sent By God to that nation. God knew what they had tholed, The long times and troubles they d come through Without a leader; so the Lord of Life, The glorious Almighty, made this man renowned. Shield had fathered a famous son: Beow s name was known through the north. And a young prince must be prudent like that, 20 Giving freely while his father lives So that afterwards in age when fighting starts Steadfast companions will stand beside him And hold the line. Behavior that s admired Is the path to power among people everywhere. 25 [ll tells of Shield s death and burial at sea in a boat with treasure won in battle. Beow rules Denmark, years later, his grandsons fight for the throne.] The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar. 64 Friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks, Young followers, a force that grew To be a mighty army. So his mind turned To hall-building: he handed down orders For men to work on a great mead-hall Meant to be a wonder of the world forever. 70 Far and wide through the world, I have heard, 74 Orders for work to adorn that wall stead Were sent to many peoples. And soon it stood there, Finished and ready, in full view, The hall of halls. Heorot was the name He had settled on it, whose utterance was law. Nor did he renege, but doled out rings 80 And torques at the table. The hall towered, Its gables wide and high and awaiting A barbarous burning. That doom abided, But in time it would come: the killer instinct Unleashed among in-laws, the blood-lust rampant. Spear-Danes.Shield Sheafson. The poem is set not in England but in Norse countries like Denmark, founded by the war king S yld S efing, here Shield Sheafson. Later the poet calls the Danes Shieldings children of Shield. mead-benches mead was a warm, gritty honey-beer drunk by Norse kings. Much of this poem occurs in mead halls (Saxon meduselda) like Heorot, below. whale-road the sea; a good example kenning, found often in Saxon poetry. foundling orphan. Note how many characters have problematic parentage. God Beowulf was a pagan poem, not a Christian; words like God and Lord were added by monks writing the poem down centuries later. A word like wyrd, fate, would have been here originally. tholed suffered Beow is a son of the Danish king S yld S efing. Beowulf is a Geat, from a different tribe entirely. Different guys. Behavior that s admired The original Saxon word here is lofdædum, literally love-deeds, deeds done out of love. As you read, watch for this insistence: that deeds must be done out of love for the people, and in order to get their love. The fortunes of war favored Think about how different this is from saying, Hrothgar won many battles. Orders peoples think about who these peoples are, and how they might feel about being forced to build a mead hall to glorify Hrothgar. Heorot The Danes mead hall is named for a stag, ancient symbol of masculine power and dominance. awaiting abided this refers not to Grendel s coming but to a family feud not otherwise mentioned in the poem.

5 Saxons did not write! They composed oral poetry. o Folk literature : ORAL Literature passed from generation to generation not written down! o A favorite poem was customized by a s op, shaper, who sang to warriors in the mead hall sort of a combination bar/frat house/government building. Still not written down! o Finally written down by Christian missionaries changed Pagan poems to suit Christianity (wyrd, gods to God)

Moon s Day 8/24: Britain Before 1066

Moon s Day 8/24: Britain Before 1066 EQ: What was it like? Welcome! Gather paper, pen/cil, wits! Freewrite: Lost Cause Lecture/Presentation: Britain Before 1066 o Old, Middle, Modern o Stones and Stories