Beowulf

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Beowulf

Beowulf

• Epic poem
• Oldest surviving English poem
• Told in the land of the Vikings
• Written down in England in Old English around 1000 AD, writer unknown
• Before that, passed down by storytelling 
• Some characters in the story actually existed, others were made up
• Made up of 3182 lines. How could people learn this story by heart?

Beowulf

• EPIC POETRY
• Long narrative poem (but quite short)
  
• Written in an elevated style, boombastic
  
• Celebrates deed of a legendary hero or God
  
• External Conflict, when a character struggles against some outside force person nature society or fate.
  
• Superficial characters
  
• Straight forward (monster-slay-treasure)
  

How far back in time could you go and still understand the English that people are speaking and writing?

1. A thousand years
2. A hundred years
3. Depending on how good you are at English: between 200 and 400 years
4. I don't even understand what you're saying now.

The story

• Hero: Beowulf
• Bravery
• Adventure
• Superhuman deeds: killing monsters and dragons

The story

Setting

• Heorot (Denmark)
• Geatland (Sweden)
• Geats

The hero of the story 

The monster that must be defeated

The name of the king Beowulf sets out to help

The second monster that Beowulf has to fight

The name of the mead hall that is being terrorised by the monster

The third monster that Beowulf has to fight

Heorot

Beowulf

Grendel

Grendel's mother

Hrothgar

A nameless dragon