ISLE summary

ISLE 2022-2023



Beowulf
 Beowulf: not the original title
Middle Ages
 Three literary periods
o Anglo Saxon (450-1066)
 Beowulf (8th-10th century)
o Anglo Norman (1066-14th century)
o Middle English (14-15th century)
 Anglo-Saxon invasion
o Anglo-Saxon starts with the collapse of the roman empire
o +/- 450
o Heptarchy: 7 kingdoms
 Saxons: in the south
 Angles: middle
o De-Christianisation because of the invasion
o 7th century: Christianisation
o Christianity: religion of the book
 Vikings: second invasion
o Danes from Scandinavia
o Stopped by Alfred the Great
 King of the West Saxons (871-899)
 Trade, intermarriages…
 Alfred the great stopped the Danes by bringing together the 7 kingdoms
o 1016-1035 King Canute
 King of both England, Denmark and Norway
 Germanic heroic poetry: Beowulf
o Difference between time of the story and historical time
o Action =/ story
 When =/ when
 Who? Danes =/ who?
 How? Heroic language
 Written by Christian so infused by Christian values
 What happens vs. how told/narrated
o What?: the action
 3 great fights
 To defend human society against evil
 Against Grendel
 Against Grendel’s mother
 Against the dragon
o He wins but is injured so he dies

o How?
 Oral poetry: the scop (bard) (professional singer)
 tells the story and is in the story
 Often a musical instrument involved
o creates a rhythm to easily remember and musical
environment.
o Intoned (harp)
 Christian poet > Pagan ancestor

,ISLE 2022-2023

 Written manuscript
 Rare: religion, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
 Mercia > West-Saxon formal dialect
 Not complete because of a fire in 1731  damaged, some words got
lost
Pagan & Christian: tension
 Beowulf is cremated
 Pagan values
o old Germanic values
o based on heroism and revenge
o No laws
 If someone was killed  revenge
 failed to take revenge  very shameful
 Christian values
o based on forgiveness
 tension/convergence
o mixture of 2 modes/trends
 Oral
o Narrates the history
o Pagan hero invokes the heroic code
 Written
o The Christian poet invokes God and the bible
o Ironic tension with Christian values?
Beowulf
 About
o author unknown
o Very sure it’s 1 author
 How is it narrated?
o Traces of oral traditions
 Call to Attention: so. , we have heard
 Insider perspective: we have heard
 Tendency to digress: about Beowulf but he only appears in line 343
 Tendency to foreshadow: line 7, he would flourish later on, 81-83
 Circular structure: starts with a funeral, ends with a funeral
 Parallel and appositive expression: repetition of the same in different words
 Stylistic features
o Verse form
 alliterative verse, early form of the Germanic languages
 2 balancing halves with a break (caesura)
 A change of rhythm after the break
 no rhyme!
o Alliteration
o Litotes
o Elegiac
o Kenning & compound words
 Bone-house: body
 Gold-giving: king
 Whale road: kenning
 Tend to describe one thing with two words

,ISLE 2022-2023



Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Introduction
 Finest Arthurian romance
o Survives in one manuscript
o Consists of three religious poems
 Pearl, patience and purity
 Believed to be by the same poet
o Author has good knowledge about the region
 The dialect of the poems
 Details of Sir Gawain’s journey
 Well acquainted with the international culture of high Middle Ages and
ancient insular traditions
 Alliterative Revival
o Alliterative verse recited by oral poets
o The start of the Gawain
 Pretends it’s an oral poem: asks audience to listen to a story he has heard
 Beheading game
o A supernatural challenger offers to let his head be cut off in exchange for a return
blow
 English in 1400
o Widespread
 First language for literature
o

Canon
 Important to understand how literature in English developed into what it is today
 Possible reasons for canonization
o Historical relevance
o Significance for contemporary culture
o Introduce something new into literature
 Ex. Latin in England
o Innovative formal techniques
o Exemplary example of a certain literary tradition/genre/mode
o Content
o Beauty of language
Content
 Beowulf vs Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
o Stress on lineage
 Stress on who their ancestors were
 Heroic
 Beowulf: Pagan
 King Arthur: British
 Patriotism
o Importance of courage and honor
o Cultural differences
 Beowulf: Pagan hero
 No Christian values
 King Arthur/Gawain: Christian
 New ideals

, ISLE 2022-2023

o Courteousness
o Chivalry
 Refined taste
o Opening: Christmas
 No treason allowed
 More interest in women
 Being humble
o Grendel vs the Green Knight
 Supernatural beings
 The Green Knight walks away with his head
 The Green Knight is a worthy opponent
 Challenge
 Grendel = physical challenge
 The Green Knight = psychological/moral challenge
o You must have courage to behead one
 Reasons for canonization
o Significance for contemporary culture
 Themes
o Appeal of the narrative
 How it’s written
 Cliffhanger
 Knows how to create suspense
 Sexual tension
 Combination of moods
 Mystery
 Horror (beheading)
 Comic (the Knight picks up his head and walks out)
o Captures the ideology of its time
 Christian
o Fine example of Arthurian romance
 Arthur is a legendary figure of Britain
 Defender of the Kelts
 The Knights of the round table
 Exemplary figures
 Combined with the beheading game
 Narrative, formal and stylistic features
o Late example of Arthurian ‘romance’ genre
 Key terms: ‘chivalrous and courteous’
o Relatively short epic poems
o Hero embodies national and religious ideals
 Heroic proportions
o Oral tradition > narrator
o Alliterative revival
 Long lines
 Caesura
 No fixed numbers of stresses
o Final 5 lines of stanza
 Single stress vs three stress
 Bob: one stress
 Wheel: 4 three stress lines