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LITERATURA INGLESA I
Old English Literature – The Beowulf
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
Class content:
• The idea of literature.
• The author, the work and the 
reader.
• Literature, experience, human
expression, culture and society.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
What is Beowulf?
Beowulf is the longest epic poem
in Old English, the language
spoken in Anglo-Saxon England
before the Norman Conquest.
More than 3,000 lines
long, Beowulf relates the exploits
of its eponymous hero, and his
successive battles with a
monster, named Grendel, with
Grendel’s revengeful mother, and
with a dragon which was guarding
a hoard of treasure.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
The story of Beowulf
Beowulf is a classic tale of the
triumph of good over evil, and
divides neatly into three acts.
The poem opens in Denmark,
where Grendel is terrorising the
kingdom. The Geatish prince
Beowulf hears of his neighbours’
plight, and sails to their aid
with a band of warriors.
Beowulf encounters Grendel in
unarmed combat, and deals the
monster its death-blow by
ripping off its arm.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
There is much rejoicing among the Danes; but Grendel’s
loathsome mother takes her revenge, and makes a brutal
attack upon the king’s hall. Beowulf seeks out the hag in her
underwater lair, and slays her after an almighty struggle.
Once more there is much rejoicing, and Beowulf is rewarded
with many gifts. The poem culminates 50 years later, in
Beowulf’s old age. Now king of the Geats, his own realm is
faced with a rampaging dragon, which had been guarding a
treasure-hoard. Beowulf enters the dragon’s mound and kills
his foe, but not before he himself has been fatally wounded.
Beowulf closes with the king’s funeral, and a lament for the
dead hero.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
Nobody knows for certain when the poem was first
composed. Beowulf is set in the pagan world of sixth-century
Scandinavia, but it also contains echoes of Christian
tradition. The poem must have been passed down orally over
many generations, and modified by each successive bard,
until the existing copy was made at an unknown location in
Anglo-Saxon England. Beowulf survives in a single medieval
manuscript, housed at the British Library in London. The
manuscript bears no date, and so its age has to be calculated
by analysing the scribes’ handwriting. Some scholars have
suggested that the manuscript was made at the end of the
10th century, others in the early decades of the eleventh,
perhaps as late as the reign of King Cnut, who ruled England
from 1016 until 1035.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
An epic (from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos),
from ἔπος(epos) "word, story, poem") is a lengthy narrative
poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing
details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or
nation.
The first epics were products of preliterate societies and oral
poetic traditions. In these traditions, poetry is transmitted to
the audience and from performer to performer by purely oral
means.
The hero generally participates in a cyclical journey or quest,
faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey and
returns home significantly transformed by his journey. The
epic hero illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies
certain morals that are valued by the society.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
An attempt to delineate ten main characteristics of an epic:
Begins in medias res.
The setting is vast, covering many nations, the world or the
universe.
Begins with an invocation to a muse (epic invocation).
Begins with a statement of the theme.
Includes the use of epithets.
Contains long lists (epic catalogue).
Features long and formal speeches.
Shows divine intervention on human affairs.
Features heroes that embody the values of the civilization.
Often features the tragic hero's descent into the Underworld
or hell.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
Beowulf - the perfect hero.
Grendel
Likely the poem’s most memorable creation, Grendel is one
of the three monsters that Beowulf battles.
Hrothgar
Hrothgar, the aged ruler of the Danes.
Unferth
Unferth’s challenge to Beowulf’s honor differentiates him
from Beowulf and helps to reveal some of the subtleties of
the heroic code that the warriors must follow.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
A hero (heroine is sometimes used for females) (Ancient
Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs), in Greek mythology and folklore, was
originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most
distinctive features of ancien Greek religion. A demigod is
the son or daughter from one immortal and one mortal
parent, an example would be Heracles, son of the mortal
queen Alcmene and the god Zeus. Later, hero (male)
and heroine (female) came to refer to characters who, in the
face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness,
display courage and the will for self sacrifice—that is,
heroism—for some greater good of all humanity. This
definition originally referred to martial courage or excellence
but extended to more general moral excellence.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
Characteristics of an epic hero?
Answer:
Characteristics of an epic hero
1. The hero is introduced in the midst of turmoil, at a point
well into the story; antecedent action will be recounted in
flashbacks.
2. The hero is not only a warrior and a leader, but also a
polished speaker who can address councils of chieftains or
elders with eloquence and confidence.
3. The hero, often a demi-god, possesses distinctive weapons
of great size and power, often heirlooms or presents from the
gods.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
4. The hero must undertake a long, perilous journey, often
involving a descent into the Underworld (Greek, "Neukeia"),
which tests his endurance, courage, and cunning.
5. Although his fellows may be great warriors (like Achilles
and Beowulf, he may have a commitatus, or group of noble
followers with whom he grew up), he undertakes a task that
no one else dare attempt.
6. Whatever virtues his race most prizes, these the epic hero
as a cultural exemplar possesses in abundance. His key
quality is often emphasized by his stock epithet:
"Resourceful Odysseus," "swift-footed Achilles,"
"pious AEneas."
7. The concept of arete (Greek for "bringing virtue to
perfection") is crucial to understanding the epic protagonist.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
8. The hero establishes his aristeia (nobility) through single
combat in superari a superiore, honour coming from being
vanquished by a superior foe. That is, a hero gains little
honour by slaying a lesser mortal, but only by challenging
heroes like himself or adversaries of superhuman power.
9. The two great epic adversaries, the hero and his
antagonist, meet at the climax, which must be delayed as
long as possible to sustain maximum interest. One such device
for delaying this confrontation is the nephelistic rescue
(utilized by Homer to rescue Paris from almost certain death
and defeat at the hands of Menelaus in the Iliad).
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
10. The hero's epic adversary is often a "god-despiser," one
who has more respect for his own mental and physical
abilities than for the power of the gods. The adversary might
also be a good man sponsored by lesser deities, or one whom
the gods desert at a crucial moment.
11. The hero may encounter a numinous phenomenon (a
place or person having a divine or supernatural force) such as
a haunted wood or enchanting sorceress that he most use
strength, cunning, and divine assistance to overcome.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
The Beowulf – Themes:
•Good vs Evil
•Identity•Strengh and Skill
•Wealth
•Religion
•Courage
•Mortality
•The Supernatural
•Tradition and Customs
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
SYMBOLS, IMAGES AND ALLEGORIES
•The Sea, the Mere, and Water Imagery
•Heorot Hall, Mead-Halls
•Swords
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
Beowulf Setting
Why did the late-medieval
Anglo-Saxons tell stories about
early-medieval Scandinavians?
Well, mostly because those
Scandinavians were their
ancestors. It's sort of like when
21st century Americans tell
stories about Robin Hood back in
Merry Old England. In each case,
we look to a distant homeland
where some of our ancestors
came from and we tell a legend
about the heroes in our past.
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
THE BEOWULF
Customs
Habits 
Values
Ideology
History
Geography…
First Contact and impressions
LITERATURA INGLESA I
an Deireadh!