...The Many Battles of Beowulf An epic is a poem written in the form of a poem that usually contains most, if not all, of the heroic requirements to be considered an epic. Beowulf encloses many of the traits, but most prevalent are: the hero has supernatural abilities, characters deliver long speeches, and the actions of the hero determine the fate of a nation or group. The Danes struggle with Grendel’s terrorizing on Herot nightly for twelve winters. The Danes were so petrified of Grendel that they abandoned the great hall for the time that Grendel reigned terror on them. Beowulf hears about the complications the Danes are having and sets out on a voyage across the sea to profit from the fame and fortune for his people. Beowulf slaughters Grendel and Grendel’s mother before returning to his homeland; Geatland, where he resides until he is crowned the king. Fifty years later, a dragon plagues the Geats when a cup is stolen from his lair and given to Beowulf. He kills the dragon at the expense of his own life. These all assist to deem this poem as one of epic tendencies and lead on to the conclusion of Beowulf being the greatest epic ever written. The superhero qualities present themselves in many ways. One of the broadest honorary elements is when Beowulf shows off greater endurance than any other human as he “Swam along / The sea paths” (lines 514-515) against Brecca while “Crea / tures / [sic] Who sleep deep in sea stirred / into life.” The most challenging part...
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...society of this period of time, so we know details of this century. This period is the Anglo-Saxon period, before them there were the Britons who were invaded by some different people. They spoke different dialects of old English, the stronger kingdom was Wessex, which dialect was the most important and it called “west saxon”. Beowulf was writing in this dialect. In 597 appeared the Christianization. This means that the English became Christian, it became familiar with the church language: Latin. Latin is the culture language. The entry of Christianity is the entry of the culture in Britain. 2- WRITTEN RECORDS OF THE ANGLOSAXON PERIOD English began to be written when the Christianity arrived. Before that they had a writing system, they used the German alphabet: runic alphabet, to the 6th century. In Europe this system is known with the name futhark, but in England is known as futhork. The runes of this alphabet are similar to Chinese letters and they are epigraphic. They carved in wood… each letters means something. All...
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...others because he isn’t as important to the story. Beowulf and Unferth are very different, Beowulf comes off as a stronger and braver character where Unferth doesn’t, but in the end they come together to help kill Grendel’s mother. The author uses rhetorical, structural, and literary devices to prove that they are the complete opposite. There are many points throughout the text that illustrate both of the characters by describing them and what makes them so different from the other people mentioned. In the description of a person the author tends to use alliteration to make that stand out so that the reader focuses on that the most. Lastly, the plot helps to understand what is going on and it also helps the reader to create a picture of what that character is doing and also what they are going through. When Beowulf first came to Heorot, he wanted to prove that he was the bravest man they have ever met and he could conquer Grendel...
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...glow of his achievements, and be rewarded for his valiant efforts. Beowulf was a great warrior known for defeating many monsters in Sweden, but when he heard that there was an undefeated monster terrorizing the Danish, he sailed there, eager to face his opponent. He arrived at Heorot, met with Lord Hrothgar, and told him he would defeat the monster, Grendel. His intent was to help the Dane’s, but mostly bring eternal glory to his Lord. All of Beowulf’s actions throughout the poem can be traced back to the traditional relationship between a Lord and his warrior subject. Before the battle with Grendel, Beowulf makes the decision to fight without using any weapons; a decision most warriors would consider to be foolish. “The monster scorns the use of weapons,” “hand to hand is how it will be (433-439). This statement by Beowulf reveals to us the reasoning behind his decision to “renounce” his weaponry, and fight “hand to hand” (436-438). Grendel is not armed with anything but his own strength; therefore Beowulf sees weapons as an advantage that would aid him in defeating his opponent. Beowulf doesn’t want to have any edge over Grendel; he wants it to be a test of his strength alone. He actually considers weapons as a sign of weakness. This is proven when he “renounces the shelter of the shied” (437). He refers to the shield as “shelter” which is a place to escape from danger. By choosing to fight without weapons he is renouncing his need for defense against the beast....
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...collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem fell into obscurity for decades, and its existence did not become widely known again until it was printed in 1815 in an edition prepared by the Icelandic-Danish scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin.[4] In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland. Story The main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword of a giant that he found in her lair. Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but...
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...Student document may be altered to fit teacher needs. 1. One reason that the Danes have such a difficult time fighting Grendel is that |a. |the Danes’ warriors are too old | |b. |Grendel hunts only when it is full dark | |c. |Grendel does not fight according to men’s rules | |d. |the warriors do not have enough gold for swords | ANS: C STA: AZ.AZGLA.RLA.R.03.12.2.2.PO1 | AZ.AZGLA.RLA.R.03.12.2.2.PO2 2. Which universal theme do lines 79–85 of this epic suggest? |a. |Mankind’s enemy will always continue his crimes by killing. | |b. |Evil is bloodthirsty, and it constantly tries to conquer kings. | |c. |The existence of evil and good occur simultaneously. | |d. |Evil is part of the darkness, but goodness exists in the light. | ANS: C 3. Why do the swords of Beowulf’s men fail to harm Grendel? |a. |The men have brought dull swords. ...
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... • Elements of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval literature include epic heroes, supernatural elements, vivid descriptions, strong use of literary elements (alliteration, assonance, consonance, imagery, etc.), poetry, ballads, and plays. • The only four Anglo-Saxon works include Beowulf, A History of the English Church and People, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and The Exeter Book. • Important Medieval works include Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Le Morte D’Arthur, Everyman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and ballads (“Get Up and Bar the Door”, “Sir Patrick Spens”, “Bonny Barbara Allan”). What essential question(s) will be considered? • What are the elements of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval literature? What key...
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...and probably London. [1] The Anglo-Saxon invaders brought with them their own tradition of oral poetry, but there is no evidence of literacy before their conversion to Christianity. There is only circumstantial evidence of what the poetry must have been like. Aside from a few short inscriptions on small artifacts, the earliest records in the English language are in manuscripts produced at monasteries and other religious establishments, beginning in the seventh century. Literacy was mainly restricted to servants of the church, and the bulk of Old English literature is religious with Latin origins. As literate culture developed, ethnic Germanic heroic poetry continued to be performed orally in alliterative verse and was at times used to describe current events. The oral culture thus had tremendous bearing on the form and structure of the literature of the epoch. The Battle of Brunaburh, which celebrates an English victory over the Danes in traditional alliterative verse, is...
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...specific aims. The first is to create or to encourage in every student the desire to read the best books, and to know literature itself rather than what has been written about literature. The second is to interpret literature both personally and historically, that is, to show how a great book generally reflects not only the author's life and thought but also the spirit of the age and the ideals of the nation's history. The third aim is to show, by a study of each successive period, how our literature has steadily developed from its first simple songs and stories to its present complexity in prose and poetry. To carry out these aims we have introduced the following features: (1) A brief, accurate summary of historical events and social conditions in each period, and a consideration of the ideals which stirred the whole nation, as in the days of Elizabeth, before they found expression in literature. (2) A study of the various literary epochs in turn, showing what each gained from the epoch preceding, and how each aided in the development of a national literature. (3) A readable biography of every important writer, showing how he lived and worked, how he met success or failure, how he influenced his age, and how his age influenced him. (4) A study and analysis of every author's best works, and of many of the books required for college-entrance examinations. (5)...
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...LENDING SUPPORT OF THE LONDON STANDARD’S DIFFUSION……………………………………….17 1.3.2 THE ROLE OF THE PRINTING IN THE FORMATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE………………………………………………….…….19 1.3.3 PRINCIPAL MIDDLE ENGLISH WRITTEN RECORDS AS A REFLECTION OF ONGOING CHANGES IN STANDARDIZATION………25 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….…………....28 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………….30 APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………………33 INTODUCTION linguistic history english language The English language has had a remarkable history. When we first catch it in historical records, it is a language of none-too-civilized tribes on the continent of Europe along the North Sea. From those murky and undistinguished beginnings, English has become the most widespread language in the world, used by more peoples for more purposes than any language on Earth. The early part of the Modern English saw the establishment of the Standard written English we know today. Its standardization was first due to the need of the central government for regular procedures by which to conduct its business, to keep its records and to communicate with the citizens of the land. Standard languages are often the by-products of bureaucracy, developed to meet a...
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...Narrative A narrative is a sequence of events that a narrator tells in story form. A narrator is a storyteller of any kind, whether the authorial voice in a novel or a friend telling you about last night’s party. Point of View The point of view is the perspective that a narrative takes toward the events it describes. First-person narration: A narrative in which the narrator tells the story from his/her own point of view and refers to him/herself as “I.” The narrator may be an active participant in the story or just an observer. When the point of view represented is specifically the author’s, and not a fictional narrator’s, the story is autobiographical and may be nonfictional (see Common Literary Forms and Genres below). Third-person narration: The narrator remains outside the story and describes the characters in the story using proper names and the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” • Omniscient narration: The narrator knows all of the actions, feelings, and motivations of all of the characters. For example, the narrator of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina seems to know everything about all the characters and events in the story. • Limited omniscient narration: The narrator knows the actions, feelings, and motivations of only one or a handful of characters. For example, the narrator of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has full knowledge of only Alice. • Free indirect discourse: The narrator conveys a character’s inner thoughts...
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...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...
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...62118 0/nm 1/n1 2/nm 3/nm 4/nm 5/nm 6/nm 7/nm 8/nm 9/nm 1990s 0th/pt 1st/p 1th/tc 2nd/p 2th/tc 3rd/p 3th/tc 4th/pt 5th/pt 6th/pt 7th/pt 8th/pt 9th/pt 0s/pt a A AA AAA Aachen/M aardvark/SM Aaren/M Aarhus/M Aarika/M Aaron/M AB aback abacus/SM abaft Abagael/M Abagail/M abalone/SM abandoner/M abandon/LGDRS abandonment/SM abase/LGDSR abasement/S abaser/M abashed/UY abashment/MS abash/SDLG abate/DSRLG abated/U abatement/MS abater/M abattoir/SM Abba/M Abbe/M abbé/S abbess/SM Abbey/M abbey/MS Abbie/M Abbi/M Abbot/M abbot/MS Abbott/M abbr abbrev abbreviated/UA abbreviates/A abbreviate/XDSNG abbreviating/A abbreviation/M Abbye/M Abby/M ABC/M Abdel/M abdicate/NGDSX abdication/M abdomen/SM abdominal/YS abduct/DGS abduction/SM abductor/SM Abdul/M ab/DY abeam Abelard/M Abel/M Abelson/M Abe/M Aberdeen/M Abernathy/M aberrant/YS aberrational aberration/SM abet/S abetted abetting abettor/SM Abeu/M abeyance/MS abeyant Abey/M abhorred abhorrence/MS abhorrent/Y abhorrer/M abhorring abhor/S abidance/MS abide/JGSR abider/M abiding/Y Abidjan/M Abie/M Abigael/M Abigail/M Abigale/M Abilene/M ability/IMES abjection/MS abjectness/SM abject/SGPDY abjuration/SM abjuratory abjurer/M abjure/ZGSRD ablate/VGNSDX ablation/M ablative/SY ablaze abler/E ables/E ablest able/U abloom ablution/MS Ab/M ABM/S abnegate/NGSDX abnegation/M Abner/M abnormality/SM abnormal/SY aboard ...
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