...Beowulf and Heroism When the word hero is spoken or read the understanding is one of bravery and admiration. However, when one speaks of an epic hero, the definition is just a little different. An epic hero is legendary, may be of noble or divine lineage, is usually superhuman in strength, and intelligence. This is the hero of Homer and Ovid, and many ancient poets. This hero is also the image of the main character in the epic poem Beowulf. While Beowulf is of the epic hero of the poem, he is not the only hero for the term hero in early English had many values. Heroes could be kings, noblemen, or commoners, and could be male or female. The hero was one who had the virtues needed to be admired and adored. The main virtues of all heroes are strength, courage and loyalty, but add the superhuman strength and lineage and you get the epic hero. Beowulf, from the very beginning of the poem, is seen to be super human, and is known by Hrothgar, the King of the Danes, and the man Beowulf has come to help (Helterman 2; Sharma 251). It is understood that Beowulf is of noble lineage, and his father Ecgtheow had come to the aid and sworn allegiance to Hrothgar when Beowulf was but a child (Beowulf 372-373). It is because of this allegiance that Beowulf has come to lend his own warriors to the protection of Hrothgar. It is in this same point that the strength of Beowulf is said to be “the strength of thirty/ in the grip of each hand” (Beowulf 380-381). While this beginning shows...
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...Wallace Literature 201 Beowulf- Character Analysis For this analysis I chose to contrast Beowulf with The Odyssey’s, Odysseus. Both of the protagonists in these stories have very similar traits and cultural ideals, while maintaining subtle differences. They are both strong and intelligent. They are both boastful, but never without just reason. They are both an ideal representation of the attributes that were praised by their individual societies. However, there are many notable differences in their modus operandi. One of the most notable being their libidos, or absence of. Odysseus was a great leader whose shrewd intellect enabled the Greeks to defeat the Trojans in the war. Beowulf was known to be a great warrior and acute thinker to his fellow Geats and proved to be just as shrewd in assisting the Danes. At the very beginning of the story of Beowulf we are immediately introduced to a shared ideal amongst the Germanic and Greek culture; the importance of family lineage. Much like it is vital for the author to explain the back story of Hrothgar’s lineage and often times refer to Beowulf as “son of Ecgtheow”, it is also vital for Odysseus to give his father’s name when confessing himself to Polyphemus and the loyalty Telemachus shows to his father. One area of difference between the two would be whether are not they exhibit values of “fair-fighting”. While they were both very witty and intelligent, their tactics for using it differed slightly. Beowulf was a much more in your...
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...unfathomable show of valor and what it really means to be a holy person was gotten in a long verse, Beowulf, which was close being lost in the midst of a fire in 1731 in the Cotton Library (Foster). Most of the attributes in which a holy person should have are controlled by Beowulf, for instance, devotion, courage, and quality. Beowulf shows a trip of a warrior that progressions himself into an uncommon holy person. The epic of Beowulf brilliantly got and arranged for all legends. The key credit to an OK holy person is being steadfast to the overall public around you, paying little mind to the condition. In the most punctual reference purpose of the verse we see the...
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...Authority and power are two of the most important reasons why boasting in Beowulf was so vital. When the characters in Beowulf are constantly acting in a bombastic manner, it is because they want to brag about their family lineage and large achievements they have accomplished. Oral tradition is a large component that keeps bragging relevant. Beowulf practically tells a resume of all the monsters he has slain and how he has never been defeated by them. In the epic poem, Beowulf competes in a swimming competition with his friend Brecca. Halfway through the competition, dangerous sea monsters come to attack them but Beowulf decides to stop and defeat them so his competitor can swim safely. In result, he loses the race but compensates by vaunting how he acted so bravely and with valor. This technique is what gets Beowulf climbing up the social ladder. Listeners of boastful oral tradition are to take it with a grain of salt. These stories are exaggerated but it does not mean that acts of heroism did not happen. In order to make ones achievements more important, they had to be exaggerated or else they would have been forgotten. It is easier to remember incredible stories rather than small insignificant ones. In result, oral tradition is easier to pass down because the stories are easier to remember. Oral tradition is popular in cultures and are verbally transmitted through songs, folktales, chants, or in this case, a poem. Traditions in culture are passed down through art. During...
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...Beowulf Beowulf | first page of Beowulf in Cotton Vitellius A. xv. | Author(s) | unknown | Language | Old English (West Saxon and some Anglian) | Date | unknown, sometime between the 8th and 11th century | State of existence | manuscript suffered damage from fire in 1731 | Manuscript(s) | Cotton Vitellius A. xv | First printed edition | by Thorkelin (1815) | Genre | narrative heroic poetry | Verse form | alliterative verse | Length | c. 3182 lines | Subject | the battles of Beowulf, the Geatish hero, in youth and old age | Setting | Denmark and Sweden | Personages | include Beowulf, Hygelac, Hrothgar, Wealhtheow, Hrothulf, Æschere, Unferth, Grendel, Grendel's mother, Wiglaf, Hildeburh. | Beowulf (/ˈbeɪ.ɵwʊlf/; in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf], literally "bee wolf" i.e. "bee hunter", a kenning for "bear") is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a 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...
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...Loyalty: Fact or Fiction Loyalty becomes a luxury in times of hardship. Some have an overwhelming amount, while others seem to run out like they never had it in the first place. Like dust, loyalty can be everywhere, yet be brushed away with a single breath. Loyalty is a gift, but it isn’t neverending. Although to some characters in BW and LotF loyalty isn’t a choice, to others it is valueless. ` Each character has a part to play and a loyalty to someone: King Hrothgar to his kingdom, the Thanes and Beowulf to the King. When Grendel came to terrorize Heorot Hall, King Hrothgar knew the chaos being wreaked would affect his kingdom and disliked the idea of burdening anyone else with that amount of grief (Beowulf 473-476). His loyalty couldn’t protect the people he lived to rule and keep safe. Despite the years of attack, Hrothgar’s loyalty never faltered. The King’s fighters faithfulness didn’t either. They “would pledge themselves to protect Heorot”...
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...transition in character while reading and comparing the books of Beowulf and King Arthur. Although the story archetypes remain the same for the most part, different ideals reflect themselves in a variety of ways. Things like companions and quest are still important to the people, but their ideals change. The ideals of the Germanic peoples of Northern Europe drastically change as Christianity moves across the region, and their archetypes reflect this change of character in the culture. In Beowulf, Beowulf and his companions express the heritage based Germanic Ideal of Comitatus or "loyalty to king and companions". Before fighting...
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...Eng 201 September 7, 2012 Analysis of Christian and Pagan Themes in Beowulf The heroic poem, Beowulf, written circa ninth century after the Common Era (C. E.), presents a bloody chronicle of a king’s role in the violence and tumultuous Germanic tribes shortly after the Roman Empire’s expulsion from the low countries of Northwestern Europe. Evolving from oral narrative’s, Beowulf’s origins, while traceable to a general place and time in history, remains obscure, and comes to modern readers through a manuscript written around the year one thousand C. E.. Written in the language of the Anglo-Saxons, Beowulf, namesake for the title, defeats three monsters, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and finally after many years of ruling his lands, a dragon. While fictional, the author weaves the main plot centering on defeating these vicious adversaries with a mixture of both pagan and Christian customs. Beowulf illustrates numerous biblical references and Christian influences, while simultaneously reflecting a core of Germanic pagan customs. Christianity and its religious elements, alongside, pagan customs and practices, play a fundamental role in the heroic poem, Beowulf’s narrative. Grendel, the monster that terrorizes Hrothgar’s great Hall of the Hart, traces his lineage back to Cain, one of the two sons of Adam and Eve. Cain commits the first murder according to Christian teachings, slaying his brother, Abel (The Holy Bible, Genesis 4-8). Grendel sprang from, “Cain’s clan, whom...
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...Beowulf in Old English [ˈbeːo̯wʊlf] or [ˈbeːəwʊlf]) is the conventional title[note 1] of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet[note 2] is dated between the 8th[1][2] and the early 11th century.[3] In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a 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...
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...Heroic literary characters are often an idealistic representation of what is valued in a civilization. These characters allow insight on the standards of the time in which the works were written. By exploring such roles, one is able to reach a deeper understanding of what heroism meant to those in the past. Beowulf, a medieval epic, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a poem emerging from the mid to late 14th century, exhibit protagonists that mirror the idealistic persona of their respective ages. Beowulf, in his namesake epic, steps up to face every challenge he is presented and performs a flawless display bravery and strength. Sir Gawain is a flawed, more human character, yet continues to strive for glory and the greater good. As a reflection of the ideal hero of their periods, Beowulf and Sir Gawain differ in their values, noble qualities, and the motivations behind their achievements. Beowulf establishes a clear-cut vision of the Anglo-Saxon heroic ideals- devotion to bloodlines, demonstrating one’s valor in battle, and accepting the spoils of war with...
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...Dragon Name Dragon The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon, which in turn comes from Latin draconem (nominative draco) meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from the Greek word δράκων, drakon (genitive drakontos, δράκοντος) "serpent, giant seafish". The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, and this usage was also current in English up to the 18th century. Morphology A dragon is a mythological representation of a reptile. In antiquity, dragons were mostly envisaged as serpents, but since the Middle Ages, it has become common to depict them with legs, resembling a lizard. Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, or a snake with two pairs of lizard-type legs, and able to emit fire from their mouths. The European dragon has bat-like wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with wings but only a single pair of legs is known as a wyvern. Comparative mythology Further information: Chaoskampf, Sea serpent, Proto-Indo-European religion § Dragon or Serpent and Serpent (Bible) The association of the serpent with a monstrous opponent overcome by a heroic deity has its roots in the mythology of the Ancient Near East, including Canaanite (Hebrew, Ugaritic), Hittite and Mesopotamian. Humbaba, the fire-breathing dragon-fanged beast first described in the Epic of Gilgamesh is sometimes described as a dragon with Gilgamesh playing the part of...
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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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...believed that many languages spoken in Europe and Western Asia are all derived from a common language. A few languages that are not included in the Indo-European branch of languages include Basque, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian; of which the last three belong to the Finno-Ugric language family. Speakers of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) lived in Southwest Russia around 4,000 to 5,000 BCE. They had words for animals such as bear or wolf (as evidenced in the similarity of the words for these animals in the modern I-E languages.) They also had domesticated animals, and used horse-drawn wheeled carts. They drank alcohol made from grain, and not wine, indicating they did not live in a warm climate. They belonged to a patriarchal society where the lineage was determined through males only (because of a lack of words referring to the female's side of the family.) They also made use...
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...A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSE GUIDE Professor Michael D.C. Drout WHEATON COLLEGE A History of the English Language Professor Michael D.C. Drout Wheaton College Recorded Books™ is a trademark of Recorded Books, LLC. All rights reserved. A History of the English Language Professor Michael D.C. Drout Executive Producer John J. Alexander Executive Editor Donna F. Carnahan RECORDING Producer - David Markowitz Director - Matthew Cavnar COURSE GUIDE Editor - James Gallagher Design - Ed White Lecture content ©2006 by Michael D.C. Drout Course guide ©2006 by Recorded Books, LLC 72006 by Recorded Books, LLC Cover image: © PhotoDisc #UT088 ISBN: 978-1-4281-1730-3 All beliefs and opinions expressed in this audio/video program and accompanying course guide are those of the author and not of Recorded Books, LLC, or its employees. Course Syllabus A History of the English Language About Your Professor...................................................................................................4 Introduction Lecture 1 ...............................................................................................................5 The Foundations of Language: Brain, Development, Acquisition ......................................................................6 Signs and Meanings: Semantics .........................................................13 Sounds of Language: Phonetics..........................................................20 Sound...
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...[pic] Гальперин И.Р. Стилистика английского языка Издательство: М.: Высшая школа, 1977 г. В учебнике рассматриваются общие проблемы стилистики, дается стилистическая квалификация английского словарного состава, описываются фонетические, лексические и лексико-фразеологические выразительные средства, рассматриваются синтаксические выразительные средства и проблемы лингвистической композиции отрезков высказывания, выходящие за пределы предложения. Одна глава посвящена выделению и классификации функциональных стилей. Книга содержит иллюстративный текстовой материал. Предназначается для студентов институтов и факультетов иностранных языков и филологических факультетов университетов. GALPERIN STYLISTICS SECOND EDITION, REVISED Допущено Министерством высшего и среднего специального образования СССР в качестве учебника для студентов институтов и факультетов иностранных языков |[pic] |MOSCOW | | |"HIGHER SCHOOL" | | |1977 | TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Предисловие к первому изданию……………………………………………………..6 Предисловие к второму изданию……………………………………………………..7 Part I. Introduction 1. General Notes on Style and Stylistics…………………………………………9 2. Expressive Means (EM) and Stylistic Devices (SD)………………………...25 3. General Notes on Functional Styles of Language……………………………32 4. Varieties of Language………………………………………………………..35 5. A Brief...
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