Beowulf, Studia Filologia Angielska I semestr

BEOWULF

Plot

Beowulf jest to najstarsza, epicka opowieść średniowiecznej Europy, spisana w X wieku, na podstawie pogańskiego oryginału. Tekst powstał w kulturze anglosaskiej, a mnisi spisując pogański tekst nadali mu chrześcijańskie brzmienie. Opowieść składa sie z dwóch części, pierwszej, w której główny bohater - Beowulf - zabija potwora i drugiej, w której zabija smoka i ucieka. CŻĘŚĆ I. Bohater, Beowulf, mieszka w południowej Szwecji. Dowiaduje się sie, że potwór najeżdża dom duńskiego króla i pragnie mu pomóc. Zatem Beowulf pojechał do Danii. W nocy potwór Grendel napada na śpiących rycerzy. Bohater walczy z potworem i obcina mu ostrym mieczem ramię. Duńczycy cieszą się i wyprawiają z tej okazji przyjęcie. Następnej nocy napada na nich matka potwora Grendela, zabija śpiących ( pijanych) rycerzy, w śród, których znajduje sie przyjaciel Beowulfa. Szwedzi i Duńczycy chcą wytropić matkę potwora. Dowiadują się, że mieszka ona w jeziorze. Beowulf skacze w toń jeziora i znajduje w nim ciało potwora Grendela i jego matkę. Wywiązuje sie walka, w czasie, której Beowulf ucina głowę matce Grendela i oddaję ja królowi. W nagrodę otrzymuje od króla wielkie bogactwo. CZĘŚĆII W czasie bitwy ginie król Szwecji. Nowym królem państwa zostaje Beowulf, w nagrodę za swoja odwagę i męstwo. Władzę sprawował ponad 50 lat. Na państwo rządzone przez starego, Beowulfa napada smok. Przyczyna napaści jest kradzież rycerza ze Szwecji. Beowulf uparcie i zaciekle walczy ze smokiem, pokonuje go, ale ten rani go swym zębem ze smoczym jadem. W wyniku zakażenia Beowulf umiera, a przyjaciele usypują mu pośmiertny kopiec. Ta staro-angielska epika jest pełna w swej treści pobocznej dygresji na tematy polityczne i historyczne. Anonimowy poeta połączył opowieść folkloru, legendy, podania ludowego z historyczna tradycją. Legenda zawiera materiał dygresyjny do opowiadań historycznych, dlatego opowieść ta często traktowana jest, jako źródło wiedzy historycznej i niejednokrotnie była badana pod kątem elementów prawdy w niej zawartej.

The text comes from 8th century or slightly earlier; manuscript kept in British Library; begins with a prologue;

Old English heroic epic- features:

long narrative poem -it has 3182 lines, it tells a story of Beowulf
great hero as a main character - it describes the most heroic man of
the Anglo-Saxon times, brave, strong, Beowulf who fights a troll-like monster, a water hag (wiedźma) and a dragon
chronology of the events
subject matter -actions of the heroic personage decide the fate of a nation, a culture, or a race
descriptions- of nature, battles, landscapes, people
numerous speeches that revel something about the past or the speaker's characteristics-Beowulf does not give many, but from those he gives, the reader learns about his character traits (cechy)
supernatural elements:

super-human physical strength of Beowulf,
monster Grendel presented as a Devil,
underwater cave when you can breathe,
Grendel mother's blood that melts the sword,
the sword made by giants

historical background of the events

The events described in the poem take place in the late 5th century, after the Anglo-Saxons had begun migration and settlement in England and before the beginning of the 7th century, a time when the Saxons were arrived to Scandinavia and Northern Germany.
Real historic events are for example the raid by King Hygelac into Frisia, ca. 516 or the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern.
Many of the personalities of Beowulf also appear in Scandinavian sources: Eadgils- semi-legendary king of Sweden, Hroðgar- a Danish king, Scyldings - members of a legendary royal family of Danes etc.

women not important- appear very rarely, usually as mothers of wives or sometimes to make alliances

dignified (dostojny) style and lg that create a special atmosphere

sublime lg (zachwycający), solemn style (uroczysty, poważny), elevated (podwyższony) and rather formal language
dialects occurs
alliteration is used to unify(ujednolicać) lines of poetry, as opposed to rhyme
the poet uses epithets in order to fulfill the alliteration and some primitive metaphors (kenning), similes (porównania) and many other literary techniques certain communities (entire society ) are described

special mood- no references to the light, dark, only gloomy atmosphere through descriptions of the nature, external danger

The presentation of Beowulf

young,
brave, he goes to slay the dragon even though all his men abandon him, he realizes that the dragon is more powerful than he is, but he will still not back down
strong, he possesses a strength of 30 men
a chosen one, a warrior,
fights with courage, risk his life in many battles, he fights a dragon even though his death would be inevitable
an example to follow
honourable, true to his words, always fair- he decides not to use any weapon in his battle against Grendel since Grendel does not use, he promised to kill Grendel and his mother and he did it
he do not expect a reward for his actions, he just want to help the Geats and relieve them of Grendel
his intelligence is far above any others, he used the sword made by the giants to kill Grendel's mother.
altruistic because he always put the needs of others before his own
loyal, strong sense of duty, this means that he is always devoted to his people, his king, and their security
later he becomes a king himself and he is loyal to his subjects
rewarded with treasure for his deeds
believes in wyrd (fate)
famous in battles
good speaker
his a pagan - the pagan believed in many gods (polytheistic), but only one is chosen as the one to worship (oddawać cześć) which represents the chief god and supreme (naczelny) godhead

The presentation of Grendel

a monster, almost Devil, at first he appears to be a demon, a “hellish enemy” of people, however, it is soon revealed that he is human, terrifying and threatening
he resides in the dark, wet marshes
Grendel has swift, hard claws, and enormous teeth that snatch the life out of his victims, which are numerous, he not he only kills he drinks the blood of his prey
he is not only a deadly enemy to Hrothgar and Herot, but to the Geats in general, he has been attacking hem for eleven years, always at night
he is said to be, the “kin of Cain” (najbliższa rodzina z Kainem) - an outcast, excluded from the society
God banished him from mankind (when Adam and Eve had children, they had two boys. Their names were Cain and Able. When Cain killed Able, God “banished him far from mankind”. From Cain came trolls, elves, monsters, and giants. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cain's banishment)
he seems to take his only pleasure from assaulting Herot and warriors. He is displaced from land, wealth and God. It is this displacement that causes Grendel to destroy. Since he cannot be like other people, he chooses to destroy them, because God has “no love for him”
mad, suffering, he had no sorrow over the killings he committed, he did them willingly, but not because he is a mindless beast, but because he is jealous of the Geat's feasting and celebrating under God's love
cruel, savage, grim (groźny), fierce (zawzięty),
associated with night (sorrow), darkness (suffering),mist (weeping-płacz)

Nature

there are beautiful descriptions of nature for example in the place where Grendel's mother lives- fire on flood, unnatural cave under water when you can breathe. This descriptions are like a tale, but more realistic.
the nature gives dark mood to the story- there are no references to sunshine, good weather, nature is cold, unfriendly and hostile to people, menacing (groźna) and terrifying
like a tale, but more realistic

Mixture of pagan and Christian elements:

Christian elements:

References to the Old Testament- exactly to the Genesis (about making the world), the Cain and Abel story
God is said to be a creator of everything, God's will is the same what Fate (wyrd)
Grendel is described as descendent (potomek) of Cain
The dead awaits (oczekiwać) God's judgment
Hell are ready to take Grendel's and his mother's souls
Those who believe will find Father's embrace (uścisk)
Wins the one who is on the Lord's side
Beowulf is chosen by God
Beowulf represents a Christ-like figure. He helps the Danes in their fight of good versus evil. Like Jesus came to save the Jewish people, Beowulf came to the aid of the innocent Danish.

There is no references to the New Testament, Christ and his sacrifice which are the basis of Christianity.

Pagan elements:

payment of wergild monprice

(Old English: “man payment”), in ancient Germanic law, the amount of compensation paid by a person committing an offense to the injured person or, in case of death, to his family. In certain instances part of the wergild was paid to the king and to the lord.

2. Superhuman personifications. Beowulf is depicted as a superhero. In the first battle against Grendal, Beowulf chose not to fight with weapons, but instead to fight with his extraordinary strength. Beowulf dives into the lake to reach Grendal's mother and swims without oxygen for days.

3. The dragon is also seen as a super-powerful creature. It is the enemy which is most often used in pagan stories

4. Belief in Fate (wyrd). Fate always goes as it must. Fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is good.

5. In many pagan stories, the fight between the dragon and the hero, represent the battle between good versus evil (Beowulf and Grendel)

Christian overtones dominate.

The importance of the hall:

The poem contains two examples of mead halls:

Hrothgar's great hall called Heorot, in Denmark
Hygelac's hall in Geatland

Both function as important cultural institutions that provide light and warmth, food and drink, and singing and revelry (hulanka). The mead-hall represents a safe haven for warriors returning from battle. The mead-hall was also a place of community, a centre of social life, lavishly decorated where traditions were preserved, loyalty was rewarded, and, perhaps most important, stories were told and reputations were spread.

The form of Old English poetry:

Alliteration- the repetition of consonant or vowel sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables (alliteration does not appear in unstressed syllables). e.g. heofon to hrofe, halig scypend. Vowel sound repetition is called hard rhyme.
The number of syllables in each line is not set and characteristic may vary considerably
Each single line contains four stressed syllables and is divided into two half-lines by a CEASURA - a strong medial break, logical pause in the middle of the verse

`___.........___' // `___.........___'

The first stressed syllable after caesura is very important because it gives alliterating pattern of the line
No stanzas and no rhymes
Kenning - the exact name of the object is not given. It is only given an descriptive term which may help to recognize the object, it may be compound (wyraz złożony) or phrase, e.g. prince: ring distributor, gold-giver, protector of people, sea: cup of the waves.
end-slopped line - one whole thought, logical unit is within one line\verse.
The mood of OE poetry is gloomy and rarely cheerful (nature creates such atmosphere)
Secular (świecka) and religious

Examples of OE literature:

Charms (czar)

-they are formulas, spells, incantations used to promote prosperity or to avert (unikać) evil

Gnomes (krasnal)

they are maxims or proverbs, long or short aphoristic remark about men and things

Riddles (zagadka)

- they are enigmas, descriptions of an object which are at once accurate and misleading.

Elegies

dominate in OEL
theme: awareness of passing time and life
the elegiac mood is somber but never give the feeling of despair
ex `The Ruin' -elegy over the ruins of Roman baths. Theme: deep regret for the past and desolation of building s once so splendid.

The Heroic Epic

ex `Beowulf'- 8^th c. epic adventure in which hero fights a troll- like monster, water hag (wiedźma) and a dragon

Religious Lyrics

ex `Caedmon's Hymn- celebration of the Creation
based on Bible

Cynewulf

religious stories but not based on Bible

another division:

Secular poetry -- composed by aristocratic bards /bɑːd/ (scops /ʃɒp/- poets who wrote poetry, important was the way- how it was presented);

heroic poetry (e.g. “Beowulf”)

heroic literature (part of secular poetry)
devoted to heroic deeds
definite type of hero and society
kind of test for a hero, who was pointed to do it

Hero (person who is:)

very strong
able to fight his enemies
loyal to his king, warriors and retainers (bond between the ruler and his retainers)
rewarded with treasure for his deed and loyalty
whose words follow his deeds
who obeys the tradition (has to avenge his warriors, friends' death or to take the wergild -- kind of compensation in form of treasure or weapon)
who believes in fate (= wyrd and importance of Pagan afterlife - exist thanks to tales which say about memorable heroes. They believed that one is immortal when is remembered by other - pursuit of fame and recognition)