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Anglo-Saxons A preface to Beowulf

Victoria Weiss Moorpark High School

The Era: 449-1066 • 449 - Angles, Saxons, Jutes invade Britain

• 597 - St. Augustine brings Christianity to Anglo-Saxons; established Church of England in Canterbury

• 793 - Vikings invade

• 871 - Alfred the Great becomes king of England

• 1066 - Normans defeat Saxons; led by William the Conqueror


Geography of

Britain • Rainy

• Farming

• Mountains to low-

lying costal areas

• Isolation

-Vulnerable to

attack

-Strong Culture


Impact of Invasions Romans

• Invasion led by Julius Caesar in 55 BC

• Provided armies and organization that prevented further invasions

• Built roads, defensive wall, public baths

• No central government

Germanic Tribes

• Engla land (Angles)

• Communities

• Continued regard for bards

• Use of English in formal study


Religion Before Christianity

• Warrior gods

• Ethics

After Christianity

• Connection with Europe

• Common faith/morality

Celtic Religion

• Animism

• Druids

• Monasteries

• Latin primary language pre-Alfred


Comprehension Check

Great Britain has been invaded and settled

by all of the following except: a) Romans, b)

Vikings, c) Germanic Tribes, d) Greeks.


Comprehension Check

True or False: The Anglo-Saxons were

fatalists.


Anglo-Saxon Way of Life

• Warring society

• Heroes

• Loyal Dependency

• Agricultural

• Communal Halls


Key Words • Scop

• Wyrd

• Wergild

• Comitatus

a) a payment usually

demanded of a

person guilty of

homicide or other

wrongful death

b) Storyteller

c) The bond between a

warrior and his Lord.

d) Fate


HEROES

And other literary elements…


What makes a hero a hero?


What about 1300 years ago?


Epic Hero

• The central figure in an epic who has

superior qualities and risks personal

danger to pursue a grand quest.

• Significant, on a quest, has some

special strength, is ethical, risks

death, brave deeds, leader, & reflects

ideals of society


Hero’s Journey

• He establishes his reputation by overcoming hardships or challenges early in his life.

• The hero goes on a journey

• The hero faces one or more challenges

• The hero overcomes the challenges and triumphs

• Returns home to his people with a trophy or some item that benefits them


Other Literary Elements

• Alliteration:The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables.

• Caesura:A pause in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm rather than by metrics.

• Kenning:A figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun.

• Primary Epic: No single author, oral transmission

• Heroic Ideal: Represents the aspects of a hero that the culture upholds as representing the cultural ideal.


Kennings

• Whale’s way

• Taming wand

• Storm of swords

• God’s candle


Your Kennings…

• Spend two minutes creating a kenning

of your own. It can describe any

object - it does not have to relate to

Beowulf. Be prepared to come draw it

on the board and have your

classmates guess what you are

drawing.


Family Trees


Danes

WelthowQueen/Wife

Ecglaf

Unferth's Father

Unferth

Courtier

Hrothgar

King

Healfdane

Father


Geats

Hilgac

Beowulf's Uncle

Feudal Lord

Wiglaf

Loyal friend

& soldier

Brecca

Childhood friend

Beowulf

Hrethel

Beowulf's Foster Father

(Edgetho Beowulf's Biological Father)


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