The old english epic poem beowulf tells the story of a young geatish warrior who comes to the aid of hrothgar, the king of the danes, whose. Performances like this are presented in beowulf by hrothgars court scop, honoring beowulf. Beowulf epic poem written in 700750 beowulf is a short epic when compared to others, it has only 3200 lines. The poem begins with a brief genealogy of the danes. Translation by michael alexander, first published on 1973 is very skillfully put together and admirable. The introduction contains a short history of the english language and a description of anglosaxon culture. More tales from tolkiens notes and drafts of the first, second, and third ages of middleearth giving readers more background on parts of the lord of the rings and the silmarillion. It was originally published in the october 1966 issue issue 107, vol 16, no 10 of worlds of if. Hrothgar once sheltered beowulf s father during a deadly feud, and the mighty geat hopes to return the favor while enhancing his own reputation and gaining treasure for his king, hygelac. Monkeynotes study guide summarybeowulfshort plotstory. The free beowulf notes include comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. See a complete list of the characters in beowulf and indepth analyses of beowulf, grendel, hrothgar, unferth, wiglaf, grendels mother, and the dragon.
A concise biography of anonymous plus historical and literary context for beowulf. Beowulf hunts her down and swims to the bottom of a fiery lake to kill her. Well explore what happens, how its written and why it has such a lasting legacy. The story of heroic beowulf and his battles with the monster grendel and also with grendels mother not to mention the dragon is rather awesome. He returns to geatland, where he and his men are reunited with their king and queen, hygelac and hygd, to whom beowulf recounts his adventures in denmark. Beowulf, knowing his death is near, decides to fight the dragon. Grendels mother, a swamphag who lives in a desolate lake, comes to heorot seeking revenge for her sons death. Beowulf was probably composed as an elegy for a death of a king in 7th century. Songs are sung in praise of beowulf, and the celebration lasts late into the night. Course heros video study guide provides an indepth summary and analysis for the epic poem beowulf. Beowulf is the iconic work of literature in old english.
The poem, filled with biblical allusions to the old testament, is also influenced by germanic oral tradition and old norse myth and legend. Based on celtic and scandinavian folk legends and historical matter contains both pagan and christian values, the legend is traditionally pagan, poet who wrote down the oral tradition of beowulf was most likely a monk who added christian elements beowulf epic hero who battles evil. Short plot story summary synopsis beowulf is a long poem with no break in its narrative. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to hrothgar, who has treated him like a son.
The best option that helped me understand completely was reading sparks notes after each chapter. Hes not literally adopting beowulf, of coursehulking geat warriors do okay without foster parentshes just symbolically including beowulf in his family. Beowulf is an old english epic poem written anonymously around 975 ad. Summaries of beowulf lectures introduction to beowulf, september 10, 2014 keywords. King hrothgar gives a short speech, thanking god for grendels defeat and claiming beowulf as an adopted son. In the great hall of hrothgar, king of the danes, the warrior beowulf, son of a swedish king, wages battle with the monster grendel. Beowulf summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall and apparently made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Beowulf study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes.
Though its authorship is unknown, the poem was written between 925 and 1025. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Beowulf is as good as his word, and defeats grendel in handtohand combat, wrenching the monsters arm from its socket. The first and most terrifying monster in english literature, from the great early epic beowulf, tells his side of the story in a book william gass called one of the finest of our contemporary more. Sparknotes books list of books by author sparknotes. His ship funeral early in the poem is a significant ritual. An anglosaxon epic poem is considered the oldest surviving old english poem, over three thousand alliterative verses celebrating the greatdane who protected king hrothgar, conquered grendel and was ultimately defeated by a dragon. Hrothgar, like his ancestors before him, is a good king, and he wishes to celebrate his reign by building a grand hall called heorot. But, before we dive into a summary of beowulf, lets look at the major players in the poem. Maybe you missed a class, or maybe you just cant quite comprehend stream of consciousness style. The oldest existing story written in old english, beowulf is the classic tale of courage and honor. It is also a masterful poem that weaves superhuman, almost magical powers around its heroic protagonist, beowulf. Beowulf had gained a widespread reputation after slaying a dragon.
Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him. Character list danes scyldings scyld scefing a mythical figure, scyld was the founder of the tribe of the scyldings long before beowulf s story begins. Character list cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. The heynesocin text and glossary have been closely. To cover nearly 900 years of literary history, this course surveys and explains the major genres, literary movements, and historical. In this lesson, well take a look at the old english epic, beowulf. Anchor books, doubleday, 1977, introduction and commentary by the translator. Beowulf, a young warrior in geatland southwestern sweden, comes to the scyldings aid, bringing with him 14 of his finest men.
Scyld becomes the greatgrandfather of hrothgar, the king of the danes during the events of beowulf. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by. Whether it was originally written or oral is not known. With wiglafs help beowulf kills the dragon, but not before he himself is terribly wounded. Old english, translation, kingship most of this class was background to old english and to the poem, but there are a few useful things to remember about old english poetry and about beowulf we talked about what it means to translate a work, in terms of language old. But when beowulf and the dragon fight, all of beowulf s men flee except wiglaf. The videos are short, to the point, and the quiz allows me. But, the next night grendels mother comes looking for revenge. Beowulf is 3182 lines, each line with four accents, divided into two parts. Overjoyed, hrothgar showers beowulf with gifts and treasure at a feast in his honor. Created by the original team behind sparknotes, litcharts are the worlds best literature guides.
Either way, has you covered when it comes to free book notes on the most widely read books in high school and college curriculums. Oct 24, 2010 beowulf might seem a little intimidating at first. Beowulf is an epic poem originally told in the old english between the 8th and 11th centuries. Beowulf, plot beowulf was written in old english and its the oldest epic poem in the english language. Beowulf is a poem that describes events that happen to danish king hrothgar and his great hall, heorot.
What, according to beowulf, is better than mourning a death. Beowulf is an old english poem about a geatish hero who comes to denmark to kill a monster beowulf comes to the aid of hrothgar, king of the danes, to fight the monster grendel. King hrothgar and his people are plagued by grendel, a monster who attacks heorot every night to pillage and kill hrothgars men. The modern english version we read today is a translation from old english. See all books authored by sparknotes, including to kill a mockingbird sparknotes literature guide, and fahrenheit 451 sparknotes literature guide, and more on.
Beowulf orders his men to stay on top of the barrow in safety, observing the fight rather than participating in it. Classic literature, original gangster s1 e15 beowulf thug notes summary and. Scyld shefing was the first great king of the danes, known for his ability to conquer enemies. Some of the characters are based on members of danish and swedish royalty. Read an overview of the entire poem or a line by line summary and analysis. The aim of this course is to introduce you to british literature from its beginnings, ca. Neutron star is an english language science fiction short story by american writer larry niven. The setting of the epic is the sixth century in what is now known as denmark and southwestern sweden. Beowulf is well suited for uppergrade high school students of all abilities. The present work is a modest effort to reproduce approximately, in modern measures, the venerable epic, beowulf. Beowulf manages to kill grendel and his monstermother at his abode beneath a lake. Based on beowulf score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. At first, grendels mother appears to prevail, and hrunting proves incapable of hurting the woman.
Beowulf leaves his kingdom to wiglaf, the only knight to come to his aid. Since then, its been translated into many different languages and even as a book for kids. That very night, grendels monstrous mother avenges her son in another gory attack on heorot. May 27, 2010 beowulf the animation beowulf vs grendel aldus jendell manalo. Poem summary cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. Welcome to the litcharts study guide on anonymouss beowulf. With his theory, theres no true author of beowulf, but rather an editor of sorts who aggregated already existing poems and stories into one longer poem.
Poem summary beowulf is the longest and greatest surviving anglosaxon poem. Beowulf study guide contains literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, char. Accompanied by his kinsman wiglaf, ten warriors, and the thief, beowulf sets out to confront the dragon. Watch this 60second recap summaryoverview of beowulf and. But in each chapter there are five sections so one chapter of beowulf here equals one section in sparksnotes. These free notes consist of about 52 pages 15,501 words and contain the following sections. This epic poem describes the hero beowulf marching with his fourteen warriors and arrive at the place of heorot where he finds that he king of heorot hrothgar terrified by a monster called grendel. Download the free study guide and infographic for beowul. Beowulf is cremated on his funeral pyre overlooking the sea, and then he is buried in a barrow containing the dragons treasure. Beowulf steels himself and goes into the barrow to fight the dragon. Summaries of beowulf lectures introduction to beowulf. Hrothgar and his people rejoice, rewarding beowulf with treasure and honors. Jan 01, 2004 a new translation of beowulf, by alan sullivan and timothy murphy, is enhanced by sarah anderson with commentary and notes that explain unfamiliar terms, assist with literary allusions, and clarify a wealth of cultural and historical references.