Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature: Beowulf
– Lords and thanes
– Gift-giving
– Hospitality and feasts
– Pagan and Christian traditions
An emphasis on gift-giving and hospitality
A mixture of pagan and Christian traditions
– Describes the heroic deeds of a warrior named Beowulf
– Blends elements of Pagan and Christian culture
– Heorot, Hrothgar’s hall, is under attack by a monster named Grendel
– Beowulf, a famous warrior, belongs to a tribe called the Geats
– Beowulf defeats Grendel and then defeats Grendel’s mother
– Beowulf becomes King of the Geats and slays a dragon
Which inference is best supported by the passage?
“Led by their prince”
“I will take this message,
in accordance with your wish, to our noble king,
our dear lord, friend of the Danes,
the giver of rings.
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5 (234)
“ Very organized ,I enjoyed and Loved every bit of our professional interaction ”
”
Often, for undaunted courage,
fate spares the man it has not already marked.
However it occurred, my sword had killed
nine sea-monsters. Such night-dangers
and hard ordeals I have never heard of
nor of a man more desolate in surging waves.
But worn out as I was, I survived,
came through with my life.
My household-guard
are on the wane, fate sweeps them away
into Grendel’s clutches—
but God can easily
halt these raids and harrowing attacks!
* The poem uses alliteration.
* The poem relies on a pattern of stressed syllables.
* There are pauses.
* The language of the poem sounds very different from modern English.
Then it was like old times in the echoing hall,
proud talk and the people happy,
loud and excited; until soon enough
Halfdane’s heir had to be away
to his night’s rest. He realized
that the demon was going to descend on the hall,
that he had plotted all day, from dawn-light
until darkness gathered again over the world
and stealthy night-shapes came stealing forth
under the cloud-murk.
Wealhtheow came in,
Hrothgar’s queen, observing the courtesies.
Adorned in her gold, she graciously saluted
the men in hall, then handed the cup
first to Hrothgar, their homeland’s guardian,
urging him to drink deep and enjoy it
because he was dear to them. And he drank it down
like the warlord he was, with festive cheer.
So the Helming woman went on her rounds,
queenly and dignified, decked out in rings,
offering the goblet to all ranks,
treating the household and the assembled troop
until it was Beowulf’s turn to take it from her hand.
With measured words she welcomed the Geat
and thanked God for granting her wish
that a deliverer she could believe in would arrive
to ease their afflictions.
So the Helming woman went on her rounds,
queenly and dignified, decked out in rings,
offering the goblet to all ranks,
treating the household and the assembled troop
until it was Beowulf’s turn to take it from her hand.
“It bothers me to have to burden anyone
with all the grief Grendel has caused
and the havoc he has wreaked upon us in Heorot,
our humiliations. My household-guard
are on the wane, fate sweeps them away
into Grendel’s clutches—
but God can easily
halt these raids and harrowing attacks!
about your coming here, then hurry back”
From where he crouched at the king’s feet,
Unferth, a son of Ecglaf’s, spoke
contrary words. Beowulf’s coming,
his sea-braving, made him sick with envy:
he could not brook or abide the fact
that anyone else alive under heaven
might enjoy greater regard than he did:
They marched in step,
hurrying on till the timbered hall
rose before them, radiant with gold.
Nobody on earth knew of another
building like it. Majesty lodged there,
its light shone over many lands.
Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature: Beowulf. (2018, Jan 18). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-introduction-to-anglo-saxon-literature-beowulf/
