Old English and Synopsis of Beowulf

Social culture

The first works in English, written in Old English and appeared in the early middle Ages. The oral tradition was very strong in the early English culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Epic poems were thus very popular and many. Old English verse in the extant manuscripts is a "milder" adaptation of the earlier Germanic war poems from the continent. When such poetry was brought to England it was still being handed down orally from one generation to another, and the constant presence of alliterative verse, or .consonant rhyme (today's newspaper headlines and marketing abundantly use this technique such as in Big is Better) helped the Anglo-Saxon peoples remember it. Such rhyme is a feature of Germanic languages and is opposed to vocalic or end-rhyme of Romance languages. But the first written literature dates to the early Christian and it was somehow adapted to suit to needs of Christian readers.

Rome was weakening early in the fifth century. The troops in the outlying regions, including the British Isles, were withdrawn. Walls, roads, and baths remain even now. They also left the native Celts and Celtic-speaking Britons somewhat Christianized, and Picts and Scots in the north, but "political" power fell to unstable tribal units. One of these leaders, Vortigern, "invited" Angles, Saxons, and Jutes to join his military power, so the land saw a swell of invasions by Jutes, a Germanic tribe from Denmark in 449, followed soon by Angles and Saxons. (The current name originates as "Angle-Land.") These hordes settled in and pushed the Celts into Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and to the north. King Arthur grew from legends of one Celtic chieftain who held out better than most.

The Anglo-Saxon social structure consisted of tribal units led by chieftains ("kings," or "lords") who, theoretically at least, earned their respect from their warriors (or "retainers," or "thanes," the group being called a "comitatus"). Kings should display the heroic ideal and be known for an extraordinary and courageous feat or for success in war, all preceded by some boasting. The king must be a generous "ring-giver" too -- that is, he must dish out the spoils of war to his thanes rather than hoard the treasures won in tribal warfare (a practice that has survived in diluted form, says Tom Garbaty, with the Queen giving medals to the Beatles and such). These weapons and treasures are important too. The craftsmanship is always elaborate and stories accrue about each ding. Although theoretically the thanes freely agreed to join a king, it was nevertheless vital for one's sense of self to be part of a tribe. The thane shouldn't survive the king, and the worst fate for these people was to be exiled or to outlast all one's fellow warriors. The sense of identity came from the warrior community.

Fighting was a way of life, and not to avenge the death of a family member was a social disgrace, so endlessly intricate blood-feuds generated perpetual excuses for going to war. The two alternatives for ending a blood-feud were 1) paying "wergild" -- the man price, or 2) arranging a marriage. Women were known as "cup-bearers" (because they served the mead) and "peace-weavers" (because of this function whereby feuds could be ended). But none of this really ever worked. The Germanic tribes hated peace; fighting was more honorable.

Occasionally some tribes temporarily grouped together for a larger war task, or against Viking invaders, but there was no national unity or any Round Table in these early years. Alfred the Great and Athelstan made names for themselves as successful against the Norse. Alfred the Great in the late 800s united the tribes somewhat successfully against the Norse and was a patron of literature, a political maneuver, since language and literature help form a national identity. Latin works were translated into Old English, including Bede; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles were begun (and lasted to the mid-12th century).

Language and Style:

Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary register of Anglo-Saxon.

It is a West Germanic language and is closely related to Old Frisian. Old English was fully inflected with five grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and instrumental, though the instrumental was very rare), which had dual forms for referring to groups of two objects (but only in the personal pronouns) in addition to the usual singular and plural forms. It also assigned gender to all nouns, including those that describe inanimate objects: for example, sēo sunne (the Sun) was feminine, while se mōna (the Moon) was masculine (cf. modern German die Sonne and der Mond). From the 9th century, Old English experienced heavy influence from Old Norse, a member of the related North Germanic group of languages.

Old English consists of various dialects, but literature needs to treat it as a language. The syntax is from the Anglo-Saxons, and greater ease with nouns, the tendencies to simplify grammar and shorten words, and the "law of recessive accent", the tendency to place the accent on the first syllable and to slur over subsequent syllables.

The Anglo-Saxon gods lend their names to days of the week: Tuesday from Tiw, the dark god; Wednesday from Woden, the war god; Thursday from Thor, the thunder god; Friday from Frigga, goddess of the home.

Most Anglo-Saxon poetry emerges from an oral tradition and was meant for mead-hall entertainment. Scops (the poets) and Gleemen (harpists) sung or recited and were the only historians of the time. The poetic structure was based on accent and alliteration (not rhyme and meter), and made use of stock formulae.

Epithets were useful for alliteration, so God could be called "Weard" (guardian) or "Meatod" (measurer) or "Wuldor-Fæder" (glory-father) or "Drihten" (lord) or "Scyppend" (creator) or "Frea" (master), etc. A king could be a "ring-giver".  A phrase replaces a simpler name.

Synopsis of Beowulf

Beowulf is a heroic epic poem in c. 700-1000 A.D. At 3,182 lines, it is famous for its length in contrast to other Old English poems. It represents about 10% of the present corpus of Old English poetry. The poem is untitled in the manuscript, but it has been known as Beowulf since the early 19th century. Beowulf is the exciting story of a truly heroic figure that defeats three monsters and also successfully rules his people for over fifty years. The most famous part of the story of Beowulf is his fight against the monster, Grendel. The king of the Scyldings, Hrothgar, has built an amazing hall for his thanes. They have happy parties there nightly that annoy the monster, Grendel who lives in the marshes. Grendel thus attacks the Hall, called Heriot, at night and carries off the sleeping Scylding warriors to eat them. As a result, Heriot is no longer used and its people are haunted by the spector of Grendel for twelve years. Enter Beowulf. He has heard of the trial of the Scyldings and because Hrothgar had once helped his father, he has come to defeat the monster. The Scyldings are at first skeptical, but Hrothgar agrees to let him try. Beowulf makes the decision to fight the monster hand to hand, without sword or shield. This turns out to be the right choice, because Grendel's body would break any sword. Beowulf and his companions lie in wait within the Hall and Beowulf surprises Grendel when he comes. In the ensuing battle, Beowulf rips Grendel's arm off his shoulder and the monster escapes home, mortally wounded.

Everyone celebrates for the winning, but it is premature because Grendel’s mother wants to revenge. At the end of the celebration, the mostly drunk thanes go to sleep in the hall but Beowulf is given his own detached room. During the night Grendel's mother comes and carries off one of the Scylding thanes as well as Grendel's detched arm which is now hanging on the wall. In the morning, Hrothgar asks Beowulf to save them from this new monster. They chase after the monster and the trail leads to a lake where they find the head of the missing thane and the bloody water where the beast enters the water. This time Beowulf takes a sword. Diving into the water, he chases the monster and cuts off her head. Then for good measure he finds Grendel's body and cuts off that head as well. Now Beowulf is truly a hero. He gets much treasure from Hrothgar which he duly shares with his men and goes home where he soon becomes King.

After fifty years, Beowulf's own kingdom is attacked again by a dragon. Rather than let some younger man take on this challenge that it is his responsibility. He takes eleven men with him. When they get to the Dragon's cave and he attacks, all of the men who came with him run for the trees. Only one, Wiglaf, goes back to help Beowulf. Together they kill the dragon, but Beowulf is fatally wounded. Wiglaf gives Beowulf his dying wish by showing him the treasure they have won from the dragon, and Beowulf makes Wiglaf his heir before he dies. Wiglaf then goes back and exiles all the cowards still hiding in the trees. Beowulf's people bury him in a mound with all the treasure. They do not want to keep the treasure because they do not think it is righteous payment for their king whom they loved.

My point is that both the king and Beowulf is ally with the monsters’ mother. The monster is actually king’s and Beowulf’s son. They did a sex contact with the monster’s mother thus the monster was born. Beside the heroic there is something which is unknown.