Beowulf (1000 CE)



Old English: Beowulf (1000 CE)

Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. It is one of the most famous works of Anglo-Saxon poetry, and tells the story of a struggle between the hero, Beowulf, and a bloodthirsty monster called Grendel. For many winters, the court of the Danish King Hrothgar has been terrorized by the fearsome monster Grendel, who comes at nightfall to devour men in their sleep. Beowulf kills the monster, and is celebrated as a great hero - but joy turns to horror when Grendel's mother arrives to avenge the killing of her son.

The language of Beowulf

Beowulf is much admired for the richness of its poetry - for the beautiful sounds of the words and the imaginative quality of the description. About a third of the words in Beowulf are words known as kennings. Kennings are words that are in themselves metaphorical descriptions, and were a typical feature of Anglo Saxon poetry. Kennings combine two words to create an evocative and imaginative alternative word. By linking words in this way, the poets were able to experiment with the rhythm, sounds and imagery of the poetry. Beowulf contains over a thousand kennings. Some well-known Anglo-Saxon kennings include: bone-house (banhus ) - the human body; battle-light (beadoleoma) – sword; wave-floater (wægflota) - ship

The Story

Beowulf is set in Denmark. The Danish king Hrothgar, deeply troubled, sent for Beowulf - hero and nephew of the King of the Geats - to save his people from the vicious attacks of a monster named Grendel. Over many years, the monster had stalked across the moors and raided the King's hall (Heorot) by night, killing his men. Beowulf fought with Grendel, tearing off one of its arms. The monster escaped, but was mortally wounded. Everyone celebrated. No-one knew that Grendel had a mother, who came the following night to avenge the death of her son.

In this passage (Lines 1357-1382), the Danish king speaks to Beowulf, telling him of the terrible place where Grendel's mother lived. He describes the desolate landscape: the wolf-haunted slopes, perilous paths through the marshes, a mountain stream that plunges into the earth, and a lake overhung with trees bound in eternal frost, whose waters burn at night with a dreadful fire. A stag chased by hounds allows itself to be torn apart rather than plunge into those waters. It is a dark, misty and fearful place. Hrothgar offers rich rewards of twisted gold if Beowulf can find and kill the monster and escape with his life.

Taken from: Language and Literature. The British Library. Web.

An Excerpt from Beowulf (Chapter 20: Lines 1357-1382)

|Hie dygel lond warigeað, wulfhleoþu, windige næssas, frecne |They inhabit the secret land, the retreat of wolves, windy cliffs, and|

|fengelad, ðær fyrgenstream under næssa genipu niþer gewiteð, flod |dangerous fen paths, where a mountain stream goes down under the misty|

|under foldan.  Nis þæt feor heonon milgemearces þæt se mere standeð; |bluffs, the flood running downward under the earth. It is not that |

|ofer þæm hongiað    hrinde bearwas, wudu wyrtum fæst wæter oferhelmað.|far in miles from here, that the mere stands; over it hang woods |

| |covered with frost, the wood fast of roots covers the water. |

| | |

|þær mæg nihta gehwæm niðwundor seon, fyr on flode. No þæs frod leofað |There each night a fearful wonder, fire on the water, is seen. There |

|gumena bearna, þæt þone grund wite; |is no man alive who knows the bottom of that mere. If the |

|ðeah þe hæðstapa hundum geswenced, |heathstalker, harassed by the hounds, the stag with strong horns who |

|heorot hornum trum, holtwudu sece, |seeks the forest, had been put to flight from afar, would sooner sell |

| feorran geflymed, ær he feorh seleð, |his life forever rather than enter the mere to save his head--that  |

|aldor on ofre, ær he in wille hafelan hydan. Nis þæt heoru stow! |is not a pleasant place. From it surging waters upwards arise, dark to|

|þonon yðgeblond up astigeð won to wolcnum, þonne wind styreþ, lað |the clouds, whenever wind stirs hostile weather, until the sky weeps. |

|gewidru, oðþæt lyft drysmaþ, roderas reotað.         | |

| | |

| |Now help is dependent again on you. The dwelling still isn't known, |

|Nu is se ræd gelang eft æt þe anum.         Eard git ne const, frecne |that dangerous place where you might find the sinful one; seek if |

|stowe, ðær þu findan miht felasinnigne secg; sec gif þu dyrre. Ic þe |you dare! I'll give you that battle-fee of ancient treasures, |

|þa fæhðe feo leanige, ealdgestreonum, swa ic ær dyde, wundnum golde, |twisted gold, if you return. |

|gyf þu on weg cymest. | |

1. What words do you recognize in the Old English excerpt?

2. What stylistic features of the text stand out to you?

3. What symbols and/or images can you compare to a story you have read in Modern English?

4. Based on the excerpt of the story, what assumptions can you make about English culture at this time? What symbols or images stand out for you?

5. What would the author’s purpose have been for writing a story like Beowulf.

Middle Enlish - Geoffrey Chaucer

For three centuries after the Norman Invasion (1066) French became the language of power, spoken by royalty, aristocrats and high-powered officials. However, most ordinary people in England continued to speak English in their everyday lives. French was used in most official documents and in literature; remember written texts were still a very expensive luxury.

One of the reasons that Chaucer is so important is that he made the decision to write in English and not French. Following the Norman invasion, The Canterbury Tales was one of the first major works in literature to be written in English.

Chaucer's verse is a rich example of how medieval poets experimented with the English language. Chaucer uses all kinds of spoken styles (through the voices of different characters), while also trying out different rhythms and sounds, and sculpting new linguistic structures.

The Story

Chaucer's poem, The Canterbury Tales, follows the story of a group of pilgrims who are travelling the long journey from London to Canterbury Cathedral. Setting off from a London inn, the innkeeper suggests that, during the journey, each pilgrim should tell two tales to help while away the time on the road. The best storyteller, he says, will be rewarded with a free supper on his return.

Chaucer introduces us to a lively cast of characters, including a carpenter, a cook, a knight, a monk, a prioress, a haberdasher, a dyer, a clerk, a merchant and a very bawdy miller. These characters come from all corners of 14th century society, and give Chaucer the chance to speak in many different voices. Some of the characters' tales are humorous, rude and naughty, while others are moral and reflective. The passage below presents a cook and a sailor.

Taken from: Language and Literature. The British Library. Web.

An Excerpt from The Canterbury Tales (General Prologue, Lines 388-410)

|A cook they hadde with hem for the nones |They brought along a COOK with them to fix |

|To boille the chiknes with the marybones, |Their meals. He boiled their chicken in a mix |

|And poudre-marchant tart and galyngale. |Of marrowbones, tart herbs and galingale. |

|Wel koude he knowe a draughte of londoun ale. |He knew right off a draught of London ale, |

|He koude rooste, and sethe, and broille, and frye, |Knew how to boil and roast and broil and fry, |

|Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye. |Whip up a stew as well as bake a pie. |

|But greet harm was it, as it thoughte me, |It seemed a shame, and caused me some chagrin, |

|That on his shyne a mormal hadde he. |To see he had an ulcer on his shin. |

|For blankmanger, that made he with the beste. |He made blancmange that I'd rank with the best. |

| | |

|A shipman was ther, wonynge fer by weste; |There was a SKIPPER hailing from the west, |

|For aught I woot, he was of Dertemouthe. |As far away as Dartmouth, I'd allow. |

|He rood upon a rounce, as he kouthe, |He rode a nag as best as he knew how. |

|In a gowne of faldyng to the knee. |A woolen gown down to his knees he wore, |

|A daggere hangynge on a laas hadde he |And round his neck and neath his arm he bore |

|Aboute his nekke, under his arm adoun. |A strap from which a dagger dangled down. |

|The hoote somer hadde maad his hewe al broun; |The summer sun had turned his color brown. |

|And certeinly he was a good felawe. |He surely was a festive sort of fellow; |

|Ful many a draughte of wyn had he ydrawe |Many a pilfered wine draught made him mellow |

|Fro Burdeux-ward, whil that the chapmen sleep. |While sailing from Bordeaux, the merchant snoring. |

|Of nyce conscience took he no keep. |He had no use for conscience, thought it boring. |

|If that he faught, and hadde the hyer hond, |In battle, when he gained the upper hand, |

|By water he sente hem hoom to every lond. |By plank he'd send them home to every land. |

|But of his craft to rekene wel his tydes, |As for his skill in reckoning the tides |

|His stremes, and his daungers hym bisides, |And all the dangers of the sea besides, |

|His herberwe, and his moone, his lodemenage, |By zodiac and moon to navigate, |

|Ther nas noon swich from hulle to cartage. |From Hull to Carthage there was none as great. |

|Hardy he was and wys to undertake; |Hardy and shrewd in all he'd undertaken, |

|With many a tempest hadde his berd been shake. |His beard by many tempests had been shaken; |

|He knew alle the havenes, as they were, |And he knew well the havens everywhere |

|Fro Gootlond to the Cape of Fynystere, |From Gotland to the Cape of Finisterre, |

|And every cryke in Britaigne and in Spayne. |And every creek in Brittany and Spain. |

|His barge ycleped was the Maudelayne. |The Skipper's ship was called the Maudelayne. |

Translation taken from: Chaucer, G. The Canterbury Tales – A Complete Translation in to Modern English. R.

Ecker and E. Cook, trans. 1993. Web.

1. Again, which words do you recognize from the Middle English text?

2. What stylistic features of the text stand out to you?

3. What symbols and/or images can you compare to a story you have read in Modern English?

4. Based on the excerpt of the story, what assumptions can you make about English culture at this time? What symbols or images stand out for you?

5. What would the author’s purpose have been for writing a story like The Canterbury Tales?

Early Modern English: Shakespeare

Shakespeare was writing at a time of great cultural and intellectual development, with wonderful discoveries and innovations taking place in the fields of arts and sciences. Scholars were taking a renewed interest in classical languages, and explorers and traders were making intrepid expeditions to the New World. As a result, the English language was growing with new vocabulary.

Many of the expressions found in Shakespeare's plays are today part of our everyday language usage. These include:

I must be cruel only to be kind

Love is blind

It's Greek to me

With bated breath

Some of Shakespeare's innovative poetic techniques:

1. Shakespeare often turned nouns into verbs, thus creating an entirely new usage. For example: The word 'ghost' is turned into a verb - 'Julius Caesar, I Who at Phillipi the good Brutus ghosted' (

2. He frequently uses hyphenated compounds - connecting two words with a hyphen to create an imaginative new word. For example: giant-world; baby-eyes; smooth-faced

3. Shakespeare was a master at inventing insults. For example, Kent, a character from the play King Lear describes another character as: "A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats, a base proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, fifthly-worsted-stocking knave; a lilly-livered, action-taking, whoreson glass-gazing super serviceable finical rogue, one-trunk-inheriting slave' (2.2.14-18).

The Story

Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, where a feud between the Montague and Capulet families often leads to violence. In the Prologue, the audience is introduced to the long-standing feud and foreshadows the tragedy of the main characters.

Taken from: Language and Literature. The British Library. Web.

An Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet (Prologue, Lines 1-14)

| Chorus: |Chorus: |

| | |

|Two households, both alike in dignity, |In the beautiful city of Verona, where our story takes place, a |

|In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, |long-standing hatred between two families erupts into new violence, and |

|From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, |citizens stain their hands with the blood of their fellow citizens. Two |

|Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. |unlucky children of these enemy families become lovers and commit suicide.|

|From forth the fatal loins of these two foes |Their unfortunate deaths put an end to their parents' feud. For the next |

|A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life; |two hours, we will watch the story of their doomed love and their parents'|

|Whole misadventured piteous overthrows |anger, which nothing but the children’s deaths could stop. If you listen |

|Do with their death bury their parents' strife. |to us patiently, we’ll make up for everything we’ve left out in this |

|The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love, |prologue onstage. |

|And the continuance of their parents' rage, | |

|Which, but their children's end, nought could remove, | |

|Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; | |

|The which if you with patient ears attend, | |

|What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. | |

Translation from: “Romeo and Juliet.” No Fear Shakespeare. 2003. Web.

1. You may notice more words from this text because you are familiar with Shakespeare and because Shakespeare wrote in Early Modern English. What words do you NOT recognize?

2. Based on the excerpt of the story, what assumptions can you make about English culture at this time? What symbols or images stand out for you?

3. What would the author’s purpose have been for writing a story like Romeo and Juliet?

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