More Beowulf NOTES

Heremod – is father of Shield. 

He is a hero with a kind of courage and heroic excellence that he worships violence.  He is not a good kind.  He becomes so bloodthirsty that he becomes a monster.  He kills his own companions at the banquet table, and becomes a kind of exile, until ambushed in Jutland.  His name means: Here = warlike   Mod= mentality/pride

Heremod in some mythology is the son of Odin who is sent into the underworld to bring back Baldr.

Finn and Hnaef

The main character here is Hildeburh.  She is married to the Friscians as a peace pledge.  The Danes travel to Friscians to spend the winter.  They are attacked and Hnaef and Hildeburh’s son are killed.  The Friscians suffer heavy loses and are unable to finish off the Danes.  Finn offers a peace.  Hengest becomes the new leader of the Danes and accepts the peace until springtime.  After springtime Hunlafing gives Hengest a sword to remind him of the feud, Guthlaf and Oslaf return from Denmark and the Danes wipe out the Friscians, kill Finn, and take Hildeburh back to Denmark.

NAMES from BEOWULF

Names to study for Beowulf: 



Beowulf poet Anonymous Christian scribe who wrote down the oral Beowulf narrative
Grendel Rapacious, man-eating monster
Grendel's mother Devious, vengeful monster

Danes, aka Shieldings, Shield-Danes
Shield Sheafson Famous Danish king described in the opening
Heorot Hrothgar's mead-hall
Beow Hrothgar's grandfather
Halfdane Hrothgar's father
Hrothgar King of the Danes
Wealtheow Hrother's queen
Hildeburh Danish princess married to a Frisian King, described in the minstrel's song
Freawaru Hrothgar's daughter. Married Ingeld, a Heathobard 
Hrethric Hrothgar's son
Heorogar Hrothgar's older brother

Geats
Hygelac Beowulf's overlord and uncle
Hygd Hygelac's queen
Hrethel Hygelac's father
Ecgtheow Beowulf's father, brother-in-law of Hygelac
Handscio Geat killed by Grendel 

Other
Geatland Tribal territory of the Geats in southern Sweden
Unferth Thane in Hrothgar's court. Name means mar-peace. Killed his own brother.
Wulfgar Thane of Hrothgar, also a Wendel chief
Breca Beowulf's opponent is swimming match, 
Aeschere Hrothgar's good friend, killed by Grendel's mother
Modthryth Beautiful queen who behaved badly
Hrunting Famous sword that Unferth gives to Beowulf
Hnaef Danish king, Hildeburh's brother, killed by the Frisians
Sigemund Dragon-killing hero who helped King Heremod, described in a minstrel's song after Beowulf kills Grendel



Haethcyn A king of the Geats, Hrethel’s second son, who takes the throne after accidentally killing his older brother, Herebeald. He is eventually killed by Ongentheow, king of the Swedes, in a war in which Ongentheow is killed by a second band of Geats, led by Hygelac.

Heardred A king of the Geats, son of Hygelac and later killed by Onela of the Swedes.

Onela (also spelled Onla) A king of the Swedes and the youngest son of Ongentheow. He is married to the Danish king's (Halfdane’s) daughter and assumes the Swedish throne after the death of his older brother. He later invaded Geatland after his two nephews fled to join Heardred, the king of the Geats. Onela then killed the oldest nephew but the younger lived. Later, Beowulf ruled the Geats, and invaded Sweden with Onela’s younger nephew, who then killed Onela and ruled Sweden.
Wiglaf A young Waegmunding kinsman and retainer of Beowulf who helps him in the fight against the dragon while all of the other warriors run away. Wiglaf adheres to the heroic code better than Beowulf’s other retainers, thereby proving himself a suitable successor to Beowulf.
Eofor A Geat warrior who kills the Swedish king named Ongentheow, and is given Hygelac’s daughter as a reward.

Ongentheow A king of the Swedes, a famous warrior and father of Onela. He killed Hathcyn and was later killed by a group of Geats led by Hygelac.

Beowulf PART III - ESSAY

For Part III, you'll need to write a 2-3 page essay on some theme found in section three.  You need to look at literary devices (symbols, litotes, irony, kennings, etc), structure (parallelism, sun-rise/sun-set, is the dragon a symbol?), and events to reinforce or back up your position.  Possible themes include: The Role of Kings (was Beowulf a good king?  How does Beowulf compare with Hygelac or Hrothgar? Does Beowulf fail to listen to Hrothgar's sermon from section II?), The Transitory Nature of Life (part III is elegy to a passing way of life - think of Beowulf's funeral and the foreshadows of doom in part III - not just the after-death of Beowulf but the entire build-up of this section, example: Hygelac's invasion of the Friscians, the feud with the Swedes), The theme of Pride (are the Dragon and Beowulf similar?), Good vs. Evil (Beowulf as a Christ-like figure vs the Dragon as a symbol of ultimate evil), Wryd.


You essay will need a hook, a thesis statement, and at least two detailed examples for each of your points.

This is due on October 10.

Beowulf PART II - Projects

In groups of 2-3, you will create a power point presentation (with voice recordings) that retells the story of PART II - Grendel's mother.  Do not leave anything out this means:

1) Include all the things that happen with Grendel's mother
2) Include the stories of the digressions
3) Hrothogar's sermon

Further you need to include the following:

1) The sword and the story on the hilt
2) A brief discussion w/ examples of Kennings found in this section (think definition, 3-5 really good examples and explanation of why they are used and what they mean)
3) List of characters (with photos or pictures).  Music.  Pictures of setting.
4) Discuss of the parallelism of Heorot w/ Grendel's home.  How is this a symbol.
5) Discuss 3 themes and give examples of where they appear and how they are reinforced.

Thursday and Friday

9/20 and 9/21

You should be working on your Graphic Organizers for BEOWULF section 1.

If you get done, finish reading section 3 of Beowulf.

Tuesday 9/18

We will continue to read Beowulf PART III.

HW: Graphic Organizer

Graphic Organizers

Okay - so we are going to work on retention of material.  After the poor scores on the quiz, I'm going to have you reread section one of Beowulf (lines 1-1250) and outline it stanza by stanza.

For each stanza you will have the following: 1) List the line numbers; 2) Give a summary of the stanza; 3) List all characters who appear and briefly mention who they are/what the do; 4) List of literary devices - Kenning, Litotes, Flytes, Apositives; 4) Explanation of purpose - What theme or themes does this stanza reinforce and how?

This first will be due next Monday.  You will have all class day Wednesday/Thursday and Friday to work on it.  Note - your vocabulary quiz will be moved to next Tuesday.

We'll go over this in class.