Beowulf, a mighty noble from geatland sweden, arrives in denmark to aid. Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Beowulf is an old english epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. One of the most universally studied of the english classics, beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem of old english. His arm is hung as a trophy under the roof of heorot. Where a stanza ended on a multiple of 10, the first line of the following stanza was. Probably a son of halga, younger brother of hrothgar.
During the twenty years that have passed since the publication of j. Beowulf characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Jack spicers beowulf translation, undertaken many years ago during his graduate studies at. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In the printed book, line numbering was determined by the physical length of a line. Beowulf character list principal characters beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. All retire to rest, beowulf, as it were, sleeping upon his arms. Beowulf, famous for his powerful grip, which is as strong as the grip of thirty men, struggles with grendel, tearing off the monsters shoulder and arm. His ship funeral early in the poem is a significant ritual.
While the story and its historical elements arguably take place between. It is the oldest surviving long poem in old english and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of old english literature. Beowulf, a hero of the geats in scandinavia, comes to the help of hrothgar, the king of the danes, whose mead hall heorot has been under attack by a being known as grendel. The name beowulf lingers in our collective memory, although today fewer people have heard the tale of the germanic heros fight with grendel, the dreadful monster of the mere, as recounted in this anglosaxon epic. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars. For long thereafter in the walled towns was beowulf, the loved folkking of the scyldings, known to fame among the peoples his father had gone elsewhere, the prince from his own, till in time was born to him the great healfdene, who, whilst he lived, ruled the scyldings in kindness, the ancient one, fierce in battle. Beowulf first rescues the royal house of denmark from two marauding monsters, then returns to rule his people for 50. In beowulf, hrothulf usurps hrothgars son as ruler of the scyldings. Tolkiens famous lecture, beowulf, the monsters and the critics, interest in beowulf as a work of art has increased gratifyingly, and many fine papers have made distinguished contributions to our understanding of the poem as poetry and as heroic narrative. Written ten centuries ago, it celebrates the character and exploits of beowulf, a young nobleman of the greats, a people of southern sweden. Beowulf sees enormous amounts of treasure in grendels mothers lair, but all he takes are the jewelinlaid hilt of the melted sword and grendels severed head.
In short order, via owens, i acquired a pdf copy of the text. Did britain destroy the world student response i asked several groups if they could think of any positive. Described in the poem as a descendent of cain in the book of genesis, grendel is the epitome of evil. The project gutenberg ebook of beowulf this ebook is for the use of anyone. Wiglaf is a trusted companion and a cousin of beowulf. Beowulf insists on fighting the dragon alone even though the kings death will leave geatland vulnerable to attack from old enemies. Lesslie hall beowulf is an old english epic poem consisting. Character list danes scyldings scyld scefing a mythical figure, scyld was the founder of the tribe of the scyldings long before beowulfs story begins. Translating cain back into hebrew, we have the word qayin which means creature. He helps beowulf defeat the dragon when the rest of beowulfs men run and hide.
For the general reader who simply wants to enjoy a translation of beowulf as literature, and for the academic or inquisitive reader whod like to kiss the original 1,000yearold text hello or not old sheepskin tastes terrible. Unferth, hrethric, hrothmund, hrothulf, aeschere, hygelac, hygd, wiglaf, ecgtheow. Beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. Unknown beowulf is a long narrative poem composed in old english some time in between the 8th and 11th century ad.
The consensus view is that anglosaxon and scandinavian traditions describe the same people. Beowulfs trusted sword, naegling, is no match for the monster. Beowulf was composed in old english, probably in northumbria in northeast england, sometime between the years 700 and 750. Occasionally a deviation has been made, but always for what seemed good and sufficient reason. Perfect prep for grendel quizzes and tests you might have in school.
Beowulfs boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. Beowulf modern english translation by anonymous poetry. The author was an anonymous anglosaxon poet, referred to. Beowulf swims back to the surface of the lake, where his warriors are overjoyed to see him. Students, however, tended to think they could only base their response on the document i provided. The present work is a modest effort to reproduce approximately, in modern measures, the venerable epic, beowulf. Get the entire beowulf litchart as a printable pdf. Queen wealhtheow greets hrothgar, as he sits beside hrothulf, his nephew. He is known as one of the first great kings of the danes. Beowulf hunts her down and swims to the bottom of a fiery lake to kill her. Hrothgars elder son, hrethric stands to inherit the danish throne, but hrethrics older cousin hrothulf will prevent him from doing so. Sometimes the numbered line was one or even two lines above or below the nearest multiple of 10. Beowulf singlehandedly saves the land of the danes from a merciless ogre named grendel and then from his seahag mother. Despite his noble lineage read full character analysis the king of the danes, the son of healfdene, the brother of heorogar and halga, and the brotherinlaw of onela the swede.
About the title beowulf is named after its heroic protagonist, beowulf, as a way of further honoring his achievements and moral character. These and other documents sketching some of the cultural forces behind the poems final creation will help readers see beowulf as an exploration of the politics of kingship and the psychology of. Estimates for the date range from ad 608 right through to ad, and there is no consensus. After beowulf slays him, grendels mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated.
About beowulf beowulf summary character list lines 1193 lines 194709 lines 710915 lines 9161250 lines 12511649 lines 16501887 lines 18882199 lines 22002537 lines 25382819 lines 28203182 related links citations. Tolkien describes and illustrates many of the features of old. After hrothgars death, hrothulf betrays his cousin hrethic, leading to the burning of heorot by the heathobards. Victorious, beowulf goes home to geatland in sweden and later becomes king of the geats. Grendel in the book grendel, each chapter has its own astrological sign and. It is not known who wrote it, and there is no agreement as to when it was written. Beowulf simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It was written in england some time between the 8th tolkien 1958, p. Pdf beowulf read online free download read online free. Score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it. Beowulf s father was the warrior ecgtheow, and his mother is a sister of hygelac. Planks on trestles the board of later english literature formed the tables just in front. Hrothulf actually goes down in history as good king hrolf kraki the last name means something like beanpolehe was a pretty skinny guy. The geats return to heorot hall, taking grendels enormous severed head with them.
Beowulf offers to support the youngsters prospect of becoming king by hosting him in geatland and giving him guidance. The hero beowulf sails from geatland to denmark to fight the notorious monster grendel, whom he defeats barehanded, thus saving hrothgar and the danes from evil and increasing his glory and fame. For long thereafter in the walled towns was beowulf, the loved folkking of the. The poem has only one manuscript source, written about 1010. Occasionally a deviation has been made, but always for what seemed. Second son of hrothgar hrothulf hrothmund hrothgars nephew hrothulf betrays and usurps his cousin, hrethic, the. Led by the fugitive and accompanied by eleven of his warriors, beowulf seeks out the dragons barrow. The only surviving manuscript that contains the poem is preserved in the british library and it too was badly damaged by fire in 1731.
Buy a cheap copy of beowulf book by michael morpurgo. Beowulf s boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. Beowulf cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. Ruth lehmanns imitative translation is the only one available that preserves both the story line. But, the next night grendels mother comes looking for revenge.
Beowulf epic are the stories of dream and legend, of monsters and of godfashioned weapons, of descents to the underworld and of fights with dragons, of the heros ques t and of a community threatened by the powers of evil. Beowulf dives down to find her and kills her with a magical sword. The glencoe literature library study guide for beowulf a translation by burton raffel meet the geats, danes, and swedes of beowulf b y the time that beowulf was written down, germanic tribes from scandinavia and elsewhere in northern europe had been invading englands shores for centuries. This edition of beowulf makes the poem more accessible than ever before. 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.
The classic story of beowulf, hero and dragonslayer, appears here in a new translation accompanied by genealogical charts, historical summaries, and a glossary of proper names. Grendel comes, the great marchstepper, bearing gods anger. Every book on your english syllabus summed up in a quote from the office. The hero of beowulf, beowulf is a geatish warrior loyal to his king, hygelac. But for gardners purposes, hrothulf has to be nothing but trouble. Beowulf is the iconic work of literature in old english. It wouldnt suit grendels cynical view of humankind to have a healthy family relationship brewing right in the meadhall. Art thou that beowulf, brecas rival, who emulous swam on the open sea, when for pride the pair of you proved the floods, and wantonly dared in waters. It is one of the most important works of old english literature.
In grendel, hrothulf is a young man who forms ideas of revolution after seeing the aristocratic thanes subjugate the danish peasants. The study of beowulf isnt too early for students to begin considering the impact of british colonialism on the rest of the world. Indeed, tolkien saw beowulf as an heroicelegiac poem. In his final moments, beowulf gives wiglaf his battle armor. Beowulf summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Character list cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. Pdf downloads of all 1296 litcharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish.
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