Like the Song of Roland,  the Gilgamesh, and Homer's two epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey,  the roots of the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf are to be found in the oral history of the Germanic tribes that settled the English coastlines.  Set in a world of violence where only survivors retain any value, the character Beowulf proves his prowess in three fights, the first against the monster Grendel, the second against the dead Grendel's avenging mother, and the third, in which he would lose his own life, against a ferocious dragon.  In focus throughout the work is the life of the warrior, looking back to a period some three hundred years in actual history--a reference to a battle recorded around 520 A.D.--before the poet set the work to manuscript. Told from the perspective a a Christian poet, the saga fails, nevertheless, to patronize the pagan past (text).

The only surviving manuscript is housed in the vaults of the British Museum.  Written in Old English, Beowulf  is the only extensive written record extant that reveals the lifestyle and alliances of Central Europeans whose ancestors began the pillage of the Roman Empire.  The manuscript is now available, however, on CD-ROM thanks to the careful digital photographic techniques available to scholars for the first time.

Readings

Read the Introduction to Beowulf, pp 1057 - 1062
Read the selections from Beowulf, pp. 1062 - 1103

Study Questions

1) Explain how Beowulf is able to slay Grendel, the giant troll.  Why has no warrior among the Danes or the Geats been able to fend off the terrible monster before Beowulf?

2) What is the function of Heorot, the Danish hall.  Why do the Danes accept the Geat warriors into their company?

3) How is Beowulf's victory over Grendel celebrated in the hall?

4) How does "holy God" serve the interest of Beowulf in his fight against Grendel's monstrous mother?

5) Describe the terror of the dragon.  What has spurred on his fury against the neighboring humans?  How was Beowulf able to best the dragon and then slay it?  Why did Beowulf himself not survive the battle?

Key Concepts

Violence
The key to understanding the relationships between warrior clans is to appreciate the preparation for, the execution of, and the celebration of victorious violence.

Fantasy
Like Homer's Odysseus, Beowulf lives in a world of magic, witchcraft, and traffic with the gods.  As found in the Mediterranean world, malevolence is personified in giants and ogres that stalk the forests and outback, foraging occasionally at the halls of the warrior elites.  Only Herculean strength, however, apart from Odysseus's trickery and wisdom, can survive the demons of the Germanic wilderness.