Western Mindanao State University

Naga Campus
Sta. Clara, Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay

LIT 102 – WORLD LITERATURE

Instructor:Rodrigo, Jr. A. Batobalunos

Topic: III. British Literature

A. Beowulf (Traditional

Objectives:

1. experience and develop interest in British literature, which includes Anglo-Saxon Poetry, the
Beowulf;
2. understand Beowulf  with an appreciation for its artistry and beauty; and
3. discover the conventions of Anglo-Saxon poetry and reflect on what they have learned.

Let’s Get Started !

Activity 1. Watch Me!
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This music video can serve as an introduction to the unit, presenting a synopsis of the epic.
Downloadable, it runs 3:47 and is captioned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=yiBaSqO7n9U&feature=youtu.be

Read and brood over:

BRITISH ERA
Often referred to as UK literature, British literature primarily refers to all literature produced by
British authors from the United Kingdom, which includes England, Scotland, Northern Ireland,
Wales, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man. British literature includes works in Old, Middle,
and Modern English, each of which represents a different period. British literature also includes
early works written in Gaelic, Welsh, and Latin.
 (John Locke was a British author during the Restoration Period)

British literature has come to possess different characteristics over the years. People can fully
appreciate it by learning the different types of literature that came to play in its history. UK
literature is often divided into British works in Latin, early Celtic literature composed in the
UK, Old English works, Middle English works, and Modern English compositions. There are
only a few surviving early UK literature texts. Celts mostly made use of oral literature, and
Henry VIII’s razing of monasteries caused the obliteration of much of the world’s literary
treasures.

(Jane Austen was said to have been influenced by the English moors)

Old English works were written between 450 and 1066. Probably the most famous Old English
work is Beowulf. The oldest original texts of British literary works came from this period,
including "The Hymn of Creation" by the poet Cædmon.

(British literature includes works written by William Shakespeare)

 (Old English literature, including epic and lyrical poems, has been handed down through the
centuries largely due to the efforts of King Alfred of Wessex)

The Modern English era is comprised of all literary works composed by British authors
beginning in the early 16th century and onward. This period can be further categorized into
different types of literature. The Renaissance period is considered to have lasted from 1500 to
1660, and is best remembered for works written by William Shakespeare. During this
period, sonnets and effusive forms of British poetry also rose in popularity, such as the ones
written by Thomas Wyatt and Edmund Spenser.

(Beowulf is one of the most famous Old English poems)

Other periods making up the Modern English era include the Restoration Age, the Romantic
Period, the Victorian Period, and all later periods. Gothic novels also became extremely popular
in this era, particularly in the 18th century. Notable authors in this era include John Locke of the
Restoration Period, Sir Walter Scott and John Keats of the Romantic Period, Alfred Lord
Tennyson and Jane Austen of the Victorian Period, and Agatha Christie of the 20th century

(Jane Austen novels are notable works of the Victorian Period)

 THE STORY OF BEOWULF
Summary
The protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes,
whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare
hands and Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.

Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon,
some of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon
with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the
dragon to its lair at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf, whose name means
"remnant of valour", dares to join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally
wounded in the struggle. He is cremated and a burial mound by the sea is erected in his honour.
Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great
distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. The
poem also begins in medias res or simply, "in the middle of things," which is a characteristic of
the epics of antiquity. Although the poem begins with Beowulf's arrival, Grendel's attacks have
been an ongoing event. An elaborate history of characters and their lineages is spoken of, as well
as their interactions with each other, debts owed and repaid, and deeds of valour. The warriors
form a kind of brotherhood linked by loyalty to their lord. The poem begins and ends with
funerals: at the beginning of the poem for Scyld Scefing (26–45) and at the end for Beowulf
(3140–3170).

FIRST BATTLE: GRENDEL

Beowulf begins with the story of Hrothgar, who constructed the great hall Heorot for himself and
his warriors. In it, he, his wife Wealhtheow, and his warriors spend their time singing and
celebrating. Grendel, a troll-like monster said to be descended from the biblical Cain, is pained
by the sounds of joy. Grendel attacks the hall and kills and devours many of Hrothgar's warriors
while they sleep. Hrothgar and his people, helpless against Grendel, abandon Heorot.
Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar's troubles and with his king's
permission leaves his homeland to assist Hrothgar.
Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. Beowulf refuses to use any weapon because he
holds himself to be the equal of Grendel. When Grendel enters the hall, Beowulf, who has been
feigning sleep, leaps up to clench Grendel's hand. Grendel and Beowulf battle each other
violently. Beowulf's retainers draw their swords and rush to his aid, but their blades cannot
pierce Grendel's skin. Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel's arm from his body at the shoulder and
Grendel runs to his home in the marshes where he dies. Beowulf displays "the whole of
Grendel's shoulder and arm, his awesome grasp" for all to see at Heorot. This display would fuel
Grendel's mother's anger in revenge.

SECOND BATTLE: GRENDEL'S MOTHER

The next night, after celebrating Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar and his men sleep in Heorot.
Grendel's mother, angry that her son has been killed, sets out to get revenge. "Beowulf was
elsewhere. Earlier, after the award of treasure, The Geat had been given another lodging"; his
assistance would be absent in this battle. Grendel's mother violently kills Æschere, who is
Hrothgar's most loyal fighter, and escapes.
Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Unferð, a
warrior who had earlier challenged him, presents Beowulf with his sword Hrunting. After
stipulating a number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his
kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estate), Beowulf jumps into the lake, and
while harassed by water monsters gets to the bottom, where he finds a cavern. Grendel's mother
pulls him in, and she and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.

At first, Grendel's mother appears to prevail, and Hrunting proves incapable of hurting the
woman; she throws Beowulf to the ground and, sitting astride him, tries to kill him with a short
sword, but Beowulf is saved by his armour. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall
and apparently made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Travelling further into Grendel's
mother's lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head with the sword, whose
blade melts because of the "hot blood". Only the hilt remains. Beowulf swims back up to the rim
of the pond where his men wait. Carrying the hilt of the sword and Grendel's head, he presents
them to Hrothgar upon his return to Heorot. Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, including the
sword Nægling, his family's heirloom. The events prompt a long reflection by the king,
sometimes referred to as "Hrothgar's sermon", in which he urges Beowulf to be wary of pride
and to reward his thegns.

THIRD BATTLE: THE DRAGON

(The dragon (Beowulf)

Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, fifty years after
Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of a dragon at
Earnanæs. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning
everything in sight. Beowulf and his warriors come to fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men
that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to
do battle with the dragon, but finds himself outmatched. His men, upon seeing this and fearing
for their lives, retreat into the woods. One of his men, Wiglaf, however, in great distress at
Beowulf's plight, comes to his aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded.
After Beowulf dies, Wiglaf remains by his side, grief-stricken. When the rest of the men finally
return, Wiglaf bitterly admonishes them, blaming their cowardice for Beowulf's death.
Afterward, Beowulf is ritually burned on a great pyre in Geatland while his people wail and
mourn him, fearing that without him, the Geats are defenceless against attacks from surrounding
tribes. Afterwards, a barrow, visible from the sea, is built in his memory (Beowulf lines 2712–
3182).
 . ELECTIVE –TEACHING MULTI-GRADE CLASSES
WL Exercise 1

Name:________________________________________________Score:___________________
Course/Year:__________________________________________ Date: ___________________

Self-Assessment 1

A. This is a question about how abstract structures are made into narratives. Every culture
makes distinctions between what is inside the social order and what is outside, between
the human and the non-human (a category which can include animals, plants, natural
processes, monsters and the miraculous). Cultures organize themselves to contain or
exclude these “outside” things; social organization also works to control certain violent
human tendencies inside the culture (anger, lust, fear, greed, etc.). How does the social
world depicted in Beowulf do this? That is, what does it exclude, and why? What is its
attitude towards the “outside” of culture? How does it control the forces that threaten
social stability within the hall?

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B. In between every story and its audience stand a narrator who tells the story; the narrator
has certain attitudes, opinions, interests and objectives which direct the audience’s
understanding of the story. This is one of the most basic, and yet most complex, facts of
literature. Some narrators are intrusive – think Huckleberry Finn – while others are
discreet and practically invisible. Describe the relationship between the narrator and the
story, and between the narrator and the audience, in Beowulf.
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C. Wealhtheow, Hygd, Hildeburh, Grendel’s mother – what do the female characters

in Beowulf do? How do they do it? do they offer alternatives perspectives on the heroic
world (so seemingly centered around male action) of the poem?

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D. What is the status of gold and gift-giving in the poem? Who gives gifts, who receives
them, and why? Are the modern concepts of wealth, payment, monetary worth and greed
appropriate for the world of Beowulf?

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E. Look at the religious references in the poem: what are the names for God? What biblical
events are mentioned, and who mentions them? What specifically pagan practices
(sacrifice, burial, augury, etc.) are described? How do the characters see their relationship
to God (or the gods)? Why would a Christian author write a poem about a pagan hero?

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F. Is Beowulf an epic? What sort of social order produces “epic” poetry? What values does
the poem promote, and how does it promote them? What sorts of conflicts with or
resistances to the ideology of epic can be expressed? What sorts are found within the
poem itself?

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G. Who is Scyld? Where does he come from? Where does he go? What does he do? Why
does the poem begin here, rather than with Hrothgar and Grendel?

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(NOTE: There are no answers posted for these questions. You can find the answers to some
questions by a careful reading of the poem, while you could easily write a book on others and
still not reach any certain conclusions. The questions are meant to check your basic knowledge
of the poem’s story and characters, and to provoke discussion of some of its deeper implications
and problems. I do not believe there should be a single answer to the longer questions; I hope
readers will find it interesting to think about these questions and their many possibilities without
looking for an easy “right” answer)
 Self-Assessment 2

“The Amazing Adventures of Beowulf”

You are to create a comic strip based on Beowulf, stressing the epic's action and adventure. Have
them focus on one of Beowulf's three major battles: with Grendel, with Grendel's mother, or with
the fire-breathing dragon

Rated by: __________________________________

Instructor