Beowulf: Difference between revisions
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'''Beowulf''' is an [[Old English]] [[epic]] poem that | '''Beowulf''' is an anonymous [[Old English]] [[epic]] poem of 3182 lines that deals with the deeds of its eponymous protagonist. Beowulf is a Geat, and the first two-thirds of the poem deal with his journey to [[Denmark]] to encounter the monster attacking the king's followers. The remainder deals with the exploit leading to his death. Most scholars believe the poem was composed some time in the eighth century. The earliest manuscript dates from the eleventh century AD. Over one million copies of different translations to modern languages have been printed. | ||
Nobel laureate [[Seamus Heaney]] | |||
== Plot == | |||
Hrothgar, king of the Danes, builds a great and wonderful hall, Heorot. To this comes a fen monster, Grendel, who each night eats one of Hrothgar's men. Beowulf, a Geat, hears of this and comes to Hrothgar. When Grendel arrives on his foray, Beowulf wrenches off his arm, and the monster returns to his fen to die. Grendel's mother now comes out to avenge her son. Beowulf tracks her and dives into her lake to kill her. | |||
In old age, Beowulf, now king of the Geats, has his lands ravaged by a dragon. He slays it with the help of Wiglaf, but dies from his wounds. The final lines describe his funeral. | |||
== Themes == | |||
'''Pride''': Hrothgar warns Beowulf against pride, but it is his own pride that has built the hall Heorot. | |||
'''Kingship''', in particular its obligations. | |||
'''Prophecy''': the account of Heorot's building is immediately followed by a prediction of its burning. The messenger who tells of Beowulf's death also foretells the downfall of the Geats. | |||
== Criticism == | |||
Many aspects of the poem are contentious: the approximate date of the poem; the nature and location of the anonymous poet; his/her intended audience; whether the original poet was Christian or whether someone made Christian additions to it. What is not controversial ever since [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s 1936 essay,''Beowulf, the monsters and the critics'', is that this is a major work of poetry, though allusive and difficult.<ref>Nicholson, L E (ed). An anthology of Beowulf criticism. University of Notre Dame Press. 1963</ref> | |||
== Translations and interpretations == | |||
There have been numerous translations, in verse and in prose, notably the verse one by Nobel laureate [[Seamus Heaney]] in 2001 which won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.<ref>Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. 2001, Norton. ISBN 0393320979</ref> | |||
The epic has transposed to film numerous times, the most recent being an eponymous 2007 film, directed by [[Robert Zemeckis]] from a screenplay by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Roger Avary]]. | The epic has transposed to film numerous times, the most recent being an eponymous 2007 film, directed by [[Robert Zemeckis]] from a screenplay by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Roger Avary]]. | ||
Revision as of 16:44, 15 March 2013
Beowulf is an anonymous Old English epic poem of 3182 lines that deals with the deeds of its eponymous protagonist. Beowulf is a Geat, and the first two-thirds of the poem deal with his journey to Denmark to encounter the monster attacking the king's followers. The remainder deals with the exploit leading to his death. Most scholars believe the poem was composed some time in the eighth century. The earliest manuscript dates from the eleventh century AD. Over one million copies of different translations to modern languages have been printed.
Plot
Hrothgar, king of the Danes, builds a great and wonderful hall, Heorot. To this comes a fen monster, Grendel, who each night eats one of Hrothgar's men. Beowulf, a Geat, hears of this and comes to Hrothgar. When Grendel arrives on his foray, Beowulf wrenches off his arm, and the monster returns to his fen to die. Grendel's mother now comes out to avenge her son. Beowulf tracks her and dives into her lake to kill her.
In old age, Beowulf, now king of the Geats, has his lands ravaged by a dragon. He slays it with the help of Wiglaf, but dies from his wounds. The final lines describe his funeral.
Themes
Pride: Hrothgar warns Beowulf against pride, but it is his own pride that has built the hall Heorot.
Kingship, in particular its obligations.
Prophecy: the account of Heorot's building is immediately followed by a prediction of its burning. The messenger who tells of Beowulf's death also foretells the downfall of the Geats.
Criticism
Many aspects of the poem are contentious: the approximate date of the poem; the nature and location of the anonymous poet; his/her intended audience; whether the original poet was Christian or whether someone made Christian additions to it. What is not controversial ever since J.R.R. Tolkien's 1936 essay,Beowulf, the monsters and the critics, is that this is a major work of poetry, though allusive and difficult.[1]
Translations and interpretations
There have been numerous translations, in verse and in prose, notably the verse one by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney in 2001 which won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.[2]
The epic has transposed to film numerous times, the most recent being an eponymous 2007 film, directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary.
References
- ↑ Nicholson, L E (ed). An anthology of Beowulf criticism. University of Notre Dame Press. 1963
- ↑ Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. 2001, Norton. ISBN 0393320979