Origin/Provenance
This is the oldest surviving poem in the English language
What is Beowulf?
Although written in English, Beowulf is set in this modern-day country
What is Sweden
The repetition of initial sounds in each line of poetry is called this
Alliteration
This bard or storytelling entertained audiences and preserved history through song and story.
What is a scop?
The story was likely passed down this way for generations.
What is orally / oral tradition?
The Geats, Beowulf's tribe, lived during this general time period.
What is around 400-500 A.D.?
What is caesura?
This word describes the bond of loyalty between a lord and his warriors.
What is comitatus?
Although the manuscript dates to around 1000 A.D. the story likely originated in this earlier century
What is the 8th century (700s)?
This historical figure's death in 521 A.D. helps date the events of Beowulf.
Who is Hygelac?
These are two-word metaphors like "whale-road" for "sea"
What are kennings?
What is a mead-hall?
This man's library once housed the Beowulf manuscript before it was damaged in a fire in 1731
Who is Robert Cotton
Bassed on references and historical context, scholars think Beowulf was composed between these two years
What are 680 and 835 A.D.?
This poetic understatement uses a negative expression to imply the opposite meaning.
What is litotes?
This Old English concept means "fate" and appears throughout the poem.
What is a wyrd
Who is a Christian monk?
Though written in English, the poem reflects the values of this early medieval warrior culture.
What is Anglo-Saxon (or Germanic) culture?
Identify two characteristics of Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse
What are:
- repetition of initital sounds
- four beats per line
- a caesura in the middle
- no rhyme
What is elegy?