Songs of Ancient Heroes

Songs of Ancient Heroes: . . . Study Guide Part 2

Name ________________________________ Pd. ___ Date _____________________

Page 35 Identifying Cause and Effect (ll. 515-517)

1. Why does Beowulf hang Grendel’s arm from the rafters of Herot?

__________________________________________________________________

Elements of Literature: Symbolism (ll.528-533)

2. Reread the description of the lake in which Grendel lies. How is it suggestive of hell?

__________________________________________________________________

Elements of Literature: Alliteration

3. This passage is a hymn of praise for the conquering hero. What examples of alliteration emphasizes the important words in ll. 539-544?

__________________________________________________________________

Reading Skills and Strategies: Using Context Clues (ll.543-544)

4. What does belittle mean? What context clues did you use to figure this out?

__________________________________________________________________

Page 36: Connections

In his novel Grendel, John Gardner tells the basic story of Beowulf, but from the monster’s point of view. In this excerpt, Grendel tells about his life in the murky swamp where he lives with his mother and he describes one of his attacks on Hrothgar’s castle.

*Gardner, in addition to being a best-selling novelist, was also a professor of Old and Middle English. He creates a few apt alliterations and careful kennings of his own in this piece.

Critical Thinking: Making Judgments

5. According to this selection, is Grendel good or evil and why?

__________________________________________________________________

Elements of Literature: Imagery (ll. 546-554)

6. What imagery in the description of Grendel’s lair associates Grendel with death and darkness? _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Page 37: Responding to the Art

The cauldron shown here is a product of the highest period of Celtic culture, known as the La Tene culture. As is evident here, these Celts were particularly skilled in metalwork. Much of the art on the caldron depicted the mythology of the Celts. On an dinner plate, for example, the figure wearing stag antlers represents the Lord of the Wild Beasts. The significance of many of the figures can only be guessed at. The caldron was used as a kind of kettle for holding warm water or drink.

Page 38 Reading Check/Review

a. Because of Grendel’s murderous raids, King Hrothgar’s warriors are afraid to gather in their hall.

b. God protects Hrothgar’s throne.

c. Hrothgar’s men make sacrifices and vows to the pagan gods. Some have also made ineffectual attempts to remain at Herot and ward off the monster.

d. Unferth calls him a boaster and the loser in a swimming match with Brecca. Beowulf replies that after he and Brecca were separated by a storm, Beowulf slew nine sea monsters.

e. After destroying one Geat, Grendel tries to grasp Beowulf, who grips him and tears off his arm. Mortally wounded, Grendel flees.

Page 39: “A Collaboration Across 1,200 Years”

7. For hundreds of years, Beowulf was strictly performance art. Without brilliant performers reciting Beowulf, it may not have reached the ripe old age of 1,200. Like Mr. Bagby, how might the early story-tellers have held their audience ‘in a spell”? ___________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

8. How are Mr. Bagby’s audience and purpose the same as that of early storytellers? How did they differ? ________________________________________________

Summary

Armed with the sword Hrunting, Beowulf in full armor dives to the bottom of the lake where Grendel’s mother lives. She attacks him but cannot penetrate his chain-mail shirt. Beowulf discovers that his sword is useless against her and continues the fight with his bare hands. Finally, he finds a magic sword, “hammered by giants,” and kills Grendel’s mother with one fierce blow. Bathed in a symbolic light, Beowulf finds Grendel’s body and cuts off his head in revenge for the men he killed.

Page 40: Rereading (ll. 589-594)

9. What setting details can you gather by rereading ll. 590-594? _________________________________________________________________

Epic Hero: (ll. 595-612)

10. What characteristics of an epic hero does Beowulf display during his fight with Grendel’s mother? __________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

11. (ll. 623-625) What saves Beowulf from being killed by Grendel’s mother’s dagged? What shape would a prostrate body, with outstretched arms, lying on the ground, take? _____________________________________________________________

Responding to the Art

A warrior’s sword and shield were his most precious possessions. A Celtic chief supposedly threw this shield into the Thames as an offering to a river god.

Anglo-Saxon Riddle: ”I’m by nature solitary, scarred by spear and wounded by sword, weary of battle. I frequently see the face of war, and fight hateful enemies . . . “What is it? _________________________________

Page 41: Making Predictions (ll. 625-627)

12. How will the battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf end?

_________________________________________________________________

Cultural Connections: Christian Parallels (ll. 633-637)

Critics who trace Christian parallels throughout the epic have commented that Beowulf’s immersion into the lair is a kind of baptism by which he is washed clean of sins. Also, the light in l. 646 indicates God’s favor.

Word Play (ll.646-665)

13. Is this an example of overkill? Consider the pun on the word overkill in your

response. ________________________________________________________

Analyzing How Authors Affect Text

As pp. 18-19 indicate, Beowulf is a work that evolved over many years and many tellings. To explore the complexity of the authorship, answer these questions:

14. What purpose might the first storyteller of this tale have had in telling it?

__________________________________________________________________

15. What purpose might later storytellers have had?

__________________________________________________________________

16. How do you think the intended audience--men gathered in mead halls--affected the content of the story?

__________________________________________________________________

17. If a monk did in fact record Beowulf, in what ways do you think he may have changed the story? Consider what he might have taken out as well as what he

might have added.

__________________________________________________________________

Page 42: Summary

Many years into his reign as a king of the Geats, Beowulf resolves to fight a fire-breathing dragon threatening his people. Fate is no longer on Beowulf’s side, however. His sword angers but does not kill the dragon, who advances on Beowulf and lays him low with its steaming breath. A true Anglo-Saxon hero, Beowulf accepts his fate without complaint while all but one of his companions run off in fear. Wiglaf alone remembers the duties due to kinsmen and berates those who run. After Wiglaf and Beowulf kill the dragon, Wiglaf brings the dragon’s treasure hoard to the dying king.

Beowulf says he willingly gives his life so his people can enjoy the treasure. Beowulf’s ashes are placed in a tower by the sea, and twelve loyal followers mourn his loss and praise him for his great deeds.

Page 42 (italicized sections) Analyzing Motivation

18. The odds are against Beowulf at this point. Why does he keep fighting?

__________________________________________________________________

Literary Connections:

19. Compare Beowulf with Ulysses, as portrayed in Lord Tennyson’s poem of that name. (page 822)

________________________________________________________________________

Epic Hero (ll. 668-701)

20. To what extent has Beowulf remained an epic hero?

__________________________________________________________________

Page 43 Finding Sequence of Events (ll. 704-725)

The events in this section occur in chronological order: (1) Beowulf says goodbye to his followers, and (2) Beowulf heads toward the dragon’s cave.

Comitatus (ll. 746-749)

Some critics see the failure of Beowulf’s men to come to his aid as an ominous forecast of the demise of the Anglo-Saxons, whose society was built around the code of the Comitatus, in which a leader who rewarded his loyal followers with riches expected loyalty in return.

Identifying Cause and Effect (ll. 750-751)

21. Why do you think Beowulf’s men desert him now?

__________________________________________________________________

Page 44 Identifying Cause and Effect (ll. 752-768)

22. Why does Wiglaf decide to fight side by side with Beowulf?

__________________________________________________________________

Understanding Idioms (l. 770)

“Had some weight” means, in this case, “had some meaning” or “had some significance.” You may sometimes hear the word weight used in a similar way when people talk about a weighty matter.

23. What might that expression mean?

__________________________________________________________________

Other idioms with weight are to pull one’s weight, meaning “to do one’s share,” and to throw one’s weight around, meaning “to show off one’s importance.”

Alliteration (ll. 789-790)

24. What examples of alliteration do you find in these lines?

__________________________________________________________________

Page 45: Comitatus: The Warrior’s Code (ll. 800-809)

It was extremely important to dispense treasure as a symbol of the loyalty between a king and his people in the Anglo-Saxon code. Thus, with his dying words, Beowulf is doing more than equating his life with material possessions. Once again, the entire action of this poem must be placed within the context of the Anglo-Saxon codes of conduct and values rather than within the context of twentieth-century codes and values.

Epic Hero (ll. 817-825)

25. Is Beowulf an epic hero to the end? Explain.

__________________________________________________________________

Cultural Connections: Viking Burial

Archaeological finds tell us that Vikings loved their ships so much they were often buried in them, together with articles needed in the next life. The coffin in the Sutton Hoo mound was an eighty-six-foot warrior’s ship--completely decayed but clearly outlined. There is a passage in Beowulf itself (not excerpted here) in which a dead man is placed in his ship and pushed off to sail away into the unknown. On p. 46, Beowulf’s remains are placed in a tower on land, yet in sight of the sea. This action may represent an alternative Viking burial practice. It may also represent a melding of Viking values into a culture that buried its dead on land, or a later storyteller’s need to see such a personage as Beowulf given, in the eyes of his own culture, a proper burial.

Page 46 Epic Hero (ll. 829-834)

26. How do the Geats regard their dead king?

__________________________________________________________________

Responding to the Art

This exquisite and unique gold boat is part of a hoard of gold objects that date back to the third century B.C. They were unearthed by an Irish plowman at Broighter, County Derry. The hoard consists of this model boat, a gold bowl, two chains, and two twisted bracelets. It has been suggested that the hoard was a votive deposit to the Celtic sea god Manannan mac Lir, after whom the Isle of Man came to be named. Gold and other precious objects like this boat have often been turned up in modern Ireland by a plow or discovered entwined in the roots of bog oaks. Some of these objects might have been buried as votive offerings; some were certainly buried centuries later to keep them from the Viking marauders or from Henry VIII’s armies. This boat is an example of Celtic art known as La Tene, so named for the site in Switzerland where the style was first recognized. Note the oars, the seats for the oarsmen, the mast, and the tiny rudder.

TRUE or FALSE:

1. Using his ancestral sword, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother.

2. Beowulf carries Grendel’s head to King Hrothgar and returns home with many fine gifts.

3. Beowulf becomes king of the Geats.

4. After Beowulf’s weapons fail him against the dragon, his men rush to help him.

5. Beowulf names Wiglaf as his successor to the throne.

Page 47

This article describes life in Europe in AD 999. It was a dark, grim, unorganized, and unhealthy existence for most people. At this time, Europe was almost a primitive society.

Column 1: Within paragraph 1:

27. Why might a writer use the concept of speed to define a particular historical age?

__________________________________________________________________

Column 2: Salt was so crucial that the original salary was the money paid to Roman legionnaires to buy it.

Column 3, top:

28. How do these facts compare with modern expectations for people in their teens or early twenties? ___________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

29. How does the description of Herot in Beowulf compare with the way life is described in this article? _____________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

30. How old is Beowulf when he dies? Just how old would he have seemed by the standards of his time? _______________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Page 52: Objectives:

1. Read and interpret the episode from an epic poem.

2. Recognize distinctive and shared characteristics of cultures.

3. Recognize and discuss themes and other literary connections that cross cultures.

Summary

Gilgamesh and his close friend Enkidu venture into the forest to chop down a giant cedar. The sound of the falling tree arouses the wrath of Humbaba, the ferocious guardian of the forest. As Humbaba bears down, Gilgamesh seems to lose faith momentarily in the sun god, his divine protector, and begins to feel pity for Humbaba, who is a thankless slave to the gods. When Humbaba strikes Enkidu, however,

Gilgamesh wields his ax. To save himself, Humbaba offers to become Gilgamesh’s slave. Gilgamesh is tempted, but when Enkidu cries out, he chooses friendship over power.

Page 52: Background

Uruk is in a part of Mesopotamia that has no lumber. Gilgamesh’s journey to the forest and his encounter with Humbaba probably records a real-life manner of epics. It may help to know that Gilgamesh decided beforehand that he wanted to destroy Humbaba, because the monster was oppressing the people. When Gilgamesh cuts down a cedar, he is felling a sacred tree, but he does so to arouse Humbaba.

Page 53 “The Head of Humbaba” from Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative

Epic Hero (ll. 1-2)

In the epic from which this verse narrative is taken, Gilgamesh is a superhuman hero, two parts god and one part human. As the earliest known epic hero, Gilgamesh may have been the model for many later epic heroes, including Homer’s Odysseus. Epic heroes have much in common: They are superior human beings with superhuman strength and spiritual powers, and mighty leaders of their people. Most are a mixture of divine and human birth; we admire their divine, supernatural qualities and sympathize with their weaknesses which remind us of our own.

Responding to the Text (ll. 9-15)

31. Why does Humbaba rush to the scene? What kind of people today might sympathize with him? _________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

32. (ll. 15-29) What figures of speech are used to describe Humbaba?

__________________________________________________________________

33. Why does Gilgamesh first feel pity for Humbaba but then quickly change his mind? (ll. 30-33) _________________________________________________________

Similarities to Beowulf Differences from Beowulf

________________________________ ____________________________________

Page 54 Responding to the Text (ll. 34-44)

34. At this point in the poem, what notes might you make about what is happening? What questions might you ask? _____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Page 54 (ll. 44-48)

35. Why does Gilgamesh kill Humbaba even after Humbaba offers to serve him?

________________________________________________________________

36. What link is there between Grendel and Humbaba? __________________________

Note the theme of friendship in the poem and how the excerpt ends with the peace and solace of companionship.

Responding to the Art

The Sumerian gods each had a spiritual role, such as taking care of the sun or guarding justice. Aby was responsible for the calendar and the seasons.

TRUE or FALSE:

1. Gilgamesh is frightened when he hears Humbaba coming.

2. Humbaba has never been appreciated by the gods he works for.

3. Humbaba attacks Enkidu first.

4. Humbaba offers to serve Gilgamesh instead of the gods.

5. Gilgamesh lets Humbaba escape.

Page 56: “The Seafarer” - Summary

The speaker in this elegy is a sailor who has endured many hard winters on the cold northern seas. Yet the sea has a powerful attraction for him, and he prefers its rigors to the comforts of life on land in an age that no longer produces brave and generous heroes. In fact, the sea is used as a powerful metaphor for life itself. The poem ends with a hopeful Christian exhortation to love God.

This poem is not a story but a serious look at life from the point of view of someone who has known great hardship and suffering. After you read the first page, what are the answer to the 5 W’s?

Who the main character is ? ______________ What the poem is about? ____________

______________________________ Where? _________

When? ____________

Why the speaker returns to the sea?_____________________________________

Elegy (ll. 1-9)

37. In what ways do these opening lines suggest an elegy?

_________________________________________________________________

Comparing and Contrasting (ll. 10-26)

38. What two ways of life is the poet contrasting?

__________________________________________________________________

Analyzing Motivation (ll. 33-38)

39. Why does the seafarer return to the ocean time after time? __________________________________________________________________

Comparing and Contrasting (ll. 41-44)

40. Compare the seafarer’s attitude about fate with Beowulf’s.

__________________________________________________________________

Note the unfamiliar use of familiar words, such as “an anxious watch” (meaning “time spent as a lookout”) (l. 7) or “the quiet fairness of earth,” meaning “the safety, beauty, and loveliness of the land” (l. 13).

Page 57 Monitoring Reading (ll. 52-57)

41. What questions or notes might you record at this point in your reading?

__________________________________________________________________

Kennings (ll. 59-60)

42. What kennings for the sea appears in these lines? ____________________________

43. How does this device create a sense of excitement? ___________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Literary Connections (ll. 80-83)

The transience of glory is a theme echoed throughout literature. For another ironic lament on this theme, see Shelley “Ozymandias” (p. 731). For an expression of loss and bewilderment at the close of the nineteenth century, see Tennyson’s “Tears, Idle tears” (p. 804). For an expression of the loss of faith and receding sense of certainty, see Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach” (p. 848).

Elegy: (l. 86)

44. What makes this poem an elegy?

__________________________________________________________________

Naturalist Learners

The “song of the swan” and the “eagle’s screams,” as well as the
“smashing surf,” sound throughout the poem. Notice if the nature imagery falls into the following categories: weather, the sea, animals, and the land.

Page 58: Balance and Parallelism (ll. 87-102)

45. Part of the beauty of this poem rests in its sentence structure. What examples of balance and parallelism appear in ll. 87-102? ____________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Interpreting (ll. 103-124)

46. How does the point of view change in these lines? ___________________________

Finding the Main Idea (ll. 103-124)

47. How does the seafarer think that people should act? __________________________

__________________________________________________________________

48. What, if anything, is heroic about this seafarer? ______________________________

_________________________________________________________________

49. In what significant ways does the seafarer compare with Beowulf and Gilgamesh? In what significant ways does he differ from them? __________________________

__________________________________________________________________

50. The seafarer sees himself as an outsider, a man for whom the “paths of exile stretch endlessly on.” How does the condition of being set apart from all others contribute to his “song”? How does it make his song more emotional, more heroic, or more elegiac? _____________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

51. Which of these heroes, or which of these “songs,” is most significant to you? Explain. __________________________________________________________

TRUE or FALSE:

52. The narrator claims his tale is true.

53. The narrator states that he has never feared the sea.

54. According to the poem, the seafarer can’t resist the lure of the sea for long.

55. The narrator states that the days of glory are gone.

56. According to the narrator, man’s goal is to get to heaven.

Critical Comment: Reconciling the Two Parts of the Poem

“The Seafarer” has been the subject of scholarly debate for many years because it seems to shift in tone and subject matter after l. 64. Some critics believe the poem is a dialogue between an experienced mariner and a young man eager to go to sea; others see it as the conflicting emotions of one man. Here, essayist O. S. Anderson discusses his solution: “The simplest way of uniting [the poem is to assume] that the first part is also in the nature of a homily . . . The cares and sufferings of the poet’s earthly existence. . . make him long for the joys of heaven with all his soul. . . This gives a simple and clear connection between the first part of the poem and the second: the earthly life of the poet is full of misery and privation . . . therefore the joys of heaven are his only real concern . . . . “

Page 61: Spotlight On

Three Anglo-Saxon riddles describe aspects of nature and human life in verse form.

Appreciating Language: Vocabulary ( #32, l. 3)

The use of the word machine in this context may give you difficulty if you associate a machine only with something that operates on electricity. Earlier the word was applied to any apparatus used for doing work.

Finding Details (#33)

57. What key words help you solve this riddle and why? _________________________

________________________________________________________________

Extending the Text (#47, ll. 5-6)

58. Remember that much of Anglo-Saxon poetry was oral rather than written. How does this riddle reflect the Anglo-Saxon love of oral literature? ___________________

__________________________________________________________________

Critical Comment: Riddles

In A Feast of Creatures: Anglo-Saxon Riddle Songs, Craig Williamson comments on the metaphoric nature of riddles: “The riddles are primitive flower and lyric seed. To us, they offer a world in which there is an eye ( I ) in every other; a changed world where, as Walt Whitman says, there is ‘God in every object.’

Page 63 Objectives:

1. Appreciate the development of Old English from its Indo-European roots to its flowering under King Alfred.

2. Distinguish key similarities and differences between Old English and our language today.

Drawing Upon Background Knowledge

59. What events do you already know about that probably influenced the development of the English language? _______________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Finding the Roots

The British judge Sir William Jones and the writer Jakob Grimm were the first to note similarities among Indo-European languages and to trace them back to a common origin.

Page 64 Danish Influences

One reason that Celtic did not have much influence on English is that the Celts were often either the subjects or the enemies of the Anglo-Saxons. Some Celtic border chieftains even joined in with the Scandinavians in their raids against the Anglo-Saxons. Ironically, English ended up borrowing more from Danish--the language of the invaders--than it did from the Celts. That is probably because Danish, like English, was a Germanic language and therefore less foreign.

More Words from Latin

The Romans, who had evolved a complex system of laws beginning with the Twelve Tablets and extending to the vast codes of Justinian, also gave English many words related to law and government, including affidavit, agenda, alibi, fiat, posse, propaganda, quorum, verbatim, and veto. The Latin words for senate and senator came from a root meaning “old man.”

The Latin Legacy

Other than the examples cited--place words related to government, religion, and learning--English adopted few words directly from Latin. Yet an enormous number of our words can be traced back to Latin roots--because the French that the Normans brought to England in 1066 (see pp. 181-184) is a direct descendant of the Latin language spread by the earlier Roman conquerors of most of Europe.

Language Change

Some language scholars believe that the most significant contribution of the Vikings was the simplification of the system of inflection used in Old English.

Critical Comment: The Spread of English

The following quotation from The Story of English, by Robert McCrum, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil, might interest you: “When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Five hundred years later, Englisc, incomprehensible to modern ears, was probably spoken by about as few people as currently speak Cherokee . . . Nearly a thousand years later, at the end of the sixteenth century, when William Shakespeare was in his prime, English was the native speech of between 5 and 7 million Englishmen . . . Between 1600 and the present . . . the speakers of English . . . traveled into every corner of the globe, carrying their language and culture with them. Today, English is used by at least 750 million people . . . English is more widely scattered, more widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.”

Page 65 Making Generalizations

60. Just how different is Modern English from Old English? ______________________

__________________________________________________________________

Page 65 con’t Responding to the Art

The Book of Kells, an illuminated Latin manuscript of the Gospels, richly and intricately ornamented, is the most remarkable book of the Anglo-Saxon period. The chief characteristic of the illuminations is their intricate interlocking pattering of letters and border work. The Book of Kells, named for a monastery in Kells, Ireland, was the work of Irish monks and can be seen today in Trinity College, Dublin. A statement made in the 12th century about an illuminated manuscript, possibly The Book of Kells itself, still applies today as we rediscover its beauty: “Examine it carefully, and you will penetrate to the very shrine of art. You will make out intricacies so delicate and subtle, so concise and compact, so full of knots and links, with colors so fresh and vivid, that you might think all this was the work of an angel, not a man.”

Notes:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________