Terms and dates:
450 (449), 597, 664, 878, 1066, 1180
Bede
King Alfred
Ethelraed the Unraed
Maldon
Heroic Code
Primary and Secondary Epic
Dream Vision
legend of the True Cross and St. Helena
Harrowing of Hell
Anglo-Saxon Prosody
“courtly love” (l’amour courtois)
Gaston Paris, C.S. Lewis
Humanist versus Patristic schools of criticism
fin’amors, fine amour
troubadour, trouveres
lai(s)
Cnut
Henry II
Bayeaux Tapestry
Eleanor of Aquitaine
J.R.R. Tolkien, “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics”
R.E. Kaske, “Sapientia et Fortitudo”
13th Warrior, Eaters of the Dean
Ibn Fadlan’s 10th century journal of trip up the Volga river
William I the Conqueror
The effects of William's Conquest
The relevance of Henry II and Eleanor to literary culture
Mead, mead-bench, mead-hall, mead-cup
berserker
runes
scop
ship burial
King Redwald and his two altars
Sutton Hoo
Tacitus
Exile, eordstappa
Comitatus (duguth)
Tristan and Isolde
Gesta romanorum
Bestiary
Kenning
Seamus Heaney, Ezra Pound, Edwin Morgan, Richard Wilbur
Beowulf manuscript
King Vortigern and Hengest and Horsa
Caedmon and the story of the Caedmonian School of Poetry
Ubi sunt
How is Jesus presented in Anglo-Saxon literature?
In what sense if Beowulf an epic?
In what sense might it not be an epic?
If epic, is it a primary or secondary epic?
Could Beowulf be considered a savior?
How is Beowulf connected to bear lore?
What do we make of the religious mix in Beowulf?
What does the Sutton Hoo find tell us about Beowulf?
How does the Thirteenth Warrior naturalize or rationalize the story of Beowulf?
How is the Runic alphabet different from the Roman alphabet?
How does the sapientia et fortitudo device work in Beowulf?
How does the ubi sunt device work in "The Wanderer"?
What do the elegiac poems have in common?
What do we make of Marie de France’s attitude toward love?
What stories seem to follow the Gaston Paris model of courtly love?
Which one’s do not?
What are the elements of the supernatural in Marie and why are they there?
What are some of the judgments about human behavior that she provides us in her lais?
In what ways does Eliduc justify an adulterous affair?
Really big questions:
How does knowledge of the minor and supporting materials from the Anglo-Saxon period assist your understanding of Beowulf? .
Discuss the many ways that refined love or love among the aristocrats is presented in Marie de France’s Lais.
Texts that might be quoted:
Dream of the Rood
Judith
Battle of Maldon
Wanderer
Genesis B
Wife’s Complaint
Wulf and Eadwacer
Riddle Poems
Caedmon’s Hymn
Marie de France’s Lais