Academic Setting
This unit aims for primarily advanced
high school seniors to increase their understanding of modern English through the study of
selections of the Old English language and Anglo-Saxon history. Class projects and discussion will reveal
similarities and differences between Old English speakers and ourselves in numerous ways,
including, grammar, vocabulary, narrative design, themes, and societal values. English language excerpts are taken from the
riddles of The Exeter Book and especially from Beowulf, while Anglo-Saxon
history examines the story of “the mother tongue” from the Celts through the
Scandinavians.
The state’s largest high school with over 3000 students, Rio Rancho High School serves a large and expanding satellite community of Albuquerque. Funded by Intel dollars, the school focuses a great deal on science and technology, though improving student literacy is a recognized priority. Rio Rancho’s student population is fairly diverse in ethnicity and socioeconomic background, though consistently suburban in perspective and experience. Most students’ use of English is utilitarian and reliable, but their skills stand to benefit from greater awareness of the foundations and history of the language.
RRHS requires each student to earn a humanities credit every term. A humanities class operates on a yearlong block of 90 minutes that earns interdisciplinary credit in both language arts and social studies. A major challenge and opportunity for the humanities teacher lies in weaving both English skills and historical connections within lessons that are unified and coherent. The extended time period allows for more projects and detail, but the units themselves require a lot of planning to serve both disciplinary masters fully.
RRHS offers three regular-education
levels of humanities coursework: regular, enriched, and advanced placement. Students generally choose the enriched course over
the regular option because they receive a weighted grade and are more challenged and
stimulated. The grade weighting is half that
of the A.P. option, and the workload is significantly less. While this unit is envisioned primarily for an
enriched class, a scaled-down version would be interesting and useful for a regular class
as well. (Such an adjusted unit might focus
more on universal mythology and creed issues rather than grammar.)
Goals
The unit has broad goals relating to
language, narrative, history, and culture. A
window into Old English has the capacity to provide:
-an awareness of how very different the
English language was less than 1500
years ago
-a basic sense of the historical stages
that led to English in its modern,
American form
-an appreciation for the heroes,
storytelling, and definitions of honor in the
Anglo-Saxon era
-segue into the subsequent unit on
heroes, role models, and creeds.
The senior social studies curriculum at
RRHS consists of economics and contemporary global issues.
While these studies bear little connection to the Anglo-Saxon Era, greater
understanding of America’s primary cultural, historical, and language origins leads
to a stronger sense of our present identity; the tenor of our contemporary moral debates
can be attributed in part to the Puritans’ lasting impact, for a more recent example. Students who are better versed in our roots will
have a better appreciation for the study of our identity and role in contemporary global
issues.
Regarding language arts, most students
perceive words as basic, necessary tools with little rhyme or reason, so to speak. The historical and cultural origins of their
language, when understood, have the power to increase their interest, knowledge, and power
in the subject (and in the real world). While
students are vaguely conscious of the fact that language is universal, they are largely
unaware of the fact that cultural differences can be dramatic and determinant. On the other hand, they are often surprised at
how distinctly similar most of humanity is in our desires, dreams, loves, hates,
frustrations, etc. This unit can allow
discovery on both sides of this continuum of universal and culturally specific themes and
realities.
Choice of Texts
The prose riddles found in The
Exeter Book are classic, short, (mostly) simple puzzlers that entertain and engage. As such, they are an effective initial tool for
engaging our students in Old English. Being
both recognizable and accessible, these riddles provide a useful launch pad for
exploration of the more challenging, but more context and language rich area of Old
English verse found in the epic Beowulf. While
some of the puzzles are obscure or have unrecognizable references, many are very well
suited to this purpose. Some of the more
useful riddles are numbers 5, 12, 27, 65, 77, and 95.
Beowulf is especially
appropriate for use in a 90-minute integrated humanities course, since historically,
linguistically, thematically, and narratively the work provides material for any number of
projects. Ideally seniors who dive
courageously into this mere (“body of water”) will emerge – like the
hero, having vanquished Grendel’s mother in submarinal combat – with spoils in
hand; in this case, spoils would include an advanced sense of the history, structure, and
nature of the English language, an appreciation for societal ideals, creeds, and mores of
the era, and knowledge of early “English” narrative conventions and devices. The project structure will hopefully encourage a
greater degree of ownership over the language as well.
The Irish poet Seamus Heaney’s translation, published in 2000, provides
a lively, elegiac version, though he has taken some poetic license at times.
Envisioned as the initial unit of the
senior year, a prominent objective is to convey a sense of the “baseline” of the
English language. This could be followed by
quick lessons on lexical additions taken from Latin and Danish, and could even extend to
Norman French contributions in the period that precedes the gradual emergence of Middle
English. If “language observers are
better language learners,” then this foray into Old English has the potential to set
the tone for a year of distinct inquiry and achievement across the board.
Context and Background
Anglo-Saxon History and the Formation of the Old English Language
Celts and Romans
Robert Hughes (in his drawing from
Albert Baugh’s A History of the English Language) asserts that the early Celts
migrated into England from Gallic Celt tribes in the late Bronze Age (2000-500 BC). Their language is thought to have been Gaelic at
first, “and then later Britannic, from
which Welsh, Breton, and Cornish derived” (Tuso 59).
Roman influence in the British Isles began when Julius Caesar invaded in 55 and 54 BC, though it is unclear how committed the Romans were to long-term conquest of the islands; perhaps Caesar sought retaliation for Gallic tribes’ resistance to his forces in his earlier continental battles. At any rate, lasting settlement of the region by the Romans was not successful at this time.
During the period AD 78-85, however,
the Roman governor Julius Agricola gained control of the southern and midland regions,
though what would later be known as Wales and Scotland remained rebellious and unconquered
(to the point that Hadrian’s Wall was built, ca. 121-127, to contain northern
aggression). Agricola’s son-in-law, the
noted statesman and writer Tacitus, detailed his kinsman’s conquest and commented on
the impact of Roman culture on the Britons under the Empire’s control:
Agricola had to deal with people living in isolation and ignorance, and therefore prone to fight; and his object was to accustom them to a life of peace and quiet by the provision of amenities. He therefore gave private encouragement and official assistance to the building of temples, public squares, and good houses….he educated the sons of the chiefs in the liberal arts, and expressed a preference for British ability as compared wit the trained skills of the Gauls. The result was that instead of loathing the Latin language they became eager to speak it effectively…. And so the population was gradually led into the demoralizing temptations of arcades, baths, and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as ‘civilization’, when in fact they were only a feature of their enslavement (Tacitus 72-73).
During the fourth century AD, Rome’s
troubles with encroachment by Germanic tribes (e.g. the Goths) led the empire to withdraw
its forces from England, a process completed by ca. 410; at this point the British Celts,
now without Roman protection, faced military threats from the “Gaelic Scots
(Irishmen) from the West and the Britannic Picts from the North” (Tuso 60).
Germanic Tribes
The Germanic
tribes of the Jutes, Frisians, Saxons, and Angles called the south/southeast edges of the
North Sea their homes, in what is today Holland, Germany, and Denmark (McCrum 42). Hughes argues that these tribes spoke different
forms of a common prehistoric Teutonic language and that their dialects (as of the fifth
century) would likely have been mostly intelligible to one another (Tuso 63-64).
During the 1st century AD,
the Celts in Britain were not the only ‘semi-indigenous’ tribes to live in
varying degrees of peace and animosity with the Romans.
The region of Germania was home to many tribes that engaged in either
commerce or warfare with the Empire, and Tacitus described the separate tribes and the
people as a whole in some detail in his Germania.
The cultural description of the ancestors of the future inhabitants of
Britain provides intriguing material relating to their ideas of honor, fame, and kinship
– concepts that will later appear as central themes in Beowulf. It cannot be proven beyond doubt that the Germanic
notions of virtue crossed the English Channel and North Sea intact, but there are enough
similarities to those featured in the Old English heroic text to suggest that the Beowulf
audience was culturally close to Tacitus’s subject(s).
regarding general status and renown:
There are grades of rank even in these retinues, determined at
the discretion of the chief whom they follow; and there is great rivalry, both among the
followers to obtain the highest place in their leader's estimation and among the chiefs
for the honour of having the biggest and most valiant retinue. Both prestige and power
depend on being continually attended by a large train of picked young warriors, which is a
distinction in peace and a protection in war (Tacitus 112).
regarding wartime status and renown:
On the field of battle it is a disgrace
to a chief to be surpassed in courage by his followers, and to the followers not to equal
the courage of their chief. And to leave a battle alive after their chief has
fallen means lifelong infamy and shame. To defend and protect him, and to let him get the
credit for their own acts of heroism, are the most solemn obligations of their allegiance. The
chiefs fight for victory, the followers for their chief. Many noble youths, if the land of
their birth is stagnating in a long period of peace and inactivity, deliberately seek out
other tribes which have some war in hand (Tacitus 113).
regarding kinship and hospitality:
Heirs are under an obligation to take
up both the feuds and the friendships of a father or kinsman. But feuds do not continue
for ever unreconciled. …This is to the advantage of the community: for private feuds
are particularly dangerous where there is such complete liberty. No nation indulges more freely in feasting and
entertaining than the German. It is accounted a sin to turn any man away from your door.
The host welcomes his guest
with the best meal that
his means allow. …It makes no difference that they come uninvited; they are welcomed
just as warmly. No distinction is ever made between acquaintance and stranger as far as
the right to hospitality is concerned (Tacitus 119).
Writing in Latin in the eighth
century, the renowned monk Bede (a.k.a. The Venerable Bede) related much of our
knowledge about events after Roman occupation. Known
as “the father of English history,” Bede wrote two major histories among his
sixty-odd books. In his seminal work, The
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (written in 731), Bede tells us that the
Germanic Jutes were recruited by the fifth century Celtic chieftain Vortigern to help
repel encroachers to the west and north. In exchange, the Jutes were given lands in
eastern Briton, and decided to stay, apparently joined by Frisians. (This gives us some interesting perspective as to
how relative tribal connection was, since we might expect the central Celts to perceive
other Celts as preferable neighbors to the Germanic tribes.) Over the next two generations, the Saxons
and Angles arrived in large numbers and established control of the midlands, apparently
through bloody acquisition: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (see King Alfred, below)
describes the onslaught of 449 by stating that “Never was there such slaughter in
this Island” (McCrum 43). The
mythic figure of Arthur is thought to have been one of the fifth century Welsh kings who
fought off the Saxon advance into Wales; if so, it is interesting to note that Celtic myth
has had more lasting influence on the British Isles than has the Celtic language itself.
In fairly short order, the new rulers
of the land seem to have identified themselves as a separate population. The victorious Anglo-Saxons referred to the
defeated and expelled Britons as wealas (which became Welsh), meaning “foreigners”
(McCrum 43). In AD 601, 129 years before Bede
referred to the English as a distinct people, Pope Gregory I called King Ethelbert
(controller of much of central England at the time) “Rex Anglorum,” the king of
the Angles (Tuso 63).
These waves of invasion caused the
Celts to be moved to the fringes, setting the stage for the English language to form out
of the dialects of the victorious Germanic tribes. The
distinction between the Anglo-Saxons and the displaced Celts
appears to be fairly hermetic in terms of power, culture, and geography. For example, while the dialects of the Germanic
tribes blended over time and formed the primary grammatical and lexical basis for English,
linguists assert that no grammar and very little vocabulary comes to us from the Celtic
languages (Baugh 83-86). What words do appear
borrowed from Celtic are either place-names or geographic terms to describe landscapes
with which the lowland
Germanic tribes had little experience, e.g. luh "lake" and torr
"rocky place" (http://lonestar.texas.net/~jebbo/learn-as/origins.htm).
In contrast, there is extensive Latin in our lexicon, through
Anglo-Saxon exposure to Latin via trade and military contact (resulting both from Roman
rule in Briton and from Roman contact with the original tribes on the continent) and later
by the Christianizing efforts of Roman missionaries (Baugh 86-87). Around 563, St. Columba brought Celtic
Christianity from the north, and in 597, St. Augustine introduced Roman Christianity from
the south (Mitchell and Robinson 120). The
Christianizing process in England is remarkable for its peaceful nature (there were no new
martyrs for the faith), for its lexical additions (over 400 extant words), and for its
contribution of abstract thought (at least on an apparent spiritual level) to the English
language (McCrum 48-49).
Perhaps there is a common thread in
terms of which words were taken from the Celts and the Romans – novel utility. There probably was very little in the Celtic
vocabulary that did not already have a parallel in the Germanic tongue(s), though place
names would have some value for foreign settlers. On
the other hand, Latin offered many new and useful terms, especially since the Romans
introduced a new religion and systems of economic enterprise. Earlier Latin borrowings include battle terms
(e.g. segn/banner, pytt/pit, and straet/street), general trade terms
(e.g. ceap/cheap, mangian/to trade or manage, and mangung-hus/shop),
wine trade terms (e.g. win/wine and flasce/flask), household terms (cytel/kettle
and pyle/pillow), food terms (e.g. ciese/cheese, pipor/pepper, popig/poppy,
butere/butter, ynne/onion, and minte/mint), and building terms (e.g. pic/pitch,
cealc/chalk, copor/copper, and tigele/tile) (Baugh 91-92). During the Christianizing period, a great number
of religious terms were introduced, including words for abbot, alms, disciple, nun,
priest, temple, etc., which were necessary for the execution of the new faith (Baugh
99).
In the late eighth century, the Vikings
of Scandinavia began raiding the English coast, starting in Lindisfarne in 793 (Mitchell
and Robinson 121). For most of the next
hundred years, the Anglo-Saxons found themselves pushed further and further to the west
and south by the invading and settling Danes, until Alfred, King of Wessex, won a
significant battle at Ethandune (McCall 51-52). Alfred
gained enough control of the conflict to create a lasting peace known as the Danelaw: a
body of laws settling the conflict and becoming the title of the regions officially
belonging to the Danes (http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0814611.html). Alfred did a great deal to establish English as a
language of some prestige, including initiating the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, before
his death in 899. This ambitious project entailed the writing of annual historical entries
for every year since the birth of Christ, and was continued up to 1154. Perhaps most importantly during his influential
life, Alfred appears to have directed the creation of an English body of literature and
religious writings that gave rise to a new and distinct sense of ‘Englishness’
(McCrum 52-53).
Regardless of Alfred’s influence,
the impact of the Danes on England was dramatic for over two hundred years. The apex of this power was the first half of the
eleventh century, during which time Danish kings ruled all of England. This lasted until the end of the rule of Cnut and
his sons in 1042 (Mitchell and Robinson 123). Most
of the extant works in Old English come to us from a handful of volumes dated from the
three hundred year era of Danish influence, including The Exeter Book. Known in Latin as the Codex Exoniensis, the
tome is a compendium of poems and 96 riddles thought to be copied during the last quarter
of the tenth century (Crossley-Holland xi).
Beowulf
Origins
Beowulf comes to us from a
single extant volume of Old English works copied around AD 1000 (Alexander vii). Internally the text is filled with specific
references to Germanic history and lore. Many
references to places and figures are familiar to scholars, and the work also contains a
wealth of cultural and religious information. Yet,
what we can say with certainty about the text’s reflection of its era, society, and
authorship is extremely meager.
There is a wide range of opinions made
by scholars as to the date and authorship and even the agenda of Beowulf,
ultimately revealing that our notions are a matter of educated preference more than fact. Depending on our own agenda (e.g. linguistic vs.
historic vs. literary, etc.), our lack of surety makes some difference. For example, the poem is dated variously between
the seventh and tenth centuries; the earlier the work was recorded, the more impressively
the pace and advancement of the Anglo-Saxon culture seems to us in retrospect. Our ‘choice’ of a slow or fast pace of
development toward distinction dramatically alters our perceptions of the Anglo-Saxons as
either crude or rapidly advancing, obvious or increasingly subtle, undistinguished or
surprisingly civilized, etc.
Drawing conclusions as to the author’s
agenda seems pretentious or even mildly treacherous when we cannot even have minimal
confidence about who the author was. Robert
Bjork and Anita Obermeier review a vast array of confident ‘identifications’ of
the author as, variously, an eyewitness to the deeds of Beowulf who delivered the hero’s
eulogy (!), a bard in the court of Cnut (King of England during the period when the isle
was ruled by Danes), an Anglo-Saxon poet, a Danish poet, a Swedish poet, a Northumbrian
poet in the court of Queen Cuthburg, a Christian, a pagan, a man, a woman, a lay poet, a
monk, an aristocrat, etc. (Bjork 13-17, 32).
None other than J.R.R. Tolkein, while a
professor at Oxford, gave a seminal address (“Beowulf: The Monsters and the
Critics”) in which he proposed that the author was “a learned man writing of old
times, who looking back on the heroism and sorrow feels in them something permanent and
something symbolical” (Tuso 106). He
goes on to ascribe to the poet a high level of learning and training in both Christian
poetry and Anglo-Saxon traditions and verse. He
further states that the poem’s agenda is to project “a Christian English
conception of the noble chief before Christianity, who could lapse …in times of
temptation into idolatry….[it] must have succeeded admirably in creating in the minds
of the poet’s contemporaries the illusion of surveying a past, pagan but noble and
fraught with a deep significance” (Tuso 107).
Tolkein, like many others, subscribes
to the assumption that one author engineered the work in its entirety, while others
conclude that the “final” writer (probably Christian) took earlier oral
traditions and/or writings, potentially from several locations and times, and created his
own version. Regardless, neither conception
really takes us anywhere, since neither offers any secure conclusions as to the writer’s
conscious or unconscious agenda.
The value of tracing our lack of
evidence lies in Bjork and Obermeier’s conclusion that we must therefore “arrive
arduously at a cautious and necessary incertitude…all we can say with assurance when
asked when, where, by whom, and for whom the poem was composed is that we are not sure”
(Bjork 33). For the context of a high school
classroom, this can be taken as a great opportunity for students to form their own
positions. Beowulf is rife with
social values, heroic ideals, and pieces of character development that must have been
significant and recognizable to its audience; deciding what was important, to whom, and
why can be an engaging task for teens, especially when couched in language such as ‘The
experts can’t agree on this. What do you
think?’
Narrative
Skeleton and Key Selections
The basic story of the poem begins in
Denmark, where Grendel, the Cain-descended monster, continually ravages the great meadhall
(Heorot) and warriors of the aging, noble King Hrothgar.
After many years, Beowulf, a young hero from the Geat tribe (from modern-day
southern Sweden), arrives with a company of warriors, committing to end Grendel’s
reign of slaughter. He does so without the
use of weaponry, ripping Grendel’s arm from its socket, and then must face the
monster’s vengeance-mad mother. Over
fifty years later, then king of the Geats, Beowulf faces a final supernatural foe, a
treasure-protecting dragon whose sanctuary is disturbed by a thief. The old king slays the wyrm (dragon) with
the help of a young hero (Wiglaf), but Beowulf is mortally wounded in the battle.
While segments featuring active
violence lend themselves to class interest, Beowulf’s frenetic, violent
material is fairly minimal. A large
proportion of the poem is taken up with manners, virtue, social activity, and commentary
on universal issues.
Three early passages offer themselves
as useful material to examine as a class, as they reveal important narrative information
and dynamic character development.
Lines 99-164 Following the background material of the Danes’
happy, proud history, Grendel, cursed as a descendant of Cain, slaughters thirty men in
the night and establishes his twelve-year rule over Heorot.
Lines 529-606 At dinner upon his
arrival in Heorot, Beowulf answers the verbal challenge just made by Unferth, one of
Hrothgar’s nobles, who has accused the Geat of vanity and failure in having lost his
past contest of swimming the perilous seas against Breca.
Beowulf recounts being pulled to the bottom of the sea by a monster and
killing nine such beasts in the course of the night before finally swimming to shore. He then claims his feats far surpass anything
accomplished by either Breca or Unferth, proclaiming that Grendel will now find a true
warrior in Heorot.
Lines 710-836 Grendel enters Heorot bent on slaughter. The creature shreds the doors of the mead-hall,
destroys one sleeping warrior, and then reaches for Beowulf. Beowulf, feigning sleep, grasps the monster’s
arm and – after much battle – rends the limb from its body. Grendel, mortally wounded, flees to his lair.
Following is an outline of key
subsequent points in the narrative, potentially sections for students (individually or
not) to decipher from the Old English, using the Penguin edition (which features Old
English on the left page and attendant vocabulary glossed on the facing page):
Lines 990-1048 The
Danes respond to the victory over Grendel by rebuilding, feasting, and reward-giving.
Lines 1187-1231 Queen
Wealhtheow embodies the ideal of the female monarch in her behavior during the feasting.
Lines 1251-1299 Grendel’s
mother invades the unsuspecting sleepers, killing one of Hrothgar’s noblest
retainers.
Lines 1345-1398 Hrothgar
describes the foul mere where the beast must live and promises remuneration to
Beowulf if he takes this challenge, and the Geat pledges to do.
Lines 1497-1569 Beowulf
battles the monster beneath the foul, serpent-infested waters.
Lines 1700-1784 Upon
Beowulf’s victorious return (with Grendel’s head in tow), Hrothgar delivers a
long, wise address to all on the subject of the dangers of power and pride.
Lines 2270-2311 Many
years later, a dragon ravages the countryside because a Geat has stolen a golden goblet
from his ancient hoard of treasure.
Lines 2490-2537 Aged,
noble King Beowulf addresses his warriors as he prepares to face the dragon alone.
Lines 2555-2711 The epic
battle is pitched, joined by Wiglaf as Beowulf struggles and the other warriors flee in
fear. Together they succeed, but at the cost
of the king’s life.
Lines 2794-2831 Beowulf
delivers his last words to Wiglaf, decreeing that a commemorative barrow be built on the
coast. He dies beside the body of the dragon.
Narrative and Thematic Analysis
A great many features of the work as
a narrative lend themselves to analysis and inference about the people of the time. The items below are starting points for students
to form their own opinions on the material, potentially for a short research paper. Again, it is difficult to determine precisely which
time and society is reflected, but regardless, there are many aspects to consider:
-their conception of duty/loyalty and
its great importance
-bequeathing/ring-giving/generosity
as a key virtue in kings
-attitudes toward riches/treasure: it’s
important to give freely to those deserving, yet upon one’s death it is sacrosanct as
possession of the deceased; as an act of loyalty, Beowulf gives his riches from Hrothgar
to Hygelac, implying that even the bravest hero commits his actions in the name and
service of his liege
-courage/proving self is critical to
one’s resume; acts are the key identifiers for proud figures (followed by familial
and tribal ties)
-fame/renown seems to be a key goal
in proving oneself; confidence and worthiness appear to be the implications, without
negative connotations of arrogance; certain forms of the hero’s pride are acceptable
to society: boasting only when setting record straight/establishing worth or one’s
resume (but never undercutting one’s lord)
-knowledge of the past kings, heroes,
and deeds are important and are used as illustrative models by the poet; this extends to
the negative, as several stories are told of poor leaders and the outcomes thereof; the
“people’s history” is prominently on display throughout the text in brief
lays, but the implications of right and wrong action are as important as the historical
facts; Beowulf is not just an individual hero’s story
-women’s role in leadership
appears distinct and conscious: the actions of Wealhtheow and Hygd are carefully
constructed and convey special responsibility as “peace weavers”, whereas Queen
Modthryth is held up as an example of a very bad queen
-honesty within alliances is
important, as it aids in preventing internecine feuds; reflective of the king’s
potential virtues and transgressions
-Beowulf’s retelling of events
to Hygelac “serves to illustrate, since he himself describes his own deeds, yet more
vividly the character of a young man, singled out by destiny, as he steps suddenly forth
in his full powers” (Tolkein quoted in Tuso 108); Beowulf reveals awareness of the
virtuous and the negative within Hrothgar’s meadhall; he makes no pretense of
modesty, yet he devotes more time to a description of Hrothgar’s good actions and
gift-giving than he does to his own deeds (Heaney 137-147)
-ethos of two old kings: Hrothgar’s
speech on power vs. Beowulf’s dying speech to Wiglaf; revelations and recognitions of
mortality and human limitation
-Christian transformation of pagan
life: pyre with gold, “tack-on” sections vs. integrated sections; Christian
material in the poem is smoothly interwoven in some areas, yet strangely absent in others
(e.g. the hero rarely giving credit for his might or victory to a divine source); this
either reflects a changed sensibility about Christianity or it suggests that the poet kept
most of an older, pagan form of the poem intact with some of his own additions
- Tolkein on its poetic structure:
“The lines do not go on according to a tune. They
are founded on a balance; an opposition between two halves of roughly equivalent phonetic
weight, and significant content, which are more often rhythmically contrasted than
similar. They are more like masonry than
music” (Tuso 109-110); the issue of
subtlety or lyricism or crudeness in the style of the text will be beyond most students,
but may be worth a conscious consideration
Another of the many concepts of
interest in the tale is that of what fate does and does not reveal about the society and
its leadership. On an individual basis, there
are several references to fate being God’s will in determining the death or survival
of a person in physical danger. These points
do not include mention that the individual’s virtue or lack thereof is a basis
for God’s decision, only that the choice was divine.
On the macro scale, there appears to be no implication that God favors one
people over another for its behavior, piety, or relative virtue. For example, in Hrothgar’s lengthy speech
about power and pride he mentions God several times as favoring mankind generally (“in
his magnificence favours our race with rank and scope and the gift of wisdom”) and an
evil king specifically (“Almighty God had made eminent and powerful and marked him
from the start for a happy life”) (Heaney, 117, 119).
Nowhere in the poem is there mention that the people or their leader’s
excellence creates favor in God’s eyes.
What should we infer about two brave,
noble warriors (Hrothgar and Beowulf) becoming worthy, noble kings with successful reigns,
both in their old age having to witness their kingdoms being ravaged by supernatural
beasts? Both kings are recognized for their
excellent qualities, including gift-giving, courage, and, by implication, honest dealings
with their people, yet both face the advent of evil toward the end of illustrious lives. Yes, in both cases the evil is defeated, but
Hrothgar has to rely on an outsider, and Beowulf recognizes that upon his death the Swedes
will soon crush his society. Regardless of
end result, certainly the ancient Greeks (for instance) would have ascribed transgressions
within the society as the cause of evil being visited upon them, probably committed by the
leadership itself. This suggests a randomness
to the onset of evil and the judgments of God in the Anglo-Saxon world; the relationship
between the people and their religion does not seem to provide comfort or succor or
assurance for the figure or society that follows a prescribed canon.
Therein lies an interesting difference
in societal attitude from what we are generally accustomed.
Beowulf could not live forever and does not appear to have had any serious
flaws, yet he dies at the hands of evil knowing that his people are doomed, despite having
a worthy, proven successor at his side. The
dragon bursts on the scene as a sort of deus ex machina in reverse (diablolus ex
machina), leading us to focus on the hero’s defining moments as those about
facing forces beyond the natural, not about his earth-bound feats of conquest or of his
years as king. The beasts are what
distinguish him from the many other fine figures portrayed in his present and the
societies’ pasts, yet he dies conscious of the fact that the dragon’s wound has
cemented his people’s ruin and demise. More
than the absence of a happy ending, the close of Beowulf leads us to ask what real,
lasting impact even the greatest of us can exact in the cause of our society.
Implementation
Performance Standards
Most of the state Standards and Benchmarks for Language Arts will be addressed by the unit since it will entail students interacting with literature and history from a very different time and place, as well as drawing conclusions from critical analysis of materials. The following Language Arts Benchmarks will be applied most frequently:
9-12 Benchmark I-A: Listen to, read, react to, and analyze information
9-12 Benchmark I-B: Synthesize and evaluate information to solve problems across the curriculum
9-12 Benchmark I-C: Demonstrate critical thinking skills to evaluate information and solve problems
9-12 Benchmark I-D: Apply knowledge of reading process to evaluate print, non-print, and technology-based information
9-12 Benchmarks III-A: Use language, literature, and media to understand the role of the individual as a member of many cultures
9-12 Benchmarks III-B: Understand literary elements, concepts, and genres
The two Social Studies Strands that best apply are those of History and Geography. The primary Social Studies benchmarks that will be addressed are the following:
9-12 Benchmark I-D—Skills: Use critical thinking skills to understand and communicate perspectives of individuals, groups, and societies from multiple contexts
9-12 Benchmark II-A: Analyze and evaluate the characteristics and purposes of geographic tools, knowledge, skills, and perspectives, and apply them to explain the past, present, and future in terms of patterns, events, and issues
Lesson Plans
Evaluations will include at least three Writer’s Journal entries based on class discussion, translation work, a written paper, a presentation, and class participation. Historical material covered in the unit is fair game on the semester exam.
Day 1 - Show Old English excerpt (overhead or Power Point) as attention-getter; ask them to identify the language; discuss their guesses and reasons. Once identified and discussed as OE, pick out individual words that seem familiar and guess connections and meanings.
Handout excerpts of Beowulf (Old English), Chaucer (Middle English), and Shakespeare (Modern English). Give time for students to attempt written translations of each. Estimate what percentage of each they can understand. Discuss degrees of difference and intelligibility, and why Shakespeare is more clearly Modern English. Give basic overview of dates for the three eras, and explain basic historical and cultural reasons for boundaries of eras.
Assign each student a section of the dictionary from which to find ten common words that derive from roots that either Old English, German, Latin, or Scandinavian. Students should write the word, its root, the root’s origin, and the root’s meaning.
Day 2 – Begin with oral delivery of a few words from each student’s homework. Perhaps give the word aloud and then let the class guess the root meaning or root origin.
Give map handouts on areas of importance: Scandinavia, the British Isles, the Roman Empire, and Normandy. Deliver interactive lecture on Anglo-Saxon history, including impact of Celts, Romans, Germanic tribes, Danes, and Normans. Use Power Point images to illustrate. (Bibliography web sites are convenient.)
At each stage, give selected Old English words borrowed from the ‘new’ influencing group (e.g. Romans’ religious terms), and discuss probable meanings and modern equivalents.
Day 3 - Give handout of Old English pronunciation and grammar. (Again, bibliography web sites are convenient.) Have volunteer students pronounce OE greetings and simple sentences (on board). Explain and model how to use grammar handout to translate OE text. (Students who are accomplished at foreign languages can model as well.)
Look at selected riddles from The Exeter Book. The first handout will feature the Old English riddle with the Modern English translation as well. The second handout will feature 2 or 3 Old English riddles with just a gloss (listing of key words identified). Give time for students to translate riddles into Modern English in small groups (with proficient foreign language students dispersed), then discuss translations as a class, as well as solutions to riddles.
Write a journal about what we can infer about the culture that created these riddles based on context, focus, vocabulary, etc.
Day 4 – Translate glossed early sections of Beowulf in small groups (Lines 99-163). Compare groups’ translations aloud. Then as a class examine 4 different translations of the section: Porter, Chickering, Tuso, and Heaney. Contrast and discuss different “personalities” and tones of the translations; set goal as to what model to follow in each student’s own translation work.
Outline in-class translation project. Time permitting, read narrative skeleton of Beowulf to class and allow pairs/groups to claim section to work on based on content.
Day 5-6 – Begin in-class translation of Beowulf sections in pairs/groups; approximately 20-30 lines per pair/group.
Pair/group
will plan and prepare their 3-5 minute presentation of their excerpt, to include dramatic
visual aid(s) and analysis of the realities, beliefs, values, ideals, daily lives, etc. of
the people whose society created the section.
In addition, each student will write a 2-3 page paper about A) the relative familiarity of the Old English found in that passage and the Modern English words and usage that seem connected (expository writing), and B) what we can infer about the realities, beliefs, values, ideals, daily lives, etc. of the people whose society created this passage (descriptive writing). Rough draft is due on Monday. Final draft is due on Friday.
Day 7-8 - Gestalt storytelling: chronological presentation of sections with dramatic visual aids and analysis of the realities, beliefs, values, ideals, daily lives, etc. of the people whose society created the section. Teacher fills in the gaps in the narrative as it unfolds.
Day 9-10 - Concluding class discussion will
revisit the issues of where English once was and how it has changed and why; key “what
ifs” of history of the era and since; predictions as to its likely future; narrative
and thematic analysis; similarities and differences in ancient vs. modern conceptions of
heroism, virtue, and creed. Discussion will
conclude with lead-in to the ensuing unit on heroes, role models, and creeds. Both days will close with Writer’s Journal
entries responding to the day’s class discussion.
Final drafts of papers are due on
final day, and excerpts may be used to contribute to the closing discussion.
Documentation
Alexander, Michael, ed. BEOWULF: A Glossed Text. New York: Penguin Books, 2000.
Ball, Catherine. Instant Old English. Georgetown University. Updated January 9, 1997. <http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/englisc/instant-oe.html>.
Ball, Catherine. Old English Pages: Historical contexts. Georgetown University. Updated October 7, 2000. < http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/oe/oe-historical.html >.
Ball, John, ed. From BEOWULF to MODERN ENGLISH WRITERS. New York: The Odyssey Press, 1959.
Baker, Peter S., ed. BEOWULF: Basic Readings. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1995.
Baugh, Albert C. A History of the English Language. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.
Bede: Internet Sites. Ohio State University. Modified June 22, 2002. <http://www.cohums.ohio-state.edu/history/people/crisp.23/bede.htm>.
Bessinger,
Jr., Jess B., and Robert F. Yeager. Approaches
to Teaching Beowulf. New York: The Modern
Language Association of America, 1984.
Bjork,
Robert E., and John D. Niles, ed. A
Beowulf Handbook. Lincoln, Neb.:
University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
Cassidy,
Frederic G., and Richard Ringler, ed. Bright’s
Old English Grammar and Reader. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1971.
Chickering,
Jr., Howell D., trans. Beowulf: A
Dual-Language Edition. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1977.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin, trans. The Exeter Book Riddles. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.
Hill, John M. The Cultural World in Beowulf. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1995.
Howe,
Nicholas. “Scullionspeak.”
The New Republic Online. Modified
July 2, 2002. <http://www.thenewrepublic.com/022800/howe022800.html>.
Jack, George, ed.. Beowulf: A Student Edition. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1994.
Keynes, Simon. Anglo-Saxon History: A Select Bibliography. Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University. Revised November 20, 1998. <http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/rawl/keynes1/title.htm>.
Klaeber, Fr., ed. Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath and Company,
1950.
Irvine, Martin, and
Deborah Everhart. The Labyrinth: Resources
for Medieval Studies. Georgetown
University. Modified July 2, 2002. <http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/index.html>.
Jebson, Tony. Learning Old English. Modified May 25, 2001. <http://lonestar.texas.net/~jebbo/learn-as/contents.htm>.
McCrum, Robert, William Cran & Robert MacNeil. The Story of English. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.
Mitchell, Bruce. On Old English: Selected Papers. Oxford, U.K.: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1988.
Mitchell, Bruce, and Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell Publishers, 1992.
Mosser, Dan. History of the English Language. University of Vermont. Updated April 11, 2002. <http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/hel/hel.html>.
Old English. Blue Rider Development. Modified July 2, 2002. <http://www.bluerider.com/english/old_eng.htm>.
Pettis, Ruth. Word Safari: Megalist of Word Links. Modified July 2, 2002. <http://home.earthlink.net/~ruthpett/safari/megalist.htm>.
Porter, John. Anglo-Saxon Riddles. Norfolk, U.K.: Anglo-Saxon Books, 1995.
Porter, John, trans. Beowulf: Text and Translation. Pinner, Middlesex, U.K.: Anglo-Saxon Books, 1993.
Rodrigues,
Louis J., trans. Anglo-Saxon Riddles. Felinfach, Wales, U.K.: Llanerch
Enterprises, 1990.
Savage, Anne. Beowulf in Hypertext. Beowulf Project. Dept. Of English. McMaster University. Modified July 2, 2002. <http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/intro.html>.
Tacitus. The Agricola and the Germania. New York: Penguin Books, 1970.
Tuso, Joseph F., ed. Beowulf. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1975.
Wyatt,
A.J., M.A., ed. Old English Riddles. New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1972.