Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon England
| Brythonic (ancestor of Welsh) |
| attacks of the Picts and Scots |
| use of Germanic mercenaries |
| Development of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms |
| Battle of Mt. Badon, c 500 |
| completed within a century |
| Introduction of writing and classical learning |
| first Old English laws, early 7th c |
| Latin the language of learning and scholarship |
| Bede: History of the English Church and People, 731 |
| center of European learning |
| Scandinavian Invasions, 9th c |
| kingdoms north of the Thames either conquered or destroyed |
| defeated Scandinavians and preserved Wessex |
| descendents reconquered England |
| England unified for first time |
| Native English aristocracy replaced by French speakers |
| most important writing in French or Latin |
| "Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow, answered" |
| perhaps partially based on encounters with dragons in Saints' lives |
| terms for God and the vocabary of the driht |
| meotod 'measurer, governor' |
| Beowulf and Hrothgar as pious, pre-Christian monotheists |
| Grendel's descent from Cain |
| decrease in Christian references in part two |
| a positive and necessary heroic practice |
| beot, 'promise, vow, threat' |
| Beowulf's boasts to the Danes |
| treasure as an index of a warrior's prowess, honor and reputation |
| Burial at Sutton Hoo (early 7th c) |
| foreground and background |
| Swedish and Frisian wars in second half |
| future predicted through a story of the past |
| Wihstan slays Eanmund, the nephew of Onela, his lord |
| kin-slayings within Germanic royal families |
| Wiglaf inherits Eanmund's sword from his father |
| Heorot, Grendel, and Norse cosmology |
| hall as center of the world |
| eotonas/jötnar 'giants', lit. 'eaters' |
| inhabit the darkness of the waste-lands |
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