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Anglo-Saxon Values

Anglo-Saxon Values. Family identity: These Germanic tribes considered the family the basic unit of society. Loyalty to family and to protecting the kind: To be exiled from your tribe was the worst punishment.

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Anglo-Saxon Values

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  1. Anglo-Saxon Values • Family identity: These Germanic tribes considered the family the basic unit of society. • Loyalty to family and to protecting the kind: To be exiled from your tribe was the worst punishment. • The Comitatus: a group of men bound by loyalty and bravery for the mutual protection of their families. • Honesty: even to boast • Glory: Your goal was to bring honor to family and your king

  2. Anglo-Saxon Values Continued 5. Bravery: This must be tried and proven. Cowardice was the worst sin. 6. Fame meant immortality: the scops or storytellers, had the power to make someone immoral in song. 7. Treasure:a symbol of pride and respect. ( the Anglo- Saxons were excellent goldsmiths and wore ornaments encrusted with jewels)

  3. The Epic • An epic is a long narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s deeds. • The earliest epic tales survived for centuries as oral traditions before they were finally written down. • Most orally composed epics date back to preliterate periods—before the cultures that produces them had developed written forms of their languages.

  4. The Epic • Most epics are based in historical fact, so that their public performance by poets (known in different cultures by such names as scops or bards) provided both entertainment and education for the audience. • Oral poets had to be master improvisers, able to compose verse in their heads while simultaneously singing or chanting it.

  5. The Epic • Stories were not made totally from scratch; they drew on existing songs and legends, which they could embellish or combine with original material. • One characteristic feature of oral poetry is the repetition of certain words, phrases, or even lines. • Two of the most notable examples of repeated elements are stock epithetsand kennings. (We will learn more about these later.)

  6. The Scop • The Poet or Bard’s sole job was to create songs of praise for deserving members of the comitatus and commit to memory the stories of the tribal society. • The Scop performed in the Meade Hall and was a highly respected keeper of the communal song.

  7. The Meade Hall • A central hall or communal court where victory celebrations were held nightly and around which the comitatus built their homes. • Meade: an alcoholic ale made with honey herbs and water was served nightly as the men celebrated their successes.

  8. Characteristics of an Epic 1. The hero, generally a male, is of noble birth or high position, and often of great historical or legendary importance. 2. The hero’s character traits reflect important ideals of his society. 3. The hero performs courageous—sometimes even superhuman—deeds that reflect the values of the era.

  9. Characteristics of an Epic 4. The actions of the hero often determine the fate of a nation or group of people. 5. The setting is vast in scope, often involving more than one nation. 6. The poet uses formal diction and a serious tone. 7. Major characters often deliver long, formal speeches.

  10. Characteristics of an Epic 8. The plot is complicated by supernatural beings or events and may involve a long and dangerous journey through foreign lands. 9. The poem reflects timeless values, such as courage and honor. 10. The poem treats universal themes, such as good and evil or life and death.

  11. Literature Terms to Know for Beowulf • Scops/Bards: skilled storytellers that sang of gods and heroes. • Alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words • The ancient bladebroke, bit into… The monster’s skin, drew blood

  12. Literature Terms to Know for Beowulf • Caesura: a pause or break within a line of poetry usually indicated by the natural rhythm of language. • Old English poetry has a strong rhythm, with each line divided into two parts by a pause, called a caesura. • In the translation we will read, the translator uses punctuation like a comma to reproduce the effect of the caesuras. • Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred Grendel came, hoping to kill…

  13. Literature Terms to Know for Beowulf • One of the literary devices popular in the Anglo-Saxon Old English poetry tradition is the kenning. • Kenning:a literary device in which a noun is renamed in a creative way using a compound word or union of two separate words to combine ideas

  14. Kenning Examples: • If you call "school" a "scholar's home" -- then you have created a kenning. • If you tell your friends that your parents are the "car loaners" -- then you have created a kenning. • The folks at Coca-Cola might agree that a cold Coke is "humanity's beverage."

  15. Kenning Practice Below are all different types of kennings for the same object. What do you think this object is? • Arrow aimer • Dust terror • Antique printer • Tickle tool • Fowl Fashion • FEATHER

  16. Kenning Practice Assignment Directions: Consider carefully how you could creatively rename each of the following through the use of the kenning technique.1. a teacher 6. police2. a bus driver 7. pop tarts3. firemen 8. music4. television 9. love5. meatloaf 10. computer

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