For Wednesday: “The Battle of Maldon” (pp.99-111)

NOTE: This is our last reading from The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics, Riddles, so be sure to have Chaucer ready for next week. However, don’t get rid of this book, since you’ll need it for Short Paper #1 and the longer Mid-Term Paper.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Though “The Battle of Maldon” is about real people engaging in an actual historical event, it is also a calculated work of art. Whatever happened in the real battle, what theme or values about Anglo Saxon society is the poem trying to convey? According to the poet, what makes the English better men than the Vikings? Why are they (to him) more honorable, noble, and heroic? 

Q2: Like many works of Anglo-Saxon literature, the work is fragmentary: we’re missing the beginning and end of the work. However, there is something poetically appropriate about the last lines of the poem: “That was not the Godric who galloped away...” Why does this work as a fitting ending considering the fate of the soldiers and the theme of the poem?

Q3: Though relatively little-known, how might “The Battle of Maldon” be a template for thousands of battle stories and movies to follow? Consider many of the ‘set pieces’ of the poem, including the speeches, the deaths, and the characters themselves. Discuss one moment/element that you’ve probably seen duplicated in a modern book or film (Braveheart, anyone?).

Q4: How does “The Battle of Maldon” further develop the Christian vs. Pagan tension that we’ve seen in other poems such as “The Seafarer” and Beowulf? What insight does the poem give us into the poet’s faith and world view? And how might this reflect Anglo-Saxon culture as it reaches the second century (1000 AD)?

For Monday: Short Beowulf Excerpts (pp.21-32)

Answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: Beowulf is the longest complete poem to survive from the Anglo-Saxon period; because of this, is it often the only poem read or studied from this period. However, it’s style, ideas, and framework owe a lot to its predecessors, and betray its lineage in the Anglo-Saxon world. Which poems in class seem to have influenced the writer of Beowulf—what echoes do we hear in this work?

Q2: Of all the selections in this book, Beowulf is among the most musical, and truly captures the Old English dictum of wordum wrixlan (“vary the words”). Discuss a short passage that is particularly beautiful/effective and discuss why it strikes you as a great piece of poetry.

Q3: Beowulf celebrates the heroic career of a pagan warrior (Beowulf), who lived in pre-Christian times. However, the writer was certainly a Christian, and subtly inserts Christian ideas and terminology into the narrative. Based on these excerpts, why do you think such a pagan poem (which even later ages found positively barbaric) would have appealed to a 9th or 10th century monk? What elements or ideas in the poem lend themselves to a Christian interpretation?

Q4: One of the chief exploits of an Anglo-Saxon hero was to win renown and amass treasure. We see the end result of this in “The Lay of the Last Survivor,” when the last member of a once-great society buries the remnants of his vast treasure hoard. How does the survivor—and the poet—reflect on the accumulated riches of his people? Is the survivor ready to die in glory...or has fame become tarnished for him?

For Friday: Anglo-Saxon Riddles (pp.67-82)

Remember, no questions for Friday's class; however, be sure to read the Riddles in our book and choose 3-4 that you feel comfortable with. Read them a few times and see if you can guess the answer to each one (the most commonly accepted answers are in Appendix B in the back of the book). In class on Friday, I'll give you an in-class writing which you can answer using one or more of the Riddles you prefer. Just be sure that you have a few in mind. 

If you're not sure which ones to choose, Nos.27, 29, 43, 44, 50, and 51 are particularly interesting ones.  

For Wednesday: Elegies (see below)

For Wednesday: Elegies: “The Wife’s Complaint,” “The Husband’s Message,” and “Wulf and Eadwacer” (pp.56-62)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: These are very rare poems in Anglo-Saxon, as they deal chiefly with love and the pains of love. What seems the most universal about one or more of these poems as they approach the timeless subject of love? How also do they put a uniquely Anglo-Saxon twist on the theme of ‘doomed lovers’?

Q2: “The Wife’s Complaint” is very similar in genre/theme to “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer,” though it approaches this material from the perspective of a female narrator. According to this poem, how does a woman feel exile differently from a man, and how is her “complaint” different from the other two wanderers?

Q3: “Wulf and Eadwacer” is a very cryptic song, alluding to characters and events we can only dimly make out. According to what little we have, what do you think is the story behind this work? Who are the main characters, and how does wierd keep them apart? You might also consider the importance of the refrain, “Our fate is forked” (what does this mean)?

Q4: Though “The Husband’s Message” might not be a response to “The Wife’s Complaint,” why did early editors suggest it was? What about the poem seems to respond to the earlier poem, and what ‘defense’ of his conduct does he offer? Why, too, might he have to end his reply with a coded message (in runes—see page 134-135 for more information about them). 

For Monday: The Wanderer and The Seafarer (pp.48-55)

NOTE: Remember, try to read these poems aloud so you can pay attention to the sound, the rhythm, the mood, and the word-choice of each work. Experience it as a work of music and melody before you dive into the "meaning." Then answer 2 of the questions below in a few sentences--show me evidence that you've read the poem and are offeirng a thoughtful, honest response to what is a tricky and open-ended question. 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: How does The Wanderer relate to The Ruin and/or Deor? What elements of the sound/mood and the message suggest that it is in the same genre (style) as our previous poems? Think about how you recognize a song is a pop song, or  a country song, or an industrial song—it’s the sound, but also the mood, message, and expression.

Q2: The Wanderer mentions a “Heavenly Father” at the end of the poem, yet elsewhere talks about “Wierd” and the “Maker of Men” in a darker way. How do you think the poem reconciles these different ideas of the powers-that-be? Who is in control of the world, according to the poet? Can faith save you in this Anglo-Saxon world?

Q3: The Seafarer, more than the other poems we’ve read, is the most blatantly autobiographical—the opening even says, “The tale I frame shall be found to tally:/the history is of myself.” And yet, the poet never even attached his name to the poem. Based on this, what do you think it meant to write about your own life one thousand years ago? What was the poet’s purpose in using his own experience as a theme of the poem?

Q4: Choose a favorite passage (no more than 4 lines) from one of the poems and explain why this poem speaks to you: what sounds, words, metaphors, or ideas seem exciting or even modern to you? Why might this passage alone “save” the poem from the relics of history?

For Friday: "The Ruin" and "Deor" (in The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics, Riddles"

For Friday's class, I want you to read the following two short poems:

"The Ruin" (pp.2-3)
"Deor" (pp.14-15)

For the first two readings, I won't give you any questions to respond to (we'll do some in-class writing instead). However, I do have some instructions for you:

1. READ IT ALOUD: As Michael Alexander says in his A Note on the Translation: "I must further strain the sympathy of the reader by asking him [or her] to read these translations aloud , and with as much vigour and deliberation as he finds the line warrants" (xxv). So have fun with it: scream, declaim, bellow, resound, and boom. Don't worry about the meaning the first or second time around--just note the sounds and rhythms of the piece.

2. READ IT MORE THAN ONCE: If you just read each poem once and toss the book aside, it might not be very useful for you. Poetry increases with re-readings; in the same way, the first time you hear a song it might go right over your head. But when you hear it the fourth or fifth time, it becomes your new favorite song. Read it aloud, then silently, then aloud again. They're very short so this should be easy to do. 

3. LOOK FOR METAPHORS: After you've read it several times, look for how the poet and Anglo-Saxon culture translates one experience in the terms of another. We have metaphors such as "time = money" which helps us understand how time works in relation to how we spend, borrow, and save money. How do they help their readers/listeners understand the realities of their own world? 

ALSO...I've pasted a link below which has the poet Ezra Pound reading his translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem The Seafarer (which we'll read in a week or so): this might give you a sense of how people used to read poetry, and how Michael Alexander envisions you reading this poetry to yourself and others. 

Welcome to the Course!

Welcome to British Literature to 1800, for the Fall 2017 semester! This course is a highly subjective seminar that tries to trace the “family history” of English literature from around the 10th century to the early 19th. I like to think of this class as a tour of a great museum: there’s too much to see in one day (or one semester), so we could either rush through and click off each painting (“yes, there’s Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and here’s Pride and Prejudice”), OR we could pick a painting in each room and say, “okay, let’s really sit down and examine this painting.” I’ve chosen six “paintings” for us to read this semester, hoping that our discussions will teach us about the people who wrote them, the time that shaped them, and the legacy of literary criticism that makes these texts relevant in the 21st century. The challenge for the student is to read slowly and attentively, and not be discouraged by works that frustrate our modern notions of what literature is or should be. So whether you are an ardent Anglophile or are racked with metrophobia (fear of poetry), you will find something in this class that moves you, confuses you, inspires you, and intimidates you. Read with an open mind and don’t be afraid to ask questions. 

The books for the class are listed below:

• Anonymous, The Wanderer: Elegies, Epics, Riddles (Penguin)
• Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Penguin or other)
• Various, Elizabethan Poetry: An Anthology (Dover)
• Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (Folger or other)
• Johnson, The History of Rasselas (Penguin or other)
• Austen, Mansfield Park (Penguin or other) 

E-mail me with any questions at jgrasso@ecok.edu