Old English Poetry: The Dream of the Rood, historical context and analysis

Fátima Medina García

Poesía Inglesa

Junit 1

Old English Poetry

Unit 1: Old English poetry (449-10661). The Old English period started in the 5th century and finished in the 11th century.

Readings: excerpts from Beowulf, and "The the Rood".

Historical Information

A.D. 449 Germanic tribes

• Angles.
• Saxons.
• Jutes.

English literature begins with the arrival of the angles Saxons and jutes. They imposed their culture and destroyed everything, since they were very cruel and sanguinary.

Text Gildas de excidio et conquestu britanniae (6th century)

Translation of the First Paragraph

Una multitud de cachorros vinieron de la guarida de esta bárbara leona, en tres barcos de guerra. Ellos alcanzaron el otro lado de la isla, y sumergieron su roja y salvaje lengua en el océano oeste. La espada resplandecía, y las llamas crepitaron a su alrededor por todos lados/ambos lados. Un espectáculo lamentable/algo lamentable de contemplar, en medio de las calles yacían las cimas de las elevadas torres, caídas en el suelo, piedras de los muros altos, altares sagrados, fragmentos de cuerpos humanos, cubiertos con libidos coágulos de sangre; y sin oportunidad de ser enterrados, excepto en las ruinas de las casas, o en los estómagos hambrientos de las bestias y aves salvajes.

Notes on the First Paragraph

1. We do not have to learn the years, just the centuries.
2. We do not have to study anything about history for the exam.

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• The idea of violence is conveyed from the very beginning. For instance, "barbaric lioness" intesifies the degree of violence, since we are adding the word "barbaric" to "lioness", which is a wild animal.
• The Germanic tribes had no respect for the possessions of the other people (they destroyed everything). They thought that the land belonged to them.

Translation of the Second Paragraph

Algunos, de los miserables supervivientes que quedaban, habiendo sido capturados en las montañas, fueron asesinados en grandes números; otros, obligados por el hambre, vinieron y cedieron a ser esclavos de por vida de sus enemigos, corriendo el riesgo de ser asesinados al instante: algunos otros cruzaron los mares entre fuertes lamentos. Otros, cuyas vidas estaban en continuo peligro, las confiaron a las montañas, precipicios, densos bosques, y a las rocas de los mares (aunque con corazones temblorosos), todavía permanecían en su país.

Notes on the Second Paragraph

" People were killed by the barbarian tribes and, despite the fact that some people have escape them, they were afraid of the barbaric tribes, since they remained in the country.

Old English Poetry Types

This are the two types of poetry in the Old English period: pagan poetry and Christian poetry.

Pagan Poetry

Bard (oral) Epic poems "Beowulf" (composed in the 7th -8th century)

Christian Poetry

Monk (written) Epic poems "The Dream of the Rood" (composed in the 9th century)

Pagan Epic Poetry

The Germanic tribes continued reciting the same poems that they recited in their own country, and we call these poems pagan poetry. Moreover, the main figure that transmits this kind of literature is the bard. The people from the Germanic tribes lived in clans and the king or lord of the clan always had a bard accompanying them (only one). The function of the bard was to entertain people by reciting poems. Nevertheless, if the

Fátima Medina García Poesía Inglesa bard did not do her work properly, he was obliged to leave the clan and he was replaced by another bard. We should also mention that the bard's mind can be compared to a treasure, since he is able to remember many poems. What is more, in pagan poetry the poet celebrates the greatness of a hero, but epic poetry is the celebration of, not only of one man, but of the whole tribe. All the hero's qualities are celebrated but also the tribe he belongs to. "Beowulf" is the most important poem of pagan poetry. What makes this poem different is that it was written in England, whereas the other pagan poems were written in the countries from which the Germanic tribes came. However, although the poem was written in England, the plot refers to a hero who lives in Sweden.

Christian Epic Poetry

Some centuries after the invasion of the Germanic tribes, England was Christianised, and monks were sent to England to Christianise the barbarians. The most important figure in Christian poetry is the monk. A monk plays a double function as a figure who transmits knowledge: on the one hand, he creates his own poems, which always deal with teaching Christianity and Christian themes, such as the lives of saints or the life of Christ. On the other hand, the monks found the pagan poems so fascinating that they decided to write them down so that people in the future could read them. In this way, the tradition could not be lost. Note: oral poetry is usually lost unless someone writes it down. It may seem contradictory that a monk wrote a poem such as "Beowulf", which is a pagan poem, but they tried to Christianise the poem too, so they made some changes, for instance, if in the poem was mentioned a pagan god, they change it and wrote God (Christian God). In this way, when Beowulf asks for help to his god, we find that he asks for help to the Christian God, who, according to Christianity, is the only god. It is important to mention that the changes that the monk made are easily identified. In Christian poetry the hero is Christ, and the most important poem is "The Dream of the Rood". In this poem there are two protagonists: Christ and the cross of the crucifixion of Christ. The cross in personified and it talks, that is, it tells the story of the crucifixion of Christ. Thus, we can say that the cross and Christ are two warriors defending Christianity.

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Old English Poetry: Formal Characteristics

• Alliteration. It is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of two or more syllables.

Four stressed syllables in each line. The stressed syllable usually coincides with the alliterated sound. (This characteristic is interrelated to the previous one).

Alliteration Examples

• The prince had already picked his men.

There are four stressed syllables, and the sound p is the one that is alliterated in the words "prince" and "picked". Note: we have to say that there are four stressed syllables, and we must underline them too, then, we need to mention the alliterated sound, and, finally, we have to write the words in which we can find the alliterated sound, as it is shown in the example above.

• Hard in by headland. Harnessed warriors.

There are 4 stressed syllables, and the alliterated sound is the h sound in the words "hard", "headland" and "harnessed".

• Sea with sand, soldiers carried.

There are 4 stressed syllables, and the alliterated sound is the s sound in the words "sea", "sand" and "soldiers". Note: we should say the page, stanza and line when we talk about a poem.

• Stanza: estrofa.
• Line: verso/línea.

Note: the individuals who listened to these oral poems were mesmerised (fascinados, maravillados), due to the rhythm and alliterations.

Kenning

Kenning. It is a type of metaphor used only in the Old English period. It consists of two nouns and one of them is in the genitive (apostrophe, preposition "of", or a hyphen between the two nouns). We have to bear in mind that kennings are not simple constructions

Fátima Medina García Poesía Inglesa such as Beowulf's sword, but they must be metaphors, that is, they are elaborate expressions.

Kenning Examples

• "Wave-cutter be fitted out for him; the warrior king."

We do not know what "wave-cutter" means; therefore, it is an elaborate expression, and it is also a metaphor that means "a ship". Thus, the line means that the king ordered that a good ship was prepares for him. Furthermore, note that one of the nouns is a genitive and we have a hyphen between the two nouns, which indicate us that this is a kenning.

• "The house of bones" (the body).
• "Horse of the sea" (ship).
• "World-candle" (sun).
• "Sword's tree" (warrior).
• "Sun-table" (sky).
• "Whale-road" (sea).
• "Swan-road" (sea).
• "Swan's riding" (sea).
• "Ring-giver" (prince).
• "Battle-sweat" (blood).
• "Sword-water" (blood).
• "Battle-serpent" (arrow).

Note: "the folk's flower" is not a kenning, it is just an expression that also exists in Spanish and means "la flor del pueblo" that is, "lo mejor del pueblo". Therefore, it is not a metaphor.

Repetitions in Poetry

• Repetitions. Repetitions are used because while the bard is reciting the poetry, people are drinking and having fun, so they usually did not hear everything the bard said, so he needed to repeat some things.

Repetition Examples

• "High over head they hoisted and fixed A gold signum; have him to cutterthe flood, Let the seas take him, with sour (means feeling miserable) hearts And mourning moods."

The parts that are in bold are repetitions because they mean the same thing. The repetitions of the same content with different words is quite characteristic of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Hyperbaton

• Hyperbaton. The order of the sentence is not the usual one, that is, the sentence is disordered, and it is difficult to understand. This appears in Beowulf very frequently, but the part of the poem that we are analysing there are not examples of hyperbaton.

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Hyperbaton Examples

• "The warrior king he would seek, he said, over swan's riding (this is a kenning, which means the sea), that lord of name, needing men."

The correct order: he said he would seek the warrior king, that lord of name needing men, over swan's riding (él dijo que buscaría al rey de los guerreros, ese señor que necesitaba hombres, por el mar).

Beowulf

Beowulf is the only complete poem that we have of the Anglo-Saxon period, and it has a total of 3182 lines (we do not have to learn the number of lines), therefore, it is a very long poem. There are fragments of other poems of this period, but not complete poems, since the Vikings attacked many monasteries, where the manuscripts were kept, and, thus, they were lost. It is interesting to mention that, nowadays, there is a manuscript of Beowulf from the 10th century in the British Library. However, it is said that there was previous manuscript from the 8th century, but there are no traces (rastros) of it.

Beowulf Structure

We can distinguish two main parts in Beowulf:

First Part of Beowulf

In the first part of the poem, Beowulf is a young man who travels from Sweden (he is from the tribe of the Geats) to Denmark in order to capture a monster, called Grendel, that is killing the king's warriors. The king's name is Hrothgar. The reason why Grendel is killing Hrothgar warriors is that he did not like the noise they make when they are in the hall. He tolerated the noise for a long time, but, since it happens every day, he gets tired and decides to take revenge. What is more, the monster cannot be killed with weapons, but only with the hands. Beowulf, who has the strength of 30 men, rips the Grendel's arm and, finally, Grendel dies. Then, Grendel's mother wants to take revenge for the death of her son, therefore, she fights with Beowulf. We should clarify that the fight occurs underwater. Finally, Beowulf wins, and Grendel's mother dies. This first part takes place basically in Denmark.