Figurative language is any language that is not literal. This book is a literally classic thats definitely not for all readers. Anglosaxon kennings and riddles free english learning and teaching resources from varsity tutors. The characters, oedipus and beowulf, both show strong leadership qualities but are uniquely different in their w. Its beowulf, a medieval geatish warrior willing to take on any c. Themes and important aspects the poetry in beowulf so why wasnt it written down in the first place. Aelfhere some scholars think that this is a reference to beowulf, indicating that wiglaf is related, perhaps a cousin battleflame the sword, hrunting battlescylfings swedes. For example, the odin article links to a list of names of odin, which include kennings. Kennings are most commonly found in old norse and old english poetry. Unexpectedly, young beowulf, a prince of the geats of southern sweden, arrives with a small band of retainers and offers to cleanse heorot of its monster. Full glossary for beowulf cliffsnotes study guides book.
For example, worldhonor is a kenning for fame, which tells us that scyld is. For example, there are many kennings that are used over and over in the story beowulf. Also prominent is the use of kenningscompound words that evoke, poetically and often metaphorically. Jul 21, 2017 beowulf is arguably the most important extant poetic work of anglosaxon literature. They also showed traits of leadership, dignity, and honor. The use of kennings had such an effect on poetry that many phrases often became cliches. In poetry, kenning is when you take two words and combine them as a mild translation or metaphor for. Kennings were used to add description, richness, and meaning to the poem. Battleflame is a kenning for sword because a sword is not usually on fire. Although it must be admitted that old english kennings and epithets frequently clog up the movement of the narrative, in beowulf particularly the modifiers tend to be cumulative, each adding a quality or aspect to character or action. We use figurative language all of the time in daily life. Several times in beowulf, we hear the same story narrated twice, often because something happens, and then we get to hear one character explain what just happened to someone else. Beowulf is like our modern day heroes, firefighters, policemen, military men, doctors and emts. A few things to watch out for alliterative verse an example from beowulf.
For example, worldhonor is a kenning for fame, which tells us that scyld is known over great distances and greatly respected. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Other well known kennings include battle sweat for blood. This incremental effect is seen in a long passage already cited, that of beowulf s sea voyage to hrothgars court. Brightdanes another name for the scyldings, the reference to shining light. Beowulf a mighty warrior and noble individual, the poems hero, with the strength of 30 in his handgrip, comes to the aid of hrothgars danes. For example, if i say to you, i am burning up, you probably know that i am overheated and do not think that i have burst into flames. In this activity, students try their hand at creating modernday kennings to share with the class. In this passage, the compound phrase battlesweat is used as a kenning for bloodbright blade, when the blood gushed oer it. Kennings in beowulf woodland hills school district. This lesson shows you examples of kennings, or metaphorical phrases, in the old english epic poem beowulf.
In the movie and book beowulf, beowulf represents a hero. All she wants is to avenge the death of her son killed by beowulf. Kennings are often used in beowulf to describe the hero as well as the supernatural opponents that he faces. Here, bonehouse, meaning body, is an example of a kenning. For example, at the end of the epic, wiglaf witnesses beowulfs fight with the dragon and. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture.
The present work is a modest effort to reproduce approximately, in modern measures, the venerable epic, beowulf. A kenning is a figure of speech in which two words are combined in order to form a poetic expression that refers to a person or a thing. Beowulf, king hrothgar, grendel, grendel s mother, the dragon, shield sheafson, beow, halfdane, wealhtheow, unferth, hrethric, hrothmund, hrothulf, aeschere, hygelac, hygd, wiglaf, ecgtheow, king hrethel, breca, sigemund, king heremod, queen modthryth. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars. These characters each showed fate by their experiences and ways of life throughout the stories. For example, the words whaleroad is used for the sea and shepherd of evil is used for grendel. Beowulf kennings and characters flashcards quizlet. What is the moral lesson taught in the story of beowulf. Commonly referred to as an old english epic poem, it consists of more than 3,000 lines, all of which use alliteration. The last of beowulfs feats is killing a dragon that ends up killing beowulf as well. Kennings used to describe beowulf include the geats ringgiver, mighty protector of men.
Beowulf kills the creature, but grendsls mother wants revenge and beowulf must kill her. Free unfinished flashcards about kennings for beowulf. It is the oldest surviving long poem in old english and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of old english. Beowulf beowulf is an old poem written several years ago and commonly known for using varieties of writing techniques such as kennings, variation, litotes, and appellation. Beowulf is an old english epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative lines. It is one of the oldest and most important work of old english literature. But to be able to understand this poem, the reader should understand first the kennings found in. Kennings for a particular character are listed in that characters article. He comes to the king to find the creature that stalks the land.
One good example of an anglo saxon poem is beowulf. Beowulf kennings the possessive kenning prepositional kenning almightys enemy referring to grendel line number. All of these men do the same thing as beowulf did in the movie. Honest names for all the books on your english syllabus. They help to create the poems solid feel by describing things in strongly imagistic terms. Grendel is described as the midnight stalker, sinstained demon, or the. Unexpectedly, young beowulf, a prince of the geats of southern sweden, arrives with a small band of. The events in the poem take place over most of the sixth century, and feature no english characters. The language of beowulf has use of fourbeat alliterative line and this allows the use of a variety of kennings. As the title character of the old english epic beowulf, hes a classic epic hero. Other activities to help include hangman, crossword, word scramble, games, matching, quizes, and tests. As beowulf is in fierce combat with grendels mother, he makes mention of.
What is a good kenning for one of these characters from beowulf. Examples of kennings in beowulf include whaleroad to mean the sea, lightofbattle to mean a sword, battlesweat to mean blood, ravenharvest to mean a corpse, ringgiver to mean a king. It comes in english and then old english if youre inclined to read an older language. New york times bestseller and winner of the costa book award composed toward the end of the first millennium, beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of beowulf, a scandinavian hero who saves the danes from the seemingly invincible monster grendel and, later, from grendels mother. Grendel quotes in beowulf the beowulf quotes below are all either spoken by grendel or refer to grendel.
The bold scylding the poet associates beowulf with the scyldings. The kinds of kennings in beowulf include words to replace battle words, god, grendel, and the sea. It is a long poem consisting of 3182 alliterative lines. This is known a kenning, or compound twoword phrase, which is commonly used metaphorically in anglosaxon poetry. A kenning is a particular kind of metaphor, in which two nouns are combined to create a new word, which is used in place of another noun. Beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. Beowulf is a book that starts out with a creature named grendel. Beowulf is full of kennings, a literary device common in old english poems.
Another kenning is writhing monster found on line 289. A kenning is a metaphorical phrase, or compound word used to name a person, place or thing indirectly. Kennings used to describe beowulf include the geats ringgiver, mighty protector of men, or the prince of the geats. Kennings are names given to object in norse poetry. Beowulfs boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. It is one of the most important works of old english literature. Kennings play an important role throughout beowulf as they not only help the audience visualize the poets imagery but also provide additional metaphorical meaning and context to the world. I love the way rosemary sutcliff keeps it close to the events of the original poem, but with little humanising touches like hrothgar putting back the hair of his dead friend wordlessly. There are many kennings in the story of beowulf, one of which can be found on line 273, the shepherd of evil. Occasionally a deviation has been made, but always for what seemed good and sufficient reason. Beowulf, prince of the geats, has many fine qualities.
It follows the tale of beowulf the geat for comes to aid of king hrothgar because the kingdom is plagued by a monster named grendel. Definitions, identifications, and explanations of terms in the passage. Kennings are compound, descriptive phrases with metaphorical meanings that stand in for ordinary nouns and proper nouns in old english or anglosaxon and old norse poetry. The novelist john gardner wrote a book called grendel that explores these ideas about grendel more fully, and tells of the events of beowulf from grendels point of view. The poem was written at a time when german tribes invaded england. Included here are three popular creative writing assignments to accompany a unit on beowulf.
Beowulf had super strength to help him defeat the villains and protect the. Some suggest that beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at rendlesham in east anglia, as the sutton hoo shipburial shows close connections with scandinavia, and the east anglian royal dynasty, the wuffingas, may have been descendants of the geatish wulfings. Character list cliffsnotes study guides book summaries. A kenning is a circumlocution, an ambiguous or roundabout figure of speech, used instead of an ordinary noun in old norse, old english, and later icelandic poetry.
It opens in denmark, where king hrothgars splendid mead hall, heorot, has been ravaged for 12 years by nightly visits from an evil monster, grendel, who carries off hrothgars warriors and devours them. Grendel as a bully or grendel as pleasant have you ever heard the same story twice and had a different view on the story the second time you heard this is what happened in the novel grendel by john gardner. In the series beowulf there is countless kenning for different objects. Used primarily in anglosaxon poetry, the epic poem beowulf is full of kennings. Only a few examples of odins kennings are given here. Cattle tripper, red jowl, lolling jaws, hounds of raveningwolves and worgs. Kennings in beowulf kennings are used prolifically throughout beowulf, one of the oldest surviving works of literature in old english. Dating back to between the 8th and 11th centuries and set in scandinavia, the poem likely was used to teach lessons.
The bold scylding the poet associates beowulf with the scyldings, perhaps out of respect for his loyal service, even though the champion is a geat. Dragonslayer is a simple retelling, aimed at children, of the beowulf story. Kennings related to animals and mythological creatures. Take up this quiz and see if you will earn the title of hero of the internet after defeating this beowulf kennings quiz. This incremental effect is seen in a long passage already cited, that of beowulfs sea voyage to hrothgars court. See more ideas about poetry, kids poems and phonics rules. So, ringgiver is not a kenning for king because a king is a giver of rings. In beowulf, what are some examples of kennings and. Beowulf is arguably the most important extant poetic work of anglosaxon literature. Free flashcards to help memorize facts about a list of kennings related to the book beowulf.
586 791 1191 479 625 218 638 626 252 728 1146 492 1038 1445 868 1007 185 488 1370 1199 709 162 348 112 1344 888 603 559 1351 353 1268 20 21 299 1138 1279 563 495 1044 61 125 942 287 1403 1162