Scarica The Origin and History of Beowulf: An Old English Epic Poem - Prof. Buzzoni e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Filologia Germanica solo su Docsity! SCHEDA ANAGRAFICA BEOWULF History: Beowulf’s sole existing text is found in the Nowell Codex, a manuscript which is more formally known as Cotton Vitellius A.XV. This name reflects the former place of the codex in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton, where it was shelved as the fifteenth manuscript on the first shelf of a bookcase surmounted by a bust of the Roman emperor Vitellius. The codex is now stored in the British Library. The text survives as the fourth of five vernacular works, three in prose and two in verse, that were copied out by two scribes, one taking over from the other about two thirds through about the year 1000. We know that the Beowulf codex came to light in the later 16th century, after the contents of most medieval libraries were scattered during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, for Laurence Nowell, servant to Lord Burghley, wrote his name and the date 1563 at its head. The task of reading Beowulf for modern readers is vitiated not only by the difficult language and the lack of other manuscript witnesses, but also by the damaged nature of what does survive. The Beowulf manuscript was one of around 200 manuscripts affected or destroyed by a terrible fire at Ashburnham House that swept through the collection of Sir Robert Cotton in 1731. Seeds for the appreciation of Beowulf as a work of art were being sown by the harbingers of the Romantic movement. Set out in verse lines, the poem Beowulf is some 3182 lines long, although, like virtually all other Old English poems, it is written in prose set out in `fits' or blocks. Most scholars now accept that the poem is older than the manuscript that contains it but estimates of the age of Beowulf range somewhat unhelpfully from the seventh century to the eleventh, which is to say the entire span of recorded Anglo-Saxon literature. [Beowulf and other battlers: an introduction to Beowulf, pp. 63-95. Beowulf and other stories] [Introduction, A Beowulf Handbook] Date: Suggestions for when Beowulf was composed range from 340 to 1025, with ca. 515-530 and 1000 being almost universally acknowledged as the possible extremes. An early consensus favored ca. 650- 800 but current thinking is balanced between roughly this view and the late ninth to early tenth centuries. Provenance: Scholars have tried to specify provenance (Denmark, Germany, Anglia, Wessex), most preferring Northumbria or Mercia. Author: they still debate whether the author, who remains anonymous despite sporadic attempts to discover his identity, was a lay-person or cleric. Audience: controversy continues as to the nature (e.g., secular or monastic) and number of the poem’s audience or audiences. [Date, Provenance, Author, Audiences, pp. 13-34 in Bjork and Niles (eds.), A Beowulf Handbook] Plot: The Old English epic poem Beowulf tells the story of a young Geatish warrior who comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the King of the Danes, whose kingdom is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf uses his epic strength and bravery to slay Grendel in Hrothgar's mead hall, Heorot, and then to slay Grendel's vengeful mother in her underwater lair. Beowulf's fame spreads, and he returns home to Geatland laden with treasure for his king, Hygelac. Beowulf later becomes the king of the Geats and rules for a peaceful fifty years. When a dragon begins to pose a threat to Geatland, Beowulf and his servant Wiglaf set off to defeat it. Beowulf succeeds in slaying the dragon but dies in the process.
