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Béowulf - philological reading

Class at Faculty of Arts |
AAA500193

Syllabus

Programme

Week 1 (30 Sep)            Introductory

                                          Lines 1-52

Week 2 (7 Oct)               ll. 1– 114

                                          Presentation:

• Page, R. I. (1970): „The Violent Tenor of Life“. In Page R. I. (1970): Life in Anglo-Saxon England, London: Batsford, pp. 1-13.

Week 3 (14 Oct)             ll. 115 – 198a

                                          Presentation:

• F. C. Robinson: „Two Aspects of Variation in Old English Poetry“ (1979)

Week 4 (21 Oct)             Christine Rauer (St Andrews): „Beowulf and Mercia: The House Did Hold Both Ingeld and Christ“ ll. 405 – 455; 662 – 687 

Week 5 (28 Oct)             Bank holiday. No class.

Week 6 (4 Nov)               ll. 710 – 852

                                          Presentation:

·       B. Mitchell: „Literary Lapses: Six Notes on Beowulf and Its Critics“(1992)

Week 7 (11 Nov)            ll. 928 – 979

Week 8 (18 Nov)            ll. 1050 – 1159a

Week 9 (25 Nov)            ll. 1251 – 1287; 1345 – 1396

                                          Presentations:

·       F. C. Robinson:  „Elements of the Marvelous in the Characterization of Beowulf: A Reconsideration of the Textual Evidence“ (1974)

·       S. B. Greenfield: „A Touch of the Monstrous in the Hero or Beowulf Re-Marvellized“ (1982)

Week 10 (2 Dec)            ll. 1677 – 1768

Week 11 (9 Dec)            ll. 2417 – 2565

Week 12 (16 Dec)         ll. 2729 – 2751; 2794 – 2808; 2813 – 2820

Week 12 (6 Jan)             ll. 3007b – 3075, 3137 – 3182

                                          Presentations:

·       A. J. Bliss: „Beowulf, Lines 3074-3075“ (1979)

·       B. Mitchell: „Beowulf, Lines 3074-3075: The Damnation of Beowulf?“ (1982)

·       C. T. Berkhout: „Brief Note. Beowulf 3123b: Under the Malice-Roof“ (1973)

Annotation

A course designed to found interpretations of the poem on solid philological and linguistic foundation.

Study programmes