Beowulf Day 1

Introducing the Anglo-Saxons

We discussed basic history of the Anglo-Saxon people with two Powerpoint presentations: Who Were the Anglo-Saxons? and Old English and Beowulf.

We discussed Anglo-Saxon poetry as an oral tradition, which was performed by storytellers rather than read on paper. We watched two videos of actors performing passages from Beowulf:

- Benjamin Bagby performs the opening lines of Beowulf in Old English.

- Julian Glover performs Beowulf's fight with Grendel in translation.

Students independently read brief essays on the Anglo Saxons (pgs. 3-6) and the Sutton Hoo treasure (pgs. 42-43) in the purple England in Literature textbook. We also looked at the BBC documentary about Anglo-Saxons, found here. And the History Channel's documentary on the Anglo-Saxons, found here.

Study guide questions (students should be able to answer these for Beowulf quizzes and tests):

- When did the Anglo-Saxons dominate England?

- Who inhabited England before the Anglo-Saxons?

- When did the Anglo-Saxon era end, and why?
- Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?
- What kind of people were they?
- Were the Anglo-Saxons Christian?
- Who was Alfred the Great?
- What is the Sutton Hoo treasure?

What is..
- a thane?
- mead?
- a scop?
- a bretwalda?
- the Danelaw?

HW: How Do We Know About the Anglo-Saxons? worksheet from the British Museum (due Wednesday, 2/9)