ENGL 3120 - Beowulf

(crosslisted) MEDVL 3120
(HB) (LA-AS, ALC-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

May be used as one of the three pre-1800 courses required of English majors. Co-meets with ENGL 6120/MEDVL 6120.

T. Hill.

Beowulf is about monsters, dragons and heroes and is the longest and most interesting Old English heroic poem. In this course we will read the poem in the original and discuss the critical and scholarly problems which the poem presents. Some knowledge of Old English is appropriate, but the class is open to beginners in Old English who will be provided with tutorial help in preparing and reading assigned passages. Among the topics we will discuss are the relationship of Beowulf to “pagan” practice and belief, the related question of “Christianity and Paganism ” in the poem, “Beowulf and the tradition of Germanic heroic poetry”, ” Orality and Christian Latin learning “and “Beowulf, Tolkien, and the modern age”. The course will be open to student initiatives, if students wish to explore such topics as Beowulf and archeology or the historical context of the poem. The class counts toward the pre-1800 requirement for English majors.