BEOWULF- Themes, motifs and symbols

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The concept of identity is mainly based on ancestral heritage and individual reputation. It's clearly a central theme in the poem. Characters are unable to talk about their identity or even introduce themselves without referring to family lineage. While heritage may provide models for behavior and help to establish an identity, a good reputation is the key to solidifying and augmenting one's identity. Beowulf illustrates also the Germanic heroic code, like warriors's loyalty; political skills in kings; cerimoniousness in women; and good reputation in all people. These codes are often in tension with values of the medieval Christianity. While the code maintains that honour is gained during life through deeds, Christianity asserts that glory lies in the afterlife. Similarly, while the warrior culture dictates that it is always better to retaliate that to mourn, Christian doctrine advocates a peaceful, forgiving attitude toward one's enemies.

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.

In Christian medieval culture, "monster" was the word that referred to birth defects, which were always understood as an ominous sign from God, a sign of transgression or of bad things to come. In keeping this idea, the monster that Beowulf must fight in this poem seems to represent an inhuman or alien presence in society that must be exorcised for the society's safety. Intimately connected to the theme of the impotance of establishing one's identity is the oral tradition, which preserves the lessons and lineages of the past, and helps to spread reputation. Beowulf contributes to the tradion of oral celebration of cultural heroes. Like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Beowulf was passed on orally over many generations before being written down.



Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Because ritual behaviours and tokens of loyalty are so central to pagan Germanic culture, most of the objects mentioned in Beowulf have symbolic status not just for the readers but also for the characters in the poem. For example the great banquet at Heorot after the deafeat of Grendel represents the restoration of order and harmony within the Danish people. The preparation involves the rebuilding of the damaged mead-hall, which, in conjunction with the banquet itself, symbolizes the rebirth of the community. The speeches and giving of gifts, essential components of this society's interactions, contribute as well to the sense of wholeness renewed.



Sources: www.sparknotes.com

The Iberians and Stonehenge

Iberians arrived in the British Island about 300000 years ago, during the Palaeolithic Age (or Stone Age). This period is also known as Prehistory. 
The Iberians had dark hair and they weren’t tall. In the Stone Age they practiced hunting. 
In the Bronze Age they learned how to practice agriculture, designed temples, began exploiting the surface’s mines for gold and tin. They built trade harbours and set up trade routers.
Stonehenge is a Neolithic site in England. Stonehenge is probably one of the most knowable monuments in the world and is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It's one of the most popular touristic destinations and it is also a place of pilgrimage.

It is located on a hill in the middle of a vast plain. It is formed by giant erected stones known as megaliths. Nowadays these stones tell us interesting things about our ancestors' life. The construction of Stonehenge remains a mystery: Stonehenge is also known as the "Giant's Dance" and some think that the stones were even erected by the devil, other think that Stonehenge was created as an astronomic observatory. Other think that it was a temple dedicated to the gods. This site is definitely tied to something sacred because it survived for thousands years.In recent years this site has been threatened by the construction of roads near the monument.

Iberian religion isn’t known very well, but in the latest years its knowledge and interpretation were improved. The most important sources are archaeological discoveries and written texts. Main discoveries are the “ex voto”, votive objects in bronze, stone or ceramic. The Iberians practiced the cremation of the dead, and the ashes were deposed in urns, which were then interred with a funerary kit.
Celts imposed to the Iberians their language, their government and their traditions. So, their society was organized on a Celt model: they were divided in clans, and a set of clans formed a tribe, ruled by a king. 
The society was clearly divided into three "functions": the sacred and legal, the warrior and the productive ones. But Celts adopted the Iberian writing system and the alphabet, and in some cases they merged with them.  Though  there is a considerable amount of Iberian inscriptions that allowed the deciphering of the alphabet, the Iberian language (or languages​​), continues to be poorly understood. What we can certainly say  is that it had neither Semitic Indo-European origins. Some scholars consider this to be an ancestor of the Basque language, because Iberian language has a few similarities with it.
The Iberians were absorbed in the Roman state between the end of the III century b.C. and the end of the next century. Despite the intense Romanization they were submitted from the first decades of Roman domination, Iberians preserved their own language, their own alphabet, some of the gods of their religion and many of their customs and traditions since the age of Augustus.

                                                     Iberian mausoleum (VI century b.C.)




Sources: 
www.wikipedia.com
www.gioianasti.it
www.bbc.com

Gioia and Camilla

Beowulf: Context

                                                                        CONTEXT

Beowulf has a peculiar history that complicates both its historical and its canonical position in English literature. Beowulf was composed by an unknown Anglo-Saxon poet around 700 A.D. and was trasmitted orally for many years. The Beowulf story dated around 500 A.D. before the migration of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian people. Though still an old pagan story, Beowulf was told by a Christian poet, because the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian invaders were converted to Christianity. So the Beowulf poet attributed Christian thoughts and motives to his characters who frequently behave in un-Christian ways.We read today a Beowulf which is different from that of Anglo-Saxons. Beowulf  is set in Scandinavia.
Many of those values which Beowulf depicts were still operative to some degree when the poem was written. One of those values is heroic code of honor that is a relic of pre-Anglo-Saxon culture. It's a traditional story which is the work of a single poet.
Even though the manuscript of Beowulf was forgotten and was nearly destroyed in a fire, in the 19th century it emerged a big interest for this story to understand the Anglo-Saxon era.
Beowulf is now taught and is often presented as the first important work of English literature. Beowulf has had a direct impact on the development of English poetry.
Beowulf was written in Old English an ancient form of modern English. Old English poetry is highly formal different by modern English because it existed in oral tradition for a long time. The most common rhetorical devices is the Kenning, which is a short metophorical description of a thing used in place of the thing's name.



Sources : www.sparknotes.com

Beowul : Plot Overview

                                                              PLOT OVERVIEW

 Beowulf, a young Danish warrior, goes to help his uncle Hrothgar, king of Denmark. Hrothgar builds a great mead-hall, "the deer", which suffers attacks for twelve years by a monster, Grendel, which lives in a wetland. The same night of his arrival, the monster kills a person, but Beowulf reacts and kills Grendel. The next night, Grendel's mother arrives, does a massacre and goes away. Hrothgar prays Beowulf who goes to search the monster and kills her after a long fight with a magic sword.
After fifty years, Beowulf becomes the king of Denmark; suddenly a dragon attacks the country destroying everything. Beowulf decides to fight alone. During the fight, the sword breaks but with the aid of Wiglaf he manages to kill the dragon. At the end Beowulf dies and is buried in the treasure guarded by the dragon.



 Sources : www.sparknotes.com