An Introduction to the English Folk
Epic
During a time of Old English Warriors
Called the “Dark Ages” - - a time of Barbarians
A Story About a
DARK AGES DOES NOT MEAN NO ART
VIKINGS LOVED GOLD, JEWELRY, WEAPONS, AND RINGS
Art resulted in stories, some of which were told in manuscripts that were beautifully decorated and colored.
Many of the Many of the artworks artworks pictured in pictured in this this presentation presentation were a part were a part of a of a discovery at discovery at Sutton Hoo.Sutton Hoo.
AUTHOR/ COMPOSER
WAS A CHRISTIAN
MONK?
AUTHOR/ COMPOSER
WAS A CHRISTIAN
MONK?
Folk Epics are tales of a
national HERO
But What Is
Characteristics of a Pagan Hero
Characteristics of a Pagan Hero
•Good Fighter•Loyal•Persevering (Never Gives
Up)•Wins “Fame” (in Songs in a
Mead Hall)
Pagan Characteristics, cont.
Pagan Characteristics, cont.
• Little Regard for Danger or Self: Brave
• Battle as a Way of Life• Personal Vengeance as Familial
Requirement• FATE: Revenge and/or Death
Characteristics of a Christian Hero
Characteristics of a Christian Hero
•Recognizes God as Creator
•Humility in the presence of God’s Power
•Altruism in Action
Christian Characteristics cont.
Christian Characteristics cont.
•Contrast between Good and Evil Rulers
•Personal Vengeance transmuted into Fighting Evil
•Good is Rewarded and Evil is Punished (Evil in the World)
Historical BackgroundHistorical
Background
•Part History
•Part Fiction
The PoemThe Poem
Author/ComposerAuthor/Composer• Likely an educated Christian,
possibly a monk• Wove together many oral
traditions with consummate skill• Sanitized slightly the pagan
traditions• Produced a single tale
Manuscript History
Manuscript History
• Authored in 1,000 B. C.• Saved from looting of
monasteries under Henry VIII• Saved from fire in Sir Henry
Cotton’s Library in 1731• Danish scholar translated it in
1787; first published in 1815
Structure and Style
Style of the Folk Epic
Style of the Folk Epic
•Lyric
•Epic
•Narrative
Characteristics of Style
Characteristics of Style
•Elegiac tone•Concentration on feelings
•Extra epithets delay narration and focus the point of view
Literary DevicesLiterary Devices•Scops used harp to add beats to poetry
•Four Lifts per line; with a caesura
•Understatement
•Allusions
Literary Devices, cont.
Literary Devices, cont.
• Exalted Vocabulary
• Ritual Objects
• Kennings: bardic formulae, used as appositives, for example, “swan-road”
This PowerPoint presentation taken in part from:
http://www.cbnosf.org/lesson_plans.htm
A presentation found on the New Orleans - Sante Fe District of the Brothers of the Christian Schols