LITERATURE OF THE GERMANIC TRIBES

The Germanic tribes had a literature, but it was not written down. The stories and poems they made up were repeated and remem­bered. The Germanic tribes were fond of poetry. Their poems did not remain unchanged. Poets improved them in form and some­times they changed them to make them more interesting.

At that time there were professional poets too, who went from one place to another or had positions at the courts of kings. They sang songs in which they enlarged and magnified the deeds and events, which the songs were describing. They even sometimes added super natural qualities to a hero.

Most of those early poems were based on historic facts but historic elements were obscured by poetic and mythical addi­tions.

At first all the Germanic tribes were pagans, but then in the 7th century the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity by missionaries who came from the continent. So in the 7th century the Anglo-Saxons became Christians and began composing reli­gious works.

Vocabulary

add [aed] v добавлять addition [s'dijbn] n дополнение adopt [g'dDpt] v принимать Christian ['knstjan] n христианин Christianity Lkristi'asnrti] n христианство compose [ksm'psuz] v сочинять, созда­вать convert [kan'v3:t] v обращать (в дру­гую веру) establish [is'taeblij] v основывать; созда­вать

magnify ['msegmfai] v восхвалять

missionary ['гш/пэп] п миссионер

monk [тлпк] п монах

mythical ['гш01кэ1] о фантастический, вымышленный

obscure [sb'skjus] v затемнять

position [pa'zifsn] n должность

quality ['kwoliti] n качество

supenatural [,sju:p3'naetfr3l] а сверхъ­естественный

Beowulf

Beowulf f beiawulf] is the most important poem of the Anglo-Saxon period. Though the Angles brought Beowulf with them to England, it has nothing to do with it. The epic is not even about the Anglo-Saxons, but about the Scandinavians when they lived on the continent in the 3rd or 4th cen­tury.

The story of Beowulf was written down in the 10th century by an unknown author, and the manuscripts is now kept in the British Museum. Its social interest lies in the vivid description of the life of that period, of the manners and customs of the people at that time, of the relations among the members of the society and in the portrayal of their towns, ships and feasts.

The scene takes place among the Jutes, who lived on the Scandinavian peninsula at the time. Their neighboms were the Danes. The Jutes and the Danes were good sailors. Their ships sailed round the coast of the peninsula and to far-off lands.

The poem describes the warriors in battle and at peace, during their feasts and amusements. The main hero, Beowulf, is a strong, courageous, unselfish, proud and honest man. He defends his peo­ple against the unfriendly forces of nature and becomes the most beloved and kindest king on the earth as the theme of the poem is the straggle of good against evil. Beowulf fights not for his glory, he fights for the benefit of his people.

Although Beowulf was a Jute and his home is Jutland we say that The Song of Beowulf is an English poem. The social conditions it depicted are English. Both the form and the spirit of the poem are English. The poem is a true piece of English literature. The poem is composed with great skill. The author used many vivid

words and descriptive phrases. It is not only the subj ect of the poem that interests us but also its style. Beowulf is one of the early master­pieces of the Anglo-Saxon or Old English language. The poem is famous for its metaphors. For instance, the poet calls the sea "the swan's road", the body — "the bone-house", a warrior — "a hero­in-battle", etc.

The Story

The epic consists of two parts. The first part
tells us how Beowulf freed the Danes from two
monsters. Hrothgar [' hroGga:], King of the
Danes, in his old age had built near the sea a hall
called Heorot. He and his men gathered there
for feasts. One night as they were all sleeping a
frightful monster called Grendel broke into the
hall, killed thirty of the sleeping warriors, and
carried off their bodies to devour them in his lair
under the sea. The horrible half-human crea­
ture came night after night. Fear and death
reigned in the great hall. For twelve winters
Grendel's horrible raids continued. At last
the rumour of Grendel and his horrible deeds
crossed over the sea and reached Beowulf
who was a man of immense strength and Aglo-Saxon warrior

courage. When he heard the story, Beowulf decided to fight the monster and free the Danes. With fourteen companions he crossed the sea. This is how his voyage is described in the poem:

The foamy-necked floater fanned by the breeze

Likest a bird glided the waters

Till twenty and four hours hereafter

The twist-stemmed vessel had travelled such distance,

That the sailing-men saw the sloping embankments,

The sea-cliffs gleaming, precipitous mountains.

The Danes receive Beowulf and his companions with great hospitality, they make a feast in Heorot at which the queen pass­es the mead cup to the warriors with her own hand. But as night approaches the fear of Grendel is again upon the Danes. They all withdraw after the king has warned Beowulf of the frightful danger of sleeping in the hall. Beowulf stays in the hall with his warriors, saying proudly that since weapons cannot harm the monster, he will wrestle with him bare-handed. Here is the description of Gren­del's approach to Heorot:

Forth from the fens, from the misty moorlands, Grendel came gliding — God's wrath be bore — Came under clouds, until he saw clearly, Glittering with gold plates, the mead hall of men. Down fell the door, though fastened with fire bands; Open it sprang at the stroke of his paw. Swollen with rage burst in the bale-bringer; Flamed in his eyes a fierce light, likest fire.

Breaking into the hall, Grendel seizes one of the sleepers and devours him. Then he approaches Beowulf and stretches out a claw, only to find it clutched in a grip of steel. A sudden terror strikes the monster's heart. He roars, struggles, tries to free his arm; but Beowulf leaps to his feet and grapples his enemy bare­handed. After a desperate struggle Beowulf manages to tear off the monster's arm; Grendel escapes shrieking across the moor, and plunges into the sea to die.

Beowulf hangs the huge arm with its terrible claws over the king's seat; the Danes rejoice in Beowulf's victory. When night falls, a great feast is spread in Heorot. Beowulf receives rich presents, everybody is happy. The Danes once more go to sleep in the great hall. At midnight comes another monster, mother of Grendel, who wants to revenge her son. She seizes the king's best friend and councillor and rushes away with him over the fens. The old king is broken-hearted, but Beowulf tries to con­sole him:

Sorrow not, wise man. It is better for each

That his friend he avenge than that he mourn much.

Each of us shall the end await

Of worldly life: let he who may gain

Honour ere¹ death.

Then Beowulf prepares for a new fight. He plunges into the horrible place, while his companions wait for him on the shore. After a terrible fight at the bottom of the sea in the cave where the monsters live, Beowulf kills the she-monster with a magic sword which he finds in the cave. The hero returns to Heorot, where the Danes are already mourning for him, thinking him dead. Trium­phantly Beowulf returns to his native land.

In the last part of the poem there is another great fight. Beowulf is now an old man; he has reigned for fifty years, beloved by all his people. He has overcome every enemy but one, a fire dragon keep­ing watch over an enormous treasure hidden among the moun­tains. Again Beowulf goes to fight for his people. But he is old and his end is near. In a fierce battle the dragon is killed, but the fire has entered Beowulf's lungs.

He sends Wiglaf, the only of his warriors who had the courage to stand by him in his last fight, to the dragon's cave for the treasures. Beowulf dies, leaving the treasures to the people.

Vocabulary

avenge [a'vencfo] v мстить

bale [beil] n несчастье; горе

band [bsnd] n полоса

bare-handed ['beg'haendid] а голыми

руками (без оружия) bear [Ьеэ] v (bore; borne) нести benefit ['benifit] n польза, благо breeze [bri:z] n (легкий) ветерок claw [klo:] n лапа с когтями; коготь clutch [kktj] v зажать

ere [еэ] — поэтич. перед

depict [di 'pikt] v изображать, описы­вать

descriptive [dis 'knptivj о описатель­ный; наглядный

desperate ['despant] а отчаянный; ужасный

devour [di'vaua] v пожирать

dragon ['draegan] n дракон

embankment [im'bcerjkmsnt] n насыпь

enormous [I'noimas] о громадный, ог­ромный

epic ['epik] n эпическая поэма

evil [i:vl] n зло

fan [fsen] v поэт, обвевать, освежать (о ветерке)

fasten ['fa:sn] v скреплять; укреплять

fear [йэ] л страх

feast [first] n пир; празднество

fen [fen] л болото, топь

floater f'flauta] n плот, паром

foamy ['fbumi] о покрытый пеной

frightful ['fraitful] о страшный, ужас­ный

gleam [gli:m] v светиться; мерцать

glide [glaid] v двигаться крадучись

glitter ['gilts] v блестеть, сверкать

grapple ['graepl] v схватиться, бороться

grip [grip] n сжатие

harm [ha:m] v вредить, причинять вред

hospitality Lhnspi'taeliti] n гостеприим­ство

immense [i 'mens] а огромный, гро­мадный

lair [1еэ] п логовище; нора

leap [li:p] v (leapt, leaped) прыгнуть, вскочить

manuscript ['maenjusknpt] n рукопись

masterpiece ['ma:stapi:s] n шедевр

mead [mi:d] n мёд (напиток)

metaphor ['metafa] n метафора

misty ['misti] а туманный

monster ['rrmnsta] n чудовище

moorland ['mualand] местность, порос­шая вереском

mourn [mo:n] v оплакивать; скорбеть

overcome [^эшэ'клт] v (overcame; overcome) побороть, победить

paw [po:] n nana

peninsula [pi'ninsjula] n полуостров

plunge ['pUnay v нырять; бросаться

portrayal [po:'treial] n описание; изо­бражение

precipitous [pn' srpitas] n крутой; от­весный

rage [reidj;] n ярость, гнев

raid [reid] n набег

rejoice [n'djois] v радоваться

roar [ro:] v реветь, рычать

rumour ['ш:тэ] п слух, молва

scene [si:n] n место действия

shriek [fri:k] v пронзительно кричать, орать

sloping ['slaupirj] а покатый

spirit ['spirit] n дух

stroke [strauk] n удар

subject ['sAbdpkt] n тема

swollen ['swaulan] а опухший; разду­тый

sword [so:d] n меч

theme [9i:m] л тема

twist [twist] v крутить; виться twist-stemmed vessel судно с витым носом

vivid ['vivid] а яркий

warn [wo:n] v предупреждать

wrath [ro:9] n гнев, ярость

wrestle ['rest] v бороться

Questions and Tasks

1. When was poem Beowulf compiled?

2. What is the social interest of the poem?

3. What time does the poem tell us of?

4. Where is the scene of the poem set?

5. What does the poem tell us about the Jutes and the Danes?

6. What kind of man was the young knight of the Jutes Beowulf?

7. How is the poem composed?

8. What interests us besides the subject of the poem?

9. What is the poem famous for?
10. Retell the contents of Beowulf.

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