Session 1 Medieval Period PDF

Session 1 Medieval period Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 700) (Trinity College, Dublin)  Book of Kells (ca.800) (Trinity College, Dublin)  Beowulf (8th to 11th C) Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through...

Session 1 Medieval period Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 700) (Trinity College, Dublin)  Book of Kells (ca.800) (Trinity College, Dublin)  Beowulf (8th to 11th C) Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, Lo! the Spear-Danes’ glory through splendid þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, achievements hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. The folk-kings’ former fame we have heard of, Oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum, How princes displayed then their prowess-in-battle. Oft Scyld the Scefing from scathers in numbers monegum mægþum, meodosetla ofteah, From many a people their mead-benches tore. egsode eorlas. Syððan ærest wearð Since first he found him friendless and wretched, feasceaft funden, he þæs frofre gebad, The earl had had terror: comfort he got for it, weox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þah, Waxed ’neath the welkin, world-honor gained, oðþæt him æghwylc þara ymbsittendra Till all his neighbors o’er sea were compelled to Bow to his bidding and bring him their tribute: ofer hronrade hyran scolde, An excellent atheling! After was borne him gomban gyldan. þæt wæs god cyning! ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned, A son and heir, young in his dwelling, geong in geardum, þone god sende Whom God-Father sent to solace the people. folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat He had marked the misery malice had caused them, That reaved of their rulers they wretched had þe hie ær drugon aldorlease erstwhile lange hwile. Him þæs liffrea, Long been afflicted. The Lord, in requital, wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf; Wielder of Glory, with world-honor blessed him. Beowulf wæs breme (blæd wide sprang), Famed was Beowulf, far spread the glory Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in. Of Scyld’s great son in the lands of the Danemen.  Old English epic - Alliterative - Kennings - Interlace  Tolkien, “Beowulf: The monsters and the critics” (1936): - Beowulf not historical material but a poem to be appreciated in literary terms - Value of the dragon : an important literary character that stands for the opposite of Christian virtues (revenge and greed) - Beowulf less epic then elegiac  EPIC - Long narrative on a noble subject - Told in elevated style, formal and ceremonious tone - Centered on a heroic figure on whose actions depend the fate of a nation  ELEGY - A melancholy and sorrowful poem - Meant to grieve and celebrate the dead - Deplores the passing of time - Not plot-driven but centred on lyrical considerations Bayeux Tapestry: The Battle of Hastings Harold’s oath to William Felling trees to make ships The New Yorker: D Day in the manner of the Bayeux tapestry  Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) Geoffrey Chaucer influenced by Boccaccio’s Decameron 24 tales from various narrators (pilgrims) Framing device: storytelling contest  Chivalric romance Origin 12th C France (Chrétien de Troyes) with “matter of Britain” (Arthurian cycle) - Quest for the Grail; Knights of the Round Table - Code of conduct (courage, loyalty, honor) similar to that of the epic but addition of mercifulness and elegant manners - Courtly love - Magic and enchantment (Merlin; Morgan le Fay) => Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th C)  Fabliau Ribald farce that often involves a trick; matrimony = ongoing contest, in which each spouse must work to outwit and cheat the other Mixture of eroticism and comedy “characterized by vivid detail and realistic observation and […] usually comic, coarse, and often cynical, especially in their treatment of women” (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature). Jan Van Eyck The Arnolfini Portrait (1434) Detail (convex mirror)