Bruce A. McMenomy, Ph.D. for Scholars Online
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Unit I: The Anglo-Saxons
Beowulf: The Firedrake (pp. 36-48).
From The Exeter Book: “The Ruin”, pp. 52-3.
For the Old English text and another translation, check here.
Some questions to consider:
- Does the character of Beowulf ever really develop? How would you compare him to any of the other epic heroes you might have encountered (consider — if you have read the works — Gilgamesh, the Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid, or the Song of Roland.)
- Is it necessary that Beowulf die at the end? Why?
- Consider the verse form of Beowulf. Does it strike you as poetic? Unpoetic? Does it seem suitable to the material?
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