ENGL 3120 - Beowulf

(crosslisted) MEDVL 3120
(ALC-AS, HST-AS) (CA-AG, HA-AG, LA-AG)

Spring. 3 credits. Student option grading.

This course counts toward the pre-1800 requirement for English majors. Co-meets with ENGL 6120/MEDVL 6120.

S. Zacher.

Beowulf has received renewed attention in popular culture, thanks to the production of recent movies and riveting new translations. The poem’s popular appeal lies in its complex depictions of monsters, its accounts of heroic bravery, and its lavish portrayals of life in the Meadhall. Through close readings we will also explore the “darker side” of the poem: its punishing depictions of loss and exile, despairing meditations on unstable kingship and dynastic failure, and harrowing depictions of heroic defeat and the vanities of existence on the Middle-Earth. Attention will be given to the poem’s cultural contexts, its literary heritage, and its layered pagan and Christian perspectives. A bilingual edition of the poem will be assigned so that students may read in Old and Modern English.