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English 311: Beowulf
  • Jan 13: First day of classes
  • Jan 20: Lines 1-228
  • Jan 27: Lines 229-606
  • Feb 3: Manuscript & Dating:

    •  
    Frederick Klaeber's commentary on London, British Library, MS. Cotton Vitellius A.xv, in the introduction to his edition

     
    Kevin Kiernan's Electronic Beowulf Project: Familiarize yourself with the issues of electronic palaeography and codicology.
     Kevin Kiernan's article, Digital Preservation, Restoration, and Dissemination of Medieval Manuscripts": Make sure you understand all of the salient issues concerning the Beowulf manuscript itself.
     Roberta Frank's "Scaldic Verse and the Date of Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
    Kevin Kiernan's "The Legacy of Wiglaf: Saving a Wounded Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
    Roy Michael Liuzza's "On the Dating of Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
  • Feb 10: Lines 607-990
  • Feb 17: Classical Critiques:

    •  
    Frederick Klaeber's commentary on literary aspects of the poem in the introduction to his edition.

     
    J.R.R. Tolkien's "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" [handout]. If you'd like to check out J.R.R. Tolkien's afterlife in the world of fantasy literature, try the links at Other Tolkien Places on the Web.

    Levin L. Schücking's "The Ideal of Kingship in Beowulf" [handout].

    Kemp Malone's " Beowulf" [handout].
    E. G. Stanley's "Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
    Larry D Benson's "The Pagan Coloring of Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
     Stanley B. Greenfield's "The Authenticating Voice in Beowulf" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
  • Feb 24: Lines 991-1398
  • Mar 3: Problematics of Germania:

    •  
    Frederick Klaeber's commentary on Germanic background of the poem in the introduction to his edition.

      If you'd like to check out some of the uses to which Germanic myth is put to today, try the following links:
  • Project Runeberg

    •  
    The four handouts I have already given you.
    Carol Clover's "The Germanic Context of the Unfer? Episode" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
  • Mar 10: BREAK
  • Mar 17: Lines 1399-1799
  • Mar 24: Lexicography, Language, etc.

    •  
    Frederick Klaeber's commentary on language and style of the poem in the introduction to his edition.

     
    Selection from Fred C. Robinson's Beowulf and the Appositive Style
    John Leyerle, "The Interlace Structure of Beowulf." [handout]
  •   For an example of Interlace, click here
    •  Francis P. Magoun, Jr. "The Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry" [handout]
    Selection from Eric Gerald Stanley's In the Foreground: Beowulf
    Mary Blockley and Thomas Cables's "Kuhn's Laws, Old English Poetry, and the New Philology" in Peter Baker's Beowulf: Basic Readings.
  • Mar 27: Last day to drop a class
  • Mar 31: Lines 1799-2241a
  • Apr 7: New Directions:
  • Apr 14: Lines 2241b-2751
  • Apr 21: Papers due
  • Apr 28: Lines 2752-3182
    •  Click for information on Researching Anglo-Saxon Topics