W 5:30-8 p.m. Fall 2002

Dr. Glosecki, HB 201 MWF 11:30-12; also M 1:30-3 

North-Sea Interlace: Beowulf in Context

Welcome aboard Longship Beowulf.Well be steering a course aimed at setting the Old English epicin its natural context, i.e., alongside numerous Anglo-Saxon as well as Old Norse parallels. Our main goal is to see the epic alongside its Norse analogues, both prose (saga) and poetry (edda). Together we will be rowing through "the realms of gold," exploring many strange islands in our little odyssey. A subsidiary goal is to illuminate Beowulf 873-926, the Sigemund digression, in light of Norse analogues in The Elder Edda and The Saga of the Volsungs This mythic cycle of the dragon-slayer has reverberated down the centuries, particularly in the influential work of Wagner. I doubt that any European mythos exerted a more powerful influence upon turbulent mid­twentieth-century history.

Come to class with the following readings well prepared (otherwise Grendel Glosecki may appear; that beast has been known to inflict the dreaded "pop midterm"). For the letter codes below (B, CH, T), see the ensuing book list. Key works are in bold.

8/21Cast-off: introductions, Germanic philology, slide show ("Flaming Boars").

8/28To get focused (and for its comparative value), read the Crossley-Holland translation (CH 74-154). Also read CH 64-68 ("Ohthere," "Wulfstan'l as well as VBluspa and Balder Dreams (in T).

9/4(B) Heaney's Beowulf 1-319 (though easily confused with page references, this is the standard style used to designate line numbers in OE poetry; read this as "Beowulf, lines 1-319"). Also read "Authun and the Bear" and "Thorstein Staff-Struck" (in Jones); plus CH 37-39 ("Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'l, CH 50-53 (Wanderer), and CH 257-61 ("Estate Memorandum'l.Note: The Donaldson translation (in Howe) is by far the most faithful; unfortunately, it is also among the least readable. We're reading Heaney's version because of its current popularity and because of the facing-page OE text. Do not be lulled by fame. Read this (as all) discreetly, judiciously, critically.

9/11B 320-661; CH 7-8 (Deor), 9-11 (Waldere), 161-63 ("The Story of Caedmon"), 197 (Caedmon's Hymn); Volsungs Ch. 1-25; T: Volund, Loki, Regin, Sigrdrifa.

9/18B 662-836; Volsungs, Ch. 26-44; T: Fragment of a Sigurd Lay, The Grief of Gudrun, Brynhilds Journey to Het, CH 355-56 ("Grant of Land").

9/25

10/2

10/9

10/16Song.

MIDTERM EXAM.

B 837-1159; C-H 8-9 (Finnesburh); Grettir, Ch. 1-35 (in Faulkes). B 1159-1491. Grehdir, Ch. 36-67; the OE Rune Poem (handout);

B 1492-1812; Gretfir, Ch. 68-93; CH 294-99 (Sermon of the Wol6; T, Mill

10/30

B 2199-2416. CH 268-77 ("Charms and Remedies"); King Hrolf 262-88.

11/6

B 2417-2601; King Hrolf 289-318; T: Fafnir

11/20B 2821-3182; Gisli, Ch. 16-30.REPORTS.

12/4Reassessment and review.REPORTS.PAPERS DUE. FINAL EXAM. DATE AND TIME WILL NOT BE ALTERED.

REOUIRED TEXTS

Byock, Jesse. The Saga of the Volsungs Berkeley: U of California P, 1990.

CH: Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Anglo-Saxon World. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999. Faulkes, Anthony. Three Icelandic Outlaw Sagas London: Dent, 2001.

B: Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf.^, A New Verse Translation. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000 (also issued by Norton).

Jones, Gwyn. Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Campbell, James. TheAnglo Saxons London: Penguin, 1991.

Howe, Nicholas. Beowulf.- The Donaldson Translabbn. New York: Norton, 2002. Jack, George. Beowulf A Student's Edition. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.

THE FINE PRINT

Semester grades will be calculated thus: Midterm Exam, 20%; Final Exam, 30%; Paper, 35%; classroom performance, 15%. Alongside consultation with your professor, you should extrapolate a research topic from your reading and our discussion. For undergraduates, the paper should be c. 10 pp. in length; for graduate students, 20 pp. Everyone, plan to present research findings in a brief report near the end of the semester. To qualify for course credit, everyone must take the two exams and submit the research paper. Regular attendance is expected, especially in a class that meets only once a week: at the discretion of the instructor, course grades will be lowered in the event of unexcused absence from class. The paper deadline (4 December) is firm; late papers will be docked a full letter grade for each calendar day beyond deadline. Undergraduates should be advised of the fall deadline to withdraw from a course (22 October). The grade I will be given only in the event of documented hardship. While I am happy to consult regarding research in e-mail messages, lectures will not be recapped nor will submissions be accepted via this medium.

ENCOURAGING WORDS

I bring considerable depth to this course, which I see as follow-up to EH 329 (Literature of the Vikings) and prelude to the M.A.-level OE sequence (EH 648, Introduction to Old English, and 649, Beowulf [in the original OE; see lack's edition]. As some of you may know, my career revolves around interpreting this strange old poem, the first significant narrative to appear in a European vernacular after the fall of Rome. Few literary monuments have more mysterious resonance, more glowering depth. Everyone­master as well as apprentice-feels lost at times in the remote world of this weird epic. When bewildered in mist, just grab an oar and hang on! Bicf storma gehwylc aswefed ("Every storm eventually subsides'l. Finally, my teaching philosophy has never viewed students as "empty vessels waiting to be filled." Not at all. Each of you brings a unique perspective to our shared enterprise. Hence, as ever, I look forward to learning more in a new voyage over deep water.

Ne hyrde is snotorlicor

on swa geongum feoreguman pingian.

Wyrd oft nere6

unfaegne eorlponne his ellen deah.