Title: Beowulf and Nordic Mythology
Opening activity: All of my LAR classes open with a DOL or Daily Diagram. This takes no more than 5-10 min and keeps the class occupied and quiet while role is being taken. AS the class gets better at basic grammer, this can become a good time to do written responses from last class.
Objectives: SWAT understand various aspects of classical epic poetry, and also understand better the timeline of Northern European culture and popular mythology (such as King Arthur, "Gothic" culture, and Vikings)
Materials needed: I think it's appropriate for the school district to buy copies of Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel. Normal details, such as checking them out and having students be accountable for these, is appropriate as well. There are excellent notes in this edition. In addition, the teacher will include other materials (see attached). Students should also be allowed access to a computer to research on line any "good stuff" on Beowulf. It's definitely out there. [teaching High School students how to search on Google is probably a redundant thing to place in a lesson plan] Art supplies should be available for illustrations and storyboards.
Time Factor: ideally no more than half of the course, the second half being devoted to LOTR
Prep: Be able to offer art supplies. With a unit like this, written in language that is difficult for the modern ear, some class time actually should be allowed to help process the stories by art projects
Process and verbal directions: Open course with a quick dash through the Arthurian legends. Make the time line clear and take a step back, get perspective on the tribal groups of Northern Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire (i.e. after 313 AD, the Edict of Milan). Possible small assessment quiz. You might interweave the videos with the Beowulf stuff, as it gets pretty dry day after day. Nail down the time of Leif Erikson in America (Vinland) and tie in Charlemagne to timeline too. In Search of King Arthur video is one hour long. Documentary of King Arthur DVD is about 20 min long.
Assign again groups, and divide up all the Norse mythology you can think of. Each group reports back about their myth and god (archetypal figure?). These can be interwoven with the Beowulf reading. Students should also be looking for common epic factors, such as magical swords, heroic horses (yes, sometimes the horse got more verse than the heros!)
Assign as homework: read the notes in front of book, and turn in for grade (part of the point system)
Read the Beowulf poem in class. Divide into sections, take it a bit at a time. Develop the vocabulary bits. Do a short daily response for whatever section we read that day. I think discussion groups would be a good thing with Beowulf. It's important to see that everyone is in a group, even the quiet kids who maybe aren't getting it.
Before turning students loose to discuss, they should take brief notes on whatever the teacher thinks is pertinent from Cliff's Notes. As this is High School, the teacher will have to judge how much they can absorb. The point is to enjoy and get the story, not to beat the kids up with tiny details about of Northern European tribes.
Divide into groups and have each group illustrate a portion of Beowulf, or do a three dimensional model of that section. Story boards would be a wonderful idea, for one panel for each fyt.
Vocabulary (can be added to, this is just the beginning)
Assessment or closing activity: objective test on 1) events in the story 2) various mechanical devices such as alliteration, etc. Essay on whether the Christian writers should have put their influence into this, rather than leaving it intact as Homer's epic poems were (more or less). Test vocabulary as well. There is a wonderful set of review questions in the back of Cliff's Notes, which would be perfect to use on any objective/essay test.
Assignment or homework (follow up): only to read ahead as needed, a syllabus should be provided to help the students stay on schedule with this. I recall avoiding reading this as homework, because the language was very stiff. I've taken great care to find a good translation due to this.
Reflection: Beowulf is not something that is commonly taught in High Schools today. As I recall, in my freshman or sophomore year (1970), I was required to take Beowulf! And further, I rather enjoyed reading it. I can still remember talking in class about Grendal's arm being torn off (which is how Beowulf kills the monster) it seemed terribly bloodthirsty and frankly was a great story to retell. The whole class loved it. What was even more funny was our frowzy teacher (very meek and mild) seemed to also get a kick out of it.
I was heavily into Lord of the Rings in that same year and recognized that the two were tied.
I saw a great documentary on Bigfoot the other day. I wonder has it occurred to anyone that Grendal was the first documented sighting of Bigfoot???? (hmmm there's a good essay question, how much of the poem is fantasy, and how much is fact?)
Another matter that I feel should be tied in to this unit (and I seem to recall some of this being involved when I took the course) is basic Norwegian mythology i.e. stories from the Elder and Younger Edda. Two factors have combined to remove this body of literature from our public schools 1) overwhelming prejudice of "Christians". I'm loath to open up this argument in my reflections, but it's the same battle taken up by Biology teachers, the fight against hard-headedness. In general most translators feel that Beowulf began as a pagan cycle/epic (told around the fire by early Saxons and various Vikings). When it was written down, since it was written by Christian priests in England, the Christian spin was put on the plot. I don't see that the story suffered any; it's an easy thing for the bard to plug in "God Almighty" for "Odin All Father" the meter doesn't even change.
Having said all this, I think it's appropriate for my lesson plans (as they stand) to be placed in the "elective" category for LAR. If someone would be offended by stories of Odin and Thor due to their Christian beliefs, perhaps an alternate "The Bible as Literature" course can be offered across the hall. [works for me!]
Das Rheingold The second factor that has eliminated Beowulf from our schools has been the unfortunate associations with Wagner (Nordic mythology). The Ring Opera Cycle was a favorite of the Nazis, and of course, this really sets a lot of teeth on edge in our post WWII world. One day hopefully we can get past this and just get back to enjoying good stories as they are.
In the past 10 years, I have only encountered ONE English teacher teaching Beowulf, and I have subbed for a lot of English teachers! I don't know why. The current "fad" or trend of youngsters tends to be toward what they call "Gothic" but is actually a conglomerate of European Middle Age costumes and ideals (such as butchery on the battlefield, very popular with teens). As well, Beowulf is one basis for the Lord of the Rings cycle, JRR Tolkien was one of the foremost researchers into the 20th century translations of the epic.
The natural thing to do is tie in Beowulf to Lord of the Rings, and draw out literary elements in both of these classics.
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