Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and it's so good to see you here for today's lesson.

Today, we're going to start a brand-new unit where we're going to be exploring a translation of one of the most famous pieces of writing to be written in Britain, the story of "Beowulf." This is an incredible story of bravery and mythical beasts, and I think you're going to absolutely love it.

So let's get going.

Today's lesson is called "Beowulf begins his quest" and it comes from a unit called "Beowulf" reading.

By the end of today's lesson, you will have outlined the key events and characters in the first two chapters of "Beowulf" and you will have explained the impression given by particular language choices made by the author.

Now for this lesson, you will need to have access to the 2013 Oxford Children's Classics edition of "Beowulf" written by Kevin Crossley-Holland and illustrated by Charles Keeping.

If you have that with you, let's begin.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson.

An epic poem is a long, narrative poem telling the story of an extraordinary individual.

A hero is a protagonist, or main character, with noble qualities, often saving or helping others.

Archaic language is old-fashioned language that is no longer widely used today.

And the historical context is the time period in which a text is set.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by reading and exploring chapters one and two of "Beowulf" and then we'll be discussing the language that's been used in those chapters.

So in this unit, we're going to be reading "Beowulf." And "Beowulf" is an epic poem that was written in England in around 1000 CE, over 1,000 years ago! Now that time was the time of the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings in England, and they were people who came from Europe after the Romans left in around 400 CE.

Now Beowulf describes events that happened in Scandinavia, in a place called Geatland, which is in modern-day Sweden, and in Denmark, and those events happened in around the 500s CE.

And it was written in a language called Old English, and that's the earliest form of the English language.

Now Old English, as we'll see later on, does not sound or look very much like Modern English at all, but it's the ancestor of our language.

So it's the one which was built on and built on and built on and merged with other languages to create the English that we have today.

Now the poem has been translated and adapted many times into Modern English, and we'll be reading one such version.

So ours is both a translation and an adaptation because it's not in poem form anymore.

It's in narrative form.

It's written as a story, and of course, it's written in Modern English, not Old English, so that we can read it.

So if it was written in England, why would "Beowulf" describe events happening in Scandinavia? And remember, it was written in England in around 1000 CE, but it described events happening in Scandinavia in around the 500s CE, so 500 years previously.

Why would it describe those events from Scandinavia when it was written in England? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great thinking.

So here's what Laura says.

She says, "Well, the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings came to settle in England after the Romans left in the 400s CE.

So they would have brought with them stories from their homelands and told them to each other so that they knew them by heart.

And eventually, those stories would have been written down when writing became more common.

And this must have been what happened with 'Beowulf'!" And Laura's right.

So these stories might have been brought across from Scandinavia when people came to settle in England.

They might have been told and passed down generations to generation.

And then finally, in about 1000 CE, they were written down for the first time, and we still have that manuscript today that they were written in.

Now an epic poem is a long poem that usually tells the story of the amazing actions of an extraordinary character, a hero.

And it's a type of narrative poem.

Narrative, remember, means story.

So it's a type of narrative poem because it tells a story rather than just describing something.

Now no-one knows actually who wrote the original epic poem "Beowulf," but the original poem, the one that was written in 1000 CE, is over 3,000 lines long, and the manuscript, the piece of paper it was written on, can still be seen today in the British Library in London.

And here is a piece of that manuscript.

Now in "Beowulf," the hero, that main character, is Beowulf himself, and he's a warrior from Geatland, which is in modern-day Sweden.

And the poem tells about his heroic deeds.

Now there isn't any evidence that Beowulf himself was an historical figure, but some of the people mentioned in the story were real figures.

So it's a mixture of real people and then fictional people like Beowulf.

And then some of the actions, as you'll see as we read, were probably mythical and fictional, but some of them might have been based on real things as well.

So let's have a look at this piece of manuscript from "Beowulf." What is the same and what is different between Old English, which we see here, and Modern English, which we're really familiar with? Can you see any similarities and any differences? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So maybe you noticed that some of the letters of the alphabet look familiar and it also looks like the lines read from left to right like they do today.

But there are some letters here which you probably don't recognise and the words themselves don't make any sense to me at least.

And it looks like a totally different language really, doesn't it? So Old English has changed a lot in order to become the Modern English that we see today.

But this is how this original manuscript of "Beowulf" would have looked.

Now the version of "Beowulf" that we're reading begins in Geatland, which is Beowulf's home country.

And a traveller has come to the court of the King of Geatland, King Hygelac, with a story to tell.

And men are sat around drinking mead, which is a bit like beer, in the hall, and that includes our hero Beowulf, who's the king's nephew.

And the traveller, who's known as Wanderer, picks up his harp and he begins to play as he tells a story set across the sea, not very far away in Denmark.

Now the Danes, the people of Denmark, are old enemies of the Geats, the people of Geatland, because the Danes made them pay tribute in return for not attacking them.

So the Geats were a little bit resentful of the Danes because they've been forced to pay them money.

Now the Wanderer talks about several old kings of Denmark, but the story is about the current one, Hrothgar, who built Heorot, which is the finest feasting-hall in the world, which is over there in Denmark.

So we've got the Wanderer, who's come to the court of King Hygelac in Geatland, to tell stories set in Denmark under the rule of King Hrothgar, and we've got Beowulf, the nephew of King Hygelac of Geatland, sitting in this hall listening to these stories being told.

So can you match each character name to its label before we begin reading? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

So yes, Beowulf is that Geat hero who's going to be the main character of this book.

Hygelac is the king of the Geats, the king of Geatland.

And Hrothgar is the king of the Danes.

And then the Wanderer is that traveller who's got his story to tell and his harp as well to accompany his story.

Really well done for matching those up.

So in a minute, we're going to start reading chapter one of "Beowulf." Now we're going to encounter some vocabulary and some of it is going to be archaic language that we no longer use.

So let's learn some of it first.

So a hearth is a fireplace.

If you bequeath something to someone, you give it to them.

If you're intent, you're determined.

So I was intent on doing well in the test.

An arm-ring was a metal band worn on the arm as jewellery in these times.

If things are in harmony, they work perfectly together.

So we all sang in harmony.

That means our voices worked well together.

A thane was a man given land by the king with some power as well.

So the warriors at this time were thanes.

So people who owned some land, they've been given it by the king, and they have to fight for the king when he asked them to.

Ranges means travels around.

So you might say the lion ranges through the savanna.

A fastness is an archaic word for a secure place.

So we all settled down in our fastness to be safe from the enemy.

A spoor is another archaic word for a scent.

And a mead-horn was a horn that mead was drunk from.

So it'd be like a kind of tube made out of an animal's horn perhaps, which you'd fill with mead and then drink from.

So I'd like you now to read chapter one, which is up to the end of page five.

It's a short chapter, but it does use a lot of this archaic language.

So look back if you need to at these words as you read.

Pause the video and have a go at reading chapter one.

Well done.

Fantastic job.

So let's check we've understood what we've read.

First of all, I'd like you to put the events here in order from one to four, and you can refer to pages four and five if you wish.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So the first event we're told about is that Beowulf's father was saved by Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, and he visited him at Heorot, which he saw as a beautiful, wonderful, joyful place.

Then we are told that the monster Grendel came to Heorot and killed 30 thanes there.

Then for 12 years since then, Grendel has been killing Danes.

And we've got then the last event, which is that Beowulf volunteered to go and take on Grendel.

So that's how the chapter finishes, isn't it? Beowulf has volunteered to go and tackle this horrible monster that's been terrorising Denmark.

So what are your first impressions of Beowulf and of Grendel, and why? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great thinking.

Here's what Lucas says.

"Beowulf seems loyal and brave.

He values how Hrothgar helped his father and he instantly volunteers to go and help defeat Grendel, even though Grendel has been undefeated for 12 years by the Danes!" So Lucas is saying, well, he seems like a very brave person.

Here's what Jacob says.

"Yes, Grendel sounds terrifying.

He killed 30 thanes in one night and he's described as so big and powerful that no-one can do anything about him." So we've got the very brave Beowulf versus the very terrifying Grendel, and Beowulf has volunteered to head across the sea to Denmark to try and tackle this horrible monster.

So here are some questions about chapter one.

Pause the video and see if you can answer these questions, referring to pages four and five if you wish.

Have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So A says, why do the listeners feel chill even though the hall is warm? Well, it's because the story of Grendel is so terrifying that it chills their hearts, isn't it? B says, what did the Danes do to stay safe from Grendel? Well, they didn't stay in Heorot, their drinking hall, after dark.

They hid instead in the outbuildings, so smaller buildings around it.

And C says, what is Beowulf's reputation among the Geats already? So he is seen as being brave, isn't he, and exceptionally strong.

So he's already got this reputation as a hero even before he's had anything at all to do with Grendel.

So we've already established that about his character, that he's brave and seen as strong and seen as heroic by the Geats already.

Really well done for your answers there.

So now let's get ready to read chapter two, where our hero Beowulf is going to set out on his quest to defeat Grendel.

Here's some vocabulary you might see.

A chandler is someone who sells ship supplies, so maybe sails and oars.

Shingle is the stones on the beach.

You might have seen those.

Breakers is another word for waves.

And garments are pieces of clothing.

Bleached means made white.

And the sum is the total, as I'm sure you know from maths.

If you pit yourself against something, you are competing against it.

If you incline your head, you are leaning it to one side.

A muster is a word for a group here.

And exiles are people sent away from a country to another.

Linden means made from the wood of the lime tree.

So can you now have a go at reading chapter two, which is up to the end of page nine, referring back to these vocabulary words if you need to.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Great job.

Let's check our understanding of what we've just read.

Are the statements below true or false based on what you've just read? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Fantastic.

So A says, Beowulf travelled to Denmark from Geatland alone.

That's not true, is it? That's false.

Because he went with 14 warriors and we saw that on page six.

B says, the coastguard challenged the Geats when they arrived.

That one's true.

And C says, the coastguard allowed them to go on to Heorot.

That's also true.

D says, Beowulf refused to tell the coastguard why they've come, and that's false.

He did explain indeed that he'd come to defeat Grendel, which is probably why the coastguard agreed to let him pass.

So we've got Beowulf now in Denmark, heading towards Heorot, that famous drinking hall, which we know is where Grendel killed those 30 thanes and which is where the people of Denmark have been terrorised for so long.

Now in that chapter, Beowulf and his warriors describe themselves both as friends and as foes.

How was that true? Pause the video and discuss.

Well done.

Good job.

Here's what Alex said.

"Beowulf and his crew are saying that the Danes don't need to worry about them arriving because they've come as friends.

They've come to help.

So for the Danes, they are friends.

But they're saying that Grendel the monster is their enemy.

He's their foe, not the Danes.

So this is their way of persuading the coastguard to let them pass and to go to Heorot to see Hrothgar." So they are friends to the Danes and they are foes to Grendel.

So they're trying to persuade the coastguard we're not going to be your enemy.

We're going to be Grendel's enemy, and that's going to benefit all of Denmark because we can remove this terrible monster who's been terrorising your people.

So that's your first task for this lesson.

We're going to think about the historical context of the chapters we've read so far.

So the historical context of the text is the time period in which it's written.

And it's important for us to think about the historical context as we read because it helps us to understand characters' actions and to have a really clear picture of the action in our mind's eye.

Now we know that the historical context of "Beowulf" is the 500s CE.

So I want you to look back through chapters one and two and I want you to see what evidence you can find of this historical context.

And list all the details you can that show this historical context, that show that this is set in 500 CE, 1,500 years ago.

Notice things which are different to what you might expect to see in a book set in the modern day.

What tells you that this historical context is the 500s CE in Scandinavia? Pause the video, have a look, and see if you can make a list of all the details that build this historical context in chapters one and two.

Well done.

Fantastic job.

Here are some of the clues to the historical context that I found in chapters one and two.

First of all, the countries we're talking about are ruled by kings rather than democratic parliaments or governments.

We've got King Hygelac and King Hrothgar.

People are eating and drinking together in halls, including in this mead hall, and in Heorot, which is described as this amazing, incredible mead hall that they have in Denmark.

We've got poetry and harp music as the forms of entertainment.

And we've got arm-rings, buckles, and brooches given to people as gifts.

One interesting one is that Denmark is here considered to be very far away from Geatland.

Now we know Geatland is in modern-day Sweden, which is the next-door country from Denmark.

On a map, they are not very far away at all.

But in those days, it was considered a long distance because of course, they didn't have all the forms of transport that we have today.

They also travel by sailboat.

And they wear armour and shields and carry spears.

So we're not talking about guns here.

We're talking about armour, shields, and spears as the weapons they use.

And of course, people here are travelling by horse or on foot when they're going across the land.

So loads of clues here about the historical context which help us to build that picture in our mind as we read.

And we should consider this as we read, because of course, it informs the actions the characters are taking.

Really well done for finding all that evidence.

Good job.

From the second part of our lesson, now that we've read those two chapters, we're going to discuss some of the really good language used by the author.

Now in those first two chapters, we've already formed a really strong first impression of Beowulf as this brave and loyal hero.

So how has the author created this impression? Well, he described things Beowulf does, like volunteering to go and fight Grendel.

That immediately makes us think that he's brave.

He also tells us some of Beowulf's thoughts, such as his gratitude for how Hrothgar helped his father.

That tells us that Beowulf is a loyal person.

He's thinking, ah, Hrothgar helped my father so much, I need to help Hrothgar now in return.

And he's also told us how other people see Beowulf, like when King Hygelac calls him the strongest person in the hall.

So by telling us things Beowulf does, things Beowulf thinks, and the way other people see Beowulf, the author has created this impression of Beowulf as this brave and loyal hero already.

So in addition to giving us all those details, the author's use of language also builds our impression of Beowulf.

So in chapter one, we are told that as Wanderer is speaking about Grendel, Beowulf is intent and he looks angry.

We know intent means really concentrating, doesn't it? So this tells us that Beowulf's totally engrossed by the story of the thanes' deaths and that this bloodshed, all of Grendel's murdering, makes him furious.

He's angry that all these people have died at the hands of this monster.

So this gives us the impression that Beowulf is someone who wants to keep other people safe and he finds the Danes' deaths unacceptable.

He doesn't think it's okay that these innocent people died at the hands of Grendel.

He wants to do something about it.

He wants to keep people safe and to protect them.

Now on page five, when Wanderer explains that no-one can do anything to stop Grendel, Beowulf leaps up and he shouts that he will defeat him.

So what was the effect of describing Beowulf leaping and shouting in this way? What impression does it give us of Beowulf? What does it make us think about him? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

Here's what's Sofia says.

"It gives us the impression that Beowulf is very keen to defeat Grendel.

He almost can't contain his excitement at the idea, which is why he leaps out of his seat.

And the fact that he is shouting suggests that he's very passionate about the idea of being the person who could defeat the monster and he feels very strongly that Grendel must be stopped." So using these two words, leaps and shouts, gives us that impression of how keen Beowulf is to be the person who defeats Grendel and how passionately he feels that someone needs to do something to stop this monster.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

Now the author's use of language is interesting in other ways too.

On page nine, Beowulf explains to the coastguard that he's come to defeat Grendel.

And the coastguard gives a half-smile and says that there's an ocean between words and deeds.

An ocean between words and deeds.

Why does the coastguard use the word ocean here when he says there's an ocean between words and deeds? Pause the video and have a chat to the person next to you or a think on your own.

Well, we know that an ocean is very wide, don't we? So the coastguard's trying to say that there's a huge difference, a wide difference, between saying you'll do something, your words, and actually doing it, your deeds, which is your actions, isn't it? So that's why he gives a half-smile, because he's thinking, well, you are saying that you can defeat Grendel, but can you actually? He's saying there's a big gap between what you say you can do, your words, and your actions, your deeds.

And we say this too.

We say, don't we, actions speak louder than words.

So we're saying there's a big gap between those two things and that's what the coastguard believes.

He seems a bit sceptical, a bit unsure, that Beowulf's going to be able to defeat Grendel as he claims he's going to be.

Really well done for your thoughts there.

Now after the coastguard says that, the author tells us that Beowulf smiles and tilts his head to one side.

What is the effect of describing Beowulf doing those things? What impression does it give us of him? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Great thinking.

So here's what Andeep says.

"The coastguard, when he said about the ocean between words and deeds, is questioning Beowulf's belief that he will defeat Grendel.

Now some people would react angrily to that.

But by having Beowulf react so calmly, just smiling and tilting his head, it makes him look even more confident and more relaxed about the dangers ahead.

He's so sure of himself that he doesn't need to worry about what one person thinks of his chances.

He knows he'll succeed!" So this really calm and relaxed reaction Beowulf has to the coastguard's words really builds this impression of him as being a confident person.

Someone who's so convinced that he can do this, that he's not at all worried about someone's opinion.

Really well done for your ideas.

Okay, let's do our final task for this lesson.

I'm going to show you some of the word choices that have been made in the chapters that we've read.

I want you to look at each one and think, what is the effect of the word choices that have been made? And what impression do they give? And for each one, you might want to look back at the page shown to help you.

So here are the word choices in green.

For each one, look back at the page it's on and see if you can decide what's the effect of choosing that word and what impression does it give? Pause the video.

Have a think.

Well done.

Great job.

So let's go through these one by one.

The first one was saying that the warriors springheeled towards their boat, on page six.

So what was the effect of choosing that word springheeled? Well, the author is saying that it's as if the warriors had springs in their heels.

So this suggests they were moving fast and almost bouncing over to the boat.

And this gives the impression they were very keen to follow Beowulf on the quest and to help him in defeating the monster Grendel.

So they didn't trudge over to the boat, did they? They springheeled over.

They were almost bouncing over, showing their enthusiasm.

The effect of choosing that word is to show us that the warriors were very keen to follow Beowulf to defeat Grendel.

What about saying that the coastguard leaped onto his horse, brandished his spear, and galloped to the boat? What is the effect of that? Well, all of these suggest quick movements from the coastguard, don't they? And they also suggest he's brave because he's only one man against 15, but he's still waving, brandishing his sword around.

So this gives us the impression that the coastguard is a brave person who's determined to defend Denmark against these people who he doesn't know at all.

So saying leaped and brandished and galloped show us speed but also bravery from the coastguard.

What about describing the boat screaming onto the shingle as it lands in Denmark? Hmm.

Well, we know that screaming is very loud.

So this choice of word suggests that the boat landing on the shingle was also very loud and very dramatic.

So it might suggest as well that it landed quite quickly too.

So when we hear that word screaming, we are thinking in our heads, the impression it gives us, is that that was a loud and maybe a bit of a dramatic and maybe a quick landing with the boat kind of screeching up onto the beach.

So what about the last one, saying that the Geats leave a forest of spears outside Heorot? So they had to put their spears down outside Heorot before they went in, didn't they? So what's the effect of choosing that word forest? Well, this suggests there was a huge number of spears because a forest is a large number of trees.

So this gives us the impression that the Geats are well armed and they're well prepared for their quest.

So they didn't put down a few spears.

They put down a forest of spears.

That gives us an impression of having lots of weapons and being well prepared.

Really well done for your ideas throughout that task.

So we can see that the author's language choices in these first few chapters really contribute a lot to our impressions of the characters and of the plot, and we'll continue to see that as we read this fantastic book.

Well done.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that "Beowulf" is an epic poem originally written in Old English in around 1000 CE in England.

And it tells the story of the hero Beowulf in the historical context of Scandinavia in the 500s CE.

Beowulf, a Geat, agrees to travel from Geatland to Denmark to help defeat the monster Grendel, who has been terrorising Denmark for 12 years.

And we've seen the authors make specific language choices to give the reader particular impressions of characters and events.

I hope you've really enjoyed reading the first two chapters of "Beowulf" with me.

The story only gets more exciting from here, so I'd love to see you in the next lesson to see what happens next.

Goodbye.