Admission requirements
Good working knowledge of Old English
Description
The Old English epic Beowulf is the oldest and longest poem of its kind in the context of the Germanic tradition. The poem not only gives us an exciting story concerning the hero Beowulf’s fights against a cannibalistic monster, Grendel, and an unnamed fire-spitting dragon, but it also tells us extensively of the ways of life and expectations as they prevailed in the aristocratic warrior circles of Anglo-Saxon England shortly after the conversion. In this course we shall read and translate a number of episodes from Beowulf and place these episodes within their cultural-historical context. Attention will also be given to some smaller heroic poems so as to gain a better perspective on Beowulf itself.
Course objectives
Maintain and increase the ability of reading Old English poetry; interpreting textual and cultural conventions; independent study and application of secondary material; reporting on all these aspects in oral and written form. By the end of the course the student will be ready to write his or her MA-thesis on a topic in the field of Anglo-Saxon studies.
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st on the website
Mode of instruction
Seminar
Course Load
Total course load for the course: 280 hours.
Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 28 hours
Time for studying the compulsory secondary literature: 76 hours
Time for class presentation: 8 hours
Time for weekly reading(s) from Beowulf: 98
Final paper 70 hours
Assessment method
final essay (70%)
class presentation; weekly written questions (30%)
In the case of a fail, you are entitled to rewrite your your final paper.
Blackboard
Blackboard is used on a weekly basis
Reading list
Peter S. Baker, ed., Beowulf: Basic Readings (New York: Garland, 1995)
Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson, eds., Beowulf: an Edition with Relevant Shorter Texts (Oxford: Blackwell, 1998)
Peter S. Baker, Hounour, Exchange and Violence in ‘Beowulf’ (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2013)
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 527 2251 or mail: ma-literarystudies@hum.leidenuniv.nl
When registering students of the MA Literary studies take priority. The deadline for registration is August 15. All other students should contact the coordinator of studies: Ms S.J. de Kok, MA.
Contact details
Literary Studies student administration Van Wijkplaats 3, room 002. Tel. 071 527 2251 of mail ma-literarystudies@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Coordinator of studies: Ms S.J. de Kok, MA, P.N. van Eyckhof 3, room 1.01b.