Term
|
Definition
| a poem on death or on a serious loss; characteristically a sustained meditation expressing sorrow and, frequently, an explicit or implied consolation; contrast between past happiness and present misery |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| poem that celebrates the values of bravery, loyalty, vengeance, and a desire for treasure; anti-christian |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| In Anglo-Saxon and Germanic law, a price set upon a person's life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred or lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation and to prevent a blood feud. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a temporary departure from one subject to another more or less distantly related topic before the discussion of the first subject is resumed. ex.) Random side stories in Beowulf |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| expression in Old English Poetry;steep understatement, can be ironic, often cast in the negative |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| poetry orally performed and improvised on the spot; performed by Bards who were illiterate- knit elements from other stories, use structure and repetition for memory. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A device used in literature to create expectation or to set up an explanation of later developments; present in Beowulf |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a pause in a metrical line, indicated by punctuation, momentarily suspending the beat. Visual break in the half-line, cut |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the way the lines are set up |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| "Where are"; used in elegiac poetry; recalling of past and losses; used in repetition- Things are transient, "christian undertones" |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| band of men, present in Beowulf |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a compound figurative metaphor, a circumlocution, in Old English and Old Norse poetry. ex.) "whale-road," for the sea |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
proverbs, adages common in Anglo-Saxon poetry; distances writer from moments
Ex.) The weary in spirit cannot withstand fate, a troubled mind finds no relief. (The Wanderer) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| ancient ruler of the Danes; aids Beowulf's maturity throughout the story |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Overbearing, jealous character in Beowulf |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Beowulf's King; name literally means "lack of though" |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| verse using alliteration on stressed syllables for its fundamental structure |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Queen in Beowulf; fears that Hrothgar will give Beowulf power and not her sons |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the translation or transferal of empire; one empire authorizes another, passes on their civlization
ex.) Henry II using Arthur's stories |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a continuous narrative in which the emphasis is on what happens in the plot, rather than what is reflected from ordinary life or experience; central element is adventure |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| celebration of erotic love that puts women at the center of rituals and literature; goes against the church's ideals of women (virgins) and the Old English ideals of women (peace weavers) |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a ballad or related metrical romance originating with the Breton lay of French Brittany and retaining some of its Celtic magic and folklore; a short romance |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| using the old forms to write own works; 2 styles, North and South ex.) Sir Gaiwain and the Green Knight |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Present in Sir Gaiwain and the Green Knight; provides new narrative space; can be used to address a character or audience, cliffhanger, punchline; creates meta narrative moments |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| medieval ideology of how society works. Everyone has a complementary but separate job; natural arrangement made by god; supposed to create social harmony; divided into those who work, those who fight, and those who pray |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a story that suggests another story |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| A narrative poem, especially in medieval literature, in which the main character falls asleep and experiences events having allegorical, didactic, or moral significance. ex.) Piers Plowman |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| verse mixing words in a writer's native language with endings, phrases, and syntax of another language, usually Latin or Greek, creating a comic or burlesque effect |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| manuscripts still remaining and known about |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a narrative enclosing one or more separate stories; created as a vehicle for the stories it contains. Ex.) Canterbury Tales |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| one of the genre's of Canterbury Tales; defines a person's status and social rank; characters are referred to by their rank but satirized as failing in position. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| divinely ordained hierarchy, ordained by God. Ideological justification for the three estates |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| law determining who can consume or wear particular garments. 3 sets were passed in the 14th century; limited what type of food that could be eaten; occurs when there is a great anxiety of people shifting estates |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| short comic tale usually involving sex in which the bad guys win. Present in Chaucer's Miller's Tale |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| biography of how a saint lives and dies; full of morality, but very bloody |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a wildly comic play, mocking dramatic and social conventions |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| As comedy, exaggerates or distorts the prominent features of style or content in a work. As criticism, mimics the work, borrowing words or phrases or characteristic turns of thought in order to highlight weaknesses of conception or expression |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| and explanation, interpretation; Ex.) The Wife of Bath |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| role of women in Danish/Viking society;women used to settle fights/feuds between families |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an Anglo-Saxon bard, or court poet, a kind of poet laureate |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| influenced by Piers Plowman, Version B; peasants revolted in London- killed Bishop of Canterbury; demanded better conditions; agreed to by 14-year-old King Richard |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Leader of the Rising of 1381;once killed, peasants lost hope- revolution eventually stifled. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| printed Morte Darthur by Mallory; 1st printer in England; wrote prologues that gave insight into literature as profession |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a derisive term applied to the followers of John Wyclif, the reformer behind the Wyclif Bible, the first in English; preached against the abuses of the medieval church, setting up a standard of poverty and individual service against wealth and hierarchical privilege. |
|
|
