MDVL 407

Fall 2012

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Introduction to Old English
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Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

Same as ENGL 407. See ENGL 407.

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CRN Type Section Time Day Location Instructor Section Details
49830
Lecture-Discussion
1G
1:00PM -1:50PM
MWF
259 English Building
Wright, C
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/27/12-12/12/12
Credit:
4 hours
Section Info:
In this course you will learn to read Old English prose and poetry in the original language, which was spoken by the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of England from the sixth through eleventh centuries. This was the native language of Caedmon, who wrote the earliest surviving English poem (?C�dmon?s Hymn?); of King Alfred, who prevented the Vikings from conquering England, and who then undertook a revival of learning by translating into English ?those books which it is most necessary for all to know?; of the anonymous author of Beowulf, who memorialized a Germanic hero?s battles with a man-eating monster, his vengeful mother (the monster?s, that is), and a dragon; and of abbot �lfric and archbishop Wulfstan, who preached in English for those who could not understand Latin, the official language of the medieval church. We will begin with some easy prose readings (the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis, and a school dialogue about Anglo-Saxon ?career choices?), and as you gradually master the basics of Old English grammar we will work our way up to more challenging narrative prose such as Bede?s story of C�dmon?s miraculous transformation from cowherd to poet; King Alfred?s government ?white paper? on education reform; and �lfric?s story of the martyrdom of King Edmund, decapitated by Viking invaders. Then in the second half of the semester we will read some of the finest shorter Old English poems, including The Wanderer and The Seafarer, two elegiac poems of exile; The Battle of Maldon, about the heroic defeat of an English army by the Vikings; The Dream of the Rood, a mystical vision of the Crucifixion, as told by the Cross; and The Wife?s Lament, about a woman abandoned by her former lover, as told by the woman. For graduate students the course is 4 hours credit and will involve an additional hourly meeting per week (time and place to be arranged).
Restriction(s):
Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
49829
Lecture-Discussion
1U
1:00PM -1:50PM
MWF
259 English Building
Wright, C
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/27/12-12/12/12
Credit:
3 hours
Section Info:
In this course you will learn to read Old English prose and poetry in the original language, which was spoken by the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of England from the sixth through eleventh centuries. This was the native language of Caedmon, who wrote the earliest surviving English poem (?C�dmon?s Hymn?); of King Alfred, who prevented the Vikings from conquering England, and who then undertook a revival of learning by translating into English ?those books which it is most necessary for all to know?; of the anonymous author of Beowulf, who memorialized a Germanic hero?s battles with a man-eating monster, his vengeful mother (the monster?s, that is), and a dragon; and of abbot �lfric and archbishop Wulfstan, who preached in English for those who could not understand Latin, the official language of the medieval church. We will begin with some easy prose readings (the story of Adam and Eve from Genesis, and a school dialogue about Anglo-Saxon ?career choices?), and as you gradually master the basics of Old English grammar we will work our way up to more challenging narrative prose such as Bede?s story of C�dmon?s miraculous transformation from cowherd to poet; King Alfred?s government ?white paper? on education reform; and �lfric?s story of the martyrdom of King Edmund, decapitated by Viking invaders. Then in the second half of the semester we will read some of the finest shorter Old English poems, including The Wanderer and The Seafarer, two elegiac poems of exile; The Battle of Maldon, about the heroic defeat of an English army by the Vikings; The Dream of the Rood, a mystical vision of the Crucifixion, as told by the Cross; and The Wife?s Lament, about a woman abandoned by her former lover, as told by the woman. For graduate students the course is 4 hours credit and will involve an additional hourly meeting per week (time and place to be arranged).
Restriction(s):
Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
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