From Beowulf:
Beowulf: had the strength of 30 men in one hand; was
a king for 50 years and fought 3 great battles; is considered a sluggard by his
family even though he has killed a number of sea serpents, has the strength of
thirty men in one hand, and has been heard of in foreign countries.
Hrothgar: the king who was troubled by a monster who killed
his men
Heorot: King Hrothgar’s mead hall
Grendel: a descendent of the race of Cain, the
world’s first murderer
Hygelac: Beowulf’s uncle; a king
Scyld: the mythical first king of Denmark
Breca: Beowulf saved his life but lost a swimming
match to him
Grendel’s mother: her back was broken in a fight against Beowulf
Hrunting: Beowulf’s trusty sword; it was broken
on the tough hide of Grendel’s mother.
Wiglaf: a young man who helped Beowulf win his last
great battle
Danes: Hrothgar’s people
Geats: Beowulf ruled over them
Wulfgar: King Hrothgar’s messenger; questioned Beowulf
Unferth:
a Dane who was jealous of Beowulf at the feast
scop: a professional poet who recited stories for
entertainment
Beowulf swims down into a deep, deep pool, where he cuts off
Grendel’s head.
The fire-breathing dragon is terrifying the countryside
because a golden cup has been stolen from it.
Beowulf dies from a wound received from the dragon’s claw.
When Beowulf is buried in his barrow, the treasure from the
dragon’s barrow is placed with him in his burial mound.
Beowulf was first
created by a scop, who would have memorized it and then recited it at
gatherings as entertainment.
Beowulf, when it
was finally written down, was written in the Anglo-Saxon language.
The original Beowulf
document is now in the British Museum in London. The Beowulf
manuscript is known by the name Cotton Vitellius Axv.
The first known owner of the Beowulf manuscript was an antiquities collector named Laurence
Nowell.
Robert Cotton owned the Beowulf
manuscript until 1700.
In 1731 the Beowulf
manuscript was in Ashburnham House, which burned down; the manuscript is burned
around the edges from the fire.
Beowulf is the longest
writing in Anglo-Saxon English that we have in existence today.
The Danish scholar named Grímur JónssonThorkelin transcribed
Beowulf from the original Anglo-Saxon into modern English.
From the Legends of King Arthur:
Arthur: removed the sword from the stone and became
king
Guinevere: had an affair with Lancelot
Uther Pendragon: Arthur’s father
Igraine: Arthur’s mother
Merlin: son of Satan
Duke of Tintagel: father of Morgawse, Elaine, and Morgan le Fay
Camelot: a castle built by Ambrose Pendragon
Camelaird: castle of King Leodogran
Leodogran: Guinevere’s father
Morgawse: mother of Mordred
Elaine of Corbenic: mother of Galahad, married Lancelot
Morgan le Fay: Arthur’s witchy half-sister
Sir Ector: Arthur’s foster father
Sir Kay: Arthur’s foster brother; steward of Camelot (was
in charge of everything at Camelot)
Lancelot: the best
knight of the Round Table
Bedivere: last knight of the Round Table
Gawaine: accepted a challenge from the Green Knight;
Arthur’s nephew
Gareth: married Lady Lyoness; nicknamed Beaumains (“Pretty
Hands”); Arthur’s nephew
Almesbury: where Guinevere went to live in a nunnery
Glastonbury: where King Arthur and Guinevere were buried.
Lady of the Lake: gave King Arthur his sword; one of four fairy
queens of Avalon
Avalon: land of the fairies; where Arthur went to be
healed of wounds
Vivian: Morgan le Fay’s helper who trapped Merlin (in
some versions, she is also called Nimue)
Galahad: sat in the Seige Perilous; the only knight allowed
to touch the Holy Grail; son of Elaine of Corbenic and Lancelot
Excalibur: Arthur’s sword
Mordred: was killed by King Arthur, but he also killed
King Arthur
Joyous Gard: the name of Lancelot’s castle in France
Percival: traveled with Sir Galahad on the quest for
the Holy Grail and saw Galahad as he found the Grail.
Holy Grail: the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last
Supper (NOT mentioned in the Bible)
Forest Savage: where
Arthur grew up with Sir Ector as his foster father.
Uther Pendragon and Queen Igraine never saw their son again
after Merlin took him away.
Merlin sensed that Arthur’s marriage to Guinevere would
cause a lot of trouble for the king in the future and warned Arthur not to
marry her. Leodogran wanted his daughter
to marry Arthur.
Guinevere was a very jealous woman who, although she was
married to Arthur and had an affair with Lancelot, did not want Lancelot to be
with other women.
Elaine’s nurse used magic to cause Lancelot to become her
mistress’s lover.
Morgawse had five sons, and all of them became Knights of
the Round Table.
Morgan le Fay had cast a spell over Elaine and put her in a
pot of boiling water because she was jealous of her great beauty.
Merlin could talk even when he was just a baby.
Ambrose Pendragon was about to offer baby Merlin up as a
human sacrifice so that his castle, Camelot, wouldn’t keep falling down.
The Round Table was made by Merlin for Uther Pendragon, could
be carried in a man’s pocket, seated 100 knights, came complete with chairs.
The words “Siege Perilous” meant “dangerous chair”.
Only the perfect knight could sit in the Siege Perilous.
Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere were caught making love by
Sir Mordred.
Queen Guinevere was almost burned at the stake.
Sir Lancelot was banned from the kingdom for committing
treason.
Sir Gawane, Gareth, Gahares, and Agravaine were the nephews
of King Arthur.
For a time, Sir Lancelot went crazy because Queen Guinevere
told him that she never wanted to see him again.
According to legend, the Order of the Garter was started by
King Arthur to cover up Sir Gawaine’s shame over having not been honorable in
his dealings with the Green Knight.
Galahad’s shield was a red cross on a white background.
The Duke of Tintagel was known in some versions of the story
as The Duke of Cornwall.
According to legend, Joseph of Aramethia took the Holy Grail
and collected Jesus’s blood in it as he died upon the cross.
Elaine supposedly died of a broken heart after Sir Lancelot
left her and went back to Queen Guinevere.
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