Module overview
How did people in early medieval England think, feel, and write about the world they inhabited? In what sorts of ways did literature and other forms of texts shape their engagements with landscapes, environments, and the beings – real and imagined – with whom they shared this world? This module will introduce you to the places and spaces of the early Middle Ages from demon-haunted fenlands to crumbling urban wastelands, from dense woodlands to bright open country, and from the plains of paradise to the horrors of the inferno. We will focus on a range of Old English literature in translation, read in the wider context of contemporary textual and material cultures, and consider the ways in which texts from a range of genres constructed ideas about the environments and landscapes of early medieval England, and how these in turn shaped the lives of their inhabitants.
Linked modules
Double coded for L5 and L6.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Plan and carry out different assessment tasks to deadlines
- Carry out research and analysis on a range of different forms of literary texts in their historical, cultural, and material contexts
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Read and analyse early medieval texts in translation, making reference to the original text in Old English where appropriate with the help of reference tools
- Compare the representation of different kinds of landscapes and environments across a range of early medieval texts in translation
- Identify and make use of appropriate historical, literary, or theoretical secondary reading in academic writing
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- The most prominent literary landscapes and environments found in Old English literature
- A range of Old English literary genres, such as heroic poetry, hagiography, and elegy
- The relationships between these texts and the cultures that produced and read them
- The relationship between these literary landscapes and environments and other issues of critical importance, such as the study of ecocriticism, ‘race’, gender, national identity, religious belief, bodies, and violence
Syllabus
The following is an indicative syllabus, and the content of the module may vary from year to year.
1. Ordering the World
The Fortunes of Men
The Fates of Men
Maxims I/II
The Order of the World
2. Inhabitants: Humans and Other Animals
Wulf and Eadwacer
Riddles of the Exeter Book (7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 24, 38, 42, 47, 72, 76, 84)
3. Inhabitants: The World is Alive
The Dream of the Rood
Riddles of the Exeter Book (12, 21, 26, 27, 60)
4. Visions of Paradise
The Phoenix
Beowulf (extract: the building of Heorot, the Creation Song)
Cædmon’s Hymn
5. Hell: As Above, So Below?
Genesis B (extract: the devils in Hell)
Beowulf (extract: Grendel’s Mere)
Andreas (extract: Mermedonia and its inhabitants)
6. Cities of God
Judith
Durham
7. Lives in Ruins
The Ruin
The Wanderer
8. Waters of Creation and Destruction
The Seafarer
Exodus (extract: crossing the Red Sea)
Andreas (extract: the voyage to Mermedonia/the flood)
Christ II (extract: Cynewulf’s closing lines)
9. Woodlands: Refuge and Captivity
The Wife’s Lament
Beowulf (extract: the Battle of Ravenswood)
10. Wilderness: All the Devils are Here
Guthlac A
Beowulf (extract: the dragon’s barrow)
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods will be:
1 x lecture per week (interactive)
1 x discussion-based seminar per week
1 x Learning support Hour per week
Individual consultations for assignment preparation
You will learn through activities which may include:
- attendance at and active participation in classes
- individual study of texts
- critical reading
- preparing group presentations
- participation in class discussions
This module includes a Learning Support Hour. This is a flexible contact hour, 5 in total, designed to support and respond to the particular cohort taking the module from year to year. This hour will include (but not be limited to) activities such as language, theory and research skills classes; group work supervisions; assignment preparation and essay writing guidance; assignment consultations; feedback and feed-forward sessions.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Practical classes and workshops | 5 |
| Tutorial | 1 |
| Lecture | 10 |
| Seminar | 10 |
| Independent Study | 124 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Internet Resources
British Library (Digitised Manuscripts).
Bosworth-Toller 'Anglo-Saxon Dictionary' Online.
Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) database.
Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland (TOEBI) online resources.
Textbooks
Seamus Heaney (1999). Beowulf.
Richard Hamer (2006). A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse.
S. A. J. Bradley (1982). Anglo-Saxon Verse.
Kevin Crossley-Holland (2008). The Exeter Book Riddles.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Assessment
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback:
- Final Assessment:
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Critical essay | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Critical essay | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Critical essay | 100% |