The Medieval Epic

 Research Blog 
     The purpose of this blog is so I can begin to describe to my audience what a Medieval Epic is. I plan on breaking down the definition, origin, history, epic stories, influences, and any other information I can come across in an attempt on giving my audience a clear understanding. Following this paragraph is a work in progress, think it more as an excerpt from what my completed paper will contain. Feed back is welcomed.    
What is an epic?    
     According to A Handbook to Literature, Twelfth Edition, “An epic is a long narrative poem in evaluated style presenting characters of high position in adventures, forming an organic whole through their relation to a central heroic figure and through their development of episodes important to the history of a nation or race” (175). A Handbook to Literature, Twelfth Edition explains that legend has it that there is one soul person responsible for the origin of the epic. Single works were found and over time, with the help of extensive research, it seems that these found works have the same writing styles and there is a possibility of all the found works fitting together.  A Handbook to Literature, Twelfth Edition states that “epics without certain authorship are called folk epics, whether one believes in a folk or a single-authorship theory of origin” (176).
Format

     A Handbook to Literature, Twelfth Edition provides a list of the certain characteristics shared by most epics, they include; “(1) The hero is of imposing stature, of national or international importance, and of great historical or legendary significance; (2) the setting is vast, covering great nations, the world, or the universe; (3) the action consists of deeds of great valor or requiring superhuman courage; (4) supernatural forces-gods, angels, and demons- interest themselves in the action; (5) a style of sustained elevation is used; and (6) the poet retains a measure of objectivity. To these general characteristics (some of which are omitted from a particular epics) should be added to a list of common devices employed by most epic poets: The poet opens by stating a theme, invoking a Muse, and beginning the narrative in medias res- in the middle parts of the thing-giving the necessary exposition later; the poet includes catalogs of warriors, ships, armies; there are extended formal speeches by the main characters; and the poet makes frequent use of the epic simile. (176)

Influences
     I previously mentioned that the origin of the epic stems back to an unknown author and his recovered work. Today, that work, known as Beowulf ,is still extensively studied. Robert E. Bjork and Anita Obermeier state in A Beowulf Handbook, “Suggestions from when Beowulf was composed range from 340 to 1025, with ca. 515-530 and 1000 being almost universally acknowledged as the possible extremes. An early consensus favored ca. 650- 800, but current thinking is balanced between roughly this view and the late ninth to early tenth centuries” (13).

     The two authors also go on to discuss how after all of these years and research, historians still cannot determine who this author is and where he is from. It is assumed the author is a he based on gender roles of the time period. The time period also suggests that the author had to be some type cleric. This assumption comes from the idea that in the author’s time period, the general public was not educated and very few, aside from people who worked for the Catholic Church could read and write. Then again, there is still not enough evidence to prove this so the author, in fact, could have been a layperson. Histories also can’t determine what type of audience Beowulf was intended for. When it comes to the origins of the epic, we are left with more questions than answers and a book that is still dissected and studied, with new meanings or methods coming out frequently. 

     One of the nagging problems of not knowing the author, audience, or the date of Beowulf is trying to figure out if this work was influenced by anything in history or other writings from time periods around the writing of Beowulf. Theodore M. Andersson, in Early Epic Scenery: Homer, Virgil, and the Medieval Legacy, states that “the dating of Beowulf is not certain, but scholarly consensus places it in the eighth century. If this dating is correct, Beowulf should have been considered before the ninth-century poems” (145). Although, Andersson goes on to claim that “Virgilian influences in Beowulf has been long standing and inconclusive. There is too much evidence to ignore and too little to decide the case to everyone’s satisfaction” (145). Virgilian influences seem to be noticeable in Beowulf when compared to the Aenied. The Aeneid is an epic Latin poem, written by Virgil somewhere around the 20 BCs. Andersson believes that “Beowulf showed a special scenic affinity to the Aeneid, a manner of visualizing epic action that is foreign to Germanic poetry and comprehensible only with reference to Virgil” (5). Andersson goes on to discuss how one way scholars broke down the possibility of influence was through the use of the scenery. It came down to scenery because both stories seem to follow the same epic format, but Virgil has a particular way of using the scenery in his story, which later became a contribution to the epic format itself. Although scholars feel that his writing, at this time, was to isolated to be able to reach out to other authors and give any influence to their writing methods.
     Beowulf was believed to still have been in the process of being written somewhere during the same period as Aeneid and that is just enough of a reason for people, like Andersson to hint at the possibility of Virgilian influence in thought and writing. Never the less, as I began to explain, the theory strongly works in the favor of Beowulf not being influenced because what Andersson claims to be, “the scarcity of scenic image in the work confirmed that Virgil’s manipulation of space was unique poetic technique bequeathed to a specifically Virgilian school and not a ubiquitous phenomenon to be found at random in narrative poetry”(6). There also seems to be more scenery was able to be translated in some parts of Beowulf, better than to others. The ending chapters seem to appeal to this idea of scenic affinity more than the beginning chapters, but for all we know there could have been an equal amount. It just might have been lost in translation. This is what led scholars to believe that, like it has been previously stated, there was a similar though influence during the time. The unknown author was not a student under Virgil, he is missing to many Virgilian signatures. A similar point of influence would be easier to prove if there was more information on the unknown author. 
    

Work Cited

Andersson, Theodore. Early Epic Scenery: Homer, Virgil, and the Medieval Legacy. Ithaca, New York: Vail-Ballou Press, Inc., 1976. Print.

Bjork, Robert and Niles, John. A Beowulf Handbook. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Print

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. Twelfth Ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc,  2012. Print.