Who is Sir Robert Cotton Beowulf?
Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631), collected manuscripts and antiquities. His private library included the Lindisfarne Gospels, two copies of the Magna Carta, the Beowulf manuscript, and other treasures. Cotton and his former teacher, William Camden, founded the Society of Antiquaries around 1586.
Who is Sir Robert Cotton What is his connection with the Beowulf manuscript?
Beowulf then entered the famous collection of Sir Robert Cotton (died 1631) – who also owned the Lindisfarne Gospels and the British Library’s two copies of Magna Carta – before passing into the hands of his son Sir Thomas Cotton (died 1662), and grandson Sir John Cotton (died 1702), who bequeathed the manuscript to …
What is the Cotton collection and what happened to it in 1731?
On 23 October 1731, a fire broke out at Ashburnham House, Westminster, where the Cotton manuscripts were temporarily being stored. A few volumes were destroyed in their entirety, and many others damaged to varying degrees.
What was lost in the Cotton Library fire?
Sir Robert Cotton (1571–1631) was one of the greatest British collectors of manuscripts of all time. The fire-damaged manuscript of King John’s Magna Carta, 1215, rendered almost illegible following the 1731 Cotton fire: Cotton Charter XIII 31A.
What is the genre of Beowulf?
| Beowulf | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Epic heroic writing |
| Verse form | Alliterative verse |
| Length | c. 3182 lines |
| Subject | The battles of Beowulf, the Geatish hero, in youth and old age |
What Beowulf means?
Meaning & History Possibly means “bee wolf” (in effect equal to “bear”) from Old English beo “bee” and wulf “wolf”. Alternatively, the first element may be beadu “battle”. This is the name of the main character in the anonymous 8th-century epic poem Beowulf.
What is the story behind the manuscript of Beowulf?
The poem is set in Scandinavia. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. The full poem survives in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, located in the British Library.
What two events has the manuscript survived?
“The Beowulf manuscript survived the destruction of pagan poetry during the rise of Christianity in Britain in the Early Middle Ages and the Cotton Fire in 1731, and to this day it remains a vital part of our literary heritage,” said Julian Harrison, Curator of Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts at the British Library.
What manuscript was severely damaged in the Ashburnham house fire?
Ashburnham House fire The manuscript of The Battle of Maldon was destroyed, and that of Beowulf was heavily damaged.
How many original manuscripts of Beowulf still exist?
one manuscript
Beowulf is the first great heroic poem written in the vernacular, Old English, rather than Latin. It survives in only one manuscript, London British Library Cotton Vitellius A. XV.
Who is the monster that killed Beowulf?
Grendel, fictional character, a monstrous creature defeated by Beowulf in the Old English poem Beowulf (composed between 700 and 750 ce). Descended from the biblical Cain, Grendel is an outcast, doomed to wander the face of the earth.
Who killed Beowulf?
Wiglaf
Sensing his own death approaching, Beowulf goes to fight the dragon. With the aid of Wiglaf, he succeeds in killing the beast, but at a heavy cost. The dragon bites Beowulf in the neck, and its fiery venom kills him moments after their encounter.