English Class

January 2024
Essential Questions:
1. Is good always good and evil always
evil?

2. Why and how do ideas about what is

good and what is evil change?
Essential Questions:
3. What effect does the concept of
what is good/evil and right/wrong have
on the individual and society?

4. Is a code of conduct the ideal

basis for determining what is right
and what is wrong?
What is code of conduct?
- a set of rules that members of an
organization or people with a
particular job or position must
follow (Cambridge Dictionary)

- is an agreement on rules of
behaviour for the members of that
group or organization (Collins)
 Group Activity
• Group 1
- will work on the topic of
knights and knighthood and
answer the following questions:
1. What do the terms knight and
knighthood refer to?
2. What caused the rise of the
knights during the Middle
Ages?
3. How did the rise of the
knights affect the life of the
people in the Middle Ages?
Group 2
- will work on the topic of
hunting and will answer the
following questions:
1. What was the purpose of
hunting in medieval times?
2. What made hunting popular
during those times?
3. Do we still hunt nowadays?
4. Describe any modern
equivalents of this medieval
custom.
Group 3
- will work on the topic of
vassals and vassalage and will
answer the following questions:
1. What do the terms vassal
and vassalage refer to?
2. What caused the system of
vassalage to develop during the
Middle Ages?
3. How did the system affect
the life of the people in the
Middle Ages?
The German Epic
 Introduction
With the fall of Rome, Europe slipped
backward almost into savagery. There
were great men, saints, and mystics;
but the mass of the people were
helpless both against nature and
against their oppressors, the raiding
savages, the roaming criminals, the
domineering nobles.
 Introduction
The physical aspect of Europe was
repellent- a continent of ruins and
forests dotted with rude forts,
miserable villages, tiny scattered
towns joined by a few rough roads,
between which lay backwoods, areas
where the inhabitants were really
savage as those inhabiting Central
Africa.
 Introduction
These Dark Ages gave way to the Middle
Ages, representing the gradual but
steady and laborious progress of
civilization.
 How much of it survived?
Very little.

Through what channels did it survive?

It survived in the Catholic Church, in the
monasteries. From very humble beginnings,
the Church rose into power and authority.
All intellectual and activities took place
in the monasteries.
Much of the progress of the Middle
Ages was educational. Universities
appeared like beacons being lit one by
one after the blackout.
• University of Salerno (first)
• Universities of Bologna, Paris,
Oxford, Cambridge, Salamanca, and
Heidelberg
Reading
the Epic
 Epic
The epic is a major literary type in a
nation’s literature; it is the
earliest literary form to appear.

The epic is inseparable from the idea

of grandeur, it contains a magnitude
of theme, storyline, and heroic
characters.
 Epic
War is the most obvious example; an
epic can partly be described as
“a narrative in verse full of warlike
adventures.”
 Epic
No man, purely as an individual, can
be the proper subject of an epic. A
hero remains an individual although he
rises above the average of human
stature; but a hero becomes an epic
hero when he represents something
greater than himself- a nation, a
people, a faith.
 Epic
The Iliad does not sing only of the
anger and the warlike deeds of
Achilles. It brings to mind the whole
Trojan War that, in the Homeric world,
was an event of great magnitude and
importance.
 Epic
The Aeneid, apart from the wanderings
and warlike adventures of Aeneas,
opens an impressive prospect of the
destiny of imperial Rome.
 Epic
The Song of Roland not only pictures
the pride and obstinacy of Roland, but
is also filled with the crusading zeal
of a man who represents Christianity
against Islam.
 Epic
In Europe, the Middle Ages was an age
of epics.
 Beowulf
It is an English Epic, the oldest of European
epics.
- It relates incidents that took place as early
as A.D 520. It gives us a picture of a stage of
civilization earlier than any other European
epic. The type of life described, the
disorganized world of tribal states, the
raiding parties, and the gallant chiefs are
much like what are found in the Homeric epics.
 European Epics
• The Nibungelied- from Germany
• The Song of Roland- from France
• El Cid- from Spain
• Divine Comedy- from Italy
What could have happened after the Roman empire
declined and fell apart?
Imagine and describe (using words, phrases, or
sentences) what you think happened to the following
areas after the fall of the Empire:
a. National Governments
b. Local Governments
c. City life
d. Country Life
e. Education and Culture
f. Beliefs about good and evil/right and
wrong
 The
Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
 The Nibelungenlied
- A German Epic
- “The lay/Song of the Nibelungs”
(refers to the royal Burgundian family or
a race of dwarves thought to be the
original owners of the Burgundian wealth).
- Written around 1200 by an unknown poet
 The Nibelungenlied
Setting- the land of the Burgundians
in the city of Worms, on the Rhine
River, around the 5th or 6th century and
uses historical events and characters
from this period
• Siegfried- the hero of
the Nibelungenlied
- a handsome, valorous
prince in the Netherlands
city of Xanten

• Kriemhild- heroine, the

sister of Gunther
• Gunther- king of
Burgundy, with a capital
at Worms.

• Brunhild- the queen of

Isenland (Iceland)
• Hagen- was a fierce warrior, cousin of King
Gunther and his sister Kriemhild, and as such,
vassal of the Burgundian kings.
- He is also calculating and acquisitive, always
looking for ways to accumulate power and wealth,
whatever the cost.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Siegfried hears about the surpassing
beauty and many virtues of Kriemhild
and embarks for Burgundy to win her
for his bride. But in spite of his
splendid achievements and his great
fame, he fails at first even to get an
audience with her.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Gunther is attacked by his old enemies
and Siegfried successfully drives them
away. In gratitude, Gunther now allows
his sister to appear at a banquet
given to celebrate Siegfried’s
victory.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Gunther agrees to give Kriemhild in
marriage to Siegfried but makes it a
condition that Siegfried help him win
Brunhild, the queen of Isenland, for
his wife. Siegfried readily agrees to
this proposition.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
In Isenland, every suitor of the queen
has to undergo three tests of physical
strength in the form of combats with
her. If vanquished, the suitor would
suffer a cruel death.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Queen Brunhild recognizes Siegfried
and admires his strength and courage
and his great wealth. He had obtained
this when he killed a dragon and
bathed in its blood to render himself
invulnerable to physical weapons.
Siegfried, to raise Gunther’s status,
tells Queen Brunhild that he is a
vassal to Gunther.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
The Summary
trial begins and Gunther wins
only
because Siegfried, putting on his
cloak of invisibility, performs all
the actions for him.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
How Summary
did Siegfried’s statement that
he
was a vassal to Gunther increase
Gunther’s worth in the eyes of
Brunhild?

If the mighty Siegfried was the vassal

of Gunther, it meant that Gunther was
more powerful than Siegfried.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Gunther wins Summary
Brunhild for his wife and
a double wedding is performed in
Burgundy. Gunther is married to
Brunhild and Siegfried to Kriemhild.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Amidst all the songs and ceremonies,
Brunhild is unhappy and resentful and
reproaches her husband for giving his
sister to a mere vassal.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Brunhild weepsSummary
when she sees Kriemhild
sitting next to Siegfried in the seat of
honor. When Gunther asks Brunhild why, she
explains that she is grieved to see
Kriemhild degraded by marriage to a mere
vassal. Gunther evades the issue, and
Brunhild says she won’t consummate her
marriage with Gunther until she knows the
full story.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
When Summary
Gunther tries to take her virginity
that night, she flies into a rage, ties him
up in her girdle, and hangs him from a nail
on the wall. When Gunther confides his
humiliation to Siegfried the next day,
Siegfried promises to subdue Gunther’s
formidable wife for him. Wearing his
invisibility cloak, he wrestles Brunhild
into submission, though they nearly kill one
another in the process.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Siegfried tellsSummary
Gunther that the secret of
Brunhild’s strength is in her girdle and her
ring. Once deprived of these things, she
would become an ordinary woman. With
Gunther’s consent, Siegfried succeeds in
getting the girdle and ring but
unfortunately gives them to Kriemhild and
confides the story to her.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Whywas it a Summary
mistake for Siegfried to
give Brunhild’s girdle and ring to
Kriemhild?

She would use the items to later to

prove to Brunhild that it was
Siegfried who subdued her and not
Gunther, her husband.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Gunther finally Summary
sleeps with his wife,after
which Brunhild’s vast strength leaves her,
and she’s just like any ordinary woman. Not
long after, Siegfried and Kriemhild return
to Siegfried’s native Netherlands, where he
rules as king for ten years.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
A few years pass. Brunhild complains to her
husband that Siegfried does not come to
Burgundy to pay homage to Gunther. They
decided to hold a great feast. Siegfried and
Kriemhild are invited.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
During the festivities, a violent quarrel
arises between Kriemhild and Brunhild about
the merits of their husbands.
When Brunhild boasts that Siegfried is a
mere vassal of Gunther’s, Kriemhild tells
her the truth, and carried off by pride and
passion, produces the girdle and the ring
that Siegfried took from Brunhild. She calls
Brunhild Siegfried’s paramour, alleging that
Siegfried took her virginity, not Gunther.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Why Summary
did Kriemhild reveal these gifts
to Brunhild?

To prove to Brunhild that her husband

is mightier than Gunther.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Brunhild vows vengeance, and tells Gunther
of this, he is evasive and lets Siegfried
off the hook without a formal oath. Later,
when Hagen and the other vassals knew this,
they begin plotting to kill Siegfried.
Gunther hesitantly goes along with them.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary
Gunther pretends that enemies are about to
attack Burgundy and Siegfried volunteers to
defend it. Hagen, pretending to be worried
about the reckless courage of Siegfried,
convinces Kriemhild to reveal to him
Siegried’s vulnerable spot on his shoulder.
Hagen promises to protect this spot from the
enemy.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Hagen
Symmary
suggests that the men go on a hunting
trip. After the hunt, when all are
exhausted, Siegfried goes to a stream to
drink. As he bends over the water, Hagen
thrusts a spear into the vulnerable spot and
kills him, avenging Brunhild.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
Summary

This ends the first part of this epic.

 The Nibelungenlied: A
How Symmary
was Siegfried killed?

Hagen made Kriemhild to reveal his

weak spot by pretending to be
concerned.

Hagen thrusts a spear into the

vulnerable spot of Siegfried.
 The Nibelungenlied: A
The Summary
second part is a complicated and
bewildering series of events relating the
horrifying revenge of Kriemhild on those who
killed her husband. To secure her revenge,
she marries Etzel, Hungarian King, and
invites all her kinsmen, including Hagen.
Kriemhild involves them in a bloody battle
in which thousands are slain. Gunther and
Hagen are taken prisoners and put to death
by Kriemhild, who herself is killed at the
end of the epic.