THE ORAL TRADITION

1. reasons for writing epic poetry and examples

2. Anglo-Saxon poetry makes different use of techinical devices

3. the epic genre was used by kings for enduring their fame and to narrate their glorious deeds

4. the best example of epic poetry is "Beowulf", but also "The Seafarer"; both written in Old English

5. poetry was also didactic, as in it taught people about things, mostly moral "rules"

6. here is a cartonish summary of Beowulf- Classics Summarized: Beowulf

7. ALLITERATION is a repetition of the same initial consonant sound in different words within a single line

8. KENNING is a highly formalised compound metaphor. They are similar to epithets

9. poems,songs,ballads,lyrics,epic poems,tales and myths

10. epic poems were sang by bards, similar to aedi in ancient Greece; tales were told by scops

11. RIDDLES were short descriptions of familiar objects in as impenetrable and difficult language as possible