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Midterm Brit Lit
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Aglæca | "Awesome adversary" / "terrible one"; used for both monsters (Grendel) and heroes in Old English |
| Anglo-Saxon | Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) who settled in Britain (5th–6th centuries) |
| Anti-convivial | Opposed to feast or social joy; acts that disrupt the harmony of the mead-hall |
| Blood Honor | Cultural value tying family honor to martial duty and bloodline protection |
| Blood Revenge | Requirement to avenge murdered kin through death or financial compensation |
| Comitatus | Sacred bond of mutual loyalty between a lord and his retainers (thanes) |
| Dane | Inhabitant of Denmark; Hrothgar's people in Beowulf |
| Fame-Shame Culture | Value system prioritizing public reputation (dom) over internal conscience |
| Fellowship | Communal unity and loyalty among warriors in the hall or on a quest |
| Fratricide | Killing one's brother; the ultimate unforgivable crime in heroic society |
| Geat | Member of a North Germanic tribe in Sweden; Beowulf and Hygelac's people |
| Heremod | Cruel, greedy ancient Danish king cited by Hrothgar as a bad example |
| Heroic Boast (Beot) | Public vow by a warrior pledging to complete a heroic feat or die trying |
| Heroic Code | Cultural system emphasizing courage, loyalty to lord, revenge for kin, and eternal fame |
| Hygelac | King of the Geats; uncle to Beowulf |
| Modthryth (Queen Thryth) | Cruel queen contrasted with Hygd in Beowulf |
| Oferhygd | Old English concept of excessive pride or hubris |
| Other | Critical term for individuals/groups framed as foreign, monstrous, or alien to society |
| Ring-giver | Generous lord who rewards loyal thanes with treasure for service |
| Shield Sheafson | Legendary founder of the Danish royal line in Beowulf |
| Sigemund | Legendary dragon-slayer mentioned in Beowulf as a heroic archetype |
| Thane | Noble warrior holding land granted by a king in exchange for military service |
| Wealhtheow | Hrothgar's queen; exemplifies the ideal queen as peace-weaver and cup-bearer |
| Wergild | "Man-price"; legally binding compensation paid to a victim's family to prevent blood-feuds |
| Alliteration | Repetition of initial consonant sounds; core structural device of Old English verse |
| Allegory | Narrative where characters/events represent broader abstract concepts or historical truths |
| Caesura | Metric pause dividing a line of Old English verse into two half-lines |
| Didacticism | Literature created primarily to teach moral or ethical lessons |
| Epic | Long narrative poem recounting grand deeds of a hero central to a culture's identity |
| Heroic Epithet | Recurring descriptive phrase characterizing a person or object |
| Ironic Understatement (Litotes) | Understatement using a negative assertion to emphasize reality |
| Kenning | Metaphorical compound word replacing a simple noun (eg, "whale-road" for sea) |
| Lai | Short rhymed narrative poem originating in Brittany (eg, Marie de France's Bisclavret) |
| Legend Construction | Process of mythologizing real history into larger-than-life heroic tales |
| Memento Mori | "Remember you must die"; literary motif emphasizing human mortality |
| Old English | Early West Germanic language spoken in England (~450–1100 AD) |
| Æthelred (the Unready) | Anglo-Saxon King known for weak defenses and paying Danegeld to Vikings |
| Alfred the Great | King of Wessex who defended England from Vikings and promoted Old English learning |
| Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) | Battle where Henry VII defeated Richard III, ending Wars of the Roses |
| Battle of Hastings (1066) | Battle where William of Normandy conquered England |
| Black Death (1346–1353) | Devastating bubonic plague pandemic that killed 30–60% of Europe |
| Britons | Celtic inhabitants of southern/central Great Britain before Germanic invasions |
| Campaign of Appeasement | Strategy of pacifying aggressors with concessions (eg, Danegeld) |
| Celts | Ancient ethno-linguistic group (Britons, Gaels, Picts) inhabiting Britain before Romans/Saxons |
| Cnut (Canute) | Danish king who conquered England in 1016 and created the North Sea Empire |
| Edward the Confessor | Penultimate Anglo-Saxon king whose death triggered the 1066 succession crisis |
| Gaels | Celtic people originating in Ireland who settled in western Scotland |
| Great Famine (1315–1317) | Massive famine causing Northern European economic and social collapse |
| Hadrian’s Wall | Roman fortification across northern England to keep out northern tribes |
| Henry II | King who founded Plantagenet dynasty and reformed English common law |
| Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) | Extended conflict between England and France for the French throne |
| Londinium | Ancient Roman settlement that became modern London |
| Magna Carta (1215) | Charter limiting royal power and establishing legal rights under common law |
| Middle English | Form of English spoken after Norman Conquest (~1066–1500) |
| Norman Conquest (1066) | French-Norman invasion that transformed English language and culture |
| Picts | Ancient tribal Celtic people who inhabited northern Scotland |
| Vikings | Scandinavian seafaring warriors who raided and settled in Britain (8th–11th c) |
| Wars of the Roses (15th c) | Dynastic civil wars between Houses of Lancaster and York |
| William the Conqueror | Duke of Normandy who won at Hastings and became King of England |
| Amazon | Mythological fierce female warrior; symbolizes non-traditional female agency |
| Bisclavret | 12th-century Breton lai by Marie de France about a knight turned werewolf |
| Chivalry | Code of knighthood emphasizing honor, courtly manners, piety, and military skill |
| Courtly Love | Literary convention depicting secret, idealized love for an unattainable lady |
| Fiefs | Land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for military loyalty |
| Leda | Classical Spartan queen seduced by Zeus in swan form; mother of Helen of Troy |
| Romance | Genre focused on knightly adventures, chivalry, magic, and courtly love |
| Troy | Ancient city whose legendary fall inspired foundation myths across Europe |
| Vir | Latin for "man," embodying heroic masculine ideal, valor, and virtue |
| 39 Articles | Defining doctrinal statements of the Church of England |
| Act of Supremacy (1534/1559) | Act establishing the English monarch as head of the Church of England |
| Anathema | Formal curse or person set apart and condemned (eg, Cain's cursed lineage) |
| Anglicanism | The Protestant tradition and theology of the Church of England |
| Cain | Biblical figure who slew his brother Abel; named ancestor of monsters in Beowulf |
| Depravity of the Will (Total Depravity) | Doctrine that human willpower is fully corrupted by sin |
| Divine Vengeance | Belief that retribution belongs solely to God |
| Double Predestination | Calvinist view that God eternally decreed who is saved and who is damned |
| Election | Sovereign choice of God selecting individuals for eternal salvation |
| External / Internal Call | External proclamation of the Gospel vs internal Holy Spirit regeneration |
| Extreme Unction | Catholic sacrament of anointing the dying with oil |
| Hardened Heart | Concept where God permits or causes a sinner's heart to resist grace |
| Heretic | Person holding beliefs contradicting official religious orthodoxy |
| Heterodoxy | Beliefs departing from established, official religious doctrine |
| Limited Atonement | Doctrine that Christ's sacrifice was intended only for the elect |
| Martin Luther’s 95 Theses (1517) | Document criticizing indulgences that sparked the Reformation |
| Orthodoxy | Authorized, official doctrines held by religious or political authorities |
| Piety | Devout reverence toward faith, divine authority, and duty |
| Purgatory | Catholic state of post-death purification before Heaven (rejected by Protestants) |
| Recusant | Person in Tudor/Stuart England refusing to attend Church of England services |
| Sola Fide | Reformation core principle |
| Superbia | Latin for supreme pride or hubris; primary cardinal sin in Christian thought |
| Unconditional Election | Doctrine that God chooses the elect based purely on mercy, not human merit |
| Catherine of Aragon | First wife of Henry VIII; her divorce sparked the English Reformation |
| Elizabeth I (r 1558–1603) | Tudor queen who created the Protestant Settlement and fostered drama |
| Henry VIII (r 1509–1547) | King who broke from Rome to form the Church of England |
| James I (r 1603–1625) | First Stuart king; patronized Shakespeare's troupe and the King James Bible |
| Lady Jane Grey | Protestant "Nine Days' Queen" executed after Mary I claimed the throne |
| Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary", r 1553–1558) | Catholic queen who persecuted English Protestants |
| Arras | Rich tapestry wall hanging used as a prop/curtain in theater (famously hides Polonius) |
| Galleries | Tiered, covered seating areas surrounding the open yard in public playhouses |
| Groundlings | Lower-class patrons paying a penny to stand in the yard of public playhouses |
| Master of the Revels | Court official who reviewed, licensed, and censored public plays |
| Philip Henslowe | Theater manager of The Rose whose surviving diary details early drama |
| Private Playhouses | Smaller indoor, candlelit theaters (eg, Blackfriars) for wealthier crowds |
| Public/Arena Playhouses | Large open-air playhouses (eg, The Globe) for general audiences |
| Richard Burbage | Star actor of Shakespeare's company who originated Hamlet, Lear, and Othello |
| Stage Heaven | Roof canopy over the main stage containing ceiling trapdoors and ropes |
| Stage Hell | Area underneath the main stage accessed via a floor trapdoor |
| The Globe | Landmark Southwark playhouse built in 1599 for Shakespeare's company |
| The Rose | Major early public theater built in 1587 by Philip Henslowe |
| The Theatre | First permanent public playhouse built in London (1576) by James Burbage |
| Tiring House | Three-story building behind the stage used for changing and prop storage |
| Yard | Unroofed central floor ("pit") surrounding the main stage where groundlings stood |
| Anti-Stratfordian | Skeptic who denies Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays bearing his name |
| Edward de Vere | 17th Earl of Oxford, prominent courtier favored by Anti-Stratfordians |
| Francis Bacon | Philosopher and statesman proposed by some as the "real" Shakespeare |
| Humility Topos | Rhetorical device where an author claims modest or inadequate skills |
| Memorial Reconstruction | Theory that "bad quartos" were transcribed from memory by actors |
| Necromancy | Black magic involving communication with or summoning of the dead/demons |
| Sonnet | 14-line poem following strict meter/rhyme (Petrarchan or Shakespearean) |
| Stationers’ Register | Official London ledger recording publication rights to printed works |
| Stratfordian | Scholar who maintains Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the Shakespeare canon |
| Triptych | Work divided into three distinct panels or sections |
| Denouement | Resolution or unraveling of the main plot complications in literature |
| Extant | Still surviving; historical documents or manuscripts not lost over time |
| Private Vengeance | Retribution taken outside law; condemned as sinful and chaotic |
| Public Vengeance | Justice delivered by the legal system or monarch as God's representative |
| Regicide | The deliberate murder of a reigning monarch |
| Revenge Tragedy | Elizabethan/Jacobean drama genre featuring ghosts, madness, and blood feuds |
| Vindicare | Latin root meaning to claim, avenge, or liberate; basis of "vindication” |
Created by:
CHRSTN1121