This module introduces you to the heroic world of medieval epic and saga through a selection of Old English and Old Norse texts read in modern English translations. You will study narratives of monster-slaying heroes and warriors’ divided loyalties from distinct but closely related literary traditions. Texts will typically include the early English poem Beowulf, Norse sagas from medieval Iceland and shorter heroic lays. Paying due attention to the texts’ historical and literary contexts, you will focus on comparing and contrasting the treatment of themes and figures across different literatures, different centuries and different genres (epic poetry, heroic lay and prose saga). Topics discussed may also include issues relating to the study of literature in translation and the modern reception of the texts.

• analyse and compare selected examples of medieval epic and saga in ways appropriately informed by historical and literary context
• develop an argument that is sensitive to issues raised by studying texts in translation
• evaluate how the post-medieval reception of medieval epic and saga, including academic scholarship devoted to them, has been shaped by politics and ideology
• produce a cogent and appropriately presented essay demonstrating detailed knowledge of two or more texts studied on the module

The module will be delivered through a mix of large group and small group sessions, including, where relevant, asynchronous materials such as lecture recordings. Full details on the delivery mode of this module will be available on Learning Central at the start of the academic year – and may be, in part, determined by Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance.   

Academic skills: this module will develop and practise skills in close reading, independent scholarly research, and critical thinking. More specifically, it will develop the ability to compare and contrast texts from different but interrelated cultures when producing a critical argument. This requires careful scholarship, sensitivity to language through close reading, and a broader historical awareness.

​Employability skills: these include the ability to synthesise information, participate in group-based discussion, to negotiate different and conflicting standpoints, to communicate ideas and to produce clear, informed arguments in a professional manner. Student-led research will encourage skills of information collation, selection, and synthesis.

The methods of summative assessment for this module are detailed in the table below. 

Formative work to be submitted before each summative assessment: you can choose between submitting, as appropriate, an essay plan/structure, synopses of essay topic options (if undecided), or sample paragraph/s.

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE:

As with School policy, failed or unsubmitted assessments can be retaken during the August resit period.

Indicative schedule:

• Beowulf
• The Saga of the Volsungs
• The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki
• The Hildebrandslied
• The Saga of Ásmundr, Killer of Champions