The Bayeaux Tapestry in a film!

Bayeaux Tapestry on film Click the previous link if you cannot watch it from here

Very helpful to remember important details about the Norman Conquest!

Please answer the questions:

1. What is the comet supposed to mean?

2. Why is William angry?

3. What do they carry on the boats?

4. What do the do when they arrive?

5. What do you see at the bottom of the tapestry during the battle?

6. What is Harold's brother called?

How did Harold die?

Look at the picture of the Bayeaux Tapestry and try to answer the question in the title.

Click to enlarge

Edward and Demon Lover

THE DEMON LOVER and EDWARD complete, say true or false or answer.

THE DEMON LOVER TRUE OR FALSE A husband is cruel to his wife and forces her to run away with her old lover

THE DEMON LOVER Why is the man's foot a clue that there is an element of the supernatural in this ballad?

THE DEMON LOVER The man's boat is unusual in that the masts are made of _____

THE DEMON LOVER What two "supernatural" places does the man show the woman on the voyage?

THE DEMON LOVER What startling action does the man do to the boat at the end of the ballad?

THE DEMON LOVER Where does the woman end up in death?

THE DEMON LOVER The woman's fate may be deserved because she has run off and left behind her _____ and _____.

EDWARD EDWARD What are the two surprises?

EDWARD EDWARD Edward says that he has killed ______

EDWARD EDWARD What is Edward leaving to his wife and children?

Ballads

Complete the following sentences about ballads:

A ballad is a ______ poem.

The area where most ballads were probably composed was ______.

Exactly how or when ballads originated and developed is unknown because of _______

Usually, but not always, the tone of medieval ballad was _____.

In order to provide a melodic effect, to heighten emphasis, to heighten emotion, and to provide suspense, one technical characteristic used in ballads was the _____ of words or phrases.

The medieval ballad: true or false?

Please CORRECT  false statements.  

1. Ballads were produced by intellectuals and recited or sung in alehouses and at fairs. (   )
2. The word ballad comes from the latin ballare to dance, and in fact these poems were originally

     sung to a simple instrumental accompaniment. (   )

3. The popular ballad, written between the 13th and 14th centuries, were collected and later
     published by common people. (   )

4. Popular ballads are anonymous narrative poems. They differ from all other types of narrative
    poetry due to a peculiar and effective way of telling their stories. (   )

5. They deal with one single situation and treat it dramatically. (   )

6. They are impersonal, since the story-teller does not intrude his personality. (   )

7. There is a moralizing of didactic approach. (   )

''Lord Randall''

Literary device: Question and answer.

STORY: a young man, coming home from a day's hunting, is apparently tired. The young man's mother draws information out of him which eventually reveals that he's been poisoned by his true love.

 Three of the five stanzas deal with food: one, where he ate; two, what he ate; and three, what happened to the leftovers. By the time we discover that the dogs were poisoned ("they swell'd and they died"), it's clear that Randall will suffer the same fate.

 INCREMENTAL REPETITION: ''For I'm weary wi' hunting and fain would lie down" is the refrain of the earlier stanzas; it's switched to "For I'm sick at the heart and fain would lie down" in the last line of the final stanza. Why? Randall now identifies a broken and betrayed heart, not physical fatigue, as the source of his weariness.

 Some extra info!

 "Lord Randall" (Roud 10, Child 12) is an Anglo-Scottish border ballad, a traditional ballad consisting of dialogue. The different versions follow the same general lines, the primary character (in this case Randall, but varying by location) is poisoned, usually by his sweetheart; this is revealed through a conversation where he reports on the events and the poisoner. Variants of this ballads are found in German, Swedish, Magyar, Danish, Wendish. Similar ballads exist across the continent of Europe. There are, for example different Italian versions, usually titled "L'avvelenato" ('The Poisoned Man') or "Il testamento dell'avvelenato". In the early 1960s Bob Dylan borrowed its structure for "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall".

Golden plus for info on "L'avvelenato"

Battle of Hastings

1. Where does William cross the channel?
2. Where does he arrive?
3. How long does it take?
4. When was the Battle of Stanford Bridge? Who fought there?
5. How many days after was the Battle of Hastings?
6. In a few lines, explain why you think I posted this information.