Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beowulf
Ponder this first English literary masterpiece. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem, written in
Old English (the earliest version of our language), almost makes the hieroglyphics on the
Rosetta Stone look easy. The manuscript is from
A.D.
1000, although the story itself dates
to about 750. In this epic story, the young hero Beowulf defeats two half-human monsters
threatening the kingdom. Beowulf symbolizes England's emergence from the chaos and
barbarism of the Dark Ages.
William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)
William Shakespeare is the greatest author in any language, period. He expanded
and helped define modern English. In one fell swoop, he made the language of
everyday people as important as Latin. In the process, he gave us phrases like “one
fell swoop,” which we quote without knowing they're Shakespeare. (Without him,
no one would ever “vanish into thin air,” “play fast and loose,” “have seen better
days,” do anything “without rhyme or reason,” become a “laughingstock,” or wish
anything “good riddance.”)
