Question

The term "Dark Ages" is used to describe a period of cultural & intellectual deficiency (i.e. a sort of dark hole in Western Civilization that did not produce significant growth either on a personal or public level). Beowulf belongs to this designated period, though many scholars have since refuted the label of "Dark Ages", arguing that it does grave injustice to the sparse, yet historically & artistically rich, vibrant and colorful literary pieces that survive. Consider the role of "darkness" in Beowulf. To what extent do characters & circumstances of the tale originate & appear bound to darkness. And then where do you see bursts of color emerge (i.e. in the personalities of the characters, in the heroic battles scenes), which suggests that the author & times were, in fact, conducive to creative/imaginative outpourings worthy of our consideration.

Answer 1

The term "Drak Age" refers to the period between the early 7th century to the late15th century during which Europe was in the complete arrest of the turmoil and loss of intellectual properties. People were more on the side of belief rather than scientific observation and reasoning. Prior to that period, early Greek contributed more theoretical and philosophical advancement which further advanced during the golden age of Islam (or some would say the golden age of science). The golden age of Islam was the same as the dark age in Europe. It is not the right way to say 'dark age' because the same age was the golden age of scientific revolution in Baghdad, Arabia, Egypt, Andalusia (present-day Spain), and part of Khurasan (present-day Afghanistan and Iran). It was the time during which scholars advanced and corrected the theories of the early Greeks. Scholars like Al-Razi, Ibn-Sina, Ibn-al-Nafis, Al-Jazri, Omar Khayyam, Ibn-al-Haitham, and many others were exploring optics, devising the first camera, inventing medical and psychological remedies, devising the experimental designs, implementing the flood planning, and doing much more astonishing in the field of science and writings. This was indeed a period of Golden age from where the scientific knowledge shifted to the Western world that was known as the European renaissance. As far as the Beowulf is concerned, the author emphasized the beauty of the European culture that consists of the paintings and general cultural practices. But, those are not the real thing to say the age as a golden age. The Islamic empire expanded from Arab work to part of the world from west to east. Therefore, knowledge was also being spread. For example, it was Ibn-al-Nafis who defined first that the heart's septum does not consist of a whole, and rejected the Gelen's theory where he defined that he heart's septum consists of the whole to pass the blood from left to right side.