I’ve struggled with the concept of “Good vs. Evil” since I was able to recognize it in literature or film. I’ve often asked myself, who’s the bad guy here? Is there even one? I believe that the everlasting struggle of Good vs. Evil is something that has been forced upon us as viewers, students and… Read more Good vs. Evil? Evil vs. Good? Grendel’s Mother = Good?!
Month: August 2020
Beauty and the Beowulf
What is an important theme in Beowulf? A theme that is recurring in this story, and that I find to be an important one, is the theme of loyalty. A character in this story that I feel embodies loyalty itself is the main character, Beowulf. Every move he makes is motivated by loyalty. For example,… Read more Beauty and the Beowulf
Weekly Reflection My Dudes
Hello! Despite it only being Monday, I feel as though there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this week. Today’s class discussion – over Teams – was really interesting. Whether or not we were talking about something specific or it goes all over the place…For me personally I love to talk,… Read more Weekly Reflection My Dudes
Perspective
My first question resonates with the reading of The Wife’s Lament. Towards the ending, it references the exile under the oak tree, which leads me to wonder, what is the importance of the oak tree? Looking further into the reading, I was well aware of the religious aspects of the writing, and what caught my… Read more Perspective
Hi my name is BattleWolf™ and I’m here to fight the Ugly Dirt Man
I was looking up the etymology of the names and couldn’t help but laugh. Sorry. Anyway. My first and most pressing question (having little to no background knowledge of Beowulf as a piece of literature- hoping to God there wasn’t some reading I missed already) is this: Why are the familial connections both so heavily… Read more Hi my name is BattleWolf™ and I’m here to fight the Ugly Dirt Man
“Slaughter-shafts” and Grandiose Speeches.
Okay, I had trouble making questions for Beowulf because I had trouble understanding the text, but here we go. It starts sexually, but, hey, it’s me; what did you expect, really? Why is the text laden with sexually charged language? The example above is one of several mentions of weapons from an overtly phallic perspective,… Read more “Slaughter-shafts” and Grandiose Speeches.
Moors?
My first question came up when Grendel was introduced. What did the author mean when they described Grendel, in line 103, as “he who held the moors?” How entwined is his character with the concept of M/moors? As far as I can tell so far, it seems “moor” has been used in Beowulf simply to… Read more Moors?
Early medieval lit: Whose home is it?
Question #1 Beowulf, Fitts 0-14, lines 1-960 When Grendel shows up in Beowulf, he’s a rather sympathetic character: Speaking of grudges: out there in the dark, one waited. He listened, holding himself hard to home, but he’d been lonely too long, brotherless, Sludge-stranded. (85-88) Why is Grendel so aggravated in the first place that he… Read more Early medieval lit: Whose home is it?
Influences: Religion and LOTR
Before I start, I must say that it is very difficult finding out how Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf is sectioned out and I spent about half an hour flipping through pages and googling different versions where the chapters are actually numbered. Q 1: Why is Beowulf written as though he were a Mary Sue character? In… Read more Influences: Religion and LOTR
Heorot and Kings
First question: What is the significance of Heorot, the mead hall, in the story as a form of symbolism? The mead hall is supposed to be a place of gathering and fellowship, but it also where Grendel chooses to attack and kill as a way to continue this feud between monsters and men. What is… Read more Heorot and Kings