For Tuesday: Finish Beowulf (see below)

Since we're getting behind in our Beowulf reading, let's go ahead and finish the book for Tuesday's class. I was going to give you an in-class response to write for Tuesday's class, but instead just keep reading the book and we'll do one in class as normal. Besides, I have your papers to grade! :) 

Here are some questions to consider for the last third of the book (the ideas for the middle part are in the post below this one--and the in-class response might borrow from either one, or both!):

* What role does the dragon play in the poem? He’s clearly not humanized in the way Grendel or his mother are (he’s a literal monster), but he still exhibits some very human characteristics. What might these be?

* Consider, too, how this dragon relates to another dragon we might know from Tolkien: Smaug. If you know The Hobbit, how are the two related? How might Tolkien have been inspired from this one?

* Why, according to the poem, does Beowulf fail in his final fight? Why does fate, or God, abandon him?

* How does the final third of the poem comment on the bonds of family, clan, and kingdom? What ‘doom’ might it prophesize for future generations?

* What is the importance of Wiglaf and his speech towards the end of the poem? How might he echo other characters in the poem? Does he express the true beliefs of the poet?

* Does the poet seem to look back longingly on Anglo Saxon ideals, or as a Christian, does he see their limitations? How might this explain why he chose an old pagan warrior as the subject for a Christian poem? 

For Tuesday: Paper #1 due (in class!) & Beowulf for Thursday (pp.43-77)

Remember that your Paper #1 assigned is due in class on Tuesday. We will discuss our various approaches and consider the value of knowing the context of Tolkien's scholarship when reading his work. Does it actually challenge The Hobbit as a children's novel when we see the Anglo-Saxon works behind it? Is The Hobbit itself a kind of riddle, which he used to answer some ideas about who the Anglo-Saxons were? Or is it a sort of key to unlock the mysteries of this culture? 

On Thursday, there IS a chance of snow and ice, so ECU might cancel classes (we'll have to wait and see). If so, I'll give you a question to respond to over the weekend to bring to class on the following Tuesday. But until then, let's assume we have class, so read Beowulf from page 43 to 77 (to where the story breaks off to leap into the future, where Beowulf is now king and an old man). 

Here are some questions to consider as you read:

* We've talked about the philosophy of life that emerges in the previous Anglo-Saxon poems, particularly in regard to fate and vanity. What general philosophy of life does the poem seem to embody?  Where in the text can you read or sense this?  Is it explicit--does the poet come out and say this? Or is it more implicit, built into the story itself? 

* On page 48, when everyone is celebrating the death of Grendel and the libration of Hrothgar’s hall, the poet writes: “fate they knew not grim, appointed of old, as it had gone already forth for many of those good men, so soon as evening came...”  Based on the logic of the poem (and the values of the poet’s day), why does wyrd/fate continue to ‘punish’ the hall if God wanted Beowulf to destroy Grendel?  Why are they afflicted by Grendel’s mother as well? 

* The only real description we get of Grendel and his mother occurs on page 52, when Hrothgar says “Of these was one, in so far as they might clear discern, a shape as of a woman; the other, miscreated thing, in man's form trod the ways of exile, albeit he was greater than any other human thing." Though the poet often claims that they are the spawn of Cain, evil incarnate, some critics suggest that the poet invests them with a subversive humanity.  Where might we see this in the poem?  How might the poet make us question a strict good/evil reading of the poem? 

* Though Beowulf is quite a ‘manly’ poem, four women appear briefly in its pages: Grendel's Mother (technically a woman), Wealhtheow (Hrothgar’s wife), Hygd (wife of Beowulf’s chief, Hygelac), and Modthryth (the ‘evil’ wife of Offa).  Assuming that Beowulf is somewhat culturally accurate, what view of women does the poem offer us?  What was their role in society?  Related to this, what role do they play in the poem? 

For Thursday: Tolkien's Beowulf, pages 13- 43

For Thursday's class, be sure to read the beginning of Beowulf, from the opening to the morning after the defeat of Grendel (page 43 for us). If you have another edition of the poem, try to ballpark it, but make sure you get past the fight between Beowulf and Grendel. The line numbers of Tolkien's version differ from other translations, so even telling you what line to stop at would be problematic. 

As you read, think of the following ideas, many of which I hope to explore in Thursday's class:

* How does Tolkien's translation compare to many of the translations we read in The Word Exchange? Why might he not agree with many of those poets? What do you think his main concern in getting across was in this translation? Do you think it's successful? 

* Similar to poems like The Seafarer, how does Beowulf graft the Christian tradition onto the world of pagan monsters and folklore?  Can the two worlds co-exist within the poem, or are there moments of confusion or contradiction? 

* In a famous passage of the poem, Unferth, another warrior at Hrothgar’s court, attacks Beowulf’s claims of heroism (page 27).  Why is this passage important to the poem?  How is what he says—and how Beowulf responds to it—dramatically compelling?  You might also consider what this episode says about the culture of the Anglo Saxons and its heroes (and where we've heard this in previous poems). 

* Which poems that we've read seem to most remind you of these passages of Beowulf? Do you think the Beowulf poet was writing in an earlier time (around Deor, The Seafarer, Wulf and Eadwacer) or was he writing in a somewhat later age, such as the poets who wrote The Riddles and The Maxims? Why might we think so? 

* How does the poet use kennings or metaphors to create an experience similar to what we discovered last time in the Riddles? In other words, how is he challenging us to see the mundane Anglo Saxon world—a world of weapons, boats, men, women, and weather—in a new and poetic light? Why is this satisfying even for a modern-day reader?

* In Beowulf we encounter the concept of fate (the Anglo-Saxon wyrd) meany times, as when Beowulf says, "Fate goeth ever as she must!" (26).  How might we understand what the Anglo-Saxons meant by fate in this instance (and others in the poem)?  Is fate “God” and His decisions?  Is fate related to a Norse/Greek conception of destiny?  Or is it simply luck or random chance?  

For Tuesday: Selected Anglo-Saxon Riddles (and some schedule changes)

NOTE: Because of our snow day, I had to make some schedule changes, which means I pushed everything back one day. So the paper is NOT due next Thursday, actually the following Monday, February 22nd (instead of the 17th). Also, I'm going to cut the scheduled reading for Tuesday, and go to the next one, which is the selection of Anglo-Saxon riddles from the book. There are MANY riddles scattered throughout the book, so I chose a few from each section below:

Selected Riddles for Tuesday:

* Riddle 4, "Busy from Time to Time" (p.75)

* Riddle 5, "I am a Monad Gashed by Iron" (p.77)

* Riddle 7, "All that Adorns Me Keeps Me" (p.77)

* Riddle 8, "I Can Chortle Away in Any Voice" (p.79)

* Riddle 13, "I Saw Ten of the Them..." (p.87)

* Riddle 16, "All My Life's a Struggle..." (p.151)

* Riddle 23, "Wob is My Name..." (p.161)

* Riddle 24 & 25 (pp.163)

* Riddle 50, "I Dance Like Flames" (p.265)

* Riddle 33, "A Sea Monster..." (p.269)

* Riddle 43, "A Noble Guest..." & "A King Who Keeps to Himself" (pp.317 & 319--two versions of the same riddle!)

* Riddles 44-45 (p.321) 

* Riddle 47, "A Moth Ate Words" (p.323) 

* Riddle 51, "I Saw Four Beings" (p.407)

* Riddle 65, "Alive I Was" (p.449)

* Riddle 68-69, "I Saw That Creature..." (p.451)

* Riddle 75-76, "I Saw Her..." (p.455)

* Riddle 79-80, "I Am a Prince's..." (p.457)

As you read these riddles, think about some of the following ideas...

* Try to solve as many of the riddles as you can. The answers are hidden in the back of the book if you get desperate, however! You can also Google "Exeter Book Riddles" to find alternative translations, which could also help. 

* The word "riddle" comes from the Old English "raedan," which means "to advise, counsel, guide, explain." How do some of these riddles seem to illustrate the riddler's relationship the world? Or, how does it change the way we see/experience the world after riddling it? 

* Where do we hear echoes of Gollum and Bilbo's riddles in this collection? Which ones might Tolkien have most borrowed from for The Hobbit? 

* Based on the solutions to these Riddles (I'm sure you can guess some of them), what kinds of items/things were important to the Anglo-Saxon world? Why do you think this is? What themes/items seem to crop up the most? 

* One of the delights of the riddles is how they can throw you off the scent, and think you're reading something entirely different. How does one of the Riddles do this--make it seem like it's talking about something completely different, though once you know the answer, it's obvious that the meaning never changed.

* Which Riddles do you feel are most like a poem? Why might you not even need to solve it to appreciate its message? In fact, why might many of the poems make sure that there ISN'T one right answer, but several? How do they do this? 

For Thursday: The Word Exchange, Poems About Living: (see poems below)

For Thursday's class, read the following poems from this section (you can read them all, but we'll only have time to discuss a few, so I don't mind limiting it to the following):

* Maxims I-A

* Maxims I-B

* Maxims I-C

* Vainglory

* The Riming Poems

Here are some ideas to consider as you read (we'll do an in-class writing response as usual when you get to class):

* How should we read the Maxims? As an anthology of short pieces (scraps) of wisdom? Or as complete, coherent poems? Do they move logically from beginning to end? Or are they a hodgepodge of wise, but contradictory information from many times and lands?

* However, if we assume that each set (A, B, and C) are by a single author, what kind of poet wrote ‘A’? Who wrote ‘B’? And who wrote ‘C?’ What personality shapes the ideas and sayings of each one? You might even connect it to the author of one of the poems we’ve already read (which one did the Deor poet write, for example?).

* Would you say these poems are more philosophical or pragmatic in nature? In other words, do they deal with poetic abstractions that require deep thought and speculation; or are they mostly practical sayings for the guidance of the common folk? 

* How do these poems illustrate the social rules and expectations of women in the Anglo Saxon world? How might this shed some light on the fate of women in such poems as “The Wife’s Lament” and “Wulf and Eadwacer”?

* Are there moments of contradiction in these Maxims? Do they more or less advocate the same ideals and truths? Or are these sentiments impossible to follow due to conflicting ideas and values? Do the contradictions (if there are any) occur in a single poem, or only in one vs. the other? (A vs. C, for example?).

* Reading these with Tolkien in mind, are these poems more likely to be written by a Bilbo or a Gandalf? A Hobbit or an Elf? Or a Dwarf? What kind of knowledge/wisdom do they seem to represent? 

Paper #1: Beginnings and Endings

English 4643: The Worlds of Tolkien

Paper #1: Beginnings and Endings

 For your first ‘Tolkien’ paper, I want you to choose two poems from The Word Exchange that could function as a Preface and an Epilogue to The Hobbit. By this I mean that one poem could introduce and help readers understand some of the themes to look for as they read the book; and for the Epilogue, the poem should help us understand something deeper that we’ve read that might not be obvious from the story itself—something that only the poem can bring out (something allegorical, etc.). So imagine that each poem would be printed before and after the book so readers could experience them as a functional part of the book.

Your paper should introduce each poem and the explain how you see the poem working as an introduction and a summation of the book itself. Be sure to close read some aspects of each poem so we can understand how you read/understand the words, and of course, how they relate to themes and passages of The Hobbit. Quote from Tolkien’s book so we can see these connections, and understand how in some way he is ‘translating’ the ideas of the older poems into a modern fantasy novel. The connections don’t have to be exact or immediately obvious: your paper is merely suggesting that seeing these connections could help us appreciate the story and get more out of it (more than a children’s story, at least!).

REQUIREMENTS:

• Use of 2 poems to have a conversation with the novel
• Close reading of both poems and the novel
• MLA format throughout: cite and introduce sources and provide page numbers, as well as a Works Cited page
• Due Tuesday, February 22nd in class

For Tuesday: The Word Exchange, "Poems of Exile and Longing"

 

Be sure to read the following poems for Tuesday's class:

* "The Seafarer"

* "The Wife's Lament"

* "Deor"

* "Wulf and Eadwacer" (we read this in class, but you can read it again!)

* "The Husband's Message"

* "The Wanderer"

Instead of having an in-class writing, I'll give you a question to respond to for Tuesday's class (bring it with you to class!). The question is below:

Homework Response: How do many of these poems, notably "The Seafarer, "The Wanderer," and "Deor" share many of the same themes of Tolkien's The Hobbit? In other words, how do the adventures and characters Bilbo encounters in the book offer many of the same lessons and world view of these poems? Consider all the poems in this section are about travelers, or people who are exiled far away from home (like Bilbo!). 

Other ideas to consider in your reading: 

* How do these poems reconcile pagan ideas and sentiments (such as fate, valor, fame, treasure) with the emerging Christian world view? At the time these poems were composed, most of Britain was slowly becoming Christian, and the poets were probably using old poems/ideas within the new Christian mindset.

* What seems to drive most of the speakers of these poems away from their homes? Why are they exiled? Why can't they return home?

* We see the rare voice/perspective of a woman in the poem "The Wife's Lament," which is relatively rare in Anglo-Saxon literature. How 'modern' does her voice sound? Have problems of love changed in a thousand years?

* What philosophy of life emerges in many of these poems? Are they all the same? Consider that these poems could have been written hundreds of years apart. Would the poet of "Deor" agree with the poet of "The Seafarer"? 

* Anglo-Saxon poems are rich in metaphors, and often employ kennings, which are metaphorical names for common things, such as "whale-road" for the ocean. How many kennings can you locate in these poems, and which ones are particularly interesting or vivid?