Beowulf Prompts

A few of you have spoken to me about the difficulty you are having with following the actual story of Beowulf. As we have discussed, this is probably due in part to the many digressions, and in part to the challenges of reading a translated text an unfamiliar poetic meter (although I hope Thursday's class helped with this somewhat). I encourage you to read summaries of the various sections if that is helpful to you. You can find these online for free. Then when you go back and read the sections, you will already know what is happening, and the story itself will be easier to follow. Just make sure that you never read any supplemental material instead of the poem itself. I believe doing that is grounds for a public whipping.

Please choose one of the following prompts and post a response to it before class on Tuesday. You do not need to retype the question(s) or state which prompt you have chosen (this will be obvious to us as we read). You don't have to answer the prompt exactly, either. These prompts are meant to help you and spur your critical thinking, not constrict you. If you want to write about something else that is important to you, please do. I also encourage you to respond to the thoughts of one or more of your classmates. Whatever you write, please think about, and come prepared to discuss, all of the prompts.

1. On Tuesday we discussed three possible organizational structures for Beowulf: a series of three battles (Grendel, Grendel's mother, the dragon), a division into two parts (Beowulf the thane vs. Beowulf the king), and an example of interlacing art, where the poet weaves various strands together into one story. Having finished the poem, which of these possibilities do you agree with? Why?

2. A heroic epic is a long, narrative poem that relates the deeds of a larger-than-life hero to the values of a particular culture. In fact, the hero generally embodies the ideals of a culture. Using the following quote from Beowulf (or another group of lines of your own choosing), talk about what values Beowulf embodies. (Beowulf speaks these lines to Hrothgar after Grendel's mother kills his friend and advisor, Ashhere.) "Bear your grief, wise one! It is better for a man / to avenge his friend than to refresh his sorrow. / As we all must expect to leave / our life on this earth, we must earn some renown, / if we can, before death; daring is the thing / for a fighting man to be remembered by." (1383-88)

3. We have discussed the tension that exists between pagan and Christian elements in the poem, and we have attributed this to the fact that the story is pagan in origin but is being told by a Christian poet to a Christian audience. Where do you see the tension between paganism and Christianity in your reading for today? You might discuss the fate vs. free will tension we discussed in class, but you are not required to.

4. If Grendel embodies the evils of fratricide, and Grendel's mother represents the darkness of blood feud and revenge, what might the dragon represent? And, perhaps relatedly, how does the tone of what might be called the "dragon section" differ from the previous sections of the poem?

5. Elements of Beowulf influence, and find themselves alluded to or repeated in, more modern literature, pop fiction, film, comic books, etc. What parts of Beowulf reminded you of something else you have read or seen? What kind of connections did you make while reading it?

Please make sure you read "The Dream of the Rood" in addition to finishing Beowulf. We may or may not have time to discuss it on Tuesday (I hope that we will), but we will certainly be discussing it at some point, and you should be prepared for Tuesday just in case.

Thank you. I'll look forward to reading your responses.