Approximate central regions of tribes mentioned in Beowulf Pages 131-213 From line 1925 to end

In your notebooks, comment on the following topics: The importance of familial ties throughout the poemcan you make any determinations? o Story of Finnsbourough After the battle, and the uprising, they take the wife back to her native country. o

The theme of revengecontinue to post evidence of o Battle with Grendles mother, she coms back to avenge the death of her beloved son o The old crone also warns against revenge at Beowulfs funeral o

The female role and perspective within the poem including the Finnsburg and Onela episodes o Wealhtheow, Hygd, Hildeburh, Grendels mother can you draw any conclusions about their behavior? Do any of them defy what might be stereotypical for this culture? Do they offer alternatives perspectives on the heroic world (so seemingly centered around male action) of the poem? Grendels mother is still considered a women, and we often forget that. If we were to put her in the same stereotype that we put all other women in the story in, then she would have defied that stereotype very quickly. She is more aggressive, and even more powerful than her son, who was a man.

Answer the following questions thoroughly in your notebooks: 1. Why are there so many lays or stories-within-the-story in the poem? What is the relation between these so-called digressions and the main narrative in Beowulf? o The lays are very key to providing this story with meaning, and direction. Without the lays, the story becomes a mere epic poem about a magnificent hero who knew no bounds. With the lays included, we are given insight into the evils and the issues that come with this limitless power. These digressions add a lot of substance to Beowulf, and make the poem much more special. They entice the listener, modern day or ancient. It makes it easier to relate to this amazing warrior, when we realize that he too has problems with corruption, that he too has problems with his inner self. Not only do these lays make the story more interesting and relatable, they also add an aspect of foreshadowing to the poem.

2. Continue to explore abstract structures: Every culture makes distinctions between what is inside the social order and what is outside, between the human and the non-human (a category which can include animals, plants, natural processes, monsters and the miraculous). Cultures organize themselves to exclude these outside things; social organization also works to control certain violent human tendencies inside the culture (anger, lust, fear, greed, etc.). How does the social world depicted in the poem do this? That is, what does it exclude, and why? What is its attitude towards the outside of culture? How does it control the forces that threaten social stability within the hall? Are you noticing other structures outside or inside the social order? o Anyone that is on the outside is not regarded as a warrior which is a major upset in this society. People that are on the outside are not paid attention to, and are not given opportunities to redeem themselves.

3. Continue to note the relationship b/t the narrator and the audience. o The narrator clearly adds a religious overtone to the text. He inserts relations to prayers to god, and thanks to god in almost all of the battle scenes. This may give the reader an impression that the Geots and Danes were very religious but I think that this was just mainly the narrator trying to make a mark on the story. As much as he may try to be, the narrator simply does not succeed in convincing the audience that he is simply retelling the story. --from http://web.utk.edu/~rliuzza/Beowulf/questions.htm

Ubi sunt (literally "where are...") is a phrase taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt? meaning "Where are those who were before us?" A general feeling of ubi sunt radiates from the text of Beowulf. The Anglo-Saxons, at the point in their cultural evolution in which Beowulf was written, experienced an inescapable feeling of doom, symptomatic of ubi sunt yearning. By conquering the Romanized Britons, they were faced with massive stone works and elaborate Celtic designs that seemed to come from a lost era of glory (called the "work of giants" in The Ruin). --from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubi_sunt

4. The thane or "ringkeeper" in lines 2231 and 2270, et passim, (Latin for and elsewhere) is often called the "Keeper of the Hoard," by scholars. He is apparently the last survivor of some forgotten tribe. After all his race has died, what did he decide to do with their treasure? o He carried the treasure into a ancient type of luggage. He then puts it into the Earth. i.e. He buries it. He says how the Earth should have what used to belong to Earls, and that will not belong to heroes any more.

5. How is the speech of the Keeper of the Hoard an example of the ubi sunt motif? (from line 2355) o He had given up on his race, and he gave up on the rest of his life as well. Instead of maybe keeping the treasure for a mixed breed he could make with another tribe, he chose to give up. He chose to forfeit any desire to continue going.

6. What is Beowulf's last beot he makes before going to fight the dragon? (from line 2570) o He says that he fought often when he was younger, but now he will go to battle one more time just to win. He clarifies that he demands evil face him in the open, which generally means up front, not guerilla warfare. He says that hed rather not use a weapon, but since the dragon has fire breath, he needs a shield and mailshirt. He tells all of his men to remain there outside the cave, where they are safe. He needs to once again measure his worth against the monster. He enters the cave bravely for his last fight. 7. Read the description of Beowulfs fight with the dragon, and indicate any descriptive lines you find worth noting. o stone arch and a gushing stream that burst from the barrow, blazing and wafting a deadly heat. o swaddled in flames, it came gliding and flexing and racing towards its fate o struck hard at the enameled scales, but scarcely cut through: the blade flashed and slashed yet the blow was far less powerful In Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn was a lord who held his land directly from the king in return for military service in time of war. Thegns could earn their titles and lands or inherit them. 8. Who is the one warrior that remains loyal to Beowulf when the other thegns run away? o Wiglaf, son of Weohstans, remained with Beowulf when all of the others fled away. When he saw the pain Beowulf was in, he remembered how well he was treated by them, and he decided to enter battle. This was his first battle just like it was for Beowulf against Grendel. He urges Beowulf to go attack again and prove his worth just like he promised he would do until the end of his days when he was young.

9. After Beowulf appoints Wiglaf king, what is Beowulf's last dying request? (i.e., what does he want to look at before he dies and what funeral arrangements does he want made?) What do you feel is the significance of this? o He wants a barrow constructed on the headland of the coast. He wants it to serve as a reminder of how great he was. The significance of this is that he wants everyone to remember and no one to forget about his mighty glory.

10. Beowulf only was able to maintain the peace through the sheer terror of his reputation, so what are all the surrounding tribes going to do when the kingdom of the Geats falls into the lap of a young boy like Wiglaf? How does this explain the low morale among the tribe at the end of the story? o The kingdom may have trouble surviving, until at least Wiglaf proves himself.

11. What punishment does Wiglaf order for those men who fled from the scene of battle? Why does this decision make sense in terms of Anglo-Saxon culture--but why is it political suicide at the same time? o He is telling everyone that they fled from battle. This makes sense in their culture because that is the worst thing that you could do turn around and flee from a fight. That is after all, what they lived for. It is political suicide because it is an unprecedented thing to do for such a young and inexperienced king.

12. What do the Geats do with the war-shields, helmets, and shining armour they pull out of the dragon's lair in the barrow? o

--from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/study/362_Beowulf_03a.html 13. Does the heroic code expressed in Beowulf conflict with a Christian sensibility? o Yes it does. Christians are generally aware of the fragility of life, and this lifestyle is all about killing and destruction. This is completely opposite to the beliefs of Christians. --from http://web.utk.edu/~rliuzza/Beowulf/questions.htm