Beowulf Midterm Review

Hi everyone,
Here are my notes for the Midterm Review. They aren't particularly well formatted. I just put down everything I had in my notes, figuring everything was important. If anyone has questions, go ahead and ask. Can everyone else put their notes up soon? I'll post my other notes later... these took me a while to type up.

BEOWULF NOTES

Theme: All things must come to an end
- rise and fall of the Danish nation
- nothing lasts forever (Heorat hall)
- great kings must die and be replaced by their sons
- greatness waxes and wanes

Other Ideas/Topics

Can’t be as good as God
- Horthgar believes that Denmark cannot be defeated, and then Grendal comes
- Beowulf believes he cannot be defeated, and then the dragon comes

Pride – Good or Bad?
- belief that you are better than god (bad)
- without certain belief in self, you won’t be able to be good/strong (good)
- Beowulf goes to Denmark with pride and talks about his accomplishments to sell himself (good)
- No humility in life or death (I don’t know what that refers to)

Family Lineage
- very important
- Danish king knew Beowulf’s father (gets to meet Hrothgar because he knew Beowulf’s dad)
- Grendal is an outcast because he is a descendent of Cain

Structure

Stories within Stories
- “popcorn” stories
- not essential points but because the story was told out loud, became part of story
e.g. Finns
* story told during a party
* not specifically about linear story but shows the value of the culture
- We like things beginning to end (linear)
- Unlimited number of directions these popcorn
- we only know one way

Origin of Beowulf
- at first there was no written language.
- Although this is the first version of Beowulf which is found, it was probably not the first written. This version is a combination of many other versions
- between 5th and 10th century, many versions were created
- sometimes story doesn’t match up (e.g. elders let him go at the beginning of story, but at the end, say they hadn’t believes in him) because this is a combination of many stories put together.

Other topics of discussion

Feminine Critique - Wealtherow has social power (tells her husband not to make Beowulf king)
- Men have physical power, women have social power
- Women must keep homes safe so that men have something real (other than fighting) to come back to. Home represents safety and civilization. Home represents what men are fighting to keep
- Grendal’s mother is like Eve -> she brings evil
- Women must be properly conditioned for their job, usually by their husbands. Otherwise, may become like Grendal’s mummy.
- Equality?
o Do we see Wealtheow and Hrothgar having an equal/fair relationship?

Pagan vs. Christian Ideas
- Poet was a Christian
- Beowulf originally a pagan
- Anglo-Saxon welcomed Christianity (bring new gods alongside pagan ones!) and paganism eventually faded out
- both Christianity and Paganism in stories (although slight condemnation of pagan ideas)
- monster real for Anglo-Saxton (refers to everything they don’t understand about the external world)
- Old Testament references (God will smite, not forgive)
- Bible still being written (no mass production/ printing press) so no one could really have had the Bible (only Old Testament)
- Swords are crosses upside down (fighting for Christ)
- Crucial element in Beowulf is faith

Faith
- sword fails when fighting dragon and Grendal’s mother
- Beowulf finds a sword in Grendal’s mother’s cave to kill her
- Hrothgar losses faith in Beowulf
o Greats stay because if Beowulf stays alive, they celebrate. If he dead, they have to avenge him
o Greats have faith in Beowulf during Grendal’s mom’s fight
o Beowulf returns to Hrothgar with Grendal’s mom’s head and the hilt of the metal sword. He shows Hrothgar that the evil is gone, and gives him back his faith (represented in the sword).
- During dragon scene, they run away. Most of them refuse to go into the cave (they don’t have faith). This leads to the downfall of the Greats (like the Danes)
- Death of Beowulf shows that faith must be accompanied by practicality. Beowulf is stupid for trying to kill the dragon by himself. God helps those who helps themselves, so he should have gotten some men/help.
- Wyrd shows that we should belief in faith, but that we have the power to change some things.

Monstrosity in Women
- Grendal’s mom is everythying a women shouldn’t be
- Peace wavers (women) failed (everyone knew they would), but they didn’t use violence because they knew it was wrong/ unwomanly

Integrity
- Beowulf attacks Grendal on an equal foot (no weapons)

Grendal
- Opposite of all that is good
- Opposite of the perfect warrior (Beowulf)
- Attacks only at night
- When Beowulf grabs hold of him, he runs. He doesn’t fight.

Grendal’s Mum
- methodology opposite of other methods
- kills rather than uses peace to protect her son
- still a mother, though, protecting her son like Weatherow would.

Forgiveness
- Not part of Beowulf’s culture
- Do we really forgive now? Or do we just feel that a higher power will take care and serve justice for us?

Random Other points
· everything set up so world is trying to keep peace/ people living well
· Beowulf shows us that eventually everything must fall. At the end of the story, new leader says the Swedes will try to attack them.

Fruedian Method
My notes on this section are too messy to put up on the blog. If someone else would, that would really help.

Why does Beowulf still captivate us?
- entertainment value
- struggle between good and bad is still appreciated
- lessons still learned (moral value)
o relationships between faith and living (faith is important)
o you have to believe (sanctuary in the good and having faith)
o loyalty and family loyalty and revenge still important
§ blood vengeance still seen in sports
§ 9/11 used to avenge by going into Iraq
§ World Wars due to revenge
§ When law fails, we take things into our own hand and hand out punishments-vigilanty justice (I don’t know why this is important)
o Good masculine hero

Example of Quote Analysis

Pg 19 Line 260 (Identification moment between guard and Beowulf)
- Beowulf’s father carries weight because of family lineage
- Hygelac carries weight of Geats
- Beowulf doesn’t use his name because Coast Guard is a no one, reinforces that Coast Guard doesn’t have a right to know his name (reinforces ranks)
- Proof of honorable intent
- At the end of story, Beowulf gives him his sword. Shows Beowulf’s leadership qualities. Beowulf treats the Coast Guard well. The Coast guard has been faithful, honorable, and taken care of Beowulf’s ships.