Beowulf Journal Setting: When and where does the story take place? The story appears to be set I the sixth century in the region known as Scandinavia—includes what is today Denmark and Sweden, lands of the Danes and Geats respectively. This early medieval story written as a poem takes place on two places.
In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.
In the story The Wife’s Lament it is too showing betrayal and anger too but not quite the same way unferth and beowulf did it’s with the wfe and the husband being together till death due them part but the husband disappears to
By inserting human emotions and empathy into Grendel, John Gardner, once again, portrays the correlations between Grendel and the humans. When Grendel first witnesses Wealhtheow, the Queen of the Danes, Grendel depicts her as “Beautiful, as innocent as dawn on winter hills... She tore me apart as once the Shaper's song had done” (100). Grendel claims that Wealtheow stirred an unknown emotion in him which could have been love, jealousy or admiration, all central characteristics of humans. In addition, Grendel portrays his human characteristics when he describes the Shaper.
Robert Peace is presented by Jeff Hobbs in “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace” as a young black man struggling with life. Rob was born in a poor background with racial segregation, economic disempowerment and crime high. He, however, faces his biggest task ever when his father is wrongly convicted of murder. Rob idolizes his father, although he is a drug dealer and his wrongful conviction strongly affects him. Roberts’s quality of life is affected in general as he grows into an angry young man.
If you think about Welthow in a religious way, she could symbolize the Jewish. They believed in God during Jesus’s time, they just didn’t believe he was the messiah. To Christians, we believe that Jesus is our messiah sent from God, and will rise again one day. Welthow gave me a representation of the Jews because she thanked God when Beowulf came to save her country. She thinks highly of Beowulf for risking his life, but didn’t praise him like she did to
The Anglo-Saxon community must be defined by revenge and blood justice. In Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, every character in the poem bears vengeful actions. The Finnsburg episode clearly illustrates how blood justice can be complicated and confusing. Hildeburh, a Dane, mother and the widow of Frisians, is confused as to which side to be loyal to after losing brother, son, and husband in war. Later, Hildeburh is carried back to Denmark because she is unable to make a decision, but has to return to her home.
The bitter feud continued until Hrothgar avenged Hathlaf’s death when he “sent ancient treasures through the ocean’s furrows to the Wulfings” The most notorious perpetrator of wergild was Unferth, who is told by Beowulf that he will “suffer hell’s fires.” The Anglo Saxons also strongly believed in the idea of comitatus, or loyalty to the king. This idea was so
Beowulf is part of another tribe and is willingly offering to help the Danes. This shows that providing protection and safety to the people, even those of another
In Beowulf, the most prominent theme is the duty. A duty to be fulfilled by the person that is assigned to. It gives characters in the poem unique identity because of their devotion to duty. This means the warrior must fulfill his obligations to protect the people of the land and risk his life for their king. It also applies to women, in Beowulf, a woman's duty is to entertain the men as well as to serve a symbol of peace.
While reading Beowulf, one might think that Wealhtheow’s role in Beowulf is insignificant, or that she is merely an extension of Hrothgar, the Danish king. But after studying her character, the queen of the Danes clearly holds a far more powerful role than at a first glance. Her speeches are brief, but full of meaning and authority, and her astute counsel is often relied upon by Hrothgar. While she plays only a small role in Beowulf, Wealhtheow demonstrates that women played an integral part in medieval culture. Wealhtheow’s wisdom and respect is apparent in her role as the cup-bearer.
First of all, despite the fact that men are highly emphasized in Beowulf, women are highly absent in the story. Even within the first couple of sentences, the style and wording create an atmosphere in which
Beowulf reflects the traits that conformed to their masculine norms . While sorrowful Hrothgar laments the deaths caused by Grendel’s mother, Beowulf urges him to “not grieve” and to “avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (1384-5). However, earlier the epic alluded to a story about a princess named Hildeburh who after losing her husband, child, and brother, was “waylaid by grief” (1081). There is a definite contrast between how men and women are expected to confront loss- according to the patriarchal values, men avenge and women weep. Therefore, Beowulf is even more of an ideal masculine hero because he adheres the the Anglo-Saxon gender roles.
Medieval literature portrayed women as either proper or monstrous. Lanval, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Beowulf all carry the pattern of women’s roles throughout the period of time. In Beowulf, women are portrayed in two ways, confined and unconfined. The women that adhere to the roles of wives, mothers, and
n both the excerpt about Unferth from Beowulf and the poem “The Wife’s Lament”, the themes of betrayal and anger are shown within the stories; however, they are expressed differently. To begin with, Unferth shows his anger towards Beowulf by attempting to embarrass him in front of all the men, including King Hrothgar. For example, Unferth states “No one, neither friend nor foe, could keep you from your sad journey, when you swam out to sea… Breca outslayed you, he was stronger” (427-435). Unferth is trying to say that Beowulf is weak and can’t compete with anyone or anything.
