Beowulf

I really enjoyed Beowulf it was an exceptional piece of writing. I enjoy listening to folk stories more than reading but in this case reading it gave me more of a insight and it kind of dragged me in after a little while. I prefer books or stories that can catch hold of me there easier to read. The only thing is that i didnt much care for Beowulfs charecter personality that was described in this book.

It reminded me of the Odyssey and how both odysseus and Beowulf were alike. they both were boastful and full of themselves. They both were arrogant and they only worried about fulfilling their pride. But hey they both fought against evil sea monster or evil sea gods in odysseus's case.

The parts that stuck out to me the most were the three battle scenes. my favorite was probably when he defeated Grendals mother with the massive sword that had been blessed with the sea monsters magic, because Beowulf had killed her son. The one when he kills Grendal was cool because i found it to be pretty gruesome in the ways he dismembered Grendals body like that by taking off his arm.

All in all i really enjoyed the story it helped me relize how interesing and entertaing folklore is and it opened my mind. Beowulf has got a great strory plot i believe and will probably be used for lit classes for years to come.

While i was reading Beowulf i relized a major difference in it than the Anglo-Saxon culture. The major difference was that in Beowulf when the referred to god they made it seem like they were referring to one god and in the story they were. while the Anglo- Saxon culture they looked upon many gods. The reason for this is when the monks got a hold of the story they changed it from where there was many gods to where there was only one god and i beleive they did this so that no one would get the idea to worship more than the one true almighty god they belive in and so that the church could hold a certain power over the people. ex(Shield had a son,child for his yard,sent by God)

Loyalty to their kings or leaders in the Anglo - Saxon culture was very important to them personally. for example ( Shield died at his fated hour,went to God still strong.His people carried him to the sea,which was his last request.)

Another popular part of the Anglo - Saxon culturewas reciting poetry and tales. In beowulf it talks about many poets and how people were overjoyed at the poems. ex(The words of the poet,the sounds of the harp,the joy of people echoed.The poet told how the world came to be, how God made the earth and the water surrounding,how He set the sun and the moonas lights for peopleand adorned the earthwith limbs and leaves for everyone.Hrothgar's people lived in joy)

Beowulf is similar to modern day hero stories in that he was very all about him self and self absorbed. One major way that Beowulf differs from many nowadays hero stories is that instead of fighting off bad criminals or bad guys Beowulf fought off sea monsters and other demons and also there was alot more tradition dipicted in Beowulf ( for example-Sometimes a king's man, a warrior covered in glory who knew the old traditions, would be reminded of an ancient song, and he would call up words adorned in truth.) while in todays hero stories all it talks about is the fighting off of the bad man or the hero.

I thought that the way that Beowulf died was kind of depressing. He never got over his overfullfilled pride issues and i found that kind of sad. To sum it all up he was very hubris.
At the time of his death he was probably between 78 and 80 somthin years old but yeat he was still cocky.

When he went off to fight the dragon he didnt go with good cause i didnt think. He went because the dragon was killing his people, but the whole reason the dragon was killing people was because one of Beowulfs men had stolen some gold or treasure from the dragons lair. So i cant blame the dragon for doing the only thing he knows how to do and thats protecting his treasure, but i can blame Beowulfs death on himself by fighting for somthing that wasnt even his with such a big head.