The Finnesburh Fragment:
The story of the fight in Finnesburh in which Hnaef and his followers were attacked in a hall by their foes has been told in allusive fashion in Beowulf. There are certain similarities that can be connected between this fragment and the story of Beowulf. In both stories there is a scene or scenes of battle and war. Like Beowulf, Hnaef and his people were attacked in there mead hall unexpectedly when they were sleeping. A feud was in place between the Frisians and Danish. It's possible the princess Hildeburh was given to Finn as a peace prise. Hrothgar's wife was also a peace pledge to Hrothgar, which i compare the fragment, this also emphasises the role of women. Both stories also involve attack while housing guests. Hnaef is visiting Finn and Beowulf is a victory to Hrothgar's kingdom. There are also symbols seen through the raven, which is seen in both stories as a sign of doom or misfortune.
Widsith:
This is a story of a poet and entertainer who travels to impossilbe places all around the world. He meets endless people of great importance and people who are also spoken of or seen in Beowulf. Breoca the Brondingas, Finn, son of Folcwalda, Sigehere, ruler of the Sea-Danes, the Franks and the Fisians. He even had encounters with Hrothwulf and Hrothgar and said things about there victory over the Heathobard tribe and when they took control over Heorot. Widsith him self had commanalities to Beowulf. There both very famous men, both known for different things but known well across the land. Widsith and Beowulf are both very aware of how good there at what they do, Beowulf as a warrior and Widsith as a poet. Widsith mensions he learned in his travels that the best of kings are the ones who allways respect there people and warriors, and all ways reward them with gold and riches. He sais these kings are the leaders who are most popular and respected. Beowulf, even though he views him self more a warrior, was allways generous to his fellow warriors and servants. Beowulf was known for this all around the land, as well and being known his great abilities in battle.
Grettir The Strong:
There is no limit to the similarities between Beowulf and Grettir The Strong. They have very similar plot lines, the one large difference to the comparison of Grettir and Beowulf is that Grettir is an out-law and Beowulf is a great king. Grettir heres of the monster who is bothering the people every year on Christmas. Grettir has a special skill in putting an end to hauntings and ghosts. Beowulf as well heres of Grendle, and knowing his great strenth travels to Heorot to help. Both men are going to help the people. Both men have amazing strength and fighting abilities, and they both know it. Beowulf waited for Grendle in Heorot pretending to be asleep, Grettir waits in the womends house for the troll women. Grettir chops the monsters arm off and wounds her greatly and she falls into the river, not knowing for sure if he had slayed her. Just like when Beowulf tore Grendles arm off, he ran way to his layer, Beowulf and the people unsure if he was dead. When Grettir when to the troll women's cave under the water fall, he was greeted by the trolls lover, who he kills. Beowulf is greeted by Grendles mother, whom he fights as well. So almost every aspect of Grettir The Strong corresponds to Beowulf, except slight differences such as the social profile of Beowulf and Grettir.

21. (Pg 195) "So it is goodbye now to.....sooner die than live life of shame."
Wiglaf is angry with the wrriors who let down there king and ran away. He predicks that because of there cowardly acts other nations will here of this, leaving the Beowulf's nation vulnerable for attacks. With Beowulf gone, the Geats will have no intimadation. Wiglaf is a Swede, the only warrior who stays beside Beowulf in the time of danger. What does that say about the long fued between the Swedes and Geats, who are the stronger nation.
22. (Pg 203. Line 3024) "But the reaven winging...start work of the dead."
The raven, typically is a symbol of death and ate, the eagle symbolises courage and nobility. The raven and woulf feasting on the dead soldeirs symbolises doom and misfortune. This could show the defeat of good by evil, evil was vicotrious.
23. (Pg 205. Line 3051) "The huge cache, gold inherited...open the hoard."
The gold left by the ancient race, it's unclear who these people were, but there treasure is worthy of the guard of a dragon. I think this ancient race was the cursed race of the Giants. the giants were cursed to walk the land of the world by god, and God also cursed there treasure after they died off. You could aslo find a connection between this curse and the curse of the Caine line, curses is a reacuring motif as well.
24. (Pg 207. Line 3077) "Often when on man follows....until the end of the world."
Bewulf was the ultamate intimidator of the Geat nation. Wiglaf is discusing in his speach Beowulfs fate, and the fate he has bestowed on his people. He thinks they would have been better off fighting the dragon than being open for attacks from other nations with Beowulf gone.
25. (Pg 209. Line 3095) "He wanted me to greet you.....long time in the care of the almighty."
Beowulf, as the great warrior he was, was also a little proud and cocky. Beowulf thought of him self as a great warrior before a great king. This is seen through Wiglafs speech. So it can be argued that Beowulf was a good king because of the fate he has put on his warriors and nation. How can his warriors become good fighters if Beowulf is allways fighting the battles. Hes crippling them, like helping a babie to walk it's whole life, it will never learn to walk on it's own. I think Beowulf has cursed his nation and people. Now that he is gone they are all open to attacks from other nations. This is also seen in the very last line of the story when Beowulf is refered to as a great warrior, not king.

16. (Pg 165. Line 2440) "That ffense was beyond....or pay his death price.
The death of Herebeald was unexpected and paticularly frusterating, for Hrethel especialy. Unfortuantly, Heathgn, Herebeald's brother, was the one that accidently killed him. Hrethel has no way to make this right because how could he put his own son to death. He says there is no one who could avenge the princes life, or pay his death price, which is the 2 part concept of werdgild. He can't have the murderer killed for the crime and there is no one to play the blood money. Nothing can be done about this death.
17. (Pg 175. Line 2575) "So the king of the Geats...had nead of at that moment."
Beowulf is a great warrior, he's faught caragiously in many battles and he has allways been very strong and his sword has never once failed him. The power of his stike is not enough to damage the dragon, it shows his growing weakness with his growing age. At the same time, a warriors sword represents who a man is as a fighter. When his sword fails him it's a bad sign, a sign of future down falls.
18. (Pg 183. Line 2711) "Then the wound delt by the ground burner earleir began to scald and swell."
this line is refering to the poisend enjury Beowulf recieves from the dragon, also called a "ground-burner". The ground burner refers to the dragon, it burns everything on the ground that it can. This is called a compound metaphor.
19. (Pg 183. Line 1724) "Beowulf spoke: in spite....knew his day in the word had been lived out to the end."
There is frequent conversation on weather Beowulf is a "super-hero" or not. He obviously has some degree of powers and strengths ebover average but is he imortal. In this line there may be a form of answer. It says "inspite of his wounds, mortal wounds,". This shows this injury in truth. It's a mortal wound, meaning it's a fatal would. Beowulf is going to die from this, showing his mortal weakness.
20. (Pg 189. "I give thanks.....endowed on the day i die."
Beowulf is thankful of the poeple that he can die so privliged and powerful as he is. He's thankful of the life he's had and that the people can let him go. This is ironic because in reality he's leaving them unprepared and vulneragle for nations to attack. Beowulf was the great intimidater of his nation, his people are in danger because he's gone.

1. Pg 27: "With the strength of 30 men in the grip of each hand."
This parallels to Grendle taking the 30 men for feasting. Beowulf has this equal strength in each hand. Beowulf is known to have amazing strength even more powerful than Grendle's. This is also a form of insult towards Grendle saying he's less powerful than Beowulf.
2. Pg 23: "Their mail-shirts glinted....were as good as their weapons."
This explains the importance of a warriors weapons, armor, and gear. There only as good as there weapons and equipment. You are only as good as your possesions.
3. Pg 29: "They had seen the boltered in the blood.... I devestated them."
This is called an Epic Boast, which was expected in this society and looked at as a resemue. Beowulf is boasting and telling them what his accomplishments are.
4. Pg 23: "May the Almighty Father keep you and...."
This quote, like others seen frequently, refrences to Christanity and God. Christianity and Peganism are also seen often. I assume these ideas will continue and eventually become a main theme.
5. Pg 13: "He was kept from aproaching, he was the lords out-cast."
This is when Grendle can't aproach the throne because he is cursed by God. This shows a major weakness of Grenle and could foreshadow later disadvantages and a pontential down fall.
5. (Pg 13.) "He was kept from aproaching.....he was lords out cast."
Grendle, like the other members of the Cain clan, bears the mark of Cain. Grendle, because of this curse cant aproach the thrown. This shows Grendle's weakness and could possibly be responisble for a later weakness, or even downfall, later in the story.

Free Verse: also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.
Poems such as W. E. Henley's 'Discharged' (from his In Hospital sequence), and Robert Louis Stevenson's poems 'The Light-Keeper' and 'The Cruel Mistress' can be counted early examples of free verse.

Heroic Couplet: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines.
Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales[1

Hyperbole: Scene III of Shakespeare’s play Othello:

If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror’s head accumulate;
Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
For nothing canst thou to damnation add
Greater than that.


Imagery: the formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images collectively.
There is much imagery in "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. "He leaped upon the rail and balanced himself there, to get greater elevation; his pipe, striking a rope, was knocked from his mouth. He lunged for it; a short, hoarse cry came from his lips as he realized he had reached too far and had lost his balance. The cry was pinched off short as the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea closed over his head." Notice the appeals to touch "lunged" "blood -warm", hearing "hoarse cry."
Informal Diction: language that is not as lofty or impersonal as formal diction; similar to everyday speech.


Initiation Story: An initiation story is a fiction in which the protagonist (the most important character in the work) undergoes an experience that is life-changing, and usually that character is a young person who gains a measure of maturity from the experience.


Metaphor: A type of figurative language in which a statement is made that says that one thing is something else but, literally, it is not.
The wale-road for example is a metaphor which relates to the ocean.
Motif: A motif is a reacureing object or idea through literature or a paticular piece of literature. An example of a motif could be the green light at the end of Daisy’s doc that Gatsby can see from his house.
11. (pg 55. Line 832) "Clear proof of this could....his awesome grasp"
When Beowulf defeats Grendle he takes the arm that he tore off his body and holds it as high as he can. This is a symbol of Beowuls trophy and of his great victory.
12. (Pg 57. Line 846) "This is a description of Grendle's home, which is where he returns to die after fighting Beowulf. He lives in the heart of a swamp where there is no vegetation or any sign of life. With the continuous reverences to God and heaven, this is a reference to hell. Grendle's layer is like hell.
13. (Pg 67. Line 1016) "Inside Heorot there was....with feud and betrayal."
This is explaining that there was nothing known in Heorot but freindship and high spirits. The people of the Seilding nation have never been familiar with betrayl and fued. This is foreshadow to future attacks on Heorot from other enemies. It is possible that these attacks could come from Grendle's mother, however there were no hints to that in these lines.
14. (Pg 69. Line 1049) "The chieftain went on to reward the others...Grendle had cruelly killed earleir."
This fits into the qualities of a good king, and the importance of a good king to allways reward his warriors with valuables to express his apreciation. This is important for kings to ensure the warriors respect and the peoples opinions. Horathgar gives treasures to Beowulf and his men who came with him on the journey. He is a good and popular king.
15. (Pg 89. Line 1258) "Grenle's mother, monstrous hell-bride, brooded onher rongs...amoung them Grendle."
Grendle's mother was "brodded for her rongs." This means she was banished, or exiled, wich is large motif through out the story. Grende's mom, along with the rest of the Cain clan were all cursed and exiled, this is where this motif is strongest.
Posted by Thomas at 11:07 PM 0 comments
Thursday, September 17, 2009
6. Pg 35 Line 500 "Unferth, son of Ecglof's...sick with envy."
This is one example of the qualities of a warrior or king shouldn't have. In the line it says he's "sick with envy." He's jelous of Beowulf, jelousy is a bad trait. Unferth is also a coward, kin killer, and he doesn't defend his king according to Beowulf.
7. Pg 35 Line 515 "The ocean swayed... the strong contender."
This is the most obvious sign of fliting seen in this section, or trash talking, toward Beowulf from Unforth. Later in this conversation Beowulf does the same thing back to Unforth. This was a popular thing among warriors and kings however it was still an insult. Men were expected to defend their honor when it was threatend.
8. Pg 39 Line 563 "There would be no monsters...like the oceans leavings."
I like this staitment because of the ironie and the humor that comes from that irony. He sais it as if the sea creatures had a peaceful death but it was just opposite. Beowulf grucemly choped them up into tiny peices and let them float in into the ocean. He sais by the sleep of the sword, meaning death by the sword. There's nuthing peacefull about his actions but he sias it as if were.
9. Pg 39 Line 559 "Time and again, foul things attacked me....I landed safe on the coast of inland.
"This is beowulfs arrogant boast. Boasting was an expected tradition for warriors. beowulf does this to defend him from the insult from Unforth and to explain and brag about his greatness of power and strength. He's showing to the king why he is the man for the hob and why he deserves to be there.
10. Pg 53 "That no blade on earth, no blacksmith's art could ever damage their demon apponet."
Grendle can't be damaged or killed by any blade or blacksmith's art. Grendle was of the clan of Cain. God cursed Cain and his offspring for killing Able. This mark of Cain on grenle is possibly the reason for this protection agains blades, the curse protects him, which is an irony as well.

1. Conchobhar mac Nessa, son of Ness, was the legendary king of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. The details on his birth are unclear, but there are some theories. He was named after the river he was born into as a baby, Conchobar River. His was mother was told that her baby would become a great king and have everlasting fame if she gave birth to him one day later than expected, the day Jesus Christ was born, which she did. He was raised by a man named Cathbad, who could have been his biological father, but it’s not definite. Eventually Conchobhar is killed at Baile Ath in Urchair, from a wound inflicted by the skull of Meis-Geghra, which was flung at his head by a Connacht warrior, Cet. This death ends up being a famous story called The Death of Conchobhar.

2. A different story involving Conchobhar I will tell you about is the Cattle Raid of Cooley. Medb, daughter of Eocho, raises an army and launches an invasion of Ulster to steal the bull Donn Cuailnge. All the Ulstermen, including Conchobhar, are unable to fight because of the curse of Macha. All except Cuchulainn, who fights a series of combats hoping to give the Ulstermen time to recover. Cuchulainns father Sualtam goes to Conchobhar and demands he raise his army before it’s to late. Realizing he broke protocol by talking strait to Conchobhar, Sualtom runs away but falls and kill s him self on his shield. Conchobhar raises his army and leads them into battle. Medb is eventually forced to retreat by Cuchulainn, but manages to bring the bull back to Connacht.
3. Conchobhar was a great king. He had strict rules and well known. He symbolizes a legendary king and warrior; he represents a perfect man, physically and mentally. He was perfect in form and shape and dress, in size and straightness and symmetry, in eye and hair and whiteness, in wisdom and good manners and speech, in amplitude and dignity. But he did have his flaws. He was proud, cocky and he knew he was magnificent. Other people, like Cet knew of this weakness as showed in the Death of Conchobhar. He uses the women to distract Conchobhar so he could kill him.

4. I think Conchobhar is an exciting, powerful character. He catches my attention with his style and authority. In his stories he is thought of the perfect man and king. I imagine a very strong, intimidating king, and I’m sure he knew how powerful he was. He was however cocky, and easily distracted. His weakness to receive attention lead to his downfall.

5. LOOK UP

6. In the end of “The Death of Conchobhar”, there’s irony found in Conchobhar’s actions taken to revenge Christ for his death. Yes, this is a loyal and honorable action, but Conchobhar is only interested in Jesus because they share the same birthday, and it’s ironic because Chonchobhar doesn’t completely understand what or who he’s revenging, he doesn’t understand religion. He feels the responsibility to revenge his fallen warrior.

Although there are many motifs in this story, such as birds, kin killing, and mutilation of horses, but the most reacuring moif i noticed was magic. This motif appears several times through out this novel and literature.
The first example of the use of magic is the cauldron of reserection. It has the power to reserect the dead when that person is lade down in the cauldron. Malthowych tells Bendigeidfran of two poeple who had the cauldron. After these two people left the Kingdom of Malthowych, as bad terms, they ended up at Wales, which is how the Cauldron got in the possesion of Bendigiedfran. He he gave it to Malthowych to repay him for what his brother Efnisian did to his horses.
Branwen uses her power to to train a bird for three years to find Bendigeifran and tell him she was being mis-treated by Matholwch. Without this message, Bendigeifran would not have been known anything about this disrespect to his family, which brings me to the next example. After Bendigeifran heres whats happening to his sister, he is enraged. He uses his power to become a giant and wade across the water passage with his entire army. The people of ireland thought it was a mountain crossing the water, and they thought the ships was a large moving forest.
Bendigeifran, and his 4 brothers and sister poses powers, there mother is known to be a farry, which is where they obtain these abilities.

The Death of Conchobhar – (revised)

Once apon a time there were 3 drunk Ulstermen in Emhain Macha. These Ulstermen was Conall, Cu Chulainn, and Loeghaire. “Bring me the brain of Meis-Geghra so I can play w ith it, and talk to the spirits.” Said Conall. In this time, it was normal for the Ulstermen to take out the brains of any warrior they killed in single combat and mix them with lime, so they become hard balls. Conall then sais, “Well now, Conchobhar, until the warriors do a task like this one in battle, they aren’t worthy to fight with me.” ‘That is true’, said Conchobhar.
Meis-Geghra’s brain was then put on a shelf where it would stay permently. Conchobhar went on his way the next day to amuse himself. Cet the son of Madu came to Ulster on adventures, he was known as the most troublesome man in Ireland. When Cet overheard the warrior buffoons talking and playing with the brain of Meis-Geghra. He then stole the brain from the warrior knowing it had the spirit of Meis-Geghra with it. Cet kept his brain on his belt with him in every battle after that, hoping to kill an Ulstermen with it and become famous. One day, the Ulstermen persued Cet driving a herd of cattle, fortunately for cet the men of Connaught arrived to defend him. Conchobbhar him self came to the battle. Cet decides to use several beautiful women to distract the cocky Conchobbhar and give him self and chance to use the brain of Meis-Geghra on the great king. Cet got in the middle of the women, and flung the brain into the top of Conchobhar’s skull, resulting in the king falling to the ground, and remaining unconcious intell the battle was over the next morning. Conchobhar’s doctor, Finghin, explains to him that if the stone is removed he will die for sure, if it is left he will have a dis-figurement on his perfect body, but he will stay alive. So the Finghin sewed his wound with gold thread, and told Conchobhar to watch his anger, and that he couldn’t do anything physical for the rest of his life.
The king survived in this state for seven years, until he heard that Christ was crucified by the Jews. He did not understand why this has happened. His druid then told him Jesus Christ was born on the same night as he was, but on a different year of course. Conchobhar was enraged. “A thousand warriors will die under my command to revenge Christ.” He went for his spears, he took his sword in his hand and attacked the forest around him. He then said, ‘Thus would I avenge Christ on the Jews and on those who crucified Him, if I could get at them. With this anger and excitement, Meis-Geghra’s brain popped out of his head, and Conchobhar’s brains came out as well, and he died of it….