Beowulf

[LoraLie]

Anyone read it?

I'm attempting to write up notes on it as I read it. Then I have some essay on this:

Compare the poet's treatment of Grendel and the dragon. Do these monsters contribute to our understanding of the ethical/social values of Anglo-Saxon society? What purpose do the monsters serve in the poem? Do Grendel and the dragon represent different kinds of evil?

& I dont even have a clue as to where to start answering those.
It's all due today by 5:00pm.

Right now, I am regretting taking a college level English course online, because I wanted a challenge.

I'm a dumbass.

[Kidthorazine]

yeah, youre gonna need the cliff notes for that one probably, of course it also depends on which translation you read, some of them are very good and clear, and some of them are absolutely horrible muddled garbage.

[Nudemuse]

I had such a terrible translation/critical review of Beowulf I actually didn't read a good copy until about four years ago. But it's one of my favorite difficult reads.

[LoraLie]

I'm reading whatever is in my book t hey gave me, thats all I know really.

Lucky for me, I didnt submit my work at school, I waited til I got home. & for some reason the site I have to go to to submit my work, wont load.

So this problem either bought me more time to work on it, or just screwed me

lets hope for the first one.

[Poppy]

LOOOOVE this story! In highschool I got to read an old english version with a modern day version next to it. No one in my class but me seem to understand even the modern version. I then got to hear it sang/chanted/told by a famous irish story teller at U.Texas, it was very moving.

[Anarkey]

classic read ,and all the best at your interpretation of it ..GL!

[Morning Glory]

you should check out J.R.R. Tolkien's analysis on the subject in "Beowulf And The Critics."

I'm not sure how hard to come by it is though and it might be a thick read. There's a condenced version of it in "Modern Critical Interpretations: Lord Of The Rings", that I was able to pick up at the library.

Another really far out take on it is the anarchistic view in John Gardners "Grendel", which is a telling of the story from the monster's perspective.