The “L word” has always driven people mad, mute, or into motherhood. People have been known to buy expensive jewelry, put on fancy suits and dresses, and gaze longingly into the pupils of another person before uttering the word. But, this is only the romantic account. The “L word” is also notorious for causing people to kill, lie, and run, after hearing the word. Therefore, the confession of admiration is a risky business. Of course, this is why you should cover “confession” in contempt. Serve sweet words with a dash of garlic and a cold glass of lemonade (hold the sugar please). This may sound crazy, but what is crazier is that the contents of the Poetic Edda and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki espouse this same advice. In fact, the language …show more content…
Skirnir’s Journey, in the Poetic Edda, provides ample moments in support of this claim. Freyr, who wishes to court Gerd, entrusts Skirnir, his friend and servant, to accomplish this task. From the onset of the poem, it is evident that the language of affection must assist Skirnir—and it does—but in a vulgar and unsettling way. Violence amplifies the language of affection because it is incongruous with the moment. Skirnir’s goal is to woo Gerd, not to slaughter her, but this distinction is almost indiscernible. For example, from stanza 25 to stanza 36, Skirnir launches into a harangue aimed at Gerd because she fails to submit to his language of affection on behalf of Freyr. Skirnir uses extremely graphic language during his tirade: “Do you see this sword, girl, slender, inlaid,/which I have here in my hand?/Before these edges the old giant will fall,/your father will be doomed” (61:25), “On an eagle’s mound you shall sit from early morning/looking out of the world, hankering towards hell/food shall be fouler to you than is/the shining serpent to all living men” (61:27), and “Odin is angry with you, Thor is angry with you/Freyr will hate you/most wicked girl, you have brought down upon you/the magic-mighty wrath of the gods” (62:33). In just these three examples, Skirnir threatens to slay Gerd’s father with his sword, sour all her food, place her in such a morose position that she looks forward to hell, and ensure that the “wrath of the gods” are brought upon her. Additionally, he threatens to carve three runes for her, which is a magical threat against her. Now, this vulgarity is unorthodox considering Freyr’s rave review of Gerd: “More pleasing to me is the girl than any girl to any young man/ in bygone days/of all the gods and elves, no one wishes/ that we should be together” (58:7). Freyr informs Skrirnir of Gerd’s impact on him and his value of
He is giddy with joy for the battle that will soon commence. Before the bloodshed finally erupts the Scylding king (talks) offers his sister Wealtheow to Hrothgar as a peace gift for the powerful king. Hrothgar accepts the beautiful Wealtheow and Grendel still waiting in the thick forest is suddenly flooded with emotions. Even to the point of saying, “She tore me apart as once the Shaper’s song had done. As for my benefit, as if in vicious scorn of me, children came from the meadhall and ran down to her weeping, to snatch at her hands and dress. “Stop it!” I whispered. “Stupid!”.” Wealtheow emits propaganda not by her words but her actions. Her courage and beauty cause Grendel to see the good in humans which in a way torments him. He sees the children running to her weeping and feels as if he is a child again wanting to be comforted by her. This play on Grendel’s adolescence and lack of a strong mother figure drives her message of propaganda deeper into his subconscious. (Her courageous deeds influence Grendel to the nihilistic view of the
Rudd cites various sections of the poem, describing Grendel as a “night-monster of the border lands” (Rudd 3), and the translation of the poem says that Grendel was, “...Conceived by a pair of those monsters born Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Raffel 42). Rudd also gives evidence for Grendel being seen as demonic, and reasons that Grendel attacks the Danes out of “...not mere thirst for gore, as we might suspect… but rather… envy of the Danes’ happiness- and envy was a chief characteristic of the medieval devil.” (Ruud 5). He then ties this devilish persona to Grendel’s humanistic aspects, stating Grendel has a heathen soul, and therefore he must be human. Ruud also notes, however, that there are critics who question the validity of portraying Grendel as this three-sided figure, asking questions such as, “How can Grendel be a devil when he has a physical body? How can he be a man when he is so manifestly bestial?” (Ruud 7). Ruud believes that the original poet of Beowulf is doing this for effect rather than consistency, but a more reasonable explanation that encompasses all three characteristics is that Grendel represents the evil in
The Shaper is a blind man who comes to Hrothgar’s hall one day, promising to sing for their entertainment. He weaves an embellished tale of how Hrothgar’s ancestor, Scyld, had “rebuilt the old Danish Kingdom from ashes.” (Gardner, 42) Grendel witnessed the disorganized fighting that led to Hrothgar’s tribe consolidating his power, but the artful skills of the Shaper’s song almost lead him to believe that the lies are true. This confuses Grendel, because the Shaper must know the truth (one can’t lie about the past if they don’t know how it happened), so why does he say things that are blatantly untrue? More importantly, why does Grendel lose himself in the words of the Shaper? Grendel finds himself hanging onto every word the Shaper says, just because the songs he sings are beautiful in and of themselves. When Hrothgar builds a magnificent mead hall and celebrates with all his subjects, Grendel actually starts to believe that Hrothgar is a benevolent, wise king. He knows this isn’t true, but the Shaper continues to sing about Hrothgar’s greatness, and Grendel mentally goes along with it. All of this backfires, however, when the Shaper sings about Grendel being cursed by Cain. When Grendel is chased out of the hall after he finds the dead man, he realizes that the Shaper has his own version of what is right and what is wrong, just like everybody else. He says “if the Shaper’s vision of goodness and peace was a part of
“A peace-weaver was a woman who would be married to a person from an enemy tribe in the hopes of ending a feud” (Yewdaev). The role of women in Anglo-Saxon culture was simple: to settle arguments through arranged marriage. However, Grendel’s mother did not follow similar principles. Instead of arriving at the mead hall ready to make amends and to settle Grendel’s dispute, she returns bloodthirsty and yearning for revenge. Another part that women in the Anglo-Saxon period undertook was that of a cupbearer. “So the Helming woman went on her rounds, / queenly and dignified, decked out in rings, / offering the goblet to all ranks, / treating the household” (Heaney 620-623). Cupbearers served the purpose of passing around cups of mead around to the men until they were all drunk and merry. Grendel’s mother’s independence and lack of subordination to men in the culture epitomizes the contrast she faces with other women in the era. Her attack is surprisingly more impactful than all of Grendel’s together, even though she only delivers a single fatality. Rather than taking out a random drunk guard, she goes straight for Hrothgar’s favorite advisor. “To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved/ of the friends he trusted between the two seas” (1296-1297). Evidently, coincidence or not, her attack on his advisor was immensely powerful, and contradicts the passive,
Grendel exhibits human feelings and characteristics in many ways. Although Grendel is a monster “forced into isolation by his bestial appearance and limited imagination” (Butts) he yearns to be a part of society; he craves companionship while he is isolated. With his “ear pressed tight against the timbers [of Hart]” (43), he watches and listens to the humans and what goes on in Hart, the meadhall of King Hrothgar, to feel like he is a part of civilization. He also has feelings in relation to specific humans. Just like the citizens of Denmark, he is extremely affected by the Shaper and his songs that are “aswim in ringing phrases, magnificent, golden, all of them, incredibly, lies” (43). Grendel is profoundly “moved by the power of the Shaper’s poetry” (Butts). Queen Wealtheow shows Grendel the feminine, sweet, and kind side of life. “She had secret wells of joy that overflowed to them all” and her peaceful effect on those around her is a main cause of Grendel’s almost obsessive fascination with her and in turn, drives Grendel to feelings of rage. Grendel’s humanlike feelings show that his personality is similar to that of a human, helping those who read his story to relate to him.
The poem then takes another turn when Grendel’s mother comes to avenge her son’s death by killing one of Hrothgar’s most trusted companions. By doing this, she is following the warrior code of the Anglo-Saxons which is an eye for an eye. The other alternative is to pay for the crime committed which is called a wergild. Once again the Danes are made uneasy because another monster is at large, and Beowulf agrees to put an end to her. Although Beowulf seems to respect the action that Grendel’s mother has taken by saying, “It is better for a man to avenge his friend than much mourn” (Donaldson p.25), nonetheless, he has to kill Grendel’s mother because he has a duty to protect the Danes. Beowulf is not afraid of fighting Grendel’s mother because glory comes before death and to him that is best for a warrior: “let him who may get glory before death; that is best for the warrior after he has gone from life” (Donaldson p.
for the flowering of secret lusts; no special favors are to be wheedled, by them or
The first opponent Beowulf must face in the land of the Danes is Grendel, textually described as “a fiend out of hell … [a] grim demon / haunting the marches, / marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens” (Beowulf, line 100 – 104). The author also provides us with a moral description, explaining how Grendel is “merciless … malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (line 135-137). As we can see here, the author’s physical and moral portrayal of Grendel is rather unforgiving. We also resent Grendel further once we learn that he has wreaked havoc upon the Heorot hall for twelve years, “inflicting constant cruelties on the people / atrocious hurt” (line 165).
The often confused words 'love' and 'lust' are becoming used interchangeably more and more every day. Indeed, many definitions are being loosened up and many words are used improperly. When people use the words 'love' and 'lust', they should be more careful which word it is that they mean to say.
The epic poem Beowulf, is a work of fiction and was composed sometime between the middle of the seventh and the end of the tenth century of the first millennium, in the language today called Anglo- Saxon or Old English. This story is a heroic narrative, more than three thousand lines long, concerning the deeds of the Scandinavian prince, also called Beowulf, and it stands as one of the foundation works of poetry in English.
The poem of Beowulf is a story that was written in the beginnings of Christianity in 1000 a.D, which is why abounding examples of temptation and Satan are present in the story. Beowulf was written by an anonymous Christian monk. The story takes place in what is Denmark today, it takes place in a small kingdom that’s in a “gorge” called Herot. The story of Beowulf talks about a hero who is very different from any other hero in ancient literature, because he wasn’t in trouble and in need of survival, unlike Odysseus, unlike Achilles, both of whom had to fight for their life, for survival. Meanwhile Beowulf didn’t have to fight to survive, but vice versa, he lived to fight, instead of trouble finding him (which is the most common thing in any story where there is a hero), he looked for trouble. However it wasn’t just for fun, all that he wanted was gold and fame. A monster lived in a kingdom called Herot, his name was Grendel, who was “infamous” for hunting and killing people and caused “loathsome” everywhere he went, at the same time fright and disgust. Grendel “lividly” terrorized the kingdom of Herot. In desperation and need the King Hrothgar asked for help of a young hero who would free him of all his trouble, as they say in desperate times desperate measures are needed. Beowulf heard of the catastrophe in Herot and immediately sailed there to save the kingdom at its most dreadful times. Grendel was causing “affliction” to the town’s people, evidently Beowulf pursuing gold and fame came to save the day. The first day Beowulf arrived Grendel came in to hunt again though he could only kill one man before Beowulf tore out his whole arm shoulder, all the way to his “talon” and Grendel went back “cowering” to his cave in a “murky” swa...
To explain furthermore, Taboo words are proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable. They are prohibited and give off a disrespectful sense of use. Insults and swears are hypothesized to produce a catharsis-effect, which results in a relief of stress or pain. Swearing also influences the perceived credibility, intensity, and persuasiveness of the swearer. Although, the use of taboo words lacs the complexity that psychological science requires for an understanding of swearing.
Edgar Allan Poe?s ?The Raven? is a dark reflection on lost love, death, and loss of hope. The poem examines the emotions of a young man who has lost his lover to death and who tries unsuccessfully to distract himself from his sadness through books. Books, however, prove to be of little help, as his night becomes a nightmare and his solitude is shattered by a single visitor, the raven. Through this poem, Poe uses symbolism, imagery and tone, as well as a variety of poetic elements to enforce his theme of sadness and death of the one he loves.
This research paper speaks of the poem “The Tattooer” that talks about Japanese culture where men are superior and women are seen beneath the men of society. The poem "The Tattooer" shines the light on many of Tanizaki's standard society themes. And in this the tattooer desires the pleasure of his art; the tattooer takes much pride in the tattoos that he creates on the flesh of humans and also endures pleasure from putting pain on the empty canvases with his needle. In “The Tattooer” by Tanizaki Jun’ichiro the tattooer desires the pain inflicted on his canvas but then the perfect body is seen and he realizes that he must now tattoo for the beauty of the tattoo and is soon controlled by women.
In “The Colossus” Plath expresses how the lost of her father effected the father- daughter relationship growing up. Plath’s father who was “absent”, emotionally affected her in many ways. His neglect was responsible for why they never had that father-daughter relationship, which is critical in the developmental stages of a young girl growing up. Rietz writes: