The Significance of Villains in Beowulf
Ancient, timeless, and very, very hard to read, Beowulf has plagued well-meaning college students for centuries with its cryptic passages and vague metaphors. Yet at the root it resonates with a sort of clear allegorical criticism aimed at Scandinavian warrior society. In the story of Beowulf, the unnatural fiends in the poem were each symbols for the political strife in the system. They formed the basic constructs in an allegory against the flawed nature of the warrior society at the time.
Grendel, the first monster, makes his appearance directly after the poet references the men in their mead-hall. Yet he is not simply referred to in a natural segue between themes: he is actually introduced directly after speaking of future strife among the family in that hall. Note in the following passage where the poet breaks off what began as a paragraph about the merry-making which went on in the hall known as Heorot.
The hall stood tall, high and wide-gabled: it would wait for the fierce flames of vengeful fire; the time was not yet at hand for sword-hate between son-in-law and father-in-law to awaken after murderous rage.
Then the fierce spirit painfully endured hardship for a time, he who dwelt in the darkness....
The form it takes can essentially be described as "They celebrated, but all was not well in the future of the hall. Also, Grendel waited outside...." The close proximity of the description of familial betrayal and Grendel's introduction leads to the conclusion that the two are related.
As I interpret it, the demon Grendel is a symbol for the terrible problem of succession that the Danes suffered time and again. The unstable nature of the court and th...
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...m. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Shippey, Thomas A.. “Structure and Unity.” In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997.
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Missing Dan Nolan (previously titled Dan Nolan - Missing) by Mark Wheeller is a play which fluctuates between verbatim direct address and reconstructed scenes of action. Whereas the play has ‘won national acclaim’ (Southern Daily Echo: 2003), it is still not that well known. This is quite disheartening considering that Wheeller wrote the play after he ‘realised he might be able to help’ (Wheeler: 2004: p.5) in raising awareness of Dan’s disappearance as his parents found it ‘very difficult to get media coverage’. (Wheeler: 2004: p.5) Whereas Dan death has now been confirmed, the play still holds significance as ‘The National Missing Persons Helpline receives more than 100,000 calls every year… out of all the cases; 30% remain tragically unresolved (Wheeler: 2004: p.5).In bringing it to the television screen as a docudrama, the tale will raise more awareness of the problem which the U.K. evidently has with finding missing people by engaging with the audience’s emotions. I have chosen a television adaptation instead of film as I f...
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Has anyone ever heard of a man Dmitri Mendeleev? As you may know, he is the man who created the Periodic Table . Besides, creating the Periodic Table, Mendeleev is also known for many other great accomplishments. Creating the Periodic Table wasn’t the only thing Dmitri was famous for.
Beowulf. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 34-100.
The poem beautifully celebrates the culture of the early Danes, while incorporating newer influences from Christianity. It is interesting in the end that Beowulf's heroism, a Danish attribute, triumphs over the Christian values of humility and self-sacrifice. Beowulf can be interpreted so many different ways, but it stands out almost as much as a historical document of the changing times as a great work of fiction.
Napier, Susan. “No More Words: Barefoot Gen, Grave of the Fireflies, and ‘Victim’s History.’” In Napier, Anime, pp. 161-173.
There are three prominent monsters in the Beowulf text, Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. While the dragon proves to be the most fatale of foes for Beowulf, Grendel and his mother do not simply pose physical threats to the Germanic society; their roles in Beowulf are manifold. They challenge the perceptions of heroism, a sense of unrivalled perfection and superiority. Moreover, they allow the reader to reconsider the gender constructs upheld within the text; one cannot help but feel that the threat that these monsters present is directed towards the prevalent flaws in Beowulf’s world. Moreover, what makes these monsters is not their physical appearance; it is what they embody. Both Grendel and his mother have humanlike qualities yet their monstrous appearance arises from what their features and mannerisms represent. The challenge they pose to societal paradigms makes them far more terrifying to our heroes than any scaled flesh or clawing hand. These monsters provide the ‘most authoritative general criticism […] of the structure and conduct of the poem’. Their presence provides contrast and criticism of the brave society (Heaney 103).
Ergotism, a condition resulting from the consumption of ergot germ infested rye, was the cause of the symptoms exhibited by the victims of witchcraft in 1692. From June to September of 1692, two young girls, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris came down with a perplexing illness, one that the local doctor eventually diagnosed as bewitchment. [6] Linda Caporael asserts ...
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Bloom, Harold. “Introduction.” In Modern Critical Interpretations: Beowulf, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Beowulf. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded Edition Volume 1. ED. Maynard Mack et al. New York: Norton, 1995. 1546-1613.
Dmitri Mendeleev was one of the most famous modern-day scientists of all time who contributed greatly to the world’s fields of science, technology, and politics. He helped modernize the world and set it farther ahead into the future. Mendeleev also made studying chemistry easier, by creating a table with the elements and the atomic weights of them put in order by their properties.
The following flowchart shows the data relation and algotithm for estimate the position of user. The first step for GPS positioning is using the position of satellite and pseudorange from GPS receiver data to estimate the position of user. The simulation results for GPS satellite position are shown in T...
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