Please post your discussion topics here. Topics are still open for the Elegies and for Beowulf.
Something to consider: note that Beowulf essentially begins with a funeral. What implications does this beginning carry for the rest of the poem? Make as many observations as you can about the details of the funeral. We will use this passage in class as practice for the close reading assignment. (See below for specifics about this assignment.)
January 16, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Beowulf in my opinion potrays a christ like act of saving other people although not necessarily sins,and at the end losing his life.
January 17, 2007 at 10:01 am
The word wyrd is used in The Wanderer and seeing as we have already discussed this I learned that religion influenced a lot of the writers and here it looks like faith was a key to this eliegy.
January 17, 2007 at 12:12 pm
To me the funeral is the end of one great king’s rule and the beginning of another. I guess you could say the passing of the torch to Beowulf. It seems to set up the story for Beowulf to make his rise to power through “lofty deeds”.
I guess it also could be seen as a forshadowing of Beowulf’s death.
January 17, 2007 at 2:39 pm
I think it was a way to describe the legacy Beowulf would be carrying on. His father was a great king so one would assume that Beowulf would be. I also believe that the funeral showed that although Sheafson was a great ruler he was still mortal.
January 18, 2007 at 11:19 pm
It seems to me that the people wanted to honor “Scyld” at his funeral, just as they did when he was alive.. He evidently was a great king, which left Beowulf with big shoes to fill..
January 21, 2007 at 11:02 pm
It is interesting in section 18 how the author shows Wealhtheow asking Beowulf to protect her sons and in section 19 Grendel’s mother is avenging her own son’s death. Wealhtheow is looking out for both her sons and because of Grendel’s evil nature Beowulf never took into consideration that Grendel had a mother who would be looking out for him as well.
January 22, 2007 at 12:22 am
Opening the play with a funeral sets and underlying mood and establishes a thread that exists throughout the poem. There are another two or three funerals, I believe, that take place in the poem. It is a sign of our mortality, regardless of our lofty deeds or grand accomplishments. However, we are also reminded in the poem to still do our best and to perform good deeds.
Another reoccurance in the poew is the comparison of kings. Several kings are referred to as good kings, but all are deemed to be such by different means. I believe this tells us that there is no one certain way to live and act, but many paths to glory and salvation.
January 22, 2007 at 12:29 am
It appears to me that in the story of Sheafson in the poem’s opening lines, the unknown poet offers somewhat of a sketch of the life of a successful hero. Sheafson’s greatness is measured by the number of “clans” that he conquers. As the defeated have to pay him tribute, it is clear that strength leads to the acquisition of treasure and gold.
January 22, 2007 at 3:14 pm
The funeral at the begining of the poem and at the end signifys the birth and the death of a kingdom.This means that as the heros of the previous leadership dies,their regime dies with them and another arises with a different leader.
January 25, 2007 at 11:23 pm
The funeral scene shows just how much respect and love the people had for their king. Line 49-50 says that they “gave him to the Deep with grieving spirits, mournful in mind.” I believe the funeral scene is in the beginning shows just how beloved a king is to his people.