Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Weeks 1-3
1. What genres do the following texts belong to?
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc).
2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to site from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
5. Discuss how Tolkien's use of "tradition" (e.g. older literary sources) differs from the techniques and agendas of modernism (see Week 7 in your Reader).
6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ?
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer).
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1. What genres do the following texts belong to?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa -Mythological Poem
Poem of the Nordic creation and destruction of the world told from the perspective of a Sibyl (prophetess)
Volsunga Saga - Saga.
13th century Icelandic Heroic saga.
Beowulf - Epic Poem.
Old English historic epic poem from Anglo Saxon literature
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings - Fantasy/ Children’s Fantasy novel
High fantasy novel (story takes place in its own world). The Hobbit written more a children’s novel
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. What genres do you following text belong to?
ReplyDelete-Voluspa is an example of the mythological poem. It is the story about the creation of the world. Some mythological elements appeared in Voluspa :
“Then the holy gods / met to give judgement” (line 22-23)
“Odin gave life’s breath / Hoenir gave mind” (line 33)
-Volsunga saga is a legendary saga which is a long story about legendary of hero. This is the contents of legendary saga :
“Now crept the worm down to his place of watering, and the earth shook all about him, and he snorted forth venom on all the way before him as he went; ………… then he lashed out head and tail, so that all things soever that were before him were broken to pieces.“ (p.9)
-Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem. Because Beowulf describes the heroic man, Beowulf. Here is a example :
“It threw the hero into deep anguish and darkened his mood: the wise man thought he must have thwarted ancient ordinance of the eternal Lord, broken His commandment. ………… After many trials, he was destined to face the end of his days in this mortal world; as was the dragon, for all his long leasehold on the treasure.”(p.74)
-Lord of the Rings is a epic high fantasy novel and The Hobbit is a fantasy novel as well as children’s book. Some contents as a fantasy novel in The Hobbit :
“Before long, so great was his speed, they could see him as a spark of fire rushing towards them and growing ever huger and more bright, ……… and the lake rippled red as fire beneath the awful beating of his wings.” (p.234)
"Why waste words and wrath on those unhappy creatures? Doubtless they perished first in fire, before Smaug came to us." (p.239)
“But help came swiftly; for Bard at once had speedy messengers sent up the river to the Forest to ask the aid of the King of the Elves of the Wood, and these messengers had found a host already on the move, although it was then only the third day after the fall of Smaug. (p.240)
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
ReplyDeleteTolkien’s works such as The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings influenced by northern European literature, Norse mythology like Edda. So in Tolkien’s works, we can find some Old Norse and Old English texts. For example, In his Hobbit, most of character’s names come from Old Norse name : Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Balin, Dain, Nain, Thorin Oakenshield, Gandalf and the ravens, friends of dwarf, are also Old Norse name. Also in The Lord of the Rings, there are some Old Norse name : Gimli, Narvi and Forn.
Tolkien also used some elements of Old English, especially from the Beowulf. The character of smart dragon is similar between The Hobbit and Beowulf. Besides, Tolkien wrote Old English runes in the figure of blades.
References :
Vesa Piittinen. (2012). North Germanic languages. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/North_Germanic_languages
Wikipedia. (2013). The Hobbit. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit
Why my written time is wrong?..
DeleteToday is March 23, 2013. and 1:48 pm now!!!!!!
maybe your google account thinks your in korea still?
Delete6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteMost people wonder about the beginning, that is where we came from but no one really knows why. So our forefathers have composed myths that can help to describe what people want to know about our past. In other words, myths was made to assist us to deal with our difficult situations. It also helped people who want to know their orientation and want to search for their original place. In the modern world, the old myths is not a theology. It tells about human, nature, and incidents of human being. Therefore people believed that humans, animals and even gods live together in a whole nature. In short, the existence of myths, the gods, can help to account for the something that incredible situations in the modern world.
Reference :
Karen Armstrong. (2005). Myths and the Modern World. Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://www.vpr.net/npr/4992705/
Weeks 1-3
ReplyDeleteWhat are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
Orality is "evanescent," not permanent (Ong, 1982:31-32)
Since the poem is written instead of spoken it has become permanent the text however does have indications of orality which have been preserved in the written version.
Orality is "additive rather than subordinative"; "aggregative rather than analytic" (Ong, 1982:37-39)
The poem uses episodic construction in its narrative for example.
“The sun climbed the moon’s companion raised its right hand”
Orality is "close to the human lifeworld" (Ong, 1982:42-43)
The way the poem describes certain objects and characteristics in very personal.
“Much wisdom have the three maidens
who come from the waters”
The poem also does not make use of the word I which is said to have been created after the written word.
Ong, J.W. (1982).Orality and Literacy. New York: Routledge.
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer).
ReplyDeleteThe Hobbit
The story of the hobbit was created by J.R.R Tolkien as a children’s story. The story is told to you by a narrator as if someone is actually telling you the story. Many times the narrator will talk directly to the reader often telling how a character (most often Bilbo) is feeling or future events. The story is quite comical filled with silly songs and poems and feels as if it is intended to entertain a younger audience. The characters are also light hearted as well Bilbo (the hero) being a lazy homebound hobbit and the dwarfs each having their own personalities and quirks especially bombur an especially fat hobbit who is quite clumsy. Also, no human/dwarf characters killed are explicitly detailed in the book and the only deaths which are explained are evil non-human characters e.g trolls, dragon. While it is aimed at children it does have characteristics that would also appeal to an older audience. It contains riddles and the characters do face heavy moral decisions. All in all the the story of the hobbit is successful in conveying its desires.
6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteUntil nowadays, There are many thing that change and deform to different way by old myths. And we alse can accept the folk lore still. Because, Old myths are the origin of the some country, and the reason that able to grow the world nowadays is person like a hero in mythology maybe. We can often see that the myth when our society. First, We can see in the novel or literature. For example “God”(Bernard Werber, 2008) make more interesting to reader because, Bernard Werber used the story about Greek mythology. Moreover he give a extensive knowledge of mythology to readers. Second, You can see the myth is the strret name or city. There are many city’s name is United States. That city’s name is coming out of the myth. For instance, Athens, Troy, Sparta, Echo, and Olympia and so on. Third, Myths are reflected in the groups, company and business. Expecially, Apollo is the God of the light in myth. Apollo theater is a wonderful place in New York. And Europa is beautiful woman in myth. Europa is used by official web site in EU. specific. Lastly, the mythical story is used in the film or movies. For example, Titans, Troy(2004), Disney’s animation Hercules(1997), Oedipus the king(1968) and so on. In addition, the narrative myth can give lesson to us, so many elementary and junior high school’s teacher teachs myth to the students.
References
1. Greek Mythology(n.d). Places named from mythology. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://www.greekmythologytoday.com/places.html
2. Gill(n.d). About.com-Greek and Roman Mythology in Daily Life. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/gkmythtoday.htm
3. The telegraph(n.d), Top 12 films based on classical mythology. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9174269/Top-12-films-based-on-classical-mythology.html#?frame=2181745
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ?
ReplyDeleteBeowulf is a hero who appears in the epic in UK. But This epic’s writer is unknown. Beowulf is just presumed that It wrote by early 11th century from the late 8th century by Anglo-sense. It is written in Old English, and the content is divided into two major parts. The first part is the battle of Grendel who is half-man-half-beast monster and Beowulf who is brave youth, In the second part is the fight between the dragon and Beowulf when Beowulf came back to his country. Beowulf is finished when he die. Beowulf that is originally epic was also made in the movie, there are some differences between movie and epic. The battle between Beowulf and the Grendel is the most important sceane in both of movie and epic. However, compared to the epic, movie omit the many things. In epic, Grendel sees the dream and talk with the moon and trees. However, in the movie It is all omitted, movie show grendel is just only a very bad monster. Grendel appears in the palace every night, and he kills and eats many people. Even though the body is very quick and outrageous, because he was inherited the blood of the son of Adam and Eve who is Cain, Beowulf also put the myth of Adam and Eve as Grendel. The reson that fight Grendel and Beowulf is the same in movie and epic. However, In epic, Beowulf twist Grendel’s arm, broke bones, tears his body and eventually died because his arm pulled and had excessive bleeding. Beowulf didn’t use any weapon at this time, He just use his power of the body and arms. On the other hand, in the movie, He uses using some weapons when he fight. That weapon’s name is ‘Naegling’. We can see the differences between a movie and the epic by this way.
References
1.Wikipedia(n.d.). Beowulf. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
2. Ruiz(n.d.). Portafoliodediacronia - Differences between the poem of Beowulf and the movie Beowulf. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://portafoliodediacronia.wikispaces.com/B.+Differences+between+the+poem+of+Beowulf+and+the+movie+Beowulf
3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to site from the original texts).
ReplyDeleteIn each text the recurrent scene that can be identified as the central incident is the moment the hero kills the beast, usually a dragon or snake or when the dragon goes on a rampage destroying the villages after he is disturbed in his cave. In Volupsa, thunder god Thor fights and kills the Snake; however he is wounded and dies: "Far-famed Thor...goes forth to fight the Snake...nine steps beyond the Serpent's body, Thor wounded, walks in pride" Volupsa, extract 3. In Beowulf, the dragon goes on a rampage on the Geats after an intruder stole a golden cup from the treasure he is guarding. Beowulf goes to destroy the dragon with thirteen men, the thirteenth being the man who stole the cup "the lord of the Geats took eleven comrades...the one who had started all this strife...added as a thirteenth to their number". In Volsunga Saga, Sigurd advised by Regin, digs three holes to escape the retalition of the beast once he thrust his word into it. Sigurd manages to wound the dragon but gets wounded as well "So whenas the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder...drew the sword back again unto him, and therewith was his arm all bloody". Finally in the Hobbit, the dragon is laying waste to the village and Bard kills him with his bow-string and arrow "The dragon swooped once more...The great bow twanged. The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast...Smaug crashed down from on high in ruin".