Beowulf - Chapter 12

This past week has been quite interesting. Read my blog below to find out how it all went down.

Recently I left my home on a quest to a land in need of my help. I have traveled far and wide across the seas.  I have come to this new, strange land, hoping to defeat the terrible monster that has been tormenting these innocent people for years.

Earlier in the day we came with a clever plan to defeat this monster called Grendel. It goes like this: First, we will all pretend to be asleep in the mead hall, quietly laying down. Next, when the monster least expects it, I will jump up and attack him. By the time he figures out that “it’s a trick” (168), I will already have the upper hand in the battle.  The only problem with our plan is that, there is a great possibility that two of our men will die. While that is unfortunate, their deaths will be for the good of the people and will help to build their legacy for others to learn about. We decide to wait until nighttime to act out the plan as sleeping at night will be more believable than sleeping during the day.

The plan goes very well. Grendel slowly creeps into the mead hall, unaware of what will happen next. I attach him after he devours the first two men causing him “searing pain”(168)  on his body. I next “twist [his] arm behind [his] back”(169), strangely enjoying the pain and suffering Grendel is feeling. I notice a new color in myself for I have never before deeply enjoyed causing a creature significant pain. At first I deny myself of this feeling because heroes are not supposed to feel this way. It would cause the people to think that I am a villain or mentally unstable person and yet I enjoy the adrenaline rush.

Citations

“Beowulf vs Grendel.” DeviantArt, www.deviantart.com/thefool432/art/Beowulf-vs-Grendel-42151568.

“Beowulf vs. Grendel Rap Battle.” YouTube, Billy McAllister, 8 May 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV05dVOx9JE.

Gardner, John. Grendel. Gollancz, 2015.

Beowulf - Chapter 11

We enter the land of the Danes today, and my men and I are ready for battle. Grendel won't even see what's coming to him! I walked with my men as if we "were like trees" making our presence known here (153). I need to kill the beast before I am unable to, and I think I know how. Grendel seems to be a monster who is very naive, its just these Danes are stupid enough not to figure out his weaknesses. What Grendel has in strength, words might not be his strong suit. I would have to develop more plans from there, but no bother right now. I just have to win over these people, which might be harder than I had intended. I just know I have to sell these people what I am selling, and we'll see where it takes me. If I can I convince the Danes to let me kill Grendel, I can start the rebirth of this kingdom for sure.

We eventually make it to the mead hall and everyone is there. As we keep sitting with the Danes, I notice how these people "were not pleased" with my men and I (159). I knew that this vibe would mean nasty trouble for me. Then, Unferth comes to speak to me, and he grabs the attention of everyone in the mead hall. He accuses me of losing to a swimming match with my friend, Brecca, and most of the people there agreed with him on his hatred towards me. I can tell Unferth is trying to get some heroic glory in this moment, and I smile to him as I internally process my next play. I need to jab back at him with something harder that he would not expect. Then I remember how Unferth killed his brother. I keep smiling and speak soft for these people not to notice anything strange, and then I let loose. I left the entire mead hall silent, and I finally won over Hrothgar's kingdom! Hrothgar is saying I am like a son to him. Now everyone goes to sleep in the mead hall, and I am the only one who stays. I have to wait for the beast to arrive. My free will has guided me to here and there is no turning back.

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Works Cited

Gardner, John. "Chapter 11." Grendel, Random House, 1971, pp. 153, 159.

"Heorot at the start of the film." Photograph. An Historian Goes to the Movies, 9 Nov. 2015, aelarsen.wordpress.com/2015/11/09/beowulf-shame-on-you-neil-gaiman/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

Mug94. "Epic Rap Battles of History - Beowulf Vs Unferth." YouTube, 19 Nov. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bB1U9RSYJo. Accessed 17 Oct. 2018.

My Thoughts on Hrothulf (Chapter 8)

     Hrothgar's brother, Halga, has just been killed, and Halga's son, Hrothulf, has just entered Hrothgar's kingdom to live there. Now from what I see, Wealtheow and Hrothgar see actually very happy to be taking in Hrothulf and can feel that Hrothulf is mourning over his father's death, but there seems to be something more there that it is not quite seen. The Shaper starts singing about how great Hrothulf's life will be now, but I don't think t will be that way. You see, I fully believe that all the actions in the world lead to "equal and opposite" responses to counteract (113). So this whole casual entrance into the kingdom I feel would lead to a bad ending in some way. This mourning that Hrothulf is doing will also lead to actions that will lead to a totally opposite feeling for Hrothulf. So as I suspected, Hrothulf starts thinking more. Hrothulf starts to realize how tyrannical the actions of Hrothgar are over his people. Hrothulf makes this analogy about this tree killing everything under it's shade is exactly like Hrothgar's control over his life. Hrothulf knows something must be done sooner or later.

     Hrothulf then starts talking to an old man of the community, Red Horse, and he seems like a bad influence. Red Horse talks about making rebellious decisions, and leading an uprising to stop Hrothgar's reign, but Hrothulf is not interested. Hrothulf is a young teenager, he has not much of interest in "legitimate violence" of government that Red Horse talks about (119). Besides this, Hrothulf is actually pretty nice to cousins and other parts of life are going great. Hrothgar starts to feel more pressure as well. Hrothgar knows that Hrothulf is going to want to revolt, men are being eaten by me so that he could not protect his treasure, and he feels guilty that he wasted Wealtheow's youth. I can also tell Wealtheow can pick up that Hrothulf is wanting to uprise. Now, all this drama has been pretty exciting to be honest, but I still feel angry. I have this anger inside of me. If Hrothgar can use his power to control over his kingdom, then I think it is time to really use mine. Peace is unattainable at this point. There can only be one being of total control over people, and it is time for it to be me. Let's do this.

Here is a statue of a guy that I would eat. Pretty much everyone of the Thanes men looks like this to be honest.

Here is a Prezi that I really think dives into all of this drama and analyzes truly well: https://prezi.com/tb6zdtlolhgl/grendel-chapter-8-machiavellianism-and-scorpio/

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Works Cited

Doyle White, Ethan. "File:Anglo-Saxon warrior along the faestendic.JPG." Photograph. Wikimedia Commons, 13 Apr. 2015, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anglo-Saxon_warrior_along_the_faestendic.JPG. Accessed 11 Oct. 2018.

Gardner, John. "Chapter 8." Grendel, Random House, 1971, pp. 113, 119.

Guy, Nick, et al. "Grendel Chapter 8 Machiavellianism and Scorpio." Prezi, 4 Nov. 2013, prezi.com/tb6zdtlolhgl/grendel-chapter-8-machiavellianism-and-scorpio/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2018.

My Thoughts on Wealtheow (Chapter 7)

     So one day I'm just chilling out and watching Hrothgar's people do stupid stuff all day, I notice these new people are playing around the edge of Hrothgar's kingdom. They all "scattered into the forrest like wolves" and are slowly sneaking up to Hrothgar (96). Eventually they make it to the Thanes and are ready to offer gifts of some sort. Hrothgar at first was at first not interested in it, but then he say Wealtheow. She was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, and it's a poor shame she was treated like dirt when being traded off like that. Anyways, she went on to live in Hrothgar's kingdom, acting as a peacemaker. There was this one time when Unferth was getting angry over someone reminding Unferth he killed his brother, and then Wealtheow just comes over, touches him, and soothes him easily. Her peace and beauty made her vital and important to the environment, but her self-service to others left her lonely. I could feel that pain. No one being able to truly understand you for what you truly are: a complex, emotional being. It is the epitome of true sadness really for me.

     Now let me just say real quick, I am a true believer that "balance is everything" in life and should be respected (110). I decided to let these humans rest from my attacks, just so that I can let more be produced for later attacks, but Wealtheow's presence almost put me in a trance there. I just could not raid these people again, since they were finally discovering true humanity. This left me stuck up in knots for so long that I finally had to rain again. I killed some men, pushed Unferth out of the way (yeah, I'm still doing that thing with Unferth, it's fun!), and I make it to Wealtheow. I hold her up naked, looking at everything she has to offer, and I realize something. She's bleeding (......I think you know why, so I won't say anything) and I understand she is a snake, just as ugly as the rest of the men around her. Wealtheow is forever the object these men see, so killing her would inevitably be pointless. I decided to let her go, and I still left split over everything going on in my life. I debated killing myself, but I chose not to, as it was not worth it right now. I guess I just came to the conclusion that everything in the world that forgiveness is not what it seems to be. No matter how many times we forgive people for their mistakes, they are always the same, sad, terrible people on the inside with flaws of character. Anyways, see you tomorrow!

Here is a fun photo of Wealtheow pouring wine around. Isn't she beautiful?

Here is a fun video that summarized my entire story today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=XRHBOwavkxI

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Works Cited

Gardner, John. "Chapter 7." Grendel, Random House, 1971, pp. 96, 110.

MaggieM921. "Grendel Chapter 7." YouTube, 6 Oct. 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=XRHBOwavkxI. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

Skelton, J.R. "File:Stories of beowulf queen poring wine.jpg." Painting. Wikimedia Commons, 25 July 2010, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stories_of_beowulf_queen_poring_wine.jpg. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

My Thoughts on Unferth (Chapter 6)

     After that talk with the dragon that I had a while back, I think I have finally found purpose in my life. I killed my first human (well, let me say it was on accident when he spotted me and I had to think quickly, but hey it still counts) and had my first attack with the Thanes! Luckily, the dragon granted me a spell to not be hurt by weapons, and at that point I knew I had to go further. Then on the next night, I started terrorizing the humans for the first time, like full on this time, and it was fantastic! On that night I really feeling myself and everything was great, but let me tell, this guy named Unferth is something I've never seen before. I starts off with this long boring speech, and then I start talking back, and then he tries to "puzzle out my speech" (83). I know I'm a monster, but then does not mean I do not talk and I just attack all the time! Anyways, I think he is a total idiot, wanting to call himself a hero to be remembered and stuff, and he just starts running to attack me from the other side of the mead hall. So to get back at him, I find a ton of apples and just start throwing them at him (get it, because Unferth is an idiot, and apples mean knowledge, and.....never mind). He starts crying and the whole sight was just outright hilarious. I could not believe someone so naive and neurotic would dare call himself a hero like that in front of me.

     So a couple of days pass and I'm relaxing in my cave when all of a sudden Unferth comes in. He literally swam all the way to the bottom of this deep lake just to say visit me. At first I don't know what to do, so I choose to listen. Unferth starts talking about how he is challenging me, but since nobody knows he went down to my cave, it shows inner heroism. I first off think that Unferth said he wanted to be remembered by all a couple days ago, so does Unferth realize he is contradicting himself? All I say is that I am not going to fight him and I'll return to land, and Unferth gets angry about it, obviously. Unferth is already tired enough and "relaxed and lay flat" out of exhaustion, so I just brought him back to land after all that (90). Now every time I attack the Thanes, Unferth always tries to attack me, but I always find a way to let him live (I know, I'm BAD). It's just so sad to see how people can believe that people will be able to follow good morals. I've just become so skeptical on these many men who are so hypocritical and neurotic men that I have taken to be enemies. I don't claim to be all knowing like that dragon, but I do reserve the rights to have my doubts. Anyways, I'm done for the night. I'll be back tomorrow!

These are what some of the Thanes look like, just for reference! 😊

Here is also a fun video that explains this whole situation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHzr7YcCct4

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Works Cited

Gardner, John. "Chapter 6." Grendel, Random House, 1971, pp. 83, 90.

Kretschmer, Albert, et al. "Costumes of All Nations (1882)." painting. Wikimedia Commons, 20 Oct. 2010, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A.D._500-1000,_Anglo-Saxons_-_022_-_Costumes_of_All_Nations_(1882).JPG. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.

NordanJordan. "Grendel Chapter 6." YouTube, 19 Sept. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHzr7YcCct4. Accessed 10 Oct. 2018.