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).
1. What genres do the following texts belong to?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
As far as I can see these texts belong to the MYTHOLOGY genre, specifically, many of them, dealing with creationism.
Hi Abigail, I agree with you that these text are mythological as they have Gods and imaginary creators. I also think that they are fiction and some are fantasy genre (made up stories)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAbigail, I agree with you on some aspects but then disagree in others. In a wider sense you could refer to these texts all being a part of the mythological genre, but when identifying the correct genre they indeed all fall under quite different headings. Voluspa belongs more to a song, or mythological poem genre. We can see a direct example of how Voluspa is a mythological poem as it makes direct references to the Norse Gods in the text, “Great men and humble sons of Heimdall; by Odin’s will”. Volsunga Saga is an easy one to identify as the genre is even stated in the heading; it belongs to the saga genre. Beowulf is again written in another genre, epic poetry, we can identify this by many main characteristics of epic poetry that are seen in this piece. For example the text contains several long and formal speeches, “Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke: 'Many a skirmish I survived when I was young and many times of war…” Whilst The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are both modern fantasy novels, though The Hobbit is more of a children's novel.
DeleteI agree with you Abigail.
ReplyDeleteDictionary.com defines Mythology as "a set of stories, traditions or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered."
Lord of the Rings,The Hobbit, Beowulf and Voluspa in particular are stories that have been written to act as a retelling of ancient history, but are in fact (debatable) fictional and 'deliberately fostered' to seem so.
And yes I agree that the texts deal with creationism, having mighty beings as the divine creators or masters of the world for example Odin and Gandalf. Odin and Gandalf represent a higher power and possess wisdom and abilities that are unnatural, which is evidence that the stories fit the theme of MYTHOLOGY.
A great example of how Voluspa is of Mythology genre, is how Odin is spoken of in the first verse. He is portrayed as a sort of creator or "Holy God" who holds an authority over others
Delete..."by Odin's will I'll speak the ancient lore."
the big difference is, myths were once believed. That is, they were religion. Fantasy is not believed in the same way. Also, Mythology itself is not a genre, while mythological stories or epic poem are.
DeleteHi guys,
Deleteit seems that defining these pieces into a specific genre is proving to be quite difficult.
Genre to me is less of a definition of the text, but more of the ''family'' it belongs to. If we look at genre this way it becomes easier to divide each text into it's appropriate family.
The genres are:
Voluspa - Poem (Norse)
Volsunga Saga - Saga
Beowulf - Epic Poem (Difference between poem and epic poem is usually the length of narrative difference where an epic poem is much longer)
The Hobbit - Fantasy Fiction or High Fantasy (sub genre)
The Lord of the Rings - Fantasy Fiction or High Fantasy (sub genre)
2. The entire Voluspa extract is spoken as if it were a narration that is not being spoken to anyone directly. This is one of the main features that stand out to me of residual orality.
ReplyDeleteWords being spoken to 'gods' by someone we do not know, as if spoken inside someone's head, or telling a story but to no one in particular.
"I can see the doom that awaits all might Gods."
The extract is less written as if to be read, but more as if to be spoken to a group of people who are all able to then picture it in their minds.
A great start everybody. One picky point, while these texts are mythology or, like Lord of the Rings, derived from mythology, mythology is not a genre. Strictly speaking these texts (with the exception of LOTR again) are sagas, or epic poems. Please check your definition of genre.
ReplyDeleteAnd Zane, I'm not sure I agree. Voluspa is an oral saga, that is, meant to spoken out loud. It would have existed before it was written down. And was designed to be spoken at banquets to barons and knights and yes, gods. Not spoken inside someone's head but out loud in full rhetorical style!
4. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are both epic tales that share some unmistakable similarities to Old English texts like Voluspa and Beowulf. Beowulf in particular, shares similarities that are expressed by Glenn (1991), for example feasting and gift giving and also recapitulation of events. Dictionary.com (n.d.) describes 'recapitulation' as a brief summary of past events.
ReplyDeleteGlenn (1991) also points out another similarity between Tolkien's The Hobbit in particular and Beowulf which is the use of the character Beorn (The Hobbit), who under some sort of enchantment, is sometimes a man and sometimes a bear or a 'beo-wulf'. With Beorn there is a lot of emphasis on his love for feasting and retelling stories and past events which is noticeably similar to the end of Beowulf in the closing scenes in Hrothgar's hall.
A way that Tolkien drew on an ancient text like Voluspa, is in the way that Tolkien uses the same way to introduce a building or a hall as a symbol of might and power.
Voluspa - "A river bears westward through a baneful valley
spears and swords; its name is Fear.
Far from sunlight stands a hall
on the Shores of the Dead; its doors face north."
The same descriptive language is used in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to describe a great hall when Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are approaching Edoras and spot the Golden Hall of Rohan.
LOTR - "There stands aloft a great hall of Men
.
And it seems to my eyes that it
is thatched with gold
.
The light of it shines far over the land. Golden,
too, are the posts of its doors. There men in bright mail stand; but
all else within the courts are yet asleep.'
'Edoras those courts are called,' said Gandalf, 'and Meduseld is
that golden hall."
Tolkien was clearly trying to create within his own story something that reflected and related to epic great poems like Voluspa. Tolkien must have been fascinated by the way old descriptive language can create something mighty within our imaginations.
References:
Glenn, Jonathan A. (1991). "To Translate a Hero: The Hobbit as Beowulf Retold." PAPA 17: 13-34.
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1993;1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. London, HarperCollins, pp.495 – 513.
Völuspá, from Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems
of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
Excellent post, Zane. It makes me think that just maybe Tolkien though that, by writing these two books, he was somehow creating a mythology for modern times. At times he seems to think that the world he writes about exists outside his own invention.
DeleteAdding on to question 1, while these texts are rooted in mythology with ties to creationism, they are in fact EPIC POEMS. According to the Oxford Dictionary, an Epic Poem is defined as “A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the past history of a nation.”
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete1. To elaborate with an example, one of the common features of an Epic Poem is an ‘invocation to a muse’. As cited on moongadget.com, “Classical epics almost always begin with an "invocation to the muses based on the old-world idea that art does not flow from the poet, but through the poet from divine intelligence.” Brennan (2006).
DeleteLooking through the original texts, however, I cannot find an example of the invocation of the muse, so I will leave that for now.
What I can see an example of in each text is the ‘courageous hero’. For example, in Lord of the Rings Frodo displays courage in his willingness to fight despite being physically disadvantaged. His short stature does not deter him from his ‘duty’ as hero.
Reference:
Kristen Brennan, 2006, Star Wars Origins-Lord of the Rings http://www.moongadget.com/origins/lotr.html
Well nailed! Just a picky point, the word 'creationism' is used to describe a strict interpretation of the Old Testament story of creation in Genesis. Creationism is a current belief among some, but by no means all, Christians. What you are referring to are called creation myths or creation stories.
Delete2. What are some possible features of residual (or secondary) orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDeleteIn order to comprehend texts such as Voluspa to the best of our ability we must be aware of the differences between our literate culture and the ancient oral culture in which they were conceived. We cannot fully understand the texts in a purely oral sense as we live in a literate world. Therein lies the paradox of studying an oral text through written form. As Ong (1982) puts it, “We - readers of books such as this — are so literate that it is very difficult for us to conceive of an oral universe of communication or thought except as a variant of a literate universe.” (p.2)
Having this text in written form is important, however, in order for the tale to survive in a literate world. The fact that we are reading this text rather than hearing it is, I believe, an example of secondary orality.
References:
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London, England: Methuen. pp.1-15
Quite right, but what are these residual features in the text itself? The question is specific.
DeleteA specific example would include the opening line "Hear my words you holy gods... I‘ll speak the ancient lore". This reference to 'hearing' rather than 'reading' translates directly from the oral culture from which the poem stems. This is in direct opposition to other more modern texts from our literate time, for example Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. In Jane Eyre Bronte makes continual reference to the reader. “Reader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had...” (Chapter 38)
Delete5. First of all, Tolkien clearly had a gift and a love for language. The fact that he created his own language (Elvish) is amazing. However, there are reasons why Tolkien preferred to write more traditionally and use older literary sources as opposed to using modernism.
ReplyDeleteBrin (2001-2014) makes a point that Tolkien lived through an era of war and bloodshed, a time when modernity appeared to have failed “in one spectacle of technologically amplified bloodshed after another.”
Brin suggests that The Lord of the Rings trilogy reflects this era that Tolkien lived through. He further adds that in contrast to the real world, Tolkien’s portrayal of good resisting evil offered something at the time that was lacking in the very real struggles against the Nazi and communist regimes.
Tolkien created his admirable hero characters like Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf as characters to look up to like Merlin, Lancelot and Odysseus from old tales. This showed how Tolkien valued characters like this and obviously felt that the world needed something like this which was missing, especially, from English culture.
http://www.davidbrin.com/tolkien.html
Yes, context is everything. And yet Tolkien himself denied the connection between LOTR and the struggle against Nazism in Europe...
DeleteI agree that Tolkien's use of traditionalism is central to his Lord of the Rings and other works.
DeleteHowever, I believe it prudent to assume that Tolkien's influences not only steemed from past literature (Norse influences) but also were affected by current times in his own life.
As Zane mentions above, Tolkien ''lived through an era of war and bloodshed''. We know that Tolkien's works are of fiction, but it is safe to assume that this fiction either represents or reflects some experiences he has been through, and not just being derived from influences of older texts.
Possible examples of this influence could be represented in the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. As it was published post WW2 (1955), I believe that there could be links between the over throwing of Sauron, and Aragorn claiming his right to the Throne of Gondor and the subsequent end of WW2.
A possible interpretation could be that Sauron represented Hitler/the Nazi regime and Aragorn's claiming of the throne representing the West's returning of order to Europe post WW2 (opinion).
It is therefore my belief that a writers influence can come from two places. Past literary texts and own life experiences.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete7 How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf?
ReplyDeleteTo understand the question exactly, I found the word “problematise”.
According to Oxford University Press (n.d) problematise refers to “Make into or regard as a problem requiring a solution” (para.1).
So I think when the director made the film Beowulf and Grendel , he would try to make new perspective because the Beowulf is the just classic epic. The hero-myth of Beowulf is focused on the hero who had a power, ability and courage. Also, it is natural that hero kills the evil. At the Beowulf, they created the character Grendel to show to advantage of the hero.
However, audiences can understand the Grendel’s awkward situation after watching the film Beowulf and Grendel because it is from the Grendel’s position.
Actual territory was belongs to the Grendel and his mother, also they didn’t kill a person who was not spared his life. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2014)
They tried to show that his body is an animal, and his mind is a human.
But he couldn’t join either of them. He lived just earth-rim-walker as his name Grendel.
Through these parts, the audience could feel sympathy for him, the image of the Grendel was shifted towards pity monster as well. Kind of these ways, the Grendel is to be revalued.
Reference
Oxford Dictionaries Language Matters (n.d)
from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/problematize
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, (2014), Retrived 5th march, 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_%26_Grendel
I agree that Grendel is re-valued in the film Beowulf and Grendel. The film problematises the traditional hero myth by calling into question the binary concept of hero and villain. In the opening scene Grendel is shown as a child (and a small, ‘cute’, blonde one at that) watching his father’s killing. He is driven cliff-side by the Danes who are colonizing the area, and watches the brutal attack from a hidden vantage point.
DeleteThe audience is shown Grendel in a previously unseen form here; he is small, ‘cute’, vulnerable, and experiencing a traumatic event. This invokes a sense of empathy which we do not observe in the original text. An explanation is given for the revenge he takes upon the Danes.
Unlike the original rendering of Grendel in the epic poem 'Beowulf', where he is described as "the God-cursed brute...creating havoc: greedy and grim" (Heaney, 1999, line.21-22), this character is not purely motivated by a brutish and base-level want for bloodshed; but has, possibly understandable, reasoning for vengeance. When we see his father’s head, which he kept as he could not lift the whole body, is still in his possession we can imagine him, through the years, calculating and strategizing his revenge.
This problematizes the hero-myth as it questions the black-and-white framework of ‘good and evil’. One’s perspective of good and evil depends entirely on the perspective they take on an issue, their background, and the concept of justice versus mercy. It could be argued that Grendel was justified in his actions, and therein lies the problem.
Heaney, S. (1999) (trans). Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin
These are all good points Abigail. I agree that we are shown Grendel from a totally different perspective then initially shown in the original Beowulf text. We are made to feel sympathetic rather then anger as to why he does what he does in the text. I find this to be a more common thing nowadays though in literature and in films. We are looking less at who the person is now and more at who they were and why they are the way they are. As you mentioned the whole black and white structure of evil vs. good is now almost gone as we find ourselves thinking no one is born evil, they are made evil.
DeleteAnother example of this style in media is Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars. Throughout the Star Wars series, we meet Anakin and his mother who are slaves on Tatooine. Again we are introduced to a young, bright eyed boy who is innocent but turns to the “dark side” after his mother is savagely murdered and he is told his wife and children die during childbirth. From here the monster is created within Anakin. He looses hope and everything he loves, so by him lashing out and destroying others he hopes to find solace (Anakin Skywalker, n.d).
References:
Anakin Skywalker. (n.d). Retrieved from from: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anakin_Skywalker
1.What genres do the following text belong to?
ReplyDeleteThe common thing about these texts is that they are mythological. They have Gods and imaginary creators.
Voluspa is a fantacy genre. The texts talks about Gods, creators and giants.
Volsanga saga is historical with a hero who slays the dragon
The hobbit is epic fantasy genre
The Beowulf is a narrative historic poetry
Lord of the rings is an epic high fantasy genre
Hi Christine. Please be clear, fantasy is a modern genre which uses mythological element. Voluspa may have elements that seem like fantasy to us but were believed to be true at the time. Voluspa is a mythological poem or song.
Delete2: what are some possible features of residential (or “secondary”) orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa is a type of oral history that refers to oracles recitation, which readers would not understand in today’s world. This text is very traditional “hear my words, you holy gods”, and very ancient. In the introduction I found that it drew me into wanting to keep reading the text because of the words used. It sounded dramatic “you holy gods, humble sons of heimdall”. These types of words show residual orality because it relates to the classes in society. Ong (1982) states that orality refers to empathetic and participatory rather than objectively distanced” The ending of the Voluspa saga shows us another example of residual orality as it talks about communities being destroyed. Ong (1982) explains that there has been a development in the literacy through time from oral to writing, print to electric culture. He also states the differences between orality and literacy that only can be done in the electronic ages as it depends on writing and printing for its existence.
References:
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London, England: Methuen.
Reference:
DeleteVöluspá, from Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems
of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
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?
ReplyDeleteA central incident that occurs in all these texts is the slaying of dragons or serpents. These monsters usually disturb mankind and their lives, which is why they need to be killed and destroyed. All of these texts have a hero that slays the creatures. Firstly, the hobbit and the Volsanga saga have a common incident referring to the dragon slayer. The place where the battle takes pace is near water for both these texts. Secondly, the way the dragon was killed was also similar in both these texts. In the Volsanga saga slayed a knife through the heart “Sigurd thrust his sword under his shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts”, while in the hobbit through the weak spot “the black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast where the foreleg was flung wide”. Lastly, in these text the heroes that slayed the creatures are in danger from their death throes. An example from the hobbit says “That was the end of Smaung and Esgaroth, but not for brad”.
References:
Glenn, Jonathan A. (1991). "To Translate a Hero: The Hobbit as Beowulf Retold."
Blog is humming along, everybody. Good to see ideas coming out and attempts at referencing made. Good work.
ReplyDelete8. In terms of 'desire', the texts in the critical reader all have different aspects of what they are essentially offering as desire for the targeted audience. 'Voluspa', being a text that is essentially a song, which is to be spoken, offers the desire which is entertainment. Because it is a text that is supposed to be spoken, it was probably written to entertain people with its out of this world characters and places that could be imagined much better with a performance. The performance was especially important because at the time that 'Voluspa' was written, people would have actually believed in the story of Asgard and Odin and Thor, characters that could be admired and offer something for people to look up to and be entertained.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Voluspa' text is also written in a pattern which would sound effective when read aloud, for example:
"Hear my words, you holy gods,
great men and humble sons of Heimdall;
by Odin’s will, I’
ll speak the ancient lore,
the oldest of all
that I remember"
Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings also offer and have a sense of desire, something that Tolkien wanted to get across to his reader and make them feel something for the text.
Tolkien was excellent at creating characters that were very admirable and desirable, not in a sexual way, but desirable in the way that they were people with courage and valor and power which are enviable traits to have.
The character Gandalf who is a godly figure, who shares similarities to Odin, is a character created to make an audience feel in awe of his amazing awesome abilities and sensibility.
Gandalf admirable trait is how he can at times not just use his great powers to fix a problem at hand, but to offer council and wisdom to those he wishes to help which is something that a reader will benefit from as it is a realistic power that even the reader can harness. Fike (2003) suggests that Gandalf operates through a a process of equipping others with knowledge, giving others what little help they need, to get them where they need to be, and not giving them too much help so that they can learn a thing or two for themselves. For example, when the huge Uruk-Hai army comes to destroy Rohan, Gandalf does not simply summon a great spell to wipe the army out, instead he offers council and direction to those he believes have the strength to complete the task.
The other side to Gandalf's and his desirable greatness is his ability to wield power that does not exist in our world. Such power is only something that we can imagine and that is how Tolkien manages to create desire within us as the reader. Gandalf's magical power is out of this world, yet Tolkien has a way of making it seem realistic and inspiring, for example:
"Now Theoden son of Thengel, will
you hearken to me?' said Gandalf. 'Do you
ask for help?' He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the
darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and
far, a patch of shining sky. "
Both Gandalf's ability to be humble and offer advice when needed, and his ability to use great power are what make him a character that offer what we as readers desire in a fantasy text.
Fike, J. (2003). Fantasy literature in the Victorian web. The role of wizards in fantasy literature. Retrieved from:
http://www.victorianweb.org/courses/fiction/65/tolkien/fike14.html
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1993;1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. London, HarperCollins, pp. 503.
Völuspá, from Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems
of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
I agree with your idea that at the first line you wrote “the texts in the critical reader all have different aspects of what they are essentially offering as desire for the targeted audience”.
DeleteAll people have a different background, mind and thinking so it can be different how they accept the literature even a writer and a director.
Old epic “Beowulf” tells the hero who killed the evil dragon. In this text, they want people to receive a Beowulf as a hero and Grandel as a evil monster. So they create the text as a Beowulf`s view. As a result, people who read this text think Beowulf is hero and Grandel is bad monster. However, the movie “Beowulf and Grandel” shows the other points. In this movie, Grandel is a victim of the greed of people. He has emotions and rationality.
Before I saw the movie “Beowulf” I thought he is just evil monster as like the other things. However, after I watched “Beowulf and Grandel” i was impressed that he thought like that and still now I understand him.
Kind of these are desire I think. According to intention of author readers receive character and situation critically.
Zane I like how you mentioned that Tolkien had a way of creating characters that were to be admired. You mentioned Gandalf and how he had been made out to be a character that would not only be able to solve a problem but be able to encourage others to find the strength in themselves to solve issues as well. I found Tolkien also created characters that were looked to as heroes, who we could aspire to be if we were to live in this imaginary literary world. Biblo Baggins is a good example. We are introduced to him as someone who is just an average hobbit, very set in his way, but as the story unfolds he is asked to come on an adventure, which he reluctantly embarks on. During his adventure he has to overcome many obstacles and be the true hero of the story.
DeleteGood points Zane and Reka. After all, the Hobbits are heroes and we all want to be heroes. They are brave, smart, caring, loyal, just the way we imagine ourselves to be – out ideal selves perhaps. And Strider becoming the king is perfect wish fulfilment!
DeleteAbigail, I like your point about Beowulf and Grendel hero/myth problem as you say,
ReplyDelete"This invokes a sense of empathy which we do not observe in the original text."
This is a good point, as in my opinion, it seems to be more common these days for villains to have some sort of back story that seeks to create a sense of sympathy for these characters that are essentially 'evil'.
I think that’s very true, modern re-writes of classic archetypes (giants, monsters, vampires etc) are much more ‘forgiving’. We seem to have reached the conclusion, as a society, that monsters are not born, they are created. I happen to think that is a very enlightened notion, and makes more interesting literature. Previously villains have always been ‘voiceless’ in the sense that we simply viewed them as born bad. Now the notion seems to exist that anyone can turn bad with the right provocation. An example would be Mike Kelley’s Revenge (TV show). Revenge is a highly multi-faceted show, and often leaves you wondering, who is the hero and who is the villain?
DeleteOf course some re-imaginings of old archetypes take the scare-factor out of villains completely (Meyer’s Twilight for e.g.) Meyer is so sympathetic to the 'vegetarian vampires' it makes you wonder, are we losing our ‘monsters’?
6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteMyth is the story of the gods and it tells creation of the country.
Old-myth influences a lot in the modern world representatively in a movie, game, theme of a novel, name of a product and meaning of a moral.
These days, there are a lot of movies themed old-myths. The field of old-myth is not only has an attractive materials but also a tight plot. Among them, the most famous old-myth is Northern Europe. It contains a various monsters, elves, spirits to compare the any other old-myths. Also, most of the movies create the god as a super hero character.
The old myth is found in a game easily as well. To attract people`s attention, game needs an splendid action and interesting episodes. In these points of view, old-myth fulfills unreality, glitter and distinctive atmosphere.
That is the reason the old-myth appears a game, movie and a number of entertainments.
Old-myth is the human society`s archetype of arts, literatures and 21st century cultural industry`s contents.
김소담 I agree with you in the sense that old myths play a huge part in our society and are cropping up more frequently in all types of media entertainment. These old myths continue to be reused to entertain in the 21st century. I have observed that games, movies and television host a lot of these modern myths, such as Game of Thrones, a new largely popular tv series, based along old myths. Thor who plays a huge role, not only in Norse mythology, being the son of the God Odin and Earth's guardian, but also in several movies.
DeleteHi guys,
DeleteGreat ideas here about Myths and their place in the modern world.
I would also suggest that Myths go a step further than being portrayed in 21st century entertainment (movies etc) but also feature in the genre of storytelling and implied values that are still current in todays world.
Examples of this could be bed time stories to children. It is often the older and most popular stories and fables that are read and repeated to children through the generations.
One great example is the ''Trojan Horse'' tale from Greek mythology. This story, as well as being made into a feature movie in 2004, is a classic tale from Greek Mythology which is still very popular today.
Amazing mythological stories like this often become more ''magical'' through reading instead of watching it on the big screen. This is because without having the images played out in front of you on the TV, the imagination of the reader/listener is forced to work into over drive to play this epic tale out in imagery in ones own mind.
For this reason alone, Myths have a cemented place in the modern world where one can escape the usual technological media and return to the simple joys of reading and the use of imagination.
It is this amazing
References:
DeleteTroy (n.d) Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_%28film%29
24th March 2014.
1. Voluspa is an example of a Mythological Poem. It contains direct references to the Norse Gods (“great men and humble sons of Heimdall; by Odin’s will.”).
ReplyDeleteBeowulf, on the other hand, is an example of an Epic Poem. The difference between Mythological and Epic poems is that mythological poems usually contain elements such as gods and creation stories, whereas epic poems were more about telling the tales of legendary heroes or historic events.
Volsunga Saga is an example of the Saga genre. The saga genre us usually defined as being a series of events or incidents that, when weaved together, tell a longer, more involved story.
Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are, perhaps, the most prominent examples of High Fantasy we have today. The high fantasy genre is a sub-genre of fantasy fiction. There are many common elements found in many different works of high fantasy, for example, an imaginary world (in Tolkien’s example; Middle Earth. Another example of this sort of imaginary world is Westeros in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series), and mythical races such as Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs.
2. “Residual/Secondary Orality” is a term that refers to verbal expressionism in cultures that have been introduced to the written word, and have made limited use of it, but have not fully integrated its use as part of their culture.
With this understanding, it is safe to assume that any depicted speech or references to any form of verbal communication in Voluspa can be considered residual/secondary orality. Therefore, the most prominent example is the opening line “Hear my words, you holy gods”.
3. A major central incident to these texts is the slaying of a dragon. The circumstances of these dragon slayings vary with each text, but some elements are indeed similar. When comparing The Hobbit to Volsunga Saga, the manner in which each dragon is slain bear a striking resemblance to one another. Both get pierced through the chest, presumably through the heart. The difference being in The Hobbit, Smaug is pierced with a black arrow, while the dragon in Volsunga Saga is pierced with a blade.
4. Most obviously, Tolkien drew the idea of the One Ring from the Volsunga Saga. In the Volsunga Saga, Andvari, a dwarf, owned a magical ring called Andvaranaut. Loki tricked Andvari into giving him the ring. Out of revenge, Anvari cursed the ring so that it brun misfortune and destruction to whoever possessed it.
ReplyDeleteTolkien also drew the idea of the legendary king’s sword Narsil (renamed Anduril after Aragorn had it reforged) from the sword Gram, owned by Sigmund, Sigurd’s father. Gram, like Narsil, was shattered in battle. Like the shards of Narsil in Tolkien’s book, Gram’s pieces were gathered so that it could one day be reforged for Sigmund’s hear, Sigurd; directly paralleling Elendil, Isildur, and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Sam, I totally agree with your points within the texts, with Tolkien bringing homage to the Old Norse texts by drawing on the theme of the ring and the kings’ sword in these texts. Tolkien also made reference to the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels with the use of the dragon. The use of the dragon is a common theme in The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and the Old Norse epic poem, Beowulf. In Beowulf the dragon is introduced as wanting to wreck havoc on the people because of their wrong doing, “with a thief’s wiles he had outwitted the sleeping dragon and driven him to a fury, as the people of that country would soon discover”. In The Hobbit, again the use of the dragon is apparent, in this case Bilbo Baggins is trying to raid the treasure trove of the dragon Smaug, as Smaug pretends to be asleep “Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance”. Smaug is then again used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Dragons in Norse mythology as a common theme “Whether on land or sea, the Vikings were threatened by dragons” (Nielson, 2010).
DeleteReferences:
Nielson, P. I. (2010). Dragons in Norse Mythology--From Ancient Sources to Pop Culture. Retrieved from: https://suite101.com/a/dragons-in-norse-mythology-a302404
3. A central incident from all four texts is the loss of parents to characters.
ReplyDeleteIn Lord of the Rings Frodo Baggins looses his parents to drowning in the Brandywine River. In The Hobbit, Biblo Baggins parents died respectively.
In the Beowulf, Ecgþeow, Beowulf’s father dies in battle. He murders Healtholaf, which starts a feud between his family and Hroðgar's, which leads to his demise “Your father by striking began the greatest feud: he was Heatholaf's slayer by his own hand” (Slade, 2012).
In the Volsunga Saga, Signy, daughter of King Volsung, Signy reluctantly marries King Siggeir of Gautland. King Siggeir then betrays his wife and slowly assassinates her family, including her father.
What all these texts have in common is the death of parents. Similarities in these texts include that in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings the deaths are not deliberate. They are accidental, no one is to blame and no one was killed in battle. In the texts Beowulf and the Volsunga Saga, the deaths are deliberate and leave the other characters wanting vengeance. In Beowulf the death occurred during battle, as with the Volsunga Saga it was murder, occurring in the dead of night via assassination.
References:
Slade, B. (2012). BEOWULF: diacritically-marked text and facing translation. Rertieved from: http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-text.html
This is an interesting connection you have made between these characters. It is true that they have all suffered the tragedy of losing their parents. But you point out that the deaths in the Lord of the Rings of the parents are not deliberate as opposed to Beowulf and Volsunga. Perhaps this is because the texts were written at different times in history. Perhaps when Beowulf and Volsunga were written, it was more common for people to lose their parents in such tragic ways.
Delete