Week 1-3: Dragon Slayers
1. What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Remember to 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 cite from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The 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. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. 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 ? [Subject to viewing]
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, etc).
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Remember to 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 cite from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The 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. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. 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 ? [Subject to viewing]
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, etc).
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that The Hobbit and The Lord of the rings are examples of the high fantasy genre, I would like to point out how Voluspa differs from them. First of all it is a poem, written with the rhythm and verses so characteristic for traditional poems. Secondly it is a creation story in the Norse mythology. Therefore it is not as much a text created to entertain, but rather explain the big question “How did the world come to be and how will it end?” The poem speak of the gods, Odin is mentioned already in the first paragraph (“great men and humble sons of Heimdall; / by Odin’s will, I’ll speak the ancient lore”, 1.2-3). Later on we hear about several other gods, and how they created the world and creatures in it (“Odin gave life’s breath, Hoenir gave mind, / Lodur gave hair, fairness of face.” 8.3-4). This makes Voluspa a mythological poem.
DeleteFurthermore, as Voluspa is a very old poem. In a time where written culture was far less dominant than it is today, one reasonable thought is that Voluspa originally was an oral tradition, although this is not known for sure. In that way it would be available to a broader audience, and the content would reach more people. The fact that it is constructed as a poem makes it easier to remember and therefore to pass on to other. There are also other factors that implicate an oral origin. In his book Orality and Literacy, Walter J Ong talks about primary orality and point out some key features. Some of them apply to Voluspa, while secondary orality features may also appear as discussed in question 2. One of the hints of an oral origin is to be found in the first paragraph. The poem says “Hear my words” (1.1) and “I’ll speak the ancient lore” (1.3), and the words ‘hear’ and ‘speak’ suggests that this poem, at least at one point, was intended to be spoken rather than read. This is a contrast to Tolkien’s work, The Lord of the Rings in particular, which was written with the purpose of being published as a book.
Sorry Marte, I deleted my post after further research and re-posted it again. I did not realise you posted or else would have left my post up. I understand where you are coming from when only The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are examples of high fantasy but the rest are of different genre. Interesting to see the poems and saga incorporated as forms of literature under our weekly theme 'dragon slayers'. Thank you for your comment as it has made me more aware of the different genres through these different texts.
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ReplyDelete6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteAnswer:
There are some examples of recent films which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes. One recent film is “Clash of the Titans”. Clash of the Titans is based on Greek mythological Gods. One example of a God in the film is Hades who is the God of the Underworld. Another example is the continuation of “Clash of the Titans”, Wrath of the Titans. Wrath of the Titans depicts one of the oldest Gods and most powerful which is Kronos. From my perspective on the film Wrath of the Titans, Kronos did not want to be overthrown by his sons, who are Hades and Zeus. Throughout both movies it brings forth different themes such as betrayal and romance. Violence is present throughout the film, but it is a supernatural violence which involves supernatural powers destroying characters and mass landscapes. In contrast to violence in films such as 'The Foreigner', featuring Jackie Chan, there is no violence which destroys large mass of landscape because in reality it is physically impossible for human beings.
6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteThe recent popular film is Black Panther, is a 2018 superhero action movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, and produced by the MCU (Marvel’s Cinematic Universe). “It is a sequel to Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, and is the eighteenth installment in the MCU as well as the sixth installment of Phase Three.” (http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Panther_(film))
From what I have seen perspective, the film has some kind of mixed genres between Science Fiction and Fantasy with some superhero comedy features. It is a bit similar to the previous MCU film Thor: Ragnarok, which also covers some genres of high fantasy which have brought back some old gods and heroes from obscurity for example, the Thor The Mighty God of Thunder, his adopted brother Loki and their father the farmer king of Asgard.
Asgard was one of the Nine Realms and the home of the Asgardians, a powerful race recognized by the galaxy as honorable and brave peacekeepers. It was destroyed during the event of Ragnarök, when Thor ordered Loki to unleash Surtur in order to defeat their sister Hela,the God of Death. Led by their new king Thor, a large number of the remaining survival people of Asgard was safely fled onboard a large starship, and planed relocate into a new home on Earth. (marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Asgard)
Black Panther on the other hand, has shown the typical features of a hidden world in Wakanda, which officially known as the Kingdom of Wakanda, it is a little neutralist landlocked nation in Africa, encompassed by mountain ranges and a thick timberland. It is governed by their new King T'Challa, the beneficiary of the mental of Black Panther, and is the main known wellspring of the metal vibranium. In spite of giving off an impression of being minimal in excess of a dark, poor underdeveloped nation with little to offer to whatever is left of the world, it is in truth the most progressive nation on the planet, whose level of innovation is no less than quite a few years in front of anyplace else on Earth. (marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Wakanda)
The similarities between Black Panther and Thor: Ragnarok is that both films have featured the old gods, kings and warriors fighting for their land and protecting their own people from those who threatening their world and our world on Earth. The difference is that, in Thor, the homeland of Asgard was located in the distant galaxy of a different world of the modern world, while in Black Panther Wakanda is located in the modern world like Harry Potter’s magic world. Thor movies are more similar to Lord of the Rings kind of genre, while Black Panther is more like Harry Potter’s world, however it covers more old myths about the origins of Wakanda rather than what events are happening in the present time of the modern world.
Nicely written! These are good examples of modern movies that uses old traditions, stories and mythology as inspiration. What fascinates me is seeing how accurate the movie representation is to the original story. As you mentioned, we find Thor, Loki and Odin, their father, all of which are actual characters from Norse mythology.
DeleteThe movie is called Thor: Ragnarok, and thus describes the events of Ragnarok. As you nicely have summarised, this means a total destruction of Asgard that Thor, Loki and the remains of their people, barley escapes. In this case, however, the movie differs quite a lot from de original Norse stories. Ragnarok is an important event in Norse mythology, and we get a brief description in Voluspa. Here we learn how Thor kills the Serpent surrounding the world, but as a result Thor dies and Midgard is ruined. “Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth / the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the snake. / Midgards’s defender dies triumphant / but the human race no longer has a home” (Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, extract 3 in the critical reader)
In the movie, both Thor and Midgard, the home of the humans survive. Further comparison of the movie and Voluspa shows few identical incidents in the two descriptions of Ragnarok. There is therefore clear that while the movie is inspired by the Norse mythology, it does take some artistic liberties to adapt the stories into a modern storyline. Another example is Yggrasil, the connection between the worlds, which is an actual gigantic tree in Voluspa (“There is an ash tree – its name is Yggdrasil – / a tall tree watered from a cloudy well / dew falls from its boughs down to the valleys; / ever green it stands beside the Norns’ spring.”). In the movies, one moves from world to world through a cosmic channel, representing Yggdrasil. (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Yggdrasill)
I think that in today’s society, Norse mythology is mainly a source of inspiration and fascination to both individuals and the entertainment industry. As shown by all the examples of modern movies and TV shows with roots in Norse mythology provided by my fellow students, this is a huge business. In addition to being entertaining, the old Norse stories are also used for providing a context in which we can better understand the society and other literature originating from that time.
He introduced movie Black Panther and describe modern world. When I watched movie just fun but after read answer I found detail information in the movie. He compared Black Panther and Thor:Ragnarok. movies difference.
Delete8. 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, etc).
ReplyDeleteAnswer:
There is desire represented throughout ‘The Hobbit’. We can begin asking the questions: What is Tolkien’s intention of his literature? What pleasures does Tolkien’s literature provide for readers? The hobbit is a simple and fascinating fairy-tale of dwarfs, dragons, spiders, orcs and more. After reading the extract of the Hobbit, I began to understand Tolkien was taking us to another world and providing a glimpse into his imagination.
According to Bloom (2011) it states Tolkien marking exam papers, when suddenly he found himself daydreaming. Tolkien’s daydreaming led to the creation of The Hobbit. From Bloom’s impression of Tolkien, I perceive that The Hobbit was created to spark delight and enjoyment in readers. In the hobbit, the chapter ‘Fire and Water’, I found the language was descriptive and artistically designed, which provided powerful imagery and feelings towards characters in different story lines.
One example:
“Every vessel in the town was filled with water, every warrior was armed, every arrow and dart was ready, and the bridge to the land was thrown down and destroyed, before the roar of Smaug's terrible approach grew loud, and the lake rippled red as fire beneath the awful beating of his wings”.
The language in this extract is very descriptive. From reading this extract I feel the emotion of anger, sorrow and fear in the words “terrible approach grew loud, and the lake rippled red as fire beneath awful beatings of wings”. The use of the word “red” is vivid throughout the extract which relates to anger and blood. By combining emotions and colors in Tolkien’s literature, he has created in my mind a powerful image of the Smaug (Dragon) terrorising the village beneath his kingdom (mountain of treasure) Although, Dragons are myths and fairy-tales, the design of Tolkien’s literature makes you believe it is real.
From the chapter title ‘water and fire’, the words symbolised to me ‘Good vs Bad’. The word ‘water’ represents the villagers, warriors and Bard and the word ‘red’ represents Smaug the dangerous dragon. The villagers, warriors and Bard being surround by a lake, could indicate their strength in numbers against Smaug. In contrast to Smaug, who breathes out fire to a limit. These are views which fascinated me in Tolkien’s literature, and I will continue to read them. I believe the desire to know more in Tolkien’s literature is never-ending. There is always that desire to know what happened to characters, who suddenly disappear or fall to their “sudden” death.
References:
Bloom, H. (2011). J.R.R. Tolkien's The hobbit. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism.
1. What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Answer:
From my perspective on all the following texts, it is a mix of mythological, epic and ‘high fantasy’ genre. According to Lois R. Kuznets (1985) high fantasy revolves around the themes of supernatural powers in supernatural worlds. For example, in Voluspa a passage states “Hear my words, you holy gods, great men and humble sons of Heimdall”. From this passage in Voluspa, it indicates the word ‘God’ which relates to supernatural entities. Therefore, Voluspa can be classified under the ‘mythological' genre. Also to add, Beowulf is epic genre because it has a heroic figures. "Deeds of a hero". Although there are figures which resembles the qualities of human beings, there is no trace of a world which resembles earth but rather a supernatural world. The intended period contexts is in the historical and modern stages due to the use of language especially in Voluspa and Volsunga Saga. I believe that Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are modern fantasy which would target audiences including younger generation. In comparison Voluspa and Volsunga Saga is complex when read, which attracts scholar minds who deciphers each passage with critical and deep thinking.
Kuznets, L. R. (1985). "High Fantasy" in America: A Study of Lloyd Alexander, Ursula LeGuin, and Susan Cooper. The Lion and the Unicorn, 9(1), 19-35. doi:10.1353/uni.0.0075
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, etc).
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I think in sense of those characters intention, they received to wish to achieve their goal, to desire what they want for example, in The Hobbit there is Battle of Five Armies, which was a battle pursued between the Orcs and the Wargs of Dol Guldur and Gundabad against the Men of Dale, Elves, Dwarves, happened and closed around the Lonely Mountain. (http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Five_Armies) The desire of the war was to defeat all the Orcs and Wargs and to reach to the lonely Mountain to find the Arkenstone, and for the sake to protect their land and their kingdom. Especially for the hobbit Bilbo, at the first time when Gandalf was inviting him for joining the team to fight against the dark Lord of the rings Sauron, he refused to go with them but later on the next day he was kindly forced to join the team and had no choice, because all he needed is to have a peaceful life in his luxury Hobbiton hole after the war.
I agree about that. He answered make a partly make a sense. That's why I watched movie more than once. He found the many things about received in the Hobbit.
Delete4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
ReplyDeleteAnswer
Tolkien drew on Old Norse and Old English texts to create The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels. Old Norse was developed from the Viking Society (Shippey, 2011). An example of literature from Viking Society is, The Saga of Volsungs. From Norse literature, Tolkien could possibly have been inspired to create the character ‘Gollum’. Gollum is a Stoor who is an early hobbit type and one of the main characters in the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. According to Wendling (2008) hypothesises from Douglas Anderson that Tolkien received the name Gollum from the Old Norse Gold. The Old Norse word ‘gull’ refers to ‘gold’ and in the old manuscripts it is also spelled ‘goll’. Tolkien could have taken into account the Old Norse literature to create the character Gollum. The inflection, which is the modification of the word Gollum also means ‘gold, treasure, something precious’ and also ring (Wendling, 2008). From my perspective Tolkien gave the Stoor character the name Gollum because of its meaning. In the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels, Gollum also known as Sméagol in movies, is a character who is obsessed with the ring which provides power to the individual who possesses the ring. Old Norse poems or literature could possibly have influenced Tolkien’s fantasy novels.
A second theory where Gollum could have possibly received his name from is Tolkien’s series of poems called ‘Tales and Songs of Bumble Bay’. From my perspective these poems could be classified as old English texts. The ‘Tales and Songs of Bumble Bay’ was written in 1928, a year before Tolkien decided to begin writing the hobbit “in a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit”. According to Wendling (2008) from the ‘Tales and Songs of Bumble Bay’ there is a creature named ‘Glip’ which is referred throughout the poem as “living in a little cave of stone”, “He is a slimy little thing”. There are comparisons seen between Gollum and Glip because Gollum is seen as Stoor which is an early hobbit type which resembles a scary slimy creature living among caves or mountains, similarly to Glip who is slimy creature living in a cave of stone under the cliffs of Bimble Bay.
Shippey, T. (2011). The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise (review). Tolkien Studies, 8(1), 136-142. doi:10.1353/tks.2011.0009
Wendling, W. (2008). The Riddle of Gollum: Was Tolkien Inspired by Old Norse Gold, the Jewish Golem, and the Christian Gospel?” Inklings Forever 6.
Question 4
ReplyDeleteJ.R.R Tolkien was a huge fan of Old Norse and ancient English mythology and traditions. By close reading of either the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings or some of the other Tolkien stories, the inspiration is clearly shown. Joe has already talked a about the inspiration behind Gollum, so I am going to focus elsewhere.
One much used example is the connection between The Hobbit and Beowulf. While authors like Jonathan A. Glenn focus on the similarities between the personality of the heroes in the story, as shown in the extract from "To Translate a Hero: The Hobbit as Beowulf Retold." (1991), our extracts from the two texts focus on the destruction of the dragon.
There are some obvious resemblances. In both texts, the wrath of the dragon is unleashed by the theft of a small piece from said dragon’s collection. In Beowulf, a man manages to enter the Dragons layer.
He had handled and
removed a gem-studded goblet; it gained him
nothing,
though 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.
(Extract: Heaney, S. (Trans). (1999). Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin,pp 70-71)
In The Hobbit, it is Bilbo who makes his way to the dragon. Here he steals a golden cup, and this is the start of a chain reaction. Eventually, Smaug the dragon attacks the Laketown, burns it down and destroys everything in his path, before ultimately being killed by Bard the Bowman. A similar destruction takes place in Beowulf:
The dragon began to belch out flames
and burn bright homesteads; there was a hot glow
that scared everyone, for the vile sky-winger
would leave nothing alive in his wake.
Later in the story, we hear about how Beowulf manages to kill the dragon.
The Hobbit also resembles some of the other texts reagarding the deatails of the death of the dragons. This will be futher discussed in question 3. (See next post)
Question 3.
ReplyDeleteThe extracts of Volsung Saga, Beowulf and the Hobbit all tell the story of the death of a dragon. There are therefore some obvious similarities. The first one is of course that we have a bad dragon, causing problems for the people around, killed by a brave male (Sigurd in Volsung Saga, Beowulf in Beowulf, and Bard the Bowman in the Hobbit). Here we have the first difference between the texts: While Beowulf’s defeat of the dragon in Beowulf is the work of one man only, the two other dragons died as a result of a collaboration. In Volsung Saga, Sigurd gets help both from Regin and Odin.
Then said Regin, ʺMake thee a hole, and sit down therein, and
whenas the worm comes to the water, smite him into the heart,
and so do him to death, and win thee great fame thereby.ʺ
[…]
Then answered the old man and said, ʺThou doest after sorry
counsel: rather dig thee many pits, and let the blood run
therein; but sit thee down in one thereof, and so thrust the
wormʹs heart through.ʺ
In the Hobbit, Bard gets a necessary tip from an old thrust.
“Unafraid it perched by his ear and it brought him news. Marvelling he found he could understand its tongue, for he was of the race of Dale.
"Wait! Wait!" it said to him. "The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of the left breast as he flies and turns above you!" (Page 236, Tolkien, J.R.R. (1997; 1937). The Hobbit, London: HarperCollins,)
The thrust had learned this, quite unintentionally, by Bilbo, although this is not shown in the extract. In both Volsung Saga and the Hobbit, the dragon would not have been killed without the help.
Voluspa also contains a similar story, where Thor kills the snake surrounding the world.
Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth,
the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake.
Midgard’s defender dies triumphant,
(1.1-3 of the third extract of Voluspa)
This resembles Beowulf more than the other two, in the sense that it is a one man work, and that both Odin and Beowulf dies as a result.
In conclusion, we can see that the relatively modern The Hobbit have several similarities with older texts such as Voluspa, Volsung Sanga and in particular Beowulf. All of them tells a heroic story of the death of a monster, killed by a man, either alone or with help from others.
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ReplyDelete6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteAvatar is a science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. The film's title refers to the remotely controlled, genetically engineered human-Na'vi bodies used by the film's human characters to interact with the indigenous population. (2009)
The movie Avatar is a modern myth, its popularity stemming from the inspiration it draws from familiar and widespread themes found in classical myths. Avatar reuses and refreshes these themes for current audiences.
The movie Avatar is a worldwide box-office success, not merely because it is a technological marvel of special effects, but because it is a religious myth on the level of ancient texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh. it is a postmodern multicultural critique of America and Western civilization, where the good guys are primitive natives who worship nature, and the bad guys are greedy multinational energy corporations protected by warmongering mercenary militia, facilitated by the scientific depersonalization of nature.
Avatar tells us nothing about human nature that we didn't already know. Indeed, its character types and conflicts can be found again and again throughout the history of story telling. What Avatar does do is remind us of the mythic value of cinema itself, a myth that film producers and Hollywood executives would do well to utilise each time they plan their blockbusters.
(Bryers, P. (2009). Avatar. London: Hodder Children's.)
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
ReplyDelete-J. R. R. Tolkien, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor who is best known as the author of the classic high-fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings. (29 July 1954, 11 November 1954, 20 October 1955)
Tolkien believe that the poems belong to my father's years at Oxford before the second world war when he regularly lectured on Old Norse literature He had great skill as a metrist, and he was gently drawn to the alliterative metrist descending from very ancient times in the north of Europe, which is found in related forms in Old Norse and Old English. He loved Old English, he loved "Beowulf," he loved the Norse myths. He was fascinated by the myths, he was fascinated by languages. He said at times that he really just wrote "The Lord of the Rings" so that he would have a story in which people could speak these languages that he had invented. The Hobbit, and the title of this post has given away the clue the word is Arkenstone, the name Tolkien gave to the great jewel of the dwarves, which he took from the Old English earcnanstan, 'precious stone'. This word appears a handful of times in Old English, sometimes in reference to a particular gemstone a pearl or a topaz and sometimes for jewels generally.( Chown, M. (2010).)
The lord of the rings is a fantasy novel. A magnificent achievement it is an epic tale of friendship, love and heroism, a book that set the benchmark for all fantasy novels to come. Tolkien's descriptive narrative beautifully depicts Middle-earth and the journey that the Fellowship undertakes will remain with them for the rest of their lives. For example, there is an introduction to the ‘Middle Earth’ that is not present. At the ring, Tolkien's conviction that who desires to gain power must be corrupted. Many Characters also appear The lord of the rings.(2001)
The most representative example is Frodo Baggins A young well-to-do hobbit.
Gandalf the Grey A wizard best known among hobbits for his fireworks and mischievous sense of humor.
Aragorn the heir of Isildur and the rightful king of Gondor, a mighty warrior and healer. In the book, he is 80 years old.
Legolas Son of Thranduil, king of the Mirkwood elves.
Sauron A powerful spirit of evil who now takes the form of a disembodied flaming eye.
The Nazgûl, Servants of the Enemy Once great kings, but Sauron gave nine rings to these men and enslaved them under the One Ring.
Gimli Son of Glóin, a dwarf of the Lonely Mountain. A member of the Fellowship.
It became more fall into a fantasy worlds than we had though.
(Reference)
("J. R. R. Tolkien Collection | Marquette Archives Raynor Memorial Libraries Marquette University". Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.)
Great work mate! Although in this sentence “Tolkien believe that the poems belong to my father's years at Oxford...” it should be “Tolkien believe that the poems belong to his father's years at Oxford...” not “my” father’s years at Oxford...
Delete6. Identify some recent films, TV shows and/or games which have brought back some of the old gods and heroes from obscurity. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeletePirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park attractions, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. (2017)
By the seventeenth century, other territories in the region (some with lucrative resources like emeralds, gold and silver) were also under Spanish control. In 1650, when British colonies in America were barely in their infancy, Spain had divided the entire Caribbean basin into several principalities. Ships - lots of ships - were carrying New World treasures to Old World capitals.
At the time, the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Tortuga provided safe harbors for pirates (who had their eyes on treasure-carrying, Spain-bound ships). These “Brethren from the Coast” lived (and died) by their own codes of conduct.
Johnny Depp (as Captain Jack Sparrow) and Geoffrey Rush (as Barbossa) are fictional portrayals of real-world pirates. Orlando Bloom (as Will Turner) and Keira Knightley (as Elizabeth Swann) are examples of British folks who lived in Port Royal (when that Jamaican seaport was one of the most economically important English-speaking towns in the world).
This is the movie where the whole idea of a “mythology” gets pushed past the point of absurdity, they travel to purgatory and randomly someone is a goddess and somewhere along the way “pirates” basically became the mutants from X-Men, a subculture hated and feared by encroachingly fascist British people.
Rush is largely what keeps Dead Men Tell No Tales afloat in the company of tangled mythology and a paralyzingly juvenile sense of Luckily, he does command a fair deal of screen time, paired first with Bardem’s ghost pirate Salazar then with Jack and the kids. Unfortunately, things dip in interest and urgency whenever sights are shifted elsewhere, largely because the movie seems satisfied to just force its characters to do stuff without actually figuring out much of who, what, or why they are in the first place.
(Verbinski, G. and Heinrichs, R. (2007). The art of Pirates of the Caribbean. New York: Disney Editions.)
I like your idea of given examples of comparing two different fantasy action films between Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbeans and answering the question twice with different answers!
Delete8. 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, etc).
ReplyDeleteThe Lord of the Rings is the story of fellowship of the ring, consisting of the wizard Gandalf the Gray, two men (Aragorn and Boromir) the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, and four Hobbits (small people with great hearts Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo the Ring) The book follows the adventures of the fellowship as they set out to destroy the One Ring, the ultimate symbol of evil. If they do not succeed and the war to gain control of it is won by the Dark Lord, Sauron, life as it was known will end and the free people of Middle-earth will be enslaved.
“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”(2001, The Fellowship of the Ring)
The Lord of the rings was fought between Sauron and the free people of Middle-earth for control of the One Ring and dominion over the continent. It took place at the end of the Third Age. Together with the Quest of Mount Doom, it is one of the overarching plot-lines of The Lord of the Rings.
The Hobbit wanted peace, They fought with the Orcs so that the Hobbit could go safely.
On the other hand, the Sauron wanted to take over the human world.
The war was initiated by Sauron, who had gained strength since the end of the Second Age and sought the One Ring. During the War of the Ring, many thousands of Men of Rohan and Men of Gondor were killed. The overall number of combatants in the war is estimated to be over one million—tens of thousands from the side of the Free Peoples and hundreds of thousands from the Evil side. The war also signified the decline of the Elves' power in Middle-earth, the rise of Men in the West, the restoration of the King of Gondor and Arnor and the start of the Fourth Age.
-Reference-
(McPartland, T. (2011). The Lord of the Rings: Mythopoesis, Heroism, and Providence. SSRN Electronic Journal.)
Good use of both in-text referencing. Most of the answers are relevant to the questions. Plus partly some small grammar mistakes.
Delete1. what genre do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period context, purpose, and intended audience differ?
ReplyDeleteVoluspa is a example of a mythological poem. This poem specifically talks about ‘Norse Mythology’ which are told by the woman voice of prophetess telling the future of the beginning, war, apocalypse and restored world. Example of the mythology god’s shows in the poem “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.”
In my perspective, this story would have been influenced by Christianity because of the similarity of the story expressed in the reading such as shown on the Voluspa “Then the holy gods met to give judgement, the holy gods took counsel together: they named night and night’s children, gave names to morning and night afternoon and evening, ordered time by years ” and the christian bible verse states that “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth” From the bible (genesis 1: 14-15). These shows the 2 different version of ‘god’ creation of the day and night but as shown on the cite that they share the similarity. From I believe that this was the purpose of the author to make a connection with the reader
the belief their own “god” who created the world. This poem was proposed in the 10th century by Henry Adam but for the cop which I have is the one who have translated by Terry P whoc have proposed this translated version from around 1990’s. The purpose use of this poem from what I believe was to having a religious connection with the reader since people had different beliefs so making religious connection would have been the key to make people wanting to read the poem. The intended audience for this poem would be for everyone who had a belief of “creation theology” of their own religion because since during 10th century was a time when christianity and paganism were co-existed before christianity became official and paganism were banned for public so this poem would have been a way for the paganism people to keep the story exist without abandoning the rule’s.
Beowulf is a example of an epic poem. This poem is a heroic poem which shows the heroic action of the Beowulf (who is the heroine of the story) slaying the dragon and the journey of Beowulf, as the reference to hero shows from the poem as “And so the Son of Ecgtheow had survived every extreme, excelling himself in daring and in danger, until the day arrived when he had to come face to face with the dragon”. This poem was composed around in 700-750 century (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beowulf) and it was one of the profound oldest surviving literature discovered. The purpose of this poem in creating these poem during those time there was still a underground development of old english which was still not unified. This unification eventually brought out the christianity so from my perspective creating this poem would have been a way to bring out the christianity to the world.
(https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-purpose-beowolf-372413)
The intended audience for this poem would be everyone in any age but from my perspective because english hasn’t been cleared yet so most of the audience would have been an educated people with great respect of knowledge so people with middle or high class people would have been able to reach for this poem to be read.
1. what genre do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period context, purpose, and intended audience differ?
ReplyDeleteThe Hobbit is a high fantasy/children's adventure novel. This novel the main character Bilbo who takes an adventure with Gandalf and dwarves steals the treasure from the dragons nest and slays the dragon. as a reference to hero shows from the text as “The dragon Swooped once more lower than ever, and as he turned and dived down his belly glitter white with sparkling fire of gem in the moon - but not in one place. The great bow twanged. The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast where the foreleg was flung wide . In it smote and vanished ,barb, shift and feather, so fierce was its fight. Smaug shot spunting the air , turned over and crashed down from the high in ruin”. This novel is written and published in 21st September 1937. The purpose which Tolkien is trying to tell the reader to just be who you want to be and do what they want to do and not get discouraged by others what others think of you. The intended audience for this novel would have been targeting the young children who loves the adventure and fantasy stories but also adults who would enjoy high fantasy novels.
The lord of the ring is a high fantasy novel. This novel is a main character Frodo going on adventure discovering the secrets of the powerful ring which contains a power to rule over the world and fights over the climb over the challenge and kills the dragon. Now this also related to the Beowulf which means that it contains ‘Norse mythology’. Tolkien inspiration came from reading the book of Beowulf. This text was written around in 1937 and 1949 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings). The intended audience for this text was for everyone so it was easily readable and it was a fantasy adventure story which at every age would enjoy in. The author J.R.R Tolkien had a inspiration from religious influence like the text theme shows the good verses the evils (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien%27s_influences).
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ReplyDelete3. identity 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 cite from the original texts)
ReplyDeleteIn Voluspa, Thor kills the snake but he injured himself during the fight but he walked nine steps and dies. This shows in the text “Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake. Midgard’s defender dies triumphant, but the human race no longer has a home: nine steps beyond the Serpent’s body, Thor, wounded, walks in pride”
This is very similar to Volsunga Saga and Beowulf because both of the hero kills the dragon but they both get injured from their enemy and ends up killing them.The characters in 3 of the text shared the similarity where they had someone they loved to protect from. The difference between those two text is that Thor was a god and he didn’t die straight away but had walked 9 steps and died after.
In Volsunga Saga, Sigurd draws the sword to the dragon and he gets killed but Sigurd gets poison infected on his left shoulder and dies. He was wearing magical leaf which protected him from getting infected by the dragons poison except for his left shoulder so the infection from the poison had killed him.
This shows in the text “So Whenas the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts; then up leapt Siguard from the pit and drew the sword back again unto him, and therewith was his arm all bloody, up to the very shoulder.” This shares has exactly same cause of death in the text Beowulf because Sigurd and Beowulf gets killed from infected poison from the dragons blood. The difference was that Beowulf have fallen down to the sea with the dragon so they died together but Siguard died after the he kills the dragon with his sword and gets blood on his shoulder.
3. identity 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 cite from the original texts)
ReplyDeleteIn Beowulf, when Beowulf was fighting with dragon he decides to cut his own arm to reach for the dragon's heart with his sword but he fails and drops the sword because dragon swallowed the castle brick and he get arm get poisoned by the dragons blood but he doesn’t give up and he swings back and forth to reach to dragons heart and he succeed in doing so but he falls down to the sea with the dragon and dies together. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWmwAdK48vg&list=PL7B02F6C13BB09E91&index=9)
This shows in the text “i would rather not use a weapon if I knew another way to grapple with the dragon and make good my boast as I did against Grendel in days gone by…”
The similarity with The Hobbit was that where there was a scene where the dwulfs was trying to steal treasure from the dragon. This shows in the text “Then suddenly a great light appeared in the low place in the hills and the northern end of the lake turned golden. "The King beneath the Mountain!" they shouted. "His wealth is like the Sun, his silver like a fountain, his rivers golden run! The river is running gold from the Mountain!" they cried, and everywhere windows were opening and feet were hurrying.” which the J.R.R Tolkien used parts from the Beowulf where it states “He had handled and removed a gem-studded goblet; it gained him nothing though with a thiefs wiles he had outwitted the sleeping dragon and driven him to a fury”. The difference between these two text was that from the hobbit Bard survives but Beowulf dies from killing the dragon.
In The hobbit, the dragon gets killed by Bard with elongated arrow but he survives. This shows in the text “With a shriek that deafened men, felled trees and split stone, Smaug shot spouting into the air, turned over and crashed down from on high in ruin. Full on the town he fell. His last throes splintered it to sparks and gledes. The lake roared in. A vast steam leaped up, white in the sudden dark under the moon. There was a hiss, a gushing whirl, and then silence. And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, hut not of Bard”
The similarity with Beowulf was that where there was a scene where the thief trying to steal treasure from the dragon “He had handled and removed a gem-studded goblet; it gained him nothing though with a thiefs wiles he had outwitted the sleeping dragon and driven him to a fury”. The difference between these two text was that from the hobbit Bard survives but Beowulf dies from killing the dragon.
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ReplyDelete4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
ReplyDeleteTolkien was heavily influenced by old English mythology. One of his first Old Norse was the Volsunga Saga. A large number of similar scenes, characters, and images from the Volsunga Saga are seen in Tolkien's novels, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
As for an research and analysis, Tolkien has written the main accessible English interpretation of the Volsunga Saga by William Morris of the Victorian Arts and Crafts Movement. For example, the 'One Ring' that shows up in Tolkien's Middle-Earth dream books. "One Ring to run them each of them, One Ring to discover them, One Ring to present to them all and in the obscurity spot them" (Tolkien, Lord of the Rings Pg. 64)
In The Hobbit, it gave the entire beginning stage to the Mannish dialects in Middle-earth" The making of dwarves in Voluspa originates before man, which is precisely the recipe Tolkien utilizes for Middle Earth.
Gandalf's character specifically is impacted by the character Odin in Beowulf, as they are like mentor characters. Much like Odin, Gandalf advances learning, truth, understanding, and equity.
Different subjects obvious in The Hobbit are likewise reflected in Old Norse sources, for example, the epic fantasy poem Beowulf. A case of this is found in the discussion between the hobbit Dragon Smaug, the hobbit adventurer Bilbo Baggins.
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.
ReplyDeleteOVERALL SIMILARITIES OF THESE TEXT
1. All central incidents of these texts is extremely similar that they are all about hero killing a monster.
2. Hero always have to die(or be hurted).
3. Hero never lost.
Voluspa:
"Surt moves northward, lord of the fire giants, his sword of flame gleams like the sun; crashing rocks drag demons to their doom, men find their way to Hel, the sky splits open. "
"Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake. Midgard’s defender dies triumphant, but the human race no longer has a home: nine steps beyond the Serpent’s body, Thor, wounded, walks in pride. "
Firstly, taking a snake as a target and the biggest enemy is the most different thing in Voluspa, which can helps to distinct from other texts; obvisouly, others texts are all about a evil dragon, but hero do get hurt from the fight.
Secondly, the similar plot with others texts is a hero(Thor) die in this incident, even though Thor is a god.
Anyway just like others texts, hero always win, no matter they sacrifice themselves or pay other price for it, the end always comes up with the death of enemy.
Volsunga 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; but Sigurd neither trembled nor was adrad at the roaring of him. So whenas the worm crept over the pits, Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts; then up leapt Sigurd from the pit and drew the sword back again unto him, and therewith was his arm all bloody, up to the very shoulder."
"Now when that mighty worm was ware that he had his death‐ wound, then he lashed out head and tail, so that all things soever that were before him were broken to pieces."
Again, although this smart hero Sigurd try to figure out a way to protect himself, he still get hurt and cannot escape from the fate of death. By the way this part is similar with Beowulf, they both get hurt and poisoning by the dragon. (but Beowulf died with the dragon, Sigurd died for the poison)
Beowulf & The Hobbit:
"Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: 'I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.' Then he addressed each dear companion one final time, those fighters in their helmets, resolute and high-born: 'I would rather not use a weapon if I knew another way to grapple with the dragon and make good my boast as I did against Grendel in days gone by…"
Like the Sigurd in Volsunga Saga, dragon get killed , but Beowulf is gonna died and he also poisoned by the dragon.
However in The Hobbit, hero survived after the fight of killing the dragon. The similarities is the characters in these two texts both try to get something from the dragon.