Weeks 10-12
Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
Weeks 7-9
1. How is the Romantic notion of the Sublime reflected in the ideological, conceptual and linguistic construction of the texts under consideration in this Romanticism reader? Discuss one or two examples...
2. Go online and see if you can find out anything about what really happened at the Villa Diodati that fateful summer in 1816...
3. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
4. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
3. How many fictional accounts (film and other narrative media) can you find about that? Provide some useful links, including Youtube clips (hint: for a start try Ken Russel Gothic on Youtube).
4. Discuss the links between the Villa Diodati "brat-pack" and the birth of Gothic as a modern genre with reference to specific texts by the authors who gathered there and subsequent texts (e.g. The Vampire >> Dracula, etc).
Weeks 4-6
1. Cite some variations in the Loathly Lady fabula across the three tales in your Reader. Focus on the conditions by which the lady is either beautiful or ugly, and the actions of the knight/king/"hero"...
2. The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
3.Hahn's essay (see critical reader)on The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelleidentifies the motif of the loathly lady, but arguesit has a different purpose than asserting the feminine. What does he think the function of the story is?
4. In the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?
5. Discuss what you think is the most striking or outrageous example.
6. What does Revard (1997) suggest about the relationship between language, sex, power and transgression in the English Renaissance?
2. The Wife of Bath's Tale is considered by some critics to indicate that Chaucer may have been a feminist. Why might they believe this? Do you agree? Remember to cite evidence from the text or some other source.
3.Hahn's essay (see critical reader)on The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelleidentifies the motif of the loathly lady, but arguesit has a different purpose than asserting the feminine. What does he think the function of the story is?
4. In the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean sonnets, how can we define "conceits"?
5. Discuss what you think is the most striking or outrageous example.
6. What does Revard (1997) suggest about the relationship between language, sex, power and transgression in the English Renaissance?
Weeks 1-3
1. What genres do the following texts belong to?
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc).
2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to site from the original texts).
4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
5. Discuss how Tolkien's use of "tradition" (e.g. older literary sources) differs from the techniques and agendas of modernism (see Week 7 in your Reader).
6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
7. How does the film Beowulf and Grendel "problematise" the hero-myth of Beowulf ?
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer).
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).
Ans.(1) Völuspá, Volsunga Saga,Beowolf,The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings can all be categorised under the same if not similar group of the fantasy genre.
ReplyDelete'Völuspá' for instance, is one that can be classified under fantasy poetry. It is basically a dictation of an ancient prophecy by a völva, an elderly female prophet. The belief in prophecies alone states its stance in the fantasy genre. Looking at the very first stanza of the poem for instance, the völva appeals to the "sons of Heimdallar" and asks for "Odin's will" to recite the "ancient lore", basically trying to reach out to one of the most dominant german gods in mythology.
'Völsunga saga' is also a traditional saga that can be grouped under fantasy. Perhaps the most significant detection of its mythical nature is that the saga generally focuses on the Sigurd the dragon slayer and Fafnir the dragon - As Sigurd described it his aim was to trespass into Fafnirs lair and "take to me that treasure of thy kin".
The poem 'Beowulf' introduces the main character, Beowolf, as the ruler of a one who grew "old and wise as warden of the land", who later in his life finds himself distressed by "a dragon on the prowl" whose "gem-studded goblet", its guarded treasure, was stolen; making this poem fit to be classified as fiction.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the rings are both known as high fantasy novels, with the Lord of the rings being a sequel to The Hobbit.The main plot of the prelude is to tell the story of Bilbo Baggins,the hobbit, who comes to gaining possession of a magic ring whereas the sequel is on how Frodo Baggins,Bilbos cousin comes to find the ring and is set on having it destroyed.
Week (1-3) I agree Naufa. There is no doubt that Völuspá, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are fantasy, but each story has different message.
DeleteVöluspá is a fiction based on myth fantasy about the creation of the world, which is Bible mostly described it with similar phenomena. Spiritual or belief has been illustrated in mythological concepts. Most people know there is something big than human but some of them prefer not God. They replaced God to the other idol, like spirit, science or another thing that support their notion and need.
Volsunga Saga and Beowulf are stories about heroic achievement. In free dictionary says,” Saga is
1. Any of several medieval prose narratives written in Iceland………
2. Any similar heroic narrative”.
Like you wrote, Naufa,”the saga generally focuses on the Sigurd the dragon slayer and Fafnir the dragon”. The heroic story comes from the idea of killing the dragon. The poem of Beowulf has its wider aspect, shows us that barbaric man attained a higher conception refined beliefs. It highlights the points of tension by exposing contradictions in values internally and it concern about several stories that divided loyalties and condition for which there is no practical guidance about how people have to act. Beowulf can be illustrated as the code of German hero.
The saga in Völuspá in fact influenced the story in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings since the names of its Dwarves were connected to the section called Dvergatal. Most of the Dwarves-names of Middle Earth in this story can be seen in stanza 10-16. In my point of view, the genre of the Hobbit and Lord of The Rings can be more than one category. It is not only fantasy, but it can be ccience fiction and horror as well.
I mean, science fiction and horror as well
DeleteSince the fantasy genre was not typically around the time period that these texts were written, I would like to make some changes to the genres I have classified the texts into.
DeleteVöluspá' - A Mythological Poem, dealing with gods and imaginary creatures that can be classified as an epic poem.
'Völsunga saga - Can be classified as a legendary saga.
Beowulf - Can be classified under epic poetry.
The Hobbit & The Lord of the ring - Can be classified as epic fantasy sagas.
Your comment is good. I want to add information about Beowulf. It emerge the oldest surviving epic, especially it is about heroic epic written between the 18th and the 11th century. Beowulf has a feature classified, that means he is an ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. Also, it is first epic related to hero character (Shmoop, n.d). Moreover, Beowulf was lately made other genres such as fantasy movie, novels by rewriting.
DeleteReference:
Shmoop.(n.d). Beowulf. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from http://www.shmoop.com/beowulf/
I agree that ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ are an example of the fantasy genre. The fantasy genre is all about the make-believe, a piece of fiction involving magic and adventure, especially in a setting other than the real world. ‘The Hobbit’ as the following reference shows the mythical creature of an Orc which is a fictional creature and part of the fantasy genre “Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin” (pg. 2). This is an example of what is in the fantasy genre, mythical creatures. The ‘Lord of the Rings’ could also be considered an epic fantasy which is a subgenre of epic, as it is a trilogy and longer and its time span encompasses years and its own universe in which the story takes place in and has great acts of heroism.
DeleteI think ‘Voluspa’ is an example of the genre of mythological poems, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: “Then the holy gods met to give judgement, the holy gods took counsel together” (Extract 1.a). According to Fontenrose (1971), myths could be defined as the traditional tales of the deeds of daimones: gods, spirits and all sorts of supernatural or superhuman beings etc. This is what this poem has, the content of gods and supernatural beings.
‘Beowulf’ is an Old English Heroic Poem of the Epic Poetry genre, as the following reference to Beowulf being the “Old and wise warden of the land”. The epic poetry genre is focused on heroic deeds and events significant to a culture. Beowulf is the hero in this epic poem and it is epic as it spans over many years and involves heroic battles and journeys.
References:
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1997; 1937). The Hobbit, London: HarperCollins (pp. ix).
Information Retrieved from: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson270/genre_sheet.pdf
Information Retrieved from: http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/fantasy
Terry, P. (Trans). (1990; 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Fontenrose, J. (1971; 1966). The ritual theory of myth. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. (University of California Folklore Studies 18.)
Information Retrieved from: http://www.shmoop.com/beowulf/genre.html
The word 'fantasy' was not around when these texts (with the exception of LOTR) were written. Strictly speaking, they are are sagas, or epic poems, and are best described as mythology. Look up the words mythology and fantasy and write brief comment here on the difference between them.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, many good points made.
Numerous definitions of mythology describe it as being a collection of traditional stories derived from a specific culture usually explaining the creation/workings of the world, whereas fantasy can be explained as an uncontrolled story that is not necessarily derived from a culture, may not have deeper meanings in the elements in comparison to mythology but with themes that maybe extracted from mythical stories (Parker,Mills & Stanton, 2007).
DeleteReferences:
Parker, J., et al. (2007). Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies, Struik Publishers.
I definitely agree with this Naufa. From the definitions I have found, I've derived that mythological stories are from a specific group/ culture. These stories can also be associated with certain historical events. In our case, with Völuspá, we are dealing with a 'creation' myth, so maybe we could look at the creation of the world as a event.
DeleteAlso the definitions I found about fantasy have all used words like 'imaginative', 'highly elaborative', and one even gave a definition of fantasy being "unrestricted by reality". Looking at the texts in terms of these definitions I would say they are of the 'fantasy' genre regardless of whether fantasy was a genre in that time. We are reading these texts from a 21st century perspective, and comparing them to some of the texts we see today they fit in with the genre of fantasy.
Speaking of mythology, there is something interesting with the language in this poem.
DeleteAs most people have been known, Völuspá is a poem collection of Old Norse and it is the first and best one of Poetic Edda and become a primary sources of studying Norse mythology in which edda, saga and other important knowledge such as Germanic heroic legend were written. In the Viking era, Old Norse had become the spoken language and it a member of Germany language.
However, when people find a story or poem on “Old Norse,” they tend to be Old Icelandic, since Iceland is the well-known country that produced the majority of Old Norse literature. In fact, Old Norse language was spoken not only in Scandinavia and Iceland, but it had been broad to the Faroe Islands, Russia, the British Isles, continental Europe, Byzantium, Greenland, and even North America. This language is important for people who interested in learning Norse mythology or pre Christian Germanic, since it has a firm knowledge from spirituality root of Germanic people, such like Hebrew to Judaism, Latin to Christian and Arabic to Islam.
In Tolkien book, The Hobbit is modernised version. He did not create the name Middle-earth, since the set of this world was used in Anglo-Saxon language (middangeard) and Middle English (middelearde). This is fact of modernised on the name that was used in language of ancient northern English to The Hobbit. As fantasy novel, the narrative's story is like a third person. The narrator does not only a story teller but also makes comments on his story.
Fantasy is stories based on descriptions about thinker’s feeling, dreaming and creating. It describes some scenes having imaginative space, desired actions and goals using hero characters. Fantasy’s stories are totally controlled by thinkers. It means that there are a desired goal such like fighting with the dragon or enemy. In short, Fantasy is dependent on thinker’s wishes, motive.
DeleteIn the other hand, Mythology is stories based on symbolic, artistic and creative manner such as cosmology. It can be seen similar with cosmology. Basically, it is uncontrolled by thinkers. It just describes creative and traditional stories based on origin culture. Myths give emphasis to people understanding about cultural meaning, importance and value in the story. Myths emerge into legends, sagas, and tales…etc (VSPAGES, n.d).
References:
VSPAGES (n.d) Retrieved18 March, 2014, from http://vspages.com/mythology-vs-fantasy-24130/
Some thoughtful ideas here. Purwanti, good to see some research from you, but you need to source (reference) information that cannot be considered general knowledge.
DeleteStephany, some good ideas but solid research needed.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAns. (2) According to Doane and Paternack (1991), the idea of ‘orality’ pertains to the quality of which expressions are delivered both through mental and verbal communication. The concept of ‘secondary orality’ is described as a significantly more ‘deliberate and self-concious orality’ that is essentially based ‘permenantly on the use of writing and print’ (Ong, 1982). Ong (1982) points out that primary and secondary orality differs greatly; with secondary orality being one that is reliant on literate cultures,notions and expressions depending on 'writing and print for it existence'. Primary orality, in contrast signifies that language is spoken,but not written (Ong, 1982).
ReplyDeleteThe ancient mythological poem, Völuspá for instance, has some preserved features of residual or secondary orality. For instance;
-The poem was initially discovered as an ancient Icelandic manuscript (in Codex Reguis and Hauksbók) ; it was then later translated into several different languages including English,Italian and Spanish (Ross, 2000).The existence of this poem is accounted for by written text, despite its old age, having prevailed through various eras of spoken and written literacy (Ong, 1982). The organisation of the stanzas differed throughout the many different translated sources that could have potentially opened doors to various levels of interpretation e.g. in meaning,context,wording. This can be an example of the secondary orality maintained in the text (Doane & Paternack, 1991).
Without a written evidence, there is no guarantee that the current day and age could have ever known about its existence (Ross, 2000).
-There is also evidence of other other texts such as Snorri Sturluson's 'Gylfaginning', had quoted phrases from the poem to support his work. In addition, the fact that Völuspá is the initial source that had inspired the study of Norse mythology perhaps also counts as secondary orality (Reaves, 2010).
Although Völuspá has evidently preserved some characteristics of residual or secondary orality, it is probably important to note that due to it being a declamation of a prophecy in the first person - for example, as shown in the first stanza; "I'll speak the ancient lore", it is better, in an overall sense classified as a text of primary orality (Terry, 1990-1966).
References:
Doane, A. N., & Pasternack, C. B. (1991). Vox Intexta: Orality and Textuality in the Middle Ages. London/England, United Kingdom: The University of Wisconsin Press.
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of theword. London: Methuen
Reaves, W. P. (2010). Völuspá: The Völva's Prophecy. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.germanicmythology.com/PoeticEdda/Voluspa.html - See more at: http://reffor.us/index.php#sthash.fTFkzeQU.dpuf
Ross, M. C. (2000). Old Icelandic Literature and Society (2nd ed.). New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
I totally agree with your comment. Ong(1892) points out that secondary orality is totally different with primary one. Secondary orality is dependent on literate thought, expression and sound, but primary orality has some features like just repeated, long-winded and made-up explanation, but not sounds. In summary, secondary orality is a statement based on literate culture and existence, also, means that it is to be read printed or written notes by person. “Secondary orality is a phenomenon of post-literacy era, whereas oral residue is a stage in the transition from pre-literate to literate” (Secondary orality, 2011).
DeleteWe can see an example in Voluspa, “I’ll speak the ancient lore, the oldest of all that I remember” these statements indicate just verbal act.
References:
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.
Secondary orality. (2013, March 13). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_orality
Q.2:
DeleteGreat analysis, Naufa and Sun Min - Völuspá is indeed a text of primary orality. This fact is evident in the first couple of stanzas in Terry's (1990, 1996) translation, where the use of first person language is present; "Hear my words" (line 1, stanza 1), "I'll speak the ancient lore" (line 3, stanza 1), "I remember giants" (line 1, stanza 2), "...who called me" (line 2, stanza 2), and "I know how nine roots" (line 3, stanza 2). Before written literature, stories/poems were first orally delivered. According to Ong (1982), human society became literate late after its early beginnings with spoken words. Siertsema (as cited in Ong, 1982) reports that while living in the world of sound, the human race mainly communicate orally, which in turn is heard.
As you have mentioned, Naufa, the documentation of Völuspá has been translated into different languages from its first inclusion in the Codex Reguis. This would be evidence of secondary orality. Nevertheless, we all agree that this text is categorised as primary orality, due to its use of first person language; and considering how long ago this story poem was created, its beginnings started as an oral piece. Like I’ve previously stated, the documentation of this orally delivered piece was written long after its existence. Human languages have been so orally rich over the centuries of its existence, that not all of them have been documented in literature; and some languages have yet to be documented at all (Ong, 1982). It’s grown from its original language to different translations, with the rearrangement of the stanzas, but all possess the same notion and story outline.
Reference:
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.
Terry, P. (1990, 1966). Poems of the elder edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
I agree that Voluspa was originally traditionally verbally spoken (primary orality) until chirographic preservation allowed pieces like this one to become a feature of residual secondary orality. According to Ongs (1982) criteria, the written word acts as residue for what was once pure and untouched by any knowledge of print or writing.
DeleteThe features of residual orality are preserved in voluspa extracts. For example “Hear my words, you holy gods” and “ill speak the ancient lore”. This clearly indicates was originally an oral performance before it was adapted into secondary orality.
References:
Ong, W. (1982). Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.
(pg.1-15)
Information retrieved from: http://www.medialab.sciences-po.fr/publications/Venturini-Second_Orality.pdf
Information retrieved from: http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Secondary-Orality.htm
Discussion gets really good here on questions of orality. Excellent to see some research creeping in. Olivia, Voluspa cannot be 'primary orality because it is written down! We cannot know how the language has changed from the spoken to the written form, or how many versions of the original tale might have existed.
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ReplyDeleteAns. (6) In the present society, we live in a community and belief. One of the most important things is that the community and belief came from the old myths. When we hear about ancestors and Gods, we can think of the old myths. Most of people in the world worship their own ancestors or Gods in the modern world. People must live with someone, nature, love and belief. So, people make communities such as family and friends. These acts came from them because the old myths are to deal with history of community of people. They also refer to reasonable symbol of humankind where we exist.
ReplyDeleteFor example, there are a lot of films and books related to the old myths anywhere. Although they deal with unrealizable life in there, we can know what it means. Also, we can feel that recent movies and books have various contents related to humankind, unrealizable love, fights for defend their own world, justice…etc.
Being consistently filmed means the old myths still exist in the modern world. It is one of the humankind symbols. Myths help us find answers to explain symbolic truths about humankind. In short, the old myths always have become one part of our life in modern society.
Q.6:
DeleteI agree with your points, Sun Min. Old myths certainly do have a place in the modern world. I would like to point out that religion carries many characteristics from ancient mythology. Many myths contain stories of the creation of a world by a divine being. In the bible, it states that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gn 1:1). Just like Völuspá, which is an epic poem orally delivered as a prophecy, it states the beginning and the end of the old world. “Then Bur’s sons lifted up the land and made Midgard” (line 1, stanza 4). As a born and raised Christian, I was taught lessons through the bible which mentions the seven day creation of the world and how it ended. Old myths and stories alike are carried through generations in literature, all beginning through spoken speech. Almost every culture has its own story of existence. Some say that not everything we learn in the bible (or any other scripture for every other religion) should be taken literally, but in a spiritual sense for us to learn lessons from. We use everyday situations in the modern world as examples for these spiritual teachings so we can relate to it.
Another evidential myth in today’s world is the olympics; a huge sporting event where many countries compete in different games. It was an event that was formed in ancient Greece and would often be held at the sanctuary of the ancient Greek god, Zeus. In the modern world, that tradition is still carried on, but it’s not exclusive to the people of Greece. It’s an international event, active every four years, and the games differ from its early beginnings in ancient Greece.
Other platforms containing an essence of old myths today are movies and theatre shows. Entertainment of different kinds have been around for centuries, and there have been a lot of focus on old myths. Nowadays, we have big blockbuster titles featuring storylines from mythologies. With the technology we have, special effects add an atmosphere to a movie about ancient myths, and with people already having some sort of background knowledge on it, that majority would anticipate its release. Different media that translate these old stories have different takes on it. Theatre shows have been around for centuries, and it’s another type of media that, like movies, provide audiences with oral performances; many epic poems/stories started off as spoken speech.
Going back on what I mentioned in another post about secondary orality, books or literature have documented many old myths. The existence of these books are often used for entertainment and academic purposes. The great thing about literature is that information of the past can be carried on for many more centuries and so on. Old myths help spawn different ideas, or a basis for other creations of new stories.
Reference
Terry, P. (1990, 1966). Poems of the elder edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
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DeleteAns. (6) I think you've both made some important points with regard to the question. I would like to add to it my thoughts on what place I think old myths tend to have in the modern world.
DeleteMythology refers to a collection of narratives that usually pertain to a specific type of culture or belief system (Ross, 2000). True, that they can be overly exaggerated and are deemed as being fictitious tales; however, perhaps due to the integration of a deeper sense of meaning into these ancient texts, there is cause to believe that mythology has influenced and placed itself as part of the modern world in various ways.
Lets take Völuspá as the first example:
- As Olivia has pointed out, ancient mythology integrates religious beliefs much like Völuspá, which begins with an introduction from the 'völva' through reciting a prophecy on how the world was created. Religion is a broad and diverse topic that vary from culture to culture; In addition to being a relatable subject to people in modern times, this poem also attempts to demonstrate an evolutionary phase of the topic based on how history perceived it (Martin Højbjerg, 2011).
-The mention of powerful gods such as 'Odin' as an authoritative leader and 'Thor' as a brave hero somewhat allows people of the modern world to assume the status of gods to be a strong force - thus, in recent times, when describing something for example, poems like Völuspá have enabled the innovation of adjectives like 'god-like' or 'godly' into new literature.
Another example, can be looking at elements in stories like Beowulf:
-The story of Beowulf talks about a hero who fights against all odds, including the likes of terrifying supernatural creatures and going through long distances and proving his strength (Heaney, 1999). Of course, these days, it is unlikely to come face to face with a fire breathing dragon, but stories like these, during modern times can influence for example a child to get over a simple fear.
References:
Extract: Heaney, S. (Trans). (1999). Beowulf: a new
translation. London: Penguin,pp 70-80.
Højbjerg, M. (2011). Norse Mythology: Gods and Goddesses. Retrieved March 19,2014, from http://www.viking-mythology.com
Ross, M. C. (2000). Old Icelandic Literature and Society (2nd ed.). New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
The word 'myth' has quite a broad meaning in modern culture. What about the ideal world presented in TV ads, for example, or the myth of the modern super mum who can do everything. The myth of the perfect consumer, for example. Does this stretch the meaning to myth too far?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteQ6- I think that the old myths have an important place in the modern world because without them we would have no way of knowing the beliefs and histories of the people of that time. We are able to understand how they made sense of the world. In a way these myths are like historical documents because they give us an insight into the minds of these people and an understanding of their history. Reading these texts we can identify that people feared and respected the Gods, they idolised heroes, they believed that the universe was created by Gods. Is that not what a lot of modern texts suggest about our society today?
ReplyDeleteWith these texts we can draw on similarities between our times. If we look at Völuspá, Thor is portrayed as a brave and honourable hero. His defeat of the serpent gives him glory. His actions are perceived as those of a hero. We can compare this to many of todays 'celebrities'. Orrin E. Klapp suggests that modern heroes are emerging in politics, entertainment, religion, sports and many other fields in the public eye (1948). Athletes and sports players are given the status of heroes because of the way we perceive their actions, we even call them sports legends and heroes. With these old myths and texts, the parallels between our societies are evident.
References:
Klapp, O. E. (1948). The creation of popular heroes.
American journal of sociology, 54(2), 4135-141. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org
Reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Ring novels for people, who are English as second language, can be uneasy task, since they have many “antique” words those derive from old English runes. In the 15th centuries A.D, the Viking used this language to write letters by carved them on metal, wood or stone. The runes alphabets are 24 characters called runic.
DeleteAfter Tolkien's novel was published, it is no doubt that Old Norse and Runes vocabularies become more popular and it tends to inspire C.S Lewis, an author of The chronicles of Narnia (1950) and J.K Rowling in her famous novel series Harry Potter (1997), since magic practiced as part of daily life for ancient Germanic and Norse people.
It can be seen; Völuspá and runes letters were inspiring Tolkien on his novels, such as characters of the Dwarf’s names. Beowulf also has devoted him much that goes on the epic story plot of The Hobbit.
In Beowulf: a new translation, the story says,
“Across the wide sea, desolate and alone, the son of Ecgtheow swam back to his people. There Hygd offered him throne and authority as lord of the ring-hoard” (Heney,S, 1999, p.75)
The tittle of his book seems transform from there and Tolkien admits about the inspiration he retrieved from Beowulf in his letter,
”Beowulf is among my most valued sources; though it was not consciously present to the mind in the process of writing, in which the episode of the theft arose naturally (and almost inevitably) from the circumstances” (Letters 31).
References
•Heaney, S.(1999).Extract. Beowulf:a new translation.London. Penguin,p75
•Ancalagon-V (2007, October). Tolkien and Beowulf. Retrieved March 19,2014, from Valar Guild website http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/papers/Ancalagon/TolkienandBeowulf.htm
Good point, Wanti. Tolkien also took the whole story of the magic Ring, which itself was not new.
DeleteAns. (8) The text that I have chosen to look into for this question is the 'Völsunga saga'.
ReplyDeleteThe Völsunga saga, is a legendary saga, that accounts the heroic achievement throughout the many generations of mythic Völsung viking clan. As an Icelandic prose of the late 13th centrury, subtitled the "The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer" – this text displays elements of desire in the sense of intention, how the writer intended the text to be perceived and also what hedonisms it offered; the mentioned aspects will be looked into in this answer (Zott, 2003).
Perhaps one of the most significant depictions of the saga lies within the supernatural elements in the tale – between both the heroes and villains involved (Morris & Magnussun, 1888). This feature can act as a possible contributing factor in determining the actual intention of the text; it is likely that there is more than one. According to Christopher Gillette (1992), the threats faced by the protagonist hero, the guided journey and the quest itself, the notions of the dragon slayer and the ultimate confrontation with death aimed to reflect on the characters involved in the wars among the Burgundians, Huns, and Goths and immortalised them as legends. Thus, the central intention of the text is to highlight on the immense bravery/paths crossed against all terror. This can be seen in this particular text, for example, by looking at the encounter between Sigurd and Fafnir the dragon. Despite being in the presence of a terrifying dragon, Sigurd stands to slay him and even engages in a conversation with the creature ; “Now when that mighty worm was ware that he had his deathwound, then he lashed out headand tail, so that all things soever that were before him were broken to pieces.” – this quote for instance, tells the reader how Sigurd, single handedly gives Fafnir its “deathwound” instantaneously becoming the hero (Morris & Magnussun, 1888).
As for the pleasures this text offers, it can be said that the act of heroism provides a notable satisfaction that an evil had been ridden of, because of/despite the complex sacrifices were made to get to that point (Gillette, 1992).
References:
Extract Morris, W. & Magnussun, E. (Trans.).(1888). The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). London: Walter Scott Press, pp.58-62.
Gillette, D. C. (1992). The Sons of Odin: A Heroic Analysis of the Volsunga Saga. Retrieved March 19,2014, from http://www.ravenkindred.com/June94/volsung.htm
Zott, L. M. (2003). Volsunga Saga: Icelandic prose, circa 13th century. Retrieved March 19,2014, from http://www.enotes.com/topics/volsunga-saga -
Solid comment Naufa, although your intro is a little obscure!
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