Week 1-3
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.
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?
ReplyDeleteThe old myths have been introduced into teenage fiction, with heroes such as Thor, because the classic battles between good and evil appeal to young people who yearn for justice.
An obvious example is the film, Thor-Ragnarrok, directed by New Zealander, Taiki Waititi which combines the old story of the Norse understanding of goods with the American superhero character, the hulk, into a battle between good and evil.
This story was first made in comic form before being made into a film just mentioned above.
vincent
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).
In the case of voluspa poem: At the introduction of the poem, we read the following extract:
"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."
The above statement makes me think that the speaker is showing respect to the people is talking to, and this includes the reader as well. From this, I can argue that the speaker wants or desires to be respected back by the people is talking to.
The character or the text also wants the readers or the people mentioned in the poem to know that she is not likely to remember everything. So we readers know what to expect.
A classic example in real world would be a headmaster at school. Late me say that there is a big ceremony at school and many big guests have shown up. The headmaster may stand up and say: Dear students, I expect you to show some kind of respect because we have important guests under the tent. First, the New Zealand Prime Minster will speak. Next, Our district police commander will speak and tell us how we are expected to behave when in the country. Next, we will have a GET TOGETHER DANE.
This example informs students what to expect in the ceremony and what is expected from them.
PLEASURES
The main speaker in the poem mentions a tree which she connects with. For example,
“I remember giants of ages past,
those who called me one of their kin;
I know how nine roots form nine worlds
under the earth where the Ash Tree rises.”
This makes me happy because I can as well identify some tree or plants which I can connect with. Like I came from UGANDA. Passion fruit is a tree which I can connect with because it means a lot to me and I derive pleasure from it.
I grew up eating this fruit and whenever I remember it, it reminds me the memories of growing up.
350
1. What genres do the texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
ReplyDeleteVöluspá is an epic poem. Epic poems originated in the oral tradition, and typically involve “a time beyond living memory” (“Epic poetry”, 2019). We know that Völuspá originated in the oral tradition from opening stanza: “Hear my words, you holy gods [...] by Odin’s will, I’ll speak the ancient lore” (Terry, 1990, l.1, 3), indicating that the poem was originally designed to be performed aloud. It also refers to a time long ago: “[...] I’ll speak the ancient lore, / the oldest of all that I remember. / I remember giants of ages past” (ibid, l.3-5). Völuspá is one of the earliest poems ever recorded in writing in English literary history, thought to have been written in 1270 CE. However, the references to oral performance indicate that it is much older than its original transcript, and it’s likely that Völuspá was a tale told across Europe for centuries before it was ever written down. Of the five texts mentioned in this part of the course, this is the only creation myth, a tale of how the universe was formed, and a warning of how it ends.
Beowulf is another epic poem. Epic poems concern the legends of epic heroes who performed extraordinary deeds and died for a good cause (“Epic poetry”, 2019). Beowulf is certainly an epic hero. He has almighty strength: “And so the son of Ecgtheow had survived every extreme, excelling himself in daring and in danger [...]” (Heaney, 1999, p.76). He also has a self-sacrificial streak common of ancient heroes, such as Odysseus and Aeneas: “He was sad at heart, unsettled yet ready, sensing his death” (ibid, p.76). Beowulf dates back even further than Völuspá, around 1000 CE, and likely existed before this as an orally-told tale (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019). However, in translations of the original manuscript, Christian messages are interpolated into the text: “So may a man not marked by fate easily escape exile and woe by the grace of God” is a good example of the Christian tradition influencing the story (Heaney, 1999, p.73). This is concurrent with the Christianisation of Europe from the 4th - 10th centuries, particularly the Germanic countries in which the original Beowulf manuscript is likely to have manifested.
The Völsunga saga is a saga, a longform narrative concerning Nordic history and/or heroes. It originated out of Iceland in the 13th century, and we know that it is a saga because it takes place in two to three parts (depending on the translation), each covering a significant chunk of the story (Joe, 2010). The intended audience of the Völsunga saga is an interesting question, as it is roughly the same age as Völuspá and Beowulf, but it is also based on many of the poems in the Poetic Edda (one of which is Völuspá itself) and has become a valuable part of English literary history, as it replicates some of the poems from the Poetic Edda that have since been lost (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018).
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are both fantasy novels. They are set in a fictional universe -- Middle-earth -- and they concern fictional creatures, including dragons, dwarves, elves, wizards, and hobbits. Fantasy is often medieval in setting and can be seen as a “revival movement”, often inspired by epic tales from ages past. ‘Middle-earth’ itself is derived from ‘Midgard’, the home of humanity in Norse mythology, and The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings both mimic Beowulf (Shear, 2018). The Hobbit in the election of Bard as king of the Lake-town: “[...] we have always elected masters from among the old and wise, and have not endured the rule of mere fighting men”, alludes to Beowulf ruling his village “well for fifty winters” and growing “old and wise as the warden of the land” (Tolkien, 1937, p.238; Heaney, 1999, p.70). The Lord of the Rings through Théoden, who has this incredibly Beowulfian line: “I myself will go too far, to fall in front of the battle, if it must be. Thus shall I sleep better” (Tolkien, 1954, p.507).
Your comment regarding the Völsunga's place in Nordic history is very interesting, and I especially enjoyed your comment on the structure of the saga, and how it takes place in two - to three parts.
DeleteI'm glad you found it interesting! I also thought it was quite a cool fact that Volsunga preserves some of the lost poems from the Poetic Edda -- that context makes it much more significant in my opinion
Delete3. 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 major incident that occurs in four of the texts -- Völuspá, Beowulf, Volsunga Saga, and The Hobbit -- is the slaying of the dragon by a mighty hero. The central event is the same in each text, but the circumstances of the battle differ between them.
For example, in Völuspá and Beowulf, the hero in question is a mighty ruler/god and is renowned by the peoples over which they rule. The god Thor is the subject of Völuspá: “Far-famed Thor, the son of Earth, / the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the Snake [...]” (Terry, 1990, l.75-6). The king/hero Beowulf is the protagonist of Beowulf, and he is known to be a wise ruler and a formidable warrior: “With Beowulf / against them, few could hope to return home [...] the son of Ecgtheow had survived / every extreme, excelling himself / in daring and in danger” (Heaney, 1999, p.75, 76). By contrast, the protagonists of the Volsunga saga, and Bard from The Hobbit, are relatively unknown in their communities, and rise to fame and glory after their encounters with the dragon. In the Volsunga saga, Regin suggests to Sigurd, “Make thee a hole, and sit down therein, and whenas the worm comes to the water, smite him in the heart, and so do him to death, and win thee great fame thereby”, indicating that the hunting the dragon, the two men were seeking renown they had yet to acquire (Morris & Magnussun, 1888, p.58). Similarly, Bard comes from humble beginnings, a mere swordsman as opposed to a cultivated ruler. As the Master argues, “in the Lake-town we have always elected masters from among the old and wise, and have not endured the rule of mere fighting men”, this derision confirming that Bard’s renown hardly compares to that of Thor or Beowulf (Tolkien, 1937, p.238).
The other difference between these four texts is the resolution of the major incident -- that is, whether or not the hero dies in the battle. It is a trademark of epic fantasy/poetry for the hero to die in a final battle against a mighty beast. Indeed, this is the outcome of Völuspá and Beowulf. In Völuspá, Thor kills the Snake but also receives his death-wound in the fight: “Midgard’s defender dies triumphant, / but the human race no longer has a home [...]” (Terry, 1990, l.77-8). In Beowulf, Beowulf knows he will most likely die fighting the dragon, but he enters the battle anyway: “‘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 [...]’” (Heaney, 1999, p.79). However, in the Volsunga saga and The Hobbit, the hero is not killed in combat. In the Volsunga saga, Sigurd slays the worm, Fafnir, but lives to tell the tale: as Fafnir says to Sigurd, “‘Such counsel I give thee, that thou take thy horse and ride away at thy speediest, for ofttimes it fails out so, that he who gets a death-wound avenges himself none the less’” (Morris & Magnussun, 1888, p.63). This line is self-aware of the trope of fantasy/mythology that it is diverting, although whether or not this is part of the original story or has simply been added in translation, I’m not sure. The Hobbit also spares the life of the hero, although it does momentarily trick you into believing that he has died. Bard disappears into the lake and many believe he has been killed in defeating Smaug: “[...] they praised the courage of Bard and his last mighty shot. ‘If only he had not been killed,’ they all said, ‘we would make him a king’” (Tolkien, 1937, p.238). However, Bard rises from the lake shortly after this, proclaiming that “‘Bard is not lost! [...] He dived from Esgaroth, when the dragon was slain’” (ibid.). Tolkien was heavily inspired by ancient fantasy like Beowulf and Völuspá, lifting much from the structure, world-building, and characters of these texts, but he altered this particular aspect of the storyline.
WORKS CITED
ReplyDeleteBeowulf. (2019, March 03). Retrieved March 5, 2019 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf.
Characteristic of epic heroes. (2019, January 31). Retrieved March 5, 2019 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characteristics_of_epic_heroes.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019, February 14). Beowulf. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beowulf.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2018, January 28). Volsunga saga | Icelandic saga. Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Volsunga-saga.
Epic poetry. (2019, March 01). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_poetry.
Fantasy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/fantasy-narrative-genre.
Joe, J. (2010, April 4). Völsunga Saga. Retrieved from https://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/volsunga.html.
Miller, D. A. (2002). The Epic Hero. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Percivaldi, E. (2016, June 7). 1,000-Year-Old Manuscript of Beowulf Digitized and Now Online. Retrieved from https://percevalarcheostoria.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/beowulf/.
Shear, J. (2018, March 27). A Brief History of the Fantasy Genre. Retrieved from https://www.janefriedman.com/a-brief-history-of-the-fantasy-genre/.
Völsunga saga. (2019, March 10). Retrieved March 13, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lsunga_saga.
Völuspá. (2018, December 28). Retrieved March 5, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Völuspá.
2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDeleteOng’s critical analysis of orality and literacy, it has conveyed a remaining orality which has been maintained within the epic poetry of Voluspa. The orality which has been preserved is oral literature (Ong, 1982). In example, the oral literature of course is the epic poem itself, however, this poetry can be altered into a song which is also another use of orality. So, within Ong’s expressive study from orality and literacy to secondary orality, Voluspa has held the traditions of oral culture which is powerful although the development of secondary orality and literacy have grown (Ong, 1982). However, there are still cultures which have continued with the use orality or oral literature. For instance, in relation to my own culture, as a polynesian we have applied orality into our cultures as a way of interpreting ourselves to the world through singing, poetry and stories.
Reference:
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen
https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-4703463-dt-content-rid-6652318_4/institution/Papers/ENGL600/Publish/Desire_Critical%20Reader_2019.pdf
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?
Recent films have depicted an old god from the poem Voluspa. An example of this is the 2018 film, Thor-Ragnarok, which was directed by New Zealand filmmaker, Taika Waititi. Thor, who is the protagonist of the film, is illustrated in Voluspa as an old Norse god who is the son of Odin, another Norse God, he is also presented within the film. The following references to the old god’s within the poem Voluspa, Thor and Odin;
“Far-famed Thor, the Son of Earth,
the son of Odin,” (Terry, 1990)
Also within the modern film of Thor: Ragnarok, it has manifested another ancient god and/or hero. In the film, Thor: Ragnarok, Loki who is another well known god in Norse mythology, is also shown in Voluspa. The old god Loki is presented as Thor’s blood brother and a son of Odin in the film of Thor: Ragnarok. Also, the following references to the obscured old god, Loki;
“Westward the ships sails, Loki steers; (Terry, 1990)
Myths in this day and age, have portrayed ancient history, psychology, literature and to name a few. It has engaged early and modern literature, by creating and developing our knowledge of culture, science and the interpretation of the world (Midgley, 2011). The Norse myths of Voluspa, Beowulf and The Hobbit have morally formed our thinking intellectually in the modern world, not only that but it also holds human history that we use as an encyclopedia for philosophical research and so forth (Midgley, 2011). The old myths have given the modern world a complexed idea of beliefs, ideologies and fantasies, it is also used within fairy-tales which have been modernised, like Cinderella and Snow White (Midgley, 2011). So, these old myths have been showcased in the modern world through literature and film, it also has shaped modern society and the way individuals think and act.
References:
Midgley, M. (2011). The Myths We Live By. London: Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203828328
Terry, P. (trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Retrieved from: https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-4703463-dt-content-rid-6652318_4/institution/Papers/ENGL600/Publish/Desire_Critical%20Reader_2019.pdf
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances
ReplyDeleteSecondary orality is primary orality that is written down while primary orality is orality that is not written somewhere.
some possible features of secondary orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances are listed below.
1- Not permanent
Secondary orality is permanent since it is that orality that is written down and read out. A classic example is Voluspa poem which is written down as a poem. It is always there for people like students or others to read. But the secondary orality, exists only that very moment is spoken out.
2- Additive rather subordinate
Secondary orality: someone cannot change words once they are written down but in primary orality, there is addition of some words.
For example, Voluspa poem is written down as a poem. Words cannot be added in it. But some words can be added in the primary orality to make it more meaningful.
3-close to human world
Secondary orality no longer close to the human experience that prompted the speaker to give the story.
Example: Voluspa poem which is a secondary orality, is far away from what triggered its invention.
Furthermore, as a writer, I write stories whose experience I had long time ago when I was young. The stories end up far distance from their real life world.
Whereas primary orality is close to the real world or close to what prompted the speaker to give the story.
Example, the time Voluspa was spoken, it was close to the human lifeworld.
4-knit people together
Secondary orality: you read it alone but in primary orality, there is an original experience of somebody being available to read for.
For example, when Voluspa poem was spoken out, there was people available on the scene listening. But when the primary oral was put into secondary orality, now you lecturer or student you read it alone.
5-emphatic and participatory
Primary orality: they are living a story. They believe the myths or the heroes in the story.
Secondary orality: people can refuse the story but just read it. A person has a choice to be emotional in it or not because he or she is reading somebody’s story.
Like this Voluspa poem, I just ready it for the sake of answering this question.
Vincent
SOURCE
Ong, W. (1982) Orality and Literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen
https://blackboard.aut.ac.nz/bbcswebdav/pid-4703463-dt-content-rid-6652318_4/institution/Papers/ENGL600/Publish/Desire_Critical%20Reader_2019.pdf