Week 12 Essay: Beowulf Reading Assessment

 First Page of Beowulf.  Source

Looking back at everything I have read up to this point, I must say that the Beowulf has been my favorite unit to read so far, even more than Hiawatha which was my favorite up to this point.  I honestly can say that I enjoyed every part of the epic, from the exposition to the conclusion.  I thought that it began strongly, showing Beowulf as a gifted youth who wanted to test his limits.  The background was good as well; it gave enough information to immerse the reader in the world but not enough to bore with pointless information.  This reading fits into my plan to add a new story between my first and second storybook entries.  The character of Wiglaf and the dynamics between him and Beowulf can work out for my storytelling for a transition between my stories, which I felt were too spaced.  The main things that surprised me were Beowulf's age and the story involving the dragon.  After that abomination of a CG Beowulf movie, I just assumed that it followed closely and Beowulf was an older man when all of the story occurs instead of a very young man.  I also didn't think there would be a dragon in the telling of Beowulf, but I thought it was a nice part.  In regards to the story itself, I thought everything worked very well.  The descriptions were phenomenal, when I was reading the unit I could imagine what was occurring with ease.  It reminded me a lot of a game I used to play on Xbox, The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, which had a lot of similar story telling methods and similar backgrounds and themes.  I was slightly surprised that this was a English story though, I always just assumed that Beowulf was a Scandinavian tale instead.

Beowulf

Storytelling for Week 12: Fighting the Dragon

And so we waited anxiously outside the terrible creature's den, peering through the dark at the terrible dragon's den.  Our leader, Beowulf, a man who's stature, bravery, and fury rivaled that of the beast, drew us near.

"I am at the end of the years and wish to test my mettle one last time.  Help me if I fall, but leave this dragon to me," he fearlessly said.

I stood at the edge of the soon to be battlefield, waiting to see what would come of this meeting of titans.  Beowulf roared out into the night, issuing a challenge to the beast that lurked in the dark of its cave.  Out of fear, our comrades fled, leaving only myself to stand guard in case our leader was bested.  The night was silent as we waited for the challenge to be met, all sounds muffled by the freshly fallen snow and no sounds came from the sleeping woods.

While our Beowulf's roar cut through the quiet, the response that came rumbled the ground, shaking everything near to its core.  From its den, a monstrous black dragon sprung from its hiding, its eyes flashing green and flames seeping from its maw.  The dragon quickly spewed flames at its combatant, who rolled to safety albeit being slightly singed.  To avoid getting cooked from afar, our leader rushed in close and worked the dragon's body over with slashes from his sword, only to find nothing could pierce its black carapace.  Realizing that he could not overpower the beast, Beowulf darted around the massive body of the slower combatant, hoping to find a vital spot unprotected by those impenetrable scales. 

Black Dragon.  Web Source

This kept up for what seemed like forever, neither opponent giving an inch or taking one.  However, Beowulf's age had begun to show.  His breath became ragged and his arms weighed down by fatigue.  As it seemed like the momentum had shifted in the dragon's favor, I took my queue and entered the fray with a yell.  As Beowulf turned, glad to see me join in battle, the dragon used his distraction and smashed him with his large tail.  Rage welled up inside me to see such a fell blow on my comrade.  With a surge of inhuman strength and speed I rushed to the dragon and drove my sword through his eye deep into his head, killing the beast instantly.

I rushed to where Beowulf was flung and held his dying body in my hands.  He looked at me and smiled, his eyes slowly glazing over.

"I leave this all in good hands," he said in his final breath, his soul leaving this earthly plane.  And with that, the great warrior Beowulf was no more.

Author's Note: For this storytelling, I used parts of Battle with the Dragon and The End of Beowulf from the Beowulf Unit.  I told this story from the perspective of Wiglaf, Beowulf's favorite earl.  I left everything other than Beowulf unnamed because I plan on further adapting this for my storybook so I figured I would knock out two birds with one stone here.  The story starts with Beowulf and company hunting down a dragon who rampaged on their village, burning down buildings.  For the most part I left the bulk of my version the same as the original.  Where things change is when Wiglaf joins the battle.  Originally, the two fight against the dragon until Beowulf is struck and Wiglaf finishes off the dragon.  I wanted to add a bit more depth so Wiglaf was partially responsible for Beowulf's death.   There is also a drawn out conversation between Beowulf and Wiglaf but I decided to cut that out.

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs (1933).  Web Source: Beowulf

Reading Diary Week 12: Beowulf

King Hygelac of Geatsland-  A great exposition that does a good job setting up the location and background that Beowulf will come into.
The Young Beowulf-  I like how Beowulf is developed in this section, he has great strength yet is clumsy, he has great potential yet nothing to prove himself with.  I also like the descriptive words used in this unit.  "[Beowulf  was] scornful of the earls about him and their big talk of little battles," was a great way to end.
The Wanderer's Song- That's interesting that Grendel is part man, animal, and bird.  I guess I hadn't ever really thought what it might be.  I wonder why the author describes everything as being blue, I get that Scandinavians generally are blue-eyed but he keeps describing them as such.
Beowulf's Resolve- I guess I never thought that Beowulf might be young when he fight Grendel, I always thought Beowulf was some older warrior and not just a young man.
Beowulf's Journey- I really enjoy this unit so far, it reminds me a lot of Hiawatha.
Beowulf Lands in Daneland- Guardian of the Beach is an odd position to have, does he serve almost like a lighthouse keeper or something?
Beowulf Comes to Heorot- Is Hrothgar a common name for Scandinavian characters?  I can think of several different characters that all share that name.
The Words of Unferth- It's interesting that Unferth is described as having black hair when most characters are described as blonde, I wonder if that is representative of something.
The Words of Beowulf*- I like how Beowulf is not only a hero with great strength and valor, but also wiser and smarter than those of his age.
Grendel Attacks- A very interesting section, I didn't know Grendel was capable of magic, I just assumed he was some monstrous creature that Beowulf battles.
The Battle with Grendel-  This section reminds me a lot of the Ogre of Rashoman, I was thinking about adapting this part for the storybook but I'll probably just take a couple elements from it.
A New Misfortune- I like how they set up that there is something worse than Grendel, and I am surprised that Unferth is incapable of defeating Grendel even though he has a magic sword.
Seeking Grendel's Mother- This section reminds me of the the typical journey a hero takes to the underworld, but what unnerves me is that he can hold his breath for so long.
Beowulf Battles Grendel's Mother- This section reminded me more of Greek mythology such as Perseus fighting Medusa than something of English origin.
Beowulf's Triumph- A very good conclusion to this part of Beowulf, I liked how Unferth no longer was brooding.
The Arrival of the Dragon- A very interesting section, I never knew that Beowulf contained a dragon.  I also like how they have Beowulf age as someone who still wishes to be challenged.
Preparing for Battle- I think I might tell one of my storybook sections about this section with the dragon, I was wondering what type of monster would be good to include and I think that a dragon would round out my stories pretty well.
Battle with the Dragon- I had to look up how long an ell was and the dragon would have been around 30 feet long. 
The End of Beowulf- A fitting end to this section, everything was well paced and I was not mad that he died at the end due to not having help from the cowardly earls.  I for sure decided to tell my 3rd storybook entry over this section.