Here are the questions for weeks 1 - 3. Please use the comments section
to post your answers. Do not make a new blog. Do not necessarily answer
all the questions, but select those you want to answer. You may combine
more than one question into a single answer.
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).
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ReplyDeleteWhat place do old myths have in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteThe Hobbit in modern day fanfiction:
Some of The Hobbit’s book ideas sparked from the Old Norse poem Völuspá (The song of Volva) and is said that the poem is so old that no one really knows how old it is, as it was created in the 13th century “Poetic Edda” collection from Iceland. (Heddle, D.) The poem tells the story of the creation of the world and its coming end.
The name Völuspá means “the prophecy of the sibyl” (a woman in ancient times who was thought to utter the prophecies of a god,) and in the poem, a “Volva” – the Norse counterpart to a sibyl – describes her visions of the beginning and end of the world. Voluspa was said to be one of the most beautiful and prolific works of poetry ever, and probably the most important in terms of European heritage. ("terrasubarctica", 2013)
Tolkien wrote the first addition of the hobbit in 1937, which happened to be the world's first public look at his mythos. By 2012, the Hobbit sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. Thus causing the world of fanfiction to erupt into their own fantasies based around The Hobbit, creating short stories such as ones that I have found on Fanfiction.net, called The Lost hobbits and Dwarfs in the real world. Without Tolkien’s imagination spurring into a whirlwind once he discovered the Voluspa poem, books such as The Lord of the Rings and Leaf by Niggle could very possibly turned out to be not be as great as they are/were.
The poem had an influence on Tolkien’s work as most of the dwarf’s names in the hobbit came directly from the poem itself. The dwarf names are Old Norse words each with a literal translation. i.e. Gandalf = Wand elf/ animated elf, Thorin = daring/defiant. ("terrasubarctica", 2013)
So what place does this old myth have in the modern world? Without Tolkien’s knowledge on this praised poem The Hobbit may to some extent – not have been created, and if it was, it may have been very different to the book that was released. If the book was never released, fans around the world would not have been able to discuss their fantasies by writing their own fiction on the hobbit, carrying and creating imaginative mythical ideas from one fiction story to the next.
The Völuspá poem has been transported from the 13th century into today, and is still been discussed and written about in different ways i.e. research articles and blogs. Therefore, I believe this old myth is still firmly holding a grasp in today’s modern world. Until The Hobbit, The Lord of the rings and other mythical books of Tolkien’s collection fall out of this generations focus I believe it will be picked up again by up further generations to come. Whether it be in school, research articles or fanfiction this myth will continue to grow as the world will.
REFERENCES:
Heddle, D. Rings, dwarves, elves and dragons: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Old Norse influences — University of the Highlands and Islands. Uhi.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016, from https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/cultural/centre-for-nordic-studies/mimirs-well-articles/rings-dwarves-elves-and-dragons-j.-r.-r.-tolkien2019s-old-norse-influences
Search | FanFiction. Fanfiction.net. Retrieved 14 March 2016, from https://www.fanfiction.net/search.php?keywords=the+hobbit&ready=1&type=story
terrasubarctica. (2013). terrasubarctica. Retrieved 13 March 2016, from https://terrasubarctica.wordpress.com/
Völuspá. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 17 March 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lusp%C3%A1
A good answer. Note also the use of these myths in modern movies and Scandinavian heavy metal music!
DeleteHow does the film Beowulf & Grendel problematize the “hero-myth” of Beowulf?
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of the film, the protagonist Beowulf is misled to believe that Grendel is the enemy, however Grendel has a sad story attached to his character which pushes the notion of him not fitting the conventional villain archetype. I believe this directly challenges the notion of heroism which Beowulf comes to realize as Grendel is not actually evil and simply wishes to avenge his fathers’ death while causing no harm to those who have not wronged him which assists in projecting sympathy and understanding towards Grendel.
In one scene during the movie, a group of Beowulf’s men enter Grendel’s cave and one man proceeds to destroy the skull of Grendel’s father. In a scene after, Grendel can be seen breaking into a hall where the men are celebrating and he then overpowers the men but slays only the one that destroyed his treasured father’s skull. After which he attempts to escape without harming anyone else. This gives me the idea that if the men had never entered his cave and destroyed his father’s skull then the one who died would never be harmed. This problematizes the “hero-myth” since the title of hero could apply to both the protagonist and antagonist which conflicts with the original tale where there is just a hero and a villain.
What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
Old myths like Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, and Beowulf have had a profound effect on the modern world. Their stories and ideas have been copied and used as inspiration many times. For example, in the Hobbit the heroes are on a mission to slay the Dragon and reclaim the treasure which is similar to some of the myths in which the dragons are slain and the treasures are taken. This seems to display a generic timeline which the old myths share which is rather surprising considering the kind of story used in these films still remain popular to this day.
Also the Norse Pantheon plays a prominent role in modern media and all one needs to do to see the influence is simply to identify some of the latest blockbuster films (Avengers, Thor, Outlander). Even small things like the archaic language forms that were utilized are continued on which helps to create a sense of authenticity which in turn, assists in immersing the audience in whatever story is being told. Even now around a century after these myths were thought to be created, they are still well known and widely popular.
Norse Mythology. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 17 March 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology
Beowulf. (2016). Wikipedia. Retrieved 17 March 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
Good answers, Sam. Did you know that a lot of heavy metal and death metal music from Scandinavia uses themes from these myths?
DeleteAh it completely skipped my mind but now that you mention it, I recall Paul going over it in the first lecture of the semester. I'll be sure to look into it.
DeleteQUESTION:
ReplyDelete4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels
The novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings written by J.R.R Tolkien in 1937-1955 take on very similar characteristics to many ancient Norse and Old English texts.
The Hobbit has many similarities to the Poem Beowulf which was composed in 1000AD, and The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). Firstly, the Beowulf and The Hobbit both include a dragon. It seems that Tolkien has drawn on the idea of a fierce beast (in this case a dragon) and used it as the climax of the novel. The dragon is awakened in both texts by a ‘Thief’ who rouses the dragon by stealing ‘Gem-studded goblet’-Beowulf. The thief in Beowulf is known only as ‘Someone’, while in The Hobbit Tolkien uses Bilbo as the infamous thief.
Tolkien has also drawn inspiration from the Icelandic Old Norse legend -The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga saga) to create the storyline of the death of the dragon Smaug. A man named Sigurd in the Volsunga Saga, ‘thrusts his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts.’ Thus killing the worm by piercing a weak spot then drawing the sword deep into the beast.
Tolkien has used certain characters in these Old Norse texts such as Fafnir (who ‘killed his father and drove Regin off, keeping the whole treasure for himself’) in the Volsunga Saga as inspiration for characters in his novels. Fafnir foreshadows the characteristics of the character Gollum/Sméagol in The Lord of the Rings through his greed and the heartless act of killing a family member to simply own a ring.
Tolkien has clearly drawn inspiration from the Legend, Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) written by Richard Wagner written in 1879. ‘Alberich forswears and curses all love and he steals the Rhinegold and flees before the shocked Rhinemaidens can take any action.’ This quote is the beginning of a huge controversy in Das Rheingold, over the ring itself. This is shown throughout The Lord of the Rings novels as the main storyline of the trilogy follows the journey of the ring, which is introduced in the original novel The Hobbit. Tolkien may also have drawn inspiration from Wagner’s work in terms of the rings powers. Although in Das Rheingold the ring itself doesn’t have the same power, Wagner writes about another creation made by the character Mime called a Tarnhelm. By which when, ‘Alberich wears the Tarnhelm and turns invisible.’ and becomes able to teleport. These are almost exactly the same powers the ring in Tolkien’s novels had.
References
Ylinen, T. (n.d.). THE RING SYNOPSIS - DAS RHEINGOLD. Retrieved from http://users.utu.fi/hansalmi/wagner/rhein.html
Völuspá, Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
Beowulf Heaney, S. (1999) (trans). Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin,
Volsunga Saga, Morris, W. and Magnussun, E. (Trans.) (1888). The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). London: Walter Scott Press
Tolkien, J.R.R.(1997;1937).TheHobbit,London:HarperCollins, pp.ix;233-242,
Tolkien, J.R.R. (1993;1954). The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. London, HarperCollins, pp.495 – 513
A good answer. Note that Gandalf is based on the god Odin, the same hat and staff and tendency to wander from place to place - plus magic powers of course!
DeleteQuestion 4:
ReplyDeleteHow did Tolkien draw on the old norse and old english text in his “Hobbit” and “Lord of the rings” fantasy novels?
J. R. R. Tolkien was heavily influenced by old norse language all throughout his life, He began studying old norse language at the age of sixteen years old. At university Tolkien's studied old norse language in further detail, he began to associate himself with other people with the same old norse and old english interest as he did by joining different clubs at university. Tolkien and his colleague founded a club called “Vikings club” where they would drink beer and read old norse sagas (Clair, 1995).
It is certain that Tolkien was heavily infused with norse language helping him make “The Lord of the Rings” stories. Tolkien’s did not create every part of “The Lord of the Rings”, many aspects came from different norse myths and legends. Tolkien's incorporated different aspects of old norse myths. For example the use of the character Gandalf in the texts is a physical human representation of the norse god Odin. In some norse stories Odin was described as a wizard that would wear a large brimmed hat (Krieg, 2014).
Tolkien's took these ideas and infused them into his “Lord of the Rings” story. Tolkien’s also used many creatures from old norse mythology and inporterated them into his text. He used characters such as Elves, being split between dark and light. One side being light and the other dark. One being portrayed as angles and the others as demons. Trolls are a representation of the enemy and their main role they play are the opposing side that are violent and want to destroy the human race (Kelchner, 2013). Dwarfs are not considered supernatural beings but still have been incorporated into the texts (Brink, 2008).
Tolkien's is most famous for his unique characters, the hobbits which are "Middles Earths" little people. The hobbies share some characteristics as the Icelanders of the famous family sagas. They both like to wear fancy cloths, act in he similar fashion and both share an exaggerated warm hospitality (Clair, 1995).
Reference:
St. Clair, G. (1995). An overview of the northern influences on Tolkien’s work.
J.R.R Tolkien Centenary Conference, 64-66.
Krieg, K. (2014). What we get from Norse Mythology. Received from: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=aHq7BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27&dq=norse+mythology+tolkien
Brink, S.,& Prince, N. (2008). The Viking World. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=wuN-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA236&dq=elves+trolls+and+dwarves+old+norse
Kelchner, G, D. (2013). Dreams in Old Norse Literature and their Affinities in Folklore. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=eXMoAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41&dq=trolls+old+norse
What are some possible features of residual orality (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Ong (1982), secondary orality pertains to the concept that the existence of orality is reliant upon writing and literate thought. Put simply, an example of secondary orality could be digital media such as the news. Wherein, the news anchor relies on a teleprompter, which uses written features to structure the narrative that will then be spoken. Ong (1982) suggests, that though literate culture is predominantly rooted in written and print cues, as human beings it is difficult to divorce ourselves completely from the oral nature of language. For this reason, Ong (1982) believes that certain features of residual orality still exist.
There are many such features still present in 'Voluspa'. The text begins with the quote "I'll speak the ancient lore" (lines 3-4) and "hear my words, you holy gods". As opposed to I'll write/ note the ancient lore or read my words, you holy gods. This reflects the spoken nature of the text. Another such feature is the first person nature of the text (Ong, 1982), an example of this being "I remember giants of ages past" (line 5). This shows the way in which this poem is "empathic" (Ong 1982, pp 45-46) toward the audience, in an attempt to making them feel involved. According to Ong (1982), an aspect of orality that can be linked to the Voluspa is the idea that it is linked closely with the "human life-world" (pp 42-43). This is seen in Voluspa in examples where characters or things are being spoken about without any background or context. Indicating that this was a reality of the people at the time - Or at least a world that they were familiar with. For instance, "Garm is howling from the Gnipa caves" (line 60). We are not given extensive information about Garm or the Gnipa cave. This implies that the reader would already be privy to this kind of knowledge. Further reinforcing the orality of the Voluspa, as it was closely linked to its time and people of that world.
Ong (1982), further advances the orality of Voluspa in its "evanescent" nature (pp 31-32). This implies that orality is steeped in non-permanence. We could assume that in pre-literate times the Voluspa may have changed forms many times in its re-telling, suggesting its residual orality. However, once it was recorded in writing it would have lost that ever-changing quality. Thus losing its primary orality, while still maintaining some residual components of orality.
References
Ong, J.W. (1982).Orality and Literacy. New York: Routledge.
Völuspá, Terry, P. (Trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
Well answered. Note also that poetic forms,with rhythms and rhymes, was used as an aid to memory, much like songs.
Delete