Beowulf's arrival to slay Grendel is celebrated by Hrothgar's court because of the heroic character. He is also known through the promise made by his father to repay the Danes for their help in settling a terrible feud. Beowulf is famed throughout for his great strength and power. Yet he does not boast of his power or take advantage of it. He uses his power to do good and protect society. When Beowulf departs he is known for his slaying of the horrible creature Grendel and his vengeful mother. This heroism sheds a new light on his character. He is seen as a valiant warrrior, and is given a high rank among his own people. Thus, his fame shows his character and strength.

In Beowulf, fame is the ultimate achievement. In the Seafarer, the author says that "for every nobleman the best of reputations is glory". He goes on to map out a path to reach glory through actions against enemies and brave deeds against the devil. The theme of fame being attain through warrior like actions continues in the Wanderer. On page 107, the author of that story describes the deaths of warriors in battle as "their glorious destiny." So fame appears to be tied to being a warrior. Whether you are victorious or not, being willing to sacrifice yourself for a just cause is worthy of fame.

blog assignment 2

In Beowulf’s world, fame was often achieved through great deeds on the battlefield or through a leader’s noble wisdom. This would mean that, unless a person was a king or a well-known warrior, he would be relatively unknown. Therefore, people would often borrow the fame of family members, usually a son borrowing his father’s, by declaring themselves as son of [a warrior’s name]. By doing this, one could achieve some renown and make connections with other people. In fact, this borrowing had become so common place that everyone was introduced relative to their father no matter their social standings. However, people, namely Beowulf, eventually performed great deeds, and their fame skyrocketed mainly because kings would reward them and poems or songs would be sung. Interestingly, saints such as Martin and Anthony became famous in similar ways; they performed miracles, word spread, and people flocked to them. Despite this similarity, fame in Beowulf’s world came from a person’s own deeds and thus was something to be proud of, while the saints’ fame was not to be celebrated because it came from God’s borrowed power.

Blog Assignment 2

In the context of Beowulf I found fame to be a close parrallel to vanity. The motif of celebration and self promotion is present from the beginning of the work, even going so far as to serve as the inciting incident (when the noise of the feast awakes Grendel). This sets the tone for the rest of the tale as issues of reputation and valor are as integral as the battle with the beast. Issues of Beowulf's reputation are cast in doubt, putting a palor over the tale and utilized as a dramatic device. The importance of fame (and reputation) is put over deeds, accomplishment, and concrete realities of the assembled fictional world. This mirrors my preconceptions of the medieval world. In all the readings it seems that perception and the opinion of others is always at a premium. Through Augustine and other lives of the Saints there is no emphasis put on what someone thinks of themselves, but rather the opinion held of them by God. The same is true with Beowulf. Little effort is put into the character's or other introversions. Fame and by extension reputation have been given an enormous amount of credence in the semester. I find this fitting as even though the majority of the world was commoners, only the upper class (those who couldbe concerned with their reputation) could afford to by books.

I am wondering if the prevalent of theme and reputation is a case of an author pandering to the audience.

-Joel Walkowski

Every character in the book had to talk about their father, of which family lineage they are from, before they can identify themselves. The story seems to take place in a land where fame and reputation are carried on and uphold from one to another. Hrothgar would first recognize Beowulf's father and his accomplishments before he recognizes Beowulf--and Hrothgar, among others, expect Beowulf to stand up to such reputation.
We can also identify how "worthy" a person from the book is, by the amount of goods they carry.
Beowulf brings some weapons on shore before fighting for Hrothgar, yet after every fight, his possessions become more expensive as with his fame. Although he returned to his home with them, he was yet again prized for his voyage to help Hrothgar. His fame back home is less, but still plentiful.
During the fight with the dragon, Wiglaf mentioned once "he considered us worthy of glory, and gave me these treasures..." (69) relating how goods were a symbol of power, and responsibility and fame.
Lastly, among the burials, plenty of goods were buried along were the person to be famous. ie.) Beowulf's burial was 'bigger' than his father's.

I relate fame to possession of goods.
I question the idea of bloodline where goods and fame and loyalty are "supposed" to be passed on from one generation to the next. Why does the author think that a hero must be heroic and powerful? is it related to the part of the thinking of the medieval era, where everyone needs to do good deed, or they would be damned?

Beowulf is described as being "the strongest and mightiest man alive." He approaches Hrothgar with what seems a list of prerequisits for the job of slaying the demon. His introduction revealed him as a powerful man "worthy of the respect of nobles." Hrothgar describs knowing him by way of his lineage. To me fame in the time of Beowulf is coupled with the might of the sword, and the bravery and respectability of the warrior. There is also a factor of noble birth in fame of this time; however, from reading it appears that with out glory in battle one cannot maintain the nobility of his name. I have just started reading Beowulf so my question is how will Beowulf's fame grow, and what factors of his tasks will cause it to grow the most.

Readings

Friday: Read Beowulf, The Wanderer and The Seafarer, which are located at the back of your Beowulf text.
Monday: Read Gregory of Tours, The History of the Franks, Prologue and Books 1&2.

Blog Assignment # 2

Discuss fame in the context of Beowulf, feel free to bring in comparisons from our previous readings.

Blog Assignment # 2

Discuss fame in the context of Beowulf, feel free to bring in comparisons from our previous readings.

blog assignment #1

This post is late but because I've had the chance to go through a discussion section, I feel like I'm in a better position to answer the prompt. One thing about the middle ages that this class is already changing for me has to do with credibility. I have always been curious about how different life might have been for people living around the time of Christ than it is for us today. But I never even considered that the things Athanasius and Severus wrote about, devils whose heads were touching the sky, incarnations of satan that materialize out of thin air and are driven to dematerialize simply by the sign of the cross, the saints mysteriously turning up one day covered with bruises and cuts from fighting with lucifer etc...I never even considered that these things might actually have happened. Stacey said to us in section today that this many people writing and talking about the same crazy occurences can't all be crazy. So what are they seeing? Are they recording truthfully a world so radically different from ours that a devil might actually appear to someone and be driven away simply from hearing the name of Christ? Or is it that we don't hear about these things anymore? Is it that we are so conditioned to be skeptical and disbelieve anything we can't prove with logic and rational thought that the idea of the supernatural is relegated to the realm of the impossible? I'm skeptical about my own skepticism. The readings, the force with which these authors and their subjects believed in what they recorded, are making me doubt.
But to return to that skepticism fo just a moment, I would like to talk more in sections about some rational explanations for the "possessions" that our saints deal with. The girl in Martin for example, whose father fell at Martin's feet and begged him to see her, was "possessed," but possibly mostly with a progressive muscular disorder. Even if that's the cause, though, how did Martin heal her?

I read other people's blog before I wrote mine, so, to add on a little:
I had the idea that most people were quite religious and superstituous during the middle age, because lots of people did not have much 'science' to base how natural phenomenon come about. However, I was unaware about how commited and devoted they could be about their believes. "... no one should weaken in the firmness of their commitment to the way of life he has chosen, but should always strive to increase his commitment to this undertaking as if he were just starting out ..." (Athanasius, 16)

One thing I have not fully come across, but would like to learn, is the 'reasoning' for their religious belief. Did all these people choose Christianity for the 'afterlife', or were there other things they sought?

A good topic for tomorrow's discussion is the role women played in Medival society.

a good topic for tomorrow's discussion is how people dealt with death back then compared to now, given the fact that they had such a high belief in spirits and the miracles of christianity

The readings diverge from my understandings of religion's role on the individual's lifestyle and aspirations. I did not realize that people of the middle ages were so swayed by religion at that time. I misunderestimated the power of religion during that time period.

blog assignment

The readings have clearly converged with my belief that the world at large was in the dark as it relates to science and religion. In Wednesday's lecture is was stated that Augustine had a dream about the devil and referred to himself as being possessed. This explained why movies always depict priests so easily persecuting someone for being a heritic. Spirits had a big influence on the general population of the public and are used to express things that are outside their knowledge. which in tern creates an open door to religious fanaticism. In some ways that has not changed to this day. What did diverge from my preconceived notion of the middle ages was the hype that movies put on princesses in danger, and wars and conquest. The readings reveal that life is just as monotonous back then as it is now.

The readings show a more human side to people of the middle ages. In particular, the saints come accross as more human. For the most part, Augustine's "Confessions" show how he used to sin and kind of paint a picture of his movement from sinfulness to some sort of perfection. However, in book ten he talks about how he still fantasizes about having sex with many different women as he is sleeping. I feel that it shows that although he has fought off his sinful nature, he still has to deal with the urges of his past. He didn't simply discard his old habits with severe discipline. Rather, he seems to have managed a way to not act on these urges. He still wants to have sex with many partners, but he fights an inner battle not to sin.

The readings also confirm my perceptions of the middle ages as a time that was unsanitary compared to today's standards. The fever seems to be a common killer during that time. However, now after 3 days of medication and rest one can return to full health.

The commonality of the fever leads me to wonder whether or not the fever was used to name other illness that carried the similar symptoms, but were unknown at the time.

I think there is a clear convergence with the struggle for spiritual identification and definition we see in the reading with what I believed to be true of the earlier parts of the Middle Ages. Something I believe to be overlooked quite often that divulges from my preconcieved notions is the way the people in the time period viewed the age in which they were living. In Early Christian Lives Athanasius describes how the pagan religions were essentially a deception made by the devil to trick the common man into thinking that he and his demons were holy and gods. On pg. 34 he says "Truly Jesus has utterly destroyed your powers ; stripped of your honours as an angell, you lie rolling in the mud." From this quote it seems that Christians at that time would not have viewed this time as a dark age, but instead as an enlightenment of sorts. This is the time when the devil's hold over man is weakening, and he is left "rolling in the mud".

Readings

Friday January 25th - Augustine Confessions, read books 9-10 and skim books 11-13
Monday January 28th - Augustine City of God book 1 and the letters of Symmachus and Ambrose (#17) which are both in your reader.

Hi

Sorry to be a bother, but circumstances prevented me from getting to class today. Would anyone be able to help me out with the reading assignment for friday. Thank you so much. 

Joel 

Blog Assignment 1

By Thursday 8pm, post a paragraph response to the following:

How do you see the readings diverging from and converging with your ideas about the Middle Ages? Use our discussion from last Friday as a jumping off point.

Also, pose a question about the readings for us to discuss further in class on Friday.

Hello: On Friday I failed to complete my thought concerning women and how they were absent (except his very visible Mother) from Augustine's text - The 600 hundred pound gorilla(s) in the book are women! Augustine is in a constant struggle with his lust for women. At every turn he's confessing his inability to turn to God and receive God's salvation because he is unable to release the yoke of his passion for women. Imagine the power of women: God's words - famous bishops - confessions/conversions to God from other companions - his mother's tears - his best friend's death - NOTHING can convince Augustine that God's love and comfort can be better for him than his love of women. Amazing! Women have all the power in this book; though hardly a full sentence is dedicated to any one women or her place in his life. Go Patriots.

Friday's Discussion Sections

Both 9am Friday discussion sections will meet in VKC205. If you are in the 10am section, go to Oasis and switch to either the 9am or noon sections ASAP. See you tomorrow!

NO CLASS ON MONDAY!

Remember no class on Monday Jan 21st. Let's all eat cake! Like this lovely Sutton Hoo Helmet cake...

Readings
Wednesday: Athanasius, Life of Anthony, Sulpicius Severus, Life of St. Martin. These can both be found in your Early Christian Lives book.

Readings for the week of Jan 14th-18th

The Confessions of St. Augustine
Wednesday Books 1-4
Friday Books 4-8, Handouts: Conversion of Constantine

Welcome to the blog

Hello! Welcome to our blog for History 102g. Feel free to post any time. All we ask is that you try to stay on topic and that you always be respectful of others. Stacey and I will be posting an assignment each week that will be due Thursday evening by 8pm. We will also post the assigned readings so that you always know what is going on in class.