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507
o n e
At Denmark on A.D. 507, there was a king named Hrothgar, who, at the time, was celebrating a party. In that party he said that he swore, 1 year ago, that they, the Danes, would celebrate their victories in a new hall, which he called Heorot. Then soon after they sung merrily about Hrothgar's victory against the 'demon' dragon. -
507
t w o
In a dark pool by the cave, surrounded with snow and trees, lived a monster, Grendel, who, due to his sensitive ears, was annoyed by the merrymaking the Danes were doing. So the monster went to the hall and massacred most of the Danes, both men and women. Then after doing so, went back to his place and that's where he talked to his mother about what he did and was asked if Hrothgar was there. -
507
t h r e e
After the incident, Hrothgar forbid any kind of singing or merrymaking. Then he said to relay a message that he would give half of his kingdom's gold to any man who can rid them of Grendel. Then Beowulf, a man part of the Geats and a man of immense strength and courage heard about this rumor of Grendel and decided to take up the challenge along with his companions. "If we die, it would be for glory, not for gold." Beowulf said. -
507
f o u r
They have decided to celebrate Beowulf's arrival with merrymaking. This once more irritated Grendel leading the monster to attack Heorot while they were all asleep. Fortunately Beowulf and his 14 companions are now here to save the day. Beowulf battled the beast with his bare hands seeing as no weapon can penetrate the monster. during the fight he noticed the monster's weak spot which would be his ears. -
507
f i v e
He hit the monster on his ears making the monster shriek in pain. In Grendel's weak moment, Beowulf tore Grendel's limb off and so the monster fled back to his cave in surrender, slowly dying. Grendel's mother was angered by her son's death so she attacked Heorot and Beowulf was tasked to kill Grendel's Mother. He did so successfully and he was rewarded the honor of being king. -
507
s i x
Beowulf's kingdom prospered. one day his servants discovered a hoard of golden treasures and took a vase. It so happened that it belonged to a dragon and this dragon became very angry. It attacked Beowulf's kingdom and Beowulf had to fight and protect his people but he isn't as young as he once was so he faced the battle with difficulty. Despite of, he defeated the dragon. Unfortunately in the fight, he was hit with the dragon's poisonous fire. Resulting in this legend's heroic death. -
1. Are "heroic" qualities universal and timeless?
Different people have different perspectives thus, making them have different ideas of what qualities a heroic person should have. It depends in what era or culture the story originated, because not all of us have the same perspective or definition of heroic qualities because of being influenced by our different cultures and beliefs. -
2. How is love manifested in the stories and poems of the old and early-modern English literature?
Our ideas of what a hero is like and what a hero is supposed to be like roots way back from childhood. We may see it first from our parents or our very first childhood heroes we look up to in comics, stories, or on television. It may also come from the way we are raised and things we are taught of from an early age. Love is manifested in different ways during those times and also has it's similarities; like if you love someone you need to value and be willing to sacrifice for them. -
3. What influences our concepts of what is "true", "noble", "heroic", and "good"?
What was taught to us; like our beliefs and values, influences our concepts. These were influenced by our culture, traditions, and the society that we lived in.These molded our way of thinking and/or made a major role on giving us guidance of what we should do, act, and believe in. This is different in each person, for example; you decided to help the young man up despite the fact that he did something wrong. This may be "good" to you, but may be considered "bad" to others. -
4. Why should we value studying?
We should value studying because it helps us develop, change, and grow. Studying is for everyone, both young and old. Studying is focused learning. Life is a journey of learning; to grow and to improve oneself. To learn we must study. To understand life better and to avoid ignorance, studying is essential. Ignorance is dangerous especially in a world like ours.