Medieval Literature

[-Ghost-]

Originally Posted by DavetheFo

Seriously, who told you that? Its right off the scale. Medieval times were way before the 16th century.

Ok, I was a bit off.

[Admiral Donutz]

I havent read any of them i'm afraid but I would so to go for it, ofcourse there are people who say it isn't "cool" to read such literature but I would say they are very intresting and if you feel like reading them then by all means go for it. You won't up any worse by doing it

[SpiderGoat]

Originally Posted by Aeroflot

Grendal

It's Grendel. I've read a copy that my brother - who studied it at university - has. And if you've ever read an Old-English text, you probably understand why they don't ask you to translate it.

[Ryette]

I read Beowulf as a Freshman in my Mythology class (from the Senior Literature book), as well as a dumbed-down version when I was in 7th grade.

Both times I found it to be incredibly boring.

[Phoenix_22]

Originally Posted by Siron

It was a good story. Read it many, many years ago.

I believe it's dated to be over a thousand years old. One of oldest stories surviving now, in English.

Its the oldest story that is on print, as in the first true book that is known (There could be more that were lost, one never knows).

[PropheticKarma]

Prince of the Weder-Geats.

...Wiglaf.

The text makes us litterally laugh out loud, its the only way to get through it and its fun seeing how long someone can go without saying Hygelac ((I've named him Higgles.)), Heardred, or Scylfing. I actually just finished my homework for it.

I don't think the story's bad I like literature usually, unless its mark twain or walt whitman...I respect them but that doesn't mean I have to like them...

[colonel_bob]

Originally Posted by Aeroflot

You know, ever since my senior English class started, I have been awaiting the chance to study Beowulf. Generally, Beowulf is looked upon as boring by high school students, as well as other who don't find reading very entertaining (which I can safely say counts many people out.) I really don't know why I'm interested in the story, maybe because it sparks my imagination, I don't know. Grendal, the monster whom Beowulf fights in the story, is a dragon-like creature, just the name sounds evil: I like the idea. It sounds like something I'd like to read more about.

We just had a Beowulf test today. The story, in my opinion (or at least the crappy abriged version we read), kind of sucked (it was a tad lame -- the Odessey or Illiad is better for these epic poem things), but I am pretty interested in the histroy of the story itself (such as it being the first "modern" work of English literature). I would have really liked to see a side by side comparison of how it was written and the translation, to see how words and meanings (letters, even) have changed in the thousand years since it's been written. Now that would have been cool.

[Aeroflot]

Originally Posted by colonel_bob

We just had a Beowulf test today. The story, in my opinion (or at least the crappy abriged version we read), kind of sucked (it was a tad lame -- the Odessey or Illiad is better for these epic poem things), but I am pretty interested in the histroy of the story itself (such as it being the first "modern" work of English literature). I would have really liked to see a side by side comparison of how it was written and the translation, to see how words and meanings (letters, even) have changed in the thousand years since it's been written. Now that would have been cool.

Yeah. You can find such charts that show how the words have changed, I forgot the site, though. It's also interesting to see the similarities between different languages.