Here are the questions for weeks 1 - 3. Please use the comments section to post your answers. Do not make a new blog:
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 cite 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 cite 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).
2. What are some possible features of residual (or “secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDelete8. 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 (The song of the Volva), a piece of oral literature that has been spoken, then written down. “Written words are residue” (Ong page 17). Residue of what has been said and what is now written. Dictionary definition states:
“Something that remains after a part is removed, disposed of, or used; remainder; rest; remnant.”
The part that has been removed is the spoken/ oral element. What becomes of orality is written language.
Residue that has been preserved is that, the text still has a narrator that sounds as though she is speaking. This text is intended to be spoken not read. “Visual transformations of language” (Ong page 19). When we are reading we are speaking, “aloud or in the imagination” (Ong Page 16). Written texts are related to the world of sound. “Reading a text means converting it to sound”. Need orality to then write, and furthermore, to read.
The first paragraph holds the effect of orality:
“Hear my words, you holy gods,
great men and humble sons of Heimdall;
by Odin’s will, I’ll speak the ancient lore,
the oldest of all that I remember.”
The narrator is speaking from memory; she has told this story many times. She is addressing the audience as if they were right in front of her. “When an often- told oral story is not actually being told, all that exists of it is the potential in certain human beings to tell it” (Ong page 17). Passed down through generations, orality is preserved; and even more when stories become written down. The only problem is that there is no way of knowing how many versions have been written, after speech has taken place.
Orality stands as one entity. It includes additional information, rather than hiding it. It doesn’t leave anything out or untouched. This is what makes the story better, rather than being placed aside in a lower rank.
It’s a collection of particulars, these being the language and the characters in the plot. Orality is the whole mass of these particulars.
“Sons of Heimdall (men),
men’s fair dwelling (Midgard); the moon’s companion (the sun);
fairness of face (hair).”
The ending of this text is questionable. It seems as though it has been Christianised and added on. Monks were writing this piece in the scriptoria, so the story may have been filtered with the Christian influence.
The ending of this piece has similarities to the bible and its Christian revolution: the new Jerusalem or heaven. They both have the hope of a new restored world. The land returns to glory, the dragon lies beneath the land. The carrying of corpses could be like God. In the text Odin is like God.
A hope that the “saviour” will come and the world will be great again. People can live in happiness,
“there shall deserving people dwell to the end of time and enjoy their happiness.”
This is a creation story, it includes the “nine roots that form nine worlds under the earth”. Within the story it includes the beginning, middle and end of the world. This leads to the purpose of the text, and why this was spoken then written down. Entertainment is the answer. At the time the audience enjoyed this type of story/ plot.
The desire of the text however, is the human desire to find out why the world is the way it is, and how it all started. Every person follows a desire, just how every story has a desire to provide.
A particularly thorough answer. Well put together. Answer to Q8 not so clear. the audience would look for wisdom, truth, and a reinforeced world view. The pleasure of confirmin long held truths.
Delete8. 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).
ReplyDeleteHero Myth
Mythologies as Joseph Campbell states, “…the ego can’t reflect upon itself without a mirror in which to read itself…” (2010, 24sec), is a way for human beings to reflect upon themselves. In the case of Voluspa, the Volsanga saga, Beowulf and The Hobbit, the story of the hero, which runs in all four examples, can be seen as the reflection of the people’s values and ideas of the time. It serves as a lesson or mechanism for the audience to calibrate themselves through these stories. An example found in Voluspa is Thor’s description as “Midgard’s defender”, someone who protects humanity’s home, although victorious in battle with Jormungandr but losing Midgard itself. One can say that the text brings to the audiences’ mind the questions of duty and home in the face of an end. As a people in the 13th century, war and raiding would be part of the culture and the prospect of having a clan destroyed through war would be what is symbolized here.
Mathew Winkler (2012) summarizes the heroes journey formula and discusses how going through the cycle of the journey enhances the life of that hero. Sigurd and Beowulf are called to action to slay a monster and in doing so receive great treasure. Bilbo enters a dragon’s cave in search of treasure. Overcoming fear/trials and achieving greatness is one of the messages symbolized in these stories.
Overall I think in these examples, the text desires to mirror and hold to light the human experience through the symbols of these narratives, to guide an audience through the cycle.
Ref:
Joseph Campbell--Myth as the Mirror for the Ego. (2010). Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgOUxICCHoA
What makes a hero? - Matthew Winkler. (2012). Retrieved March 16, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhk4N9A0oCA
Week 1-3
ReplyDelete(Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings)
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.
In Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we can identify similarities to Old Norse and Old English texts. For example, the poem Beowulf includes a dragon, much like The Hobbit does. In both texts the dragon was awakened by a thief, which is Bilbo in The Hobbit and in Beowulf an unknown ‘someone’ stealing a ‘Gem-studded goblet’. Both of these also have similarities to texts such as Voluspa and Volsunga Saga because they all include a male protagonist that takes on a dragon or serpent like creature. In Voluspa the protagonist Thor, son of Earth, defeats a snake and in Volsunga Saga, the protagonist Sigurd defeats a ‘worm’. These are all very much alike in the sense of main character and their need to defeat a monster-like enemy.
By looking at these different texts, we can easily see that writers still use old texts for inspiration and include different aspects of their work into their own. All the typical things such as dragons, weapons, dwarves, and magical items such as rings.
6. What place do the old myths have in the modern world?
Myths are a great source of entertainment as well as an escape from reality and adventure through a fantasy world. Yes, myths usually involve things that are not real, after all that is what classifies them as myth, for instance things like dragons in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings etc. But they do also include things that are real so we are able to relate, such as characters and their desires. We were first introduced to myths through storytelling, things like poems such as Voluspa, and then extended to books and furthermore films, once again like The Hobbit. Myths have extended even further over the years due to technology. We were introduced into things like gaming which created a new platform for the myth based experience. There are also comics and graphic novels that have spread the source of myth around. This also lead to different conventions world wide like Comic Con and Armageddon, where people attend events and often dress as their favourite mythical characters and creatures. According to Campbell (1949), myths are a way society connects. He believes they help us have a better understanding of ourselves through hearing stories.
References:
Armageddon Expo. (2017. Retrieved from https://www.armageddonexpo.com/
Comic-Con International: San Diego. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.comic-con.org/cci
Heaney, S. (1999) (trans). Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin
Morris, W. and Magnussun, E. (Trans.) (1888). The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga). London: Walter Scott Press
Terry, P. (trans). (1990, 1966). Poems of the Elder Edda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press
Tolkien, J.R.R.(1997;1937).TheHobbit,London:HarperCollins, pp.ix;233-242
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is a particularly thoughtful and deep reply. One way to help us understand this is to ask, to what extent are human conflicts externalized or internalised in any particular text. The motif of overcoming the monster by be externalized into an exciting encounter or internalised as a psycological drama. These old myths may help us understand the internal forces operating in our psyches.
Delete2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances?
ReplyDeleteThere is a good portion of residual orality still present in Voluspa. As defined by Onj 1982, orality is “spoken word that only exists in the moment of it being spoken.” In the dictionary, orality is defined as the quality of being verbally communicated. In the text Voluspa, the few lines of residual orality really emphasize the deep underlying message of the text. Some of these include; “I remember giants of ages past, those who called me one of their kin; I know how nine roots form nine worlds under the earth where the Ash Tree rises.” As onj 1982 mentions, “raditional expressions in oral cultures must not be dismantled: it has been hard work getting them together over the generations, and there is nowhere outside the mind to store them.”
Although there are more modern versions of Voluspa that are easier to understand, it is not fair to say that they are better. As Onj 1982 states: “It would be a mistake to think that the Douay is simply ‘closer’
to the original today than the New American is. It is closer in that
it renders we or wa always by the same word, but it strikes the
present-day sensibility as remote, archaic, and even quaint. Peoples
in oral cultures or cultures with high oral residue, including the
culture that produced the Bible, do not savor this sort of
expression as so archaic or quaint. It feels natural and normal to them somewhat as the New American version feels natural and
normal to us.” In this sense, it implies that Orality is "additive rather than subordinative.”
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).
I think the text desires a deeper understanding for the Christian faith. It wishes to depict the story of how the world was made. It wishes to portray the people involved in the evolution of the world. It imitates a Christian story, the telling of god and how he made Earth. It is the story of the beginning, middle and end. “Nothing was there when time began, neither sands nor seas nor cooling waves. Earth was not yet, nor the high heavens, but a gaping emptiness nowhere green. Then the holy gods met to give judgment, the holy gods took counsel together: they named night and night’s children, gave names to morning and night afternoon and evening, ordered time by years. There comes the dark dragon flying, flashing upward from Nidafells; on wide swift wings it soars above the earth carrying corpses. Now she will sink down.” The text also offers a pleasure in the sense that people who are deserving will dwell in a hall fairer than the sun, thatched with gold to the end of time and enjoy their happiness. This is in my opinion, a reference to heaven “she sees a hall, fairer than the sun, thatched with gold; it stands at Gimle. There shall deserving people dwell to the end of time and enjoy their happiness.”
Some good points made.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to claim that the 'text desires a deeper understanding for the Christian faith.' I'm not sure how a text can desire something. Nor is it accurate to say that the text 'imitates a Christian Story' as these myths often predate Christianity. Many 'Creation Myths', which is what we have here, exhibit similar features, including the ancient Jewish account in the Old Testament, but not because they were imitating each other or some 'primary story.'
Hi Mike, I see how wrong it was of me to say that the text imitates a Christian story and desires a deeper understanding for the christian faith, however the question does say "discuss what you think the text desires" In addition to that, because this text consists of lines that are very similar to the bible and has a very Christian and Godlike feel to it, it would be easy for modern day people like myself to mistaken it as some sort of extract from the bible or a story about god and how the world was made.
Delete