Class Minutes

Hey everybody,

Here's the minutes for Friday, October 3rd. 

We spent most of the class discussing questions about Beowulf. First, we discussed that Beowulf took Grendel's arm and gave it to the king to put in the mead hall. This led to a big discussion on the most important relationship in the entire book, the relationship between the King and Thane (Nobility). The thanes would do anything for their lord, including dying to protect him. The king then returns the favor by being the "Ring-Giver". As the "Ring-Giver", the king gives out different rewards for acts of service to the king. Armbands were given as a sort of standard operating procedure. If a warrior did something significant, then they would probably receive a token taken from the opposing side, such as a shield or banner. The most extraordinary deeds were rewarded with the thing that was prized and wanted by warriors, land. 

Next, someone asked what the importance of announcing your lineage when introducing yourself to someone. Because there were no last names, announcing your lineage was a way of identifying yourself to others. It was also a way to provide the accomplishments of your predecessors. 

We also discussed revenge and the blood price cycle. We discussed how people would get revenge on someone who killed a member of their family by killing them or a member of their family. It then became an endless cycle of "blood-for-blood" until no one was left. We discussed the term wergild as well. Wergild is literally defined as "man-price" and means the amount a person is worth. Wergild can be paid to a family in order to end a blood feud. 

We discussed how Ecgtheow was unable to pay a wergild, which put his tribe in danger. He ended up exiling himself in order to protect his tribe. Ecgtheow then found the Danes and meets Hrothgar. After hearing Ecgtheow's story, Hrothgar was so moved by how honorably Ecgtheow acted that he paid off the wergild for Ecgtheow. Later, Beowulf sought out Hrothgar and the Danes to help them because Hrothgar had helped Ecgtheow, Beowulf's father. 

We then moved on to discuss the prologue. We reviewed the importance of lineage again and also discussed the introduction of Hrothgar and his lineage. The book also introduced Scyld and his story. Scyld was found coming ashore from the sea as a baby and became a very important warrior and later king for the Danes. When he died, the Danes sent him back out to sea in a boat with gold. 

The last thing we discussed was a very important theme in the book. We discussed the theme, ALL THINGS END, and how nothing is permanent and nothing lasts forever. Mr. Lazarow emphasized this point strongly and told us it was very important to the story. 

REMEMBER!!!!!! Everyone should bring in one of their college essay prompts tomorrow so we can begin to work on them. If the school you are applying to does not require an essay, then take one from the Common Application, which you can find online. See you all tomorrow

-Sarah Mercer