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Beowulf and grendel's mother questions
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Beowulf Attacks Grendel's Mother
(A Short Description of the Passage)
Beowulf sees Grendel's mother in a cave. He tries to hit her with his sword, Unferth's Hrunting, but it fails to pierce her skin. So he throws the sword away and attacks the mother with his bare hands. He trusts "in his strength, his mighty hand-grip." Beowulf manages to throw Grendel's mother down; however, she quickly retaliates and is soon sitting on top of him. She tries to kill him with a dagger, but Beowulf's armor protects him this time. Beowulf managed to throw her off of himself and sees a sword of enormous size, which he immediately grabs.
This sword has a beautiful ornamented handle and a blade that is hinting that this is not an average sword. It is "an old sword made by giants, string of its edges, glory of warriors." Beowulf uses this sword to kill Grendel's mother by hitting her from above, thus breaking her collar-bones and slicing her into two halves. At this moment, the fire brightens and lits the cave from inside, "just as from the sky heaven's candle shines clear." Beowulf looks around and sees dead Grendel, so he immediately cuts monster's head off to present it to Hrothgar. As soon as he does that, the lake becomes stained with blood. The watchers ashore interprets this as a sign of Beowulf's death of the hands of Grendel's mother.
GRAPH
Meanwhile, the blade of Beowulf's new sword melts because the blood is too hot and poisonous for it. Beowulf does not take anything from the cave besides Grendel's head and the handle of the miraculous sword even though there are many great treasures around. He swims back to the shore and is heartily greeted by his fellow warriors. Grendel's head is car...
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Don, Joe. Joe Don's Baby Cha Page. Online. Internet. October 11, 1998. Available HTTP: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Grid/1308/
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Groceske, Randy. A Classic Adventure: The Adventures of Beowulf. Online. Internet. October 15, 1998. Available HTTP: http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Cabana/2388/beowulf.html
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The passage that I analyzed spans the action when Beowulf returns to the halls of Heorot after a harsh battle with Grendel’s mother. He returns to king Hrothgar in the great hall of Heorot to say that he has successfully completed his boast and killed Grendel’s mother. Beowulf states that it has been a very difficult underwater battle and that he has barely escaped with his life, “The fight would have been ended straightway if God had not guarded me” (Donaldson, 29). Beowulf mentions this due to the fact that the sword given to him by Unferth, called Hrunting, was powerless against Grendel’s Mother. Hrunting is useless against Grendel’s mother due to the fact that she has the same charm upon her as Grendel did, which is that no normal sword can pierce her skin. Then, by chance, Beowulf finds an ancient sword on a wall during the battle and uses it against the monster. This sword, which was crafted by the giants, is able to pierce the monster's skin and after one swing, the monster was cut in half. After using this ancient sword to murder the monster, Beowulf watches the blade of the sword melt away due to the toxicity of the monster's blood, until only the hilt was left. A hilt is the handle of a weapon or tool. The hilt is decorated with runic symbols and was given to King Hrothgar of the Danes as proof of Beowulf’s exploits. The King is also given the severed head of Grendel as further reassurance that their troubles at the great hall of Heorot is over.
Then the Danes decide to go back to Herot and while they are sleeping, Grendel’s mother comes to attack them in order to even the score for the killing of her son. Then she leaves, taking the body parts of her son and Esher (which is one of Hrothgar's close friends) with her. Beowulf attempts to save him by entering the monster-filled lake, although the sword that he uses is useless against the skin of Grendel’s mother. As he continues to fight, he grows tired, but then notices that there is a huge sword on the wall of the battle hall where he was dragged to. The sword just so happened to be a magical one that was blessed by the giants that made it.
Beowulf. Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded Edition Volume 1. ED. Maynard Mack et al. New York: Norton, 1995. 1546-1613.
Beowulf was a true hero, in the eyes of many, through said traits. He fought a number of battles and was triumphant in all, except his last battle. Beowulf possessed the skills and power necessary to kill Grendel, the monster who had been terrorizing the Danes for over a decade, with his bare hands. While fighting, Beowulf detached Grendel’s arm from his shoulder, which was later hung up as a trophy. Beowulf eventually put an end to Grendel’s life, and naturally, Grendel’s mother had pursued Beowulf. Although Grendel’s mother was an even deadlier monster than her son, Beowulf once again proved his abilities by slaying her, as well. He slashed her neck with a sword that carried unbearable weight. Afterwards, he carried her head with only his own arms, while it took the a...
Beowulf. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume A. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2006. 34-100.
Wright, David. “The Digressions in Beowulf.” In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.
Beowulf is called upon again to defeat this monster. Beowulf puts on his armour and takes the sword Hrunting and descends into the monster’s lair. Grendel’s mother quickly grabs Beowulf and takes him to the battle arena. Once there, Beowulf fights and finds his sword cannot pierce the monster’s hide. So once again, Beowulf throws his sword aside and fights hand-to-hand. Yet, he could not defeat her with his hands alone. Then Beowulf sees, “hanging on the wall, a heavy, Sword, hammered by giants, strong And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons.” Taking the sword and holding it high above his head he strikes the monster in the neck cutting deep into the skin, breaking bones and all. Thus ending his second heroic battle with a mythical beast and proving that he is indeed worthy of praise. Yet, this is not the greatest of his deeds.
When people think of the Mayans, they think of people that live in the deep, dark jungle. People are wrong. The Mayans are a smart group of people that lived in a big city on the top of the mountain. Their culture was centered on their belief in many gods. The ancient Maya were religious people that enjoyed practicing their religion by using sacrifices, sport and a strong belief in the afterlife.
Since the beginning of discovery, the Maya have always been known as “an indigenous people from Mexico and Central America” in 1800 B.C. to about 800 A.D. (“The Maya Civilization,” 1/1). One of the most dominant societies of Mesoamerica, the Maya geographically centralized in one “block”: the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala, Belize, Tabasco and Chiapas (Mexico), and the western part of Honduras and El Salvador (“Maya,” 1/1). Their constant location, over a period of almost 3000 years, shows that the Maya stayed safe from invasion by other peoples. The Maya Empire peaked at 600-800 A.D. and suffered a decline when the Spanish conquistadors rose.
In the early centuries A.D., the Mayan peoples began building their civilization in the center of Mesoamerica. This location allowed the Maya to conduct trade and exchange their local products. They also participated in the slash and burn method, however, evidence shows that they may have developed other methods such as planting on raised beds above swamps and on hillside terraces. Not only did location have an influence on agricultural life, it also had an influence on all other aspects of life. The Maya drew influence from a neighboring society, the Olmec. The Maya blended their customs with the Olmec to create a culturally diverse society. These Olmec customs had quite an influence on other aspects of the Maya society. The Maya had a polytheistic religion with gods of corn, death, rain, and war. These religious beliefs led to the development of calendars, astronomy, and mathematics. The Maya developed two types of calendars: religious and solar. The religious calendar was based on the belief that “time was a burden carried on the back of a God.” The solar calendar was based on the observations of the sun, planets, and moon. Unlike our calendar today, it was consisted of twenty-five da...
In the Central America, most notably the Yucatan Peninsula, are the Maya, a group of people whose polytheistic religion and advanced civilization once flourished (Houston, 43). The Maya reached their peak during the Classic Period from around CE 250 to the ninth century CE when the civilization fell and dispersed (Sharer, 1). Although much has been lost, the gods and goddesses and the religious practices of the Classic Maya give insight into their lives and reveal what was important to this society.
Beowulf looked over on the wall next to them and saw a magnificent sword hanging on the wall adorned with beautiful carvings, it was blessed with magic. No normal man could ever have lifted that sword, but Beowulf was no normal being. He waited for the right moment to go and retrieve the sword, and when he found the perfect opportunity and he ran straight towards the wall. He pulled the sword down with great force and began running towards Grendel’s mother. Beowulf took in a deep breath as he leaned back and heaved the sword forward. Beowulf had sliced straight through Grendel’s mother’s scaly neck, blood began to pour everywhere and he heard her bones cracking as the sword passed through her.
The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. "From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order" ("Collapse..." 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion.
This paper explores information gather from several articles that report on the Mayan Civilization throughout the years of their rise, their conquering, and their fall, as well as their interactions with other civilizations, specifically the Spanish. The Mayan civilization dates back before the 16th century, before they were conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors and the civilization diminished. During their reign, the Maya civilization thrived in what is now parts of Southern Mexico and Central America. However, their supremacy was struck down when the Spanish and their beliefs
The Maya civilization is one of the most original and rich ancient populaces in the world. It is a group of varied ethnicities, common in some traits, but diverse in languages, customs and in history.1 By using the word "Maya " We can give two meanings. The first, of a civilization that flourished from the 4th century B.C. and it had its decline in the 7th century A.D. in what is known as the classical period resurgent in the post-classical period. And the second meaning refers to a people and culture that continues to exist to this day representing a tradition of more than 2000 years.