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beowulf and tolkien's books
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2715		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  vikingmaiden [ August 31st, 2005, 6:57 pm ]
Post subject:  beowulf and tolkien's books
ok, i think a lot of know that tolkien was an amazing anglo-saxon scholar, and literally transformed the way we view heroic poetry such as beowulf, and also so called 'fairy stories'...so what are some of the similarities you can find between beowulf (for those who've read it) and tolkien's works? post as many as you can find! i'll start off with one that sticks out to me: the part with the dragon in beowulf is reminiscent of bilbo's encounter with the dragon in the hobbit.
Author:  Sithiel [ September 7th, 2005, 6:06 pm ]
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I love beowulf! it is my favorite book...after all of tolkien's there are tons of simalarities though
Author:  Cuilwen [ September 8th, 2005, 2:51 pm ]
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I've never read it.. I think I really should do that.
Author:  Antigone [ September 9th, 2005, 8:54 am ]
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I've never read Beowulf either. It must be good book, though
Author:  vikingmaiden [ September 9th, 2005, 10:46 pm ]
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aye! you all must read it! it's a classic!
Author:  Ivreniel [ September 9th, 2005, 11:14 pm ]
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Yes, everyone must read it, I second the motion.

Similarities, hmm. Well of course the most obvious similarity would be the use of poetry for story-telling. Of course Tolkien uses poetry much much less than in Beowulf (the whole thing is an epic poem), but the style of poetry, the poetic storytelling form, is still reflected in the lays so popular in middle-earth.

Another thing offhand is the very concept of the epic. Tolkien strived to create a story in the epic tradition. He also walked a similar line between epic and an historical sage in how the story is related. There's also some of the ancient themes in Tolkien and Beowulf-- such as courage, in the old fashioned sense, among other things.

I'll have to re-read Beowulf and see what I can see!
Author:  Bellethiel [ September 10th, 2005, 1:41 am ]
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I've only skimmed it a little bit, but there is a character named Eomer, isn't there? And I believe there is a castle called Meduseld... and isn't there an Eowyn-ish name in there as well?

I really should read it all the way through sometime, I hear its really good!
Author:  Sithiel [ September 12th, 2005, 6:37 pm ]
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aack!!! every one NEEDS to read the book!!! its classic, it was the first book ever written in english ppl! you must read it!!! espesially if u like tolkiens books and his play in "the tolkien reader"
Author:  Nienor [ September 16th, 2005, 7:32 am ]
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I think the most obvious, and yet the most striking similarities for me were between the Geats (sp?) and Rohirrim. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been half a year since I read the book (now one of my absolute favorites, by the way), but the Geats were the ones Beowulf assisted?
I loved the hall, I had such rich images. I remember picturing it, all dark, with an overcast sky, lit with lamps and candles that barely illuminated the standards, tapestries, and adornments on the walls.
See? I get all poetic just thinking about it. :P

As for reading it...I don't think it's for everyone. You have to be the sort of person that doesn't really mind reading a history book. It's long and at times difficult to read, but I think it's worth it. :)
Author:  vikingmaiden [ September 16th, 2005, 1:26 pm ]
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yes, i also think that the halls of Meduseld and Heorot are similar. the 'celebration' that the geats and the danes have after beowulf arrives reminds me of the one that the rohirrim have after aragorn and the others arrive at edoras. the queen wealhtheow goes to each of the men and gives them a cup of mead...like eowyn does.
the geats were the ones who helped the danes. so beowulf himself is a geat (from present day sweden).
beowulf certainly is one of my favourite pieces of literature. i like it more than the lit of the later middle ages, actually. it's hard to read the first time round, but the more you read it and understand it, it gets better and better!
Author:  Sithiel [ September 17th, 2005, 3:42 pm ]
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yes i think of the geats a lot like the rohirrim, and thier hall a lot like edoras, since that is what it was based of of i guess that is pretty obvious though
Author:  Elenya [ September 19th, 2005, 9:47 pm ]
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I haven't ever read the entire poem in it's original form, but I've read sections, and a, I don't know what you'd call it, an adaption. It was told in story form. Anyway, I was thinking about it, and Beowulf and Aragorn are similar in a way. (let me know if I'm wrong here) Beowulf was living in a different country than his ancesteral home, and then he went there when he heard that they were having trouble with Grendal. And Aragorn was away from Gondor, where his ancestors had reigned, but he went back to help.
Author:  Nienor [ September 22nd, 2005, 6:56 am ]
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Ugh, thanks for correcting me, Vikingmaiden. I think I need to reread it...ah well, it's part of school this year.
Author:  vikingmaiden [ September 22nd, 2005, 9:52 pm ]
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this one's rather obvious, but the naming of swords and weapons are elements of both beowulf and lotr. although the naming of weapons was common in norse/anglo-saxon culture as a whole, not just beowulf...but yeah, cool to see how tolkien draws from that.

the funeral boat of shield sheafson (in the beginning)...like how boromir is placed in a boat after he dies. many warriors and kings were also buried with their boats, horses, and dogs along with their armour and gear...interesting how they believed that a boat would take them to the afterlife...sort of like how frodo leaves on a boat to go to the west...a kind of 'afterlife'?? maybe? just an idea...

the usage of kennings like 'ring giver' (in beowulf)...is reminiscent of 'ring-bearer'. tolkien doesn't use kennings a whole lot in lotr...can anyone think of any? my mind is blank right now.

**a kenning is a kind of descriptive way of saying a word...like 'whale road' is a kenning for the sea...'horse of the waves' could be a kenning for 'ship'
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