by A#minor » January 16th, 2006, 7:42 pm
Thoughts on Homecoming of Beorhtnoth:
I love how Tolkien uses alliteration so much in all his writings, but here it is more of a historical art form to use it. "The old poem is composed in a free form of the alliterative line, the last surviving fragment of ancient English herioc minstrelsy."
Here's my favorite bit. "I've watched and waited, till the wind sighing was like words whispered by waking ghosts that in my ears muttered."
Can anybody translate the Latin chant at the end?
The commentary speaks of the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon, and of the quote "Will shall be sterner, heart the bolder, spirit the greater as our strength lessens" as being the "finest expression of the northern heroic spirit."
Here is the Northerness that Lewis and Tolkien loved so much.
Wasn't Tolkien in a club of some sort in prep school that was dedicated to northerness and reading Norwegian or something? Lewis was involved in something of the same sort in his first years of college, I think.
*Going to find my Tolkien Biography by Humphrey Carpenter*
Ah, yes, here it is. The T.C.B.S. that met for tea in the library and later in Barrow's Stores (hence the name: Tea Club, Barrow's Stores) to discuss Greek and Latin poetry and (with Tolkien's influence) to read Beowulf, the Pearl, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as well as the Norse Volsungasaga.
I found the essay on the "excess" of chivalry to be very interesting and well-written. Beowulf's refusing help or weapon in his fight with Grendel to enhance his personal glory should he win the fight, and Beorhtnoth's allowing the Danes to cross the bridge so that the battle would be "fair", are perfect examples of putting the thing that they are fighting for in danger just for their own ideas of chivalry, glory, and pride.
I think that the illustration of impure gold is very appropriate to show the mingling of chivalry, courage, and foolish pride in the Old English mindset.
"My brain and this world don't fit each other, and there's an end of it!" - G.K. Chesterton