Book Exam
Dr. Brunet
History 2311
Name__________________________
Beowulf /Grendel by John Gardner
The popular image of the Scandinavians (the Norse, Danes and Swedes) is that of the Vikings. This doesn't
give a complete picture of this complex culture. Their society revolved around the mead hall, the central
building where the king or chieftain resided. This king distributed gifts and favors to his followers. Hence,
he was sometimes known as the "ring giver" (J.R.R. Tolkien was a medieval historian/linguist who
specialized in Norse history, which is why you have all those Norse metaphors in the LotR books).
For the Scandinavians, justice was personal. A crime committed was considered a crime against the entire
family, not the state or society as a whole (since there wasn't really a state apparatus). The problem with
this system is that an insult or an infraction could start a blood feud between two or more families that
could last for generations. Although care was taken to try and prevent these feuds from occurring,
(through money payments or other forms of compensations), they did break out occasionally.
For the most part, the Scandinavians were a farming society, with an underlying warrior culture (Beowulf).
Young men would go a-viking, that is raiding, but they did so in order to obtain enough money to buy
farmland, the only way they could support a family. Women held high status in Scandinavian society. They
were the bridges between families; they sealed alliances between different clans and groups. It was not
uncommon for young women to be married to much older men.
The arts were important to the Scandinavians: not only storytelling, song and poetry (of the heroic sort),
but also visual art. We can see this in their shipbuilding, the decoration of their mead houses and the
sewing and weaving of the women.
Answer the following. (100pts)
As you, my beloved students are always reminding me, there is a nauseating selection of movies whose
content deal with historical themes. These movies, however, really do not reflect the “American heroic
ideal”. In this essay, you will briefly describe, in your own words, what you think the Norse/Germanic
heroic ideal to be. Does Beowulf live up to this ideal? What is the “American” heroic ideal in your opinion?
Explain your answer.
To continue your essay, the book Grendel combines two genres, retelling a classic story and the concept
of the anti-hero. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is an archetype (look it up if you need to know what it
means), but in the novel, Grendel becomes a fully-fledged character. What purpose does it serve to make
Grendel so likable? Why do we as a culture like characters such as Grendel (or watch Sons of Anarchy, or
laugh at Mephistopheles in Faust, or get a kick out of the Joker)? Please remember while writing your
essay, the idea of the anti-hero is not limited to modern American culture. It can be traced back through
Western Civilization for millennium (and actually through Eastern culture also, but that is another class).
Due in class on or before 10 December at 11:00 am.
Use this page as a cover sheet.