Also speaking from literature, it would not surprise me if some of the more astute admirers of poetry at the time considered Sigurd’s ambushing the dragon Fafnir the spark that ignites the blaze of tragedy that engulfs him and his family.Īs to why the Danes don’t just follow the “token spoke truly” (“gesægd soðlice sweotolan tacne” (l.141)) back to Grendel’s resting place and attack him there, all I can put forward is Grendel’s strength. If you were trying to minimize or avoid trivial feuds, the best way to do so would be to deal directly with friends and enemies alike – any misunderstanding, after all, could burst into a feud.Īfter all, on top of their inter-generational nature, feuds also involved a complex system of monetary compensation, and not every family or group in the Anglo-Saxon world had a hoard of gold to which they could turn for such payments. #Beowulf script grendel old english script it speaks code#On the one hand a code of honour is definitely responsible for the Anglo-Saxons’ looking down on such indirect tactics as ambush, but, at least within the realm of literature, I think the reason that Grendel isn’t merely staked out is because of the prevalence of feuds. The latter of those two is out since it would be considered underhanded.Īny tactic that involved facing an enemy in an indirect way would have been considered cowardly or deceitful – both of which were traits to be avoided. The first that comes up here is why the Danes don’t track Grendel back to his resting place, or lay in wait and ambush him there. One of lesser stuff against all, until thatĮach of these extracts has brought up questions. Refuge outside the hall once that fiend was running free. The poet describes how Grendel has terrorized the Danes, and has the area around Heorot in his goblin grip.Ī place to recline and relax, to which he left a trail,
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