Chapter 8: Orphan of Scylding


Love is in the air throughout the land of Scylding. Seems to me that Hrothgar, king of Scylding, expanded his generosity not just throughout his kingdom but within his family household as well.

After Hrothgar's brother, Hrothulf, was killed Hrothgar and Wealtheow took in his son with open arms. But could that have been a mistake? Hrothgar and his beautiful wife already two beautiful children, will Halga be a beautiful addition to the family or will he be the ruining of the kingdom?  When Hrothulf first became Hrothgar's house guest he does not seem to be a very polite one. When the stunning Wealtheow happily stated that Hrothulf was "Hrothgar's flesh and blood," he rudely responded with "So I'm told." (page 112) But of course, all that is forgotten when there is an extravagant party happening with chants of the king's eternal life throughout the whole mead hall, "Long live the king, to whom we owe all joy!" (page 113)

As days grew longer Hrothulf became more stressed than usual. I noticed he used to take long walks in the wood. One day I saw him talking to himself about a tree, a tree. He was talking about how this tree "makes safe homes for birds; quick squirrels run the veins of its treasure-giving hand, but the ground below is dead." (page 115) Do not be mistaken Hrothulf does not just talk to plants and animals he does talk to humans when he is alone. One human, in particular, I have noticed that he has been talking to quite often was someone named Red Horse. Such an absurd name for a man with "white hair that flared around his high, empty dome like the beams of the sun."(page 117)

 
Work Cited:

Gardner, John. Grendel. Vintage Books Edition, 1971. 
Images, Getty, and Stacey Leasca. “These Hidden Castles in Europe Are Straight Out of a Fairy Tale.” Travel + Leisure, 29 Apr. 2017, www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/europe-hidden-castles.
                                                Wiki, White Wolf. Hrothulf.
Aerial, Swedrone, director. Orebro Medieval Castle in Sweden. Orebro Medieval Castle in Sweden, YouTube, 27 Dec. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc2QOtKaEt0. 




Comments

  1. N. SheetsOctober 11, 2018 at 10:23 AM

    You referred to Hrothulf as Halga. I do like how you introduce every blog and specifically how you used love to introduce Hrothulf to the family. I do think that you don't speak through Grendel's voice very well in the opening paragraph but return to Grendel's voice in the second paragraph. I like how you attached an image of what the kingdom might have looked like. Helped me to visualize the post more. I also liked how you attached a sketch of Hrothulf as well. I did not see the article posted though as beneficial to your post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Caitlyn MuteruOctober 11, 2018 at 10:51 AM

    I also noticed how you referred to Hrothulf as Halga and you might have called Hrothulf Hrothgar in the last paragraph. I believe that when you are citing text, you only have to put the page number and not the word page. I could be mistaken. As said above, I like you were able to really put events in Grendel's point of view. You were able to make me see how Grendel saw the world and the actions of humans. As a whole you were able to portray Grendel's inner thoughts effectively.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 11: Arrive of the Hero

Image
As my warriors and I sailed across the icy sea towards Hrothgar's kingdom, We sailed through the gray, foggy sky and then suddenly the sky began to clear and there it was, the land of the Danes. As soon as my warriors and I approached the sand, we were approached by a man with a large spear. He charged down towards our ship and said, "What are ye, bearers of armour, dressed in mail-coats, that have thus come riding your tall ship over the sea-road, winter-cold ocean, here to Daneland?" (153) Gently I responded making sure not to anger the man holding a sharp spear I said, " We're Geats, the hearth-companions of King Hygilac. You've heard of my father. A famous old man named Ecgtheow" I explained that I was here to complete what has been portrayed throughout the land as an insurmountable task. The guards seemed to be accepting of us and we began to walk towards Herot. From there we would eat and I would fuel my body for the impending battle. We march
Read more

Chapter 12: The Final Battle

Image
I laid in my bed waiting patiently for the great monster to arrive and take his meal. Slowly I heard the creak of the mead hall door and then he arrived. Slowly, sneakily, he "stepped onto the brightly shining floor and angrily advanced on them." (168) He began to laugh, he disgusts me. He grabbed a hold of one of my warriors and began to eat him, gnawing and devouring him, blood spilling everywhere. Unsatisfied I saw him walking towards me, I quickly shut my eyes and he slowly began to reach down and grab me. Before the monster could satisfy his hunger I jolted awake and jumped out of the bed, shocking him. I had him trapped in the palm of my hand, I pinned him down so he was unable to move, he looked both confused and scared, and now my mission begins. With the monster in the palm of my hand, I felt a rush of excitement. I felt like I was in control, his life was in my hands and he was not escaping. My blood boiled at the sound of his voice, how could he eat my men? He
Read more