We have been reading BEOWULF as a school this past week and last. We had an interesting spontaneous debate today before lunch. We weren't even reading the book at the time! Don't you just love it when your kids are so engaged with literature that they talk about it during the day?
Anyway, all eleven of my students debated whether or not BEOWULF fought Grendel's mother under the water.
I just assumed that he did fight her under the water because he goes down, down, down into the lake and is attacked by all kinds of sea creatures on his way to Grendel's mother's cave. But the kids brought up that maybe it was an underwater cave that wasn't completely full of water. Maybe you had to swim underwater to get there, but when you got there, you stood up in the cave and there was air.
What do you think? Send this to all your blog friends who are familiar with BEOWFULF and have them leave me a comment! I'm curious to learn their thoughts!
Comments
May. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I am going to find my copy of Beowulf and read through that passage! I never considered an underwater cave.
I LOVED Beowulf because I could see Middle Earth in it! :-)
Tammy, hobbit at heart, with the feistiness of a dwarf
http://aut2bhomeincarolina.blogspot.com
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May. 2, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Supermario
new entry 5.5.08
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May. 2, 2008 - Beowulf
Posted by Anonymous
You have some clever kids! It never occurred to me that the fight might have taken place in an underwater cave. There's nothing in the text to indicate that. I think we're supposed to believe it all happened underwater. I know that's scientifically impossible, but Beowulf is a mythic hero and mythic heros can hold their breath forever.
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May. 2, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Previous post by Ginny Jaques, a brand new blogger!
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May. 2, 2008 - Thanks, Ginny!
Posted by KarlaKAkins
That's exactly what I explained to my students, Ginny. :-) But it was a great discussion. Thanks for taking time to post on my blog! You did great! See, painless, wasn't it??
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