Asatru Folk Assembly - 11⧸22⧸23 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 72 - Beowulf and Grendel's Mother

00:00:00.000 Transcription by CastingWords

00:00:30.000 Thank you.

00:01:00.000 Thank you.

00:01:30.000 Thank you.

00:02:00.000 Thank you.

00:02:30.000 We'll be right back.

00:03:00.000 and now our feature presentation

00:03:08.940 nice touch this week on that all right guys welcome back to another exciting edition of

00:03:21.800 victory never sleeps. We've got a special treat for you guys tonight. A lot of you really enjoyed,

00:03:30.540 and I particularly enjoyed Brandy's reading of Beowulf two weeks ago. I think it was a nice

00:03:38.100 something different and a very important thing regarding Ausatru to focus on. I think this story

00:03:45.460 adds so much to an understanding of so many core principles of what we do and what we believe.

00:03:52.560 So Brandy is back for part two of a planned three-part, but we can go as long as we need to on it.

00:04:03.300 Discussion and reading of Beowulf.

00:04:08.380 I think there's any real news and updates since last time, and I don't think that there is.

00:04:15.460 yeah something okay something I did want to touch on before we start

00:04:24.100 I don't know with the meat and taters of today's program we are Thanksgiving is tomorrow in the

00:04:32.940 United States I don't think people celebrate that a lot of other places

00:04:39.500 um but i've met with uh confusion and opposition in the past when i have posted about that on afa

00:04:53.660 channels as a celebration that we observed in the astro focusing

00:04:56.780 there for those of you that are outside of the united states may not know i may not understand

00:05:06.480 And it is a secular-ish holiday in the United States.

00:05:17.000 It's secular in the sense that it's not beholden to a particular faith or a particular denomination.

00:05:24.160 But it is about faith.

00:05:26.380 And it's about being thankful for the blessings in our life.

00:05:30.280 and I want to urge everyone to resist the urge

00:05:36.680 to not do things just because Christians do them. 1.00

00:05:42.600 Well, Christians are pious, so we need to be irreverent. 1.00

00:05:45.420 Christians take baths, so we need to be filthy. 1.00

00:05:48.760 It's silly logic that doesn't make any sense 1.00

00:05:51.500 and I think that taking a day to get together

00:05:54.760 with friends and family and celebrate a feast

00:05:58.340 giving thanks for all the blessings

00:06:00.640 in their lives is a good thing

00:06:02.500 for every single person to do

00:06:04.720 especially

00:06:06.180 and including us who are

00:06:08.180 being thankful for the blessings

00:06:12.360 that we have is 1.00

00:06:14.240 that's not a Christian thing 1.00

00:06:18.640 that's a good people thing 0.90

00:06:20.380 that's a reverent

00:06:22.440 human being thing

00:06:23.960 and I think we need to embrace it wholeheartedly

00:06:26.660 I'm looking forward to it

00:06:27.640 always excited about thanksgiving um becoming also true doesn't mean that you have to give up

00:06:33.960 on all the traditions that you were raised with it does mean on certain ones of our holidays having

00:06:39.560 to separate a couple of things out here and there but thanksgiving is not really one of those when

00:06:45.160 you give thanks give thanks to to our gods the gods of our folk our blood and our ancestors

00:06:50.680 but one thing that I do think is vital about that especially today is taking note of all of

00:07:00.360 the things that we have to be thankful for I think that in certain circles that a lot of us

00:07:06.840 find ourselves in there is so much focus on negativity all of the time and I always urge

00:07:15.460 against that. There are so many amazing blessings in our lives. There's so many amazing things

00:07:21.740 happening. And there's so many beautiful opportunities that are before us. If we

00:07:28.920 choose to approach the world with thankfulness and optimism, as opposed to hanging our head

00:07:35.120 with, with focusing on all the negatives, we don't pick our head up, hold our head high and

00:07:40.900 look up we're missing so many opportunities so keep your head up keep chest out be proud

00:07:48.560 be thankful for the things we have and look for the amazing opportunities we have on the horizon

00:07:54.060 we have done amazing things together in the astro folk assembly and we have amazing things yet to

00:07:59.480 come with that uh brandy this is this is going to be your show tonight so go ahead and take the wheel

00:08:10.580 and do your Beowulf thing.

00:08:14.960 We do have one question I want to get to first

00:08:18.780 because I think the other questions we have

00:08:22.060 we can answer when we go through the fits,

00:08:23.980 but Trent has the question of what type of creature

00:08:27.340 do you think Grendel and his mother were considered to be

00:08:29.980 before Beowulf's story was Christianized?

00:08:32.420 Were they Jotuns or something else? 0.98

00:08:35.060 So I'm going to let you start with that 0.69

00:08:36.460 and then I'll chime in, sir.

00:08:38.120 What is your opinion?

00:08:39.260 because it's an opinion.

00:08:40.980 There's nothing that says for sure

00:08:42.140 what they are in anything.

00:08:45.040 It was an opinion.

00:08:46.440 Once I give you my take,

00:08:48.000 it then becomes holy writ.

00:08:51.580 Whatever the Alshira Goldie says, 0.55

00:08:53.300 that's the answer. 0.92

00:08:54.700 That's always the right answer.

00:08:59.220 So Svans talked about this a lot.

00:09:04.640 There is a tendency in our lore

00:09:07.200 to...

00:09:09.260 When you have to sort things into categories, a lot of the less than good categories are lumped together.

00:09:21.980 And you see that with some of the good categories of beings as well, like the term Alf or Alphar.

00:09:27.880 But there's Jotunar that are primeval, unconscious forces of creation giants that are clearly different from conscious giants that were wizards that get in the wizard battles with the gods in the lore.

00:09:52.520 Both Jotunar, but clearly very different things.

00:09:56.420 And when they talk about, there's also an overlap between Jotunar and trolls.

00:10:03.960 What does a troll mean?

00:10:05.120 Well, a troll means lots of different things.

00:10:07.960 Basically, any scary thing that goes bump in the night gets in that category. 0.75

00:10:15.020 And I think that's very much where monstrous and contorted humanoids would fall in. 0.99

00:10:25.540 um are they yotnar i suppose in a very small j sense of the word um i would probably call them 1.00

00:10:37.540 more like trolls but i think some of the the words used to describe these things are also

00:10:42.820 different depending on the time and the locale and there's a lot of overlap there so i don't

00:10:49.300 you know i don't think that there's necessarily uh an also true monsters manual that we can get

00:10:58.820 out and flip to the right page and find the stats on on what kind of what kind of creature that that

00:11:06.180 grendel winds up in but i i if i had to go i would go troll so now that we're kind of getting

00:11:15.780 more into Grendel's mother, we're still going to be referencing back to Grendel. So one of the

00:11:20.680 things to remember about what kind of monsters are these, and we'll see this also with the dragon

00:11:26.520 when that comes up in the next episodes. But one thing to really distinguish about the different

00:11:33.600 parts of Beowulf is the different personalities of the monsters themselves. And you can see that

00:11:39.040 represented also in our own lore when you read it from Volusval all the way through from the very

00:11:44.200 beginning until Ragnarok, you can see the evolution of the enemies or the evolution of

00:11:51.620 the monsters or the Jotuns that they face. So Grendel is very much primal. He's very raw. He's 0.95

00:11:58.840 very instinct driven. And we're going to see a very, very different monster tonight when we're

00:12:04.120 talking about Grendel's mother. So just also remember the monsters kind of have a way of

00:12:10.560 talking about the enemies of our people you know what what our ancestors faced the

00:12:16.200 types of enemies that they faced the types of monsters that they faced whether those were

00:12:22.200 you know enemies across borders or those were enemies that went bump in the night you know so

00:12:27.640 we're going to see a very very big difference between Grendel and Grendel's mother tonight

00:12:32.640 so keep in mind when we get into Grendel Grendel's mother Grendel himself was overly large

00:12:39.220 we want to start off with that you know when we're talking about how large grendel was

00:12:43.180 we'll get into more of that you know in the in the fits here but grendel was huge outstandingly huge

00:12:51.500 um you know we're gonna see in here where when they bring his head back it takes several men

00:12:57.620 to carry his head his arm is enormous he takes entire men and puts them in a sack right in his

00:13:04.160 man person. So that is one thing about him is he's larger than life and he's very primal. He's very

00:13:12.260 raw and he's very instinctual in the things that he does. There is no real thought or control. We

00:13:19.700 saw Grendel feel fear for the very first time the last time that we had this podcast. So just keep

00:13:27.020 in mind with the monsters, it's not necessarily what kind of monster or what does that monster

00:13:31.460 really represent in regards to what it is that are that we face as a people or as an individual so

00:13:38.180 i'll add that in there and with that we can go ahead and get started if you're ready sir

00:13:45.060 take it away all right so we're going to follow the same format that we followed last time we're

00:13:50.820 going to read a part and then go back through and discuss it so we have already killed grendel

00:13:56.020 we've ripped his arm from his body and it is currently a trophy in the hall then morning came

00:14:04.420 and many warrior gathered as i've heard around the gift hall clan chiefs flocking from far and near

00:14:10.500 down wide ranging roads wandering greatly at the monster his fatal departure was regretted by no

00:14:17.300 one who witnessed his trail the ignominious works of his flight where he'd sculpt away exhausted in

00:14:22.980 spirit and beaten in battle bloody in the path hauling his doom to the demon's mare the bloodshot

00:14:28.980 water wallowed and surged there was low some up throws and overturnings of waves and gore and

00:14:34.420 wound slurry with his death upon him he had dived deep into his marsh den drowned out his life and

00:14:41.540 his heathen soul hell claimed him there then away they rode the old retainers with many a young man

00:14:48.180 following after, a troop on horseback, and high spirits on their base deeds. Beowulf's doings

00:14:54.520 were praised over and over again. Nowhere, they said, north or south, between the two seas or

00:14:59.160 under the tall sky. On the broad earth was there ever anyone better to raise a shield or to rule

00:15:05.780 a kingdom. Yet there was no laying of blame on their lord, the noble Hrothgar. He was a good king.

00:15:12.640 At times the warband broke into a gallop, letting their chestnut horses race.

00:15:16.640 Wherever they found the going good on the well-known tracks, meanwhile a thing, a thing of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict meter.

00:15:31.700 The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf's triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, entwining his words.

00:15:39.680 He told what he'd heard.

00:15:41.740 He breathed in songs about Sigmund's exploits, all of those many feats and marvels.

00:15:47.500 The struggles and the wanderings of Vale's sons.

00:15:51.100 Things unknown to anyone except to Fetella.

00:15:53.780 Feuds and foul doings confided by uncle to nephew when he felt the urge to speak of them.

00:15:59.040 Always they had been partners in the fight, friends in the need.

00:16:03.280 They killed giants their conquering swords had brought them down.

00:16:07.160 After his death, Sigmund's glory grew and grew because of his courage when he killed the dragon, the guardian of the horde. 0.90

00:16:13.800 Under grey stone, he had dared to enter all by himself to face the worst without Fethila. 0.66

00:16:19.920 But it came to pass that his sword plunged right through those radiant scales and drove into the wall. 0.53

00:16:24.860 The dragon died of it.

00:16:26.320 His daring had given him total possession of the treasure horde, his to dispose of however he liked.

00:16:33.080 He loaded a boat.

00:16:34.420 Bale's sons waded her hold with dazzling spoils.

00:16:37.400 The hot dragon melted.

00:16:38.980 Sigmund's name was known everywhere.

00:16:41.320 He was utterly valiant and venturesome.

00:16:43.260 A fence round his fingers and flourished, therefore,

00:16:46.500 after a king Haramon's prowess declined and his campaign slowed down.

00:16:50.800 The king was betrayed and bushed in Jutland,

00:16:53.920 overpowered and done away with.

00:16:55.920 The waves of his grief had beaten him down,

00:16:59.580 made him a burden, a source of anxiety to his nobles.

00:17:02.440 That expedition was often condemned in those earlier times by experienced men who relied on his lordship for redress, who presumed that the part of his prince was to thrive on his father's throne and defend the nation, the shielding land where they had lived and belonged, its holdings and its strongholds.

00:17:21.560 Such was Beowulf in the affection of his friends and of everyone alive, who evil entered into Haramod. 0.57

00:17:28.440 Meanwhile, the dames kept racing their mounts down the sandy lanes. 0.66

00:17:33.020 The light of the day broke and kept brightening.

00:17:36.120 Bands of retainers galloped in excitement to the gabled hall to see the marble, the king himself, guardian of the ring horde, goodness in person,

00:17:43.900 walked in majesty from the women's quarters with the numerous train attended by his queen and her crowd of maidens across the maid hall.

00:17:52.040 So if you've read Beowulf for the first time, this is a lot of names and this is a lot of things in one little section.

00:17:58.820 So first we start talking about Beowulf did this awesome thing and killed Grendel.

00:18:03.740 And then everyone is gathering over to basically celebrate and see all the things that are going on, to hear the story and to gather in the hall with the king.

00:18:14.120 But then we start talking about two leis within this lay, right?

00:18:18.880 So they're talking about the minstrel is singing a song about Beowulf, which has a lot of things to it. We'll get to that in a second. But there's two lays within this lay. The first thing that they're talking about is Sigmund of the Bolsoga saga. So this is actually debated on whether or not that this is the first time that this story is actually noted down in literature. 0.99

00:18:43.240 so this is the oldest reference that we have so when you look at it it doesn't make a lot of

00:18:50.800 sense unless you know what it is that they're talking about unless you know about the saga

00:18:54.780 itself and about the story itself the same with the tale of harrow so the the author or the

00:19:03.220 narrator is assuming that you are already familiar with these things and they are comparing

00:19:08.800 Beowulf to the greatness of killing that dragon. They're basically, they're giving his eulogy,

00:19:18.340 basically, without you knowing that that's what they're doing. They're referring to two separate

00:19:23.680 things. So one of the points that they make in here is that they are noting that Beowulf,

00:19:30.760 there is no one more worthy of going to battle with and ruling a kingdom than Beowulf. However,

00:19:36.600 that is not the fault of their king. Their king is a good king, and they make it a point to say

00:19:41.920 that over and over and over again. No matter how great the warrior, this is a good king,

00:19:48.700 and this shows definitely the loyalty to the king itself. The king does not have to be

00:19:56.720 the greatest warrior on the battlefield. He has the loyalty of the warriors on that battlefield.

00:20:04.320 do you have your thoughts on that sir you don't have to be the strongest but you always have the

00:20:09.960 loyalty of those who are willing to fight for you you know it it depends and I think this adds

00:20:18.760 some of the richness of context that is often overlooked especially in historic

00:20:27.600 like epic poetry and in our lore everything is very often carried to the extreme

00:20:36.340 it's you know either a hundred percent or nothing because it's illustrating these

00:20:42.800 larger than life principles on on this canvas

00:20:46.860 part of the the worth of rulership isn't

00:21:01.020 isn't just being the mightiest on the battlefield it's the fact that you are on the battlefield

00:21:08.820 it's the fact that you're leading from the front it's the fact that you're actively engaged and

00:21:15.540 you have skin in the game for your people and in your kingdom um there's also it would be foolish

00:21:26.260 to think that every king is going to be the greatest warrior amongst their people but

00:21:34.800 celebrating that as if that were the case because that's the ideal is what's important you're going

00:21:41.000 to come across a king that takes the throne when he's a child. He's obviously, you know,

00:21:45.580 your five-year-old king is not going to go out there and lay waste to his foes. By that

00:21:51.340 token, your 70-year-old king is likely not going to be out there laying waste to the

00:21:56.640 heroes of the opposition. But the idea is still present. The ideal of going out and

00:22:06.940 the living example of what your fault ought to aspire to be um there's two

00:22:17.980 there's two parts to any

00:22:22.780 to any leader to any ruler um especially to any sovereign and we see this throughout european

00:22:30.140 monarchy there's the king that is the man and then there's the king that is the embodiment of the

00:22:39.980 nation and keeping up appearances and being the hero for your folk is your job as a sovereign

00:22:50.780 they're they're going to be real people that have moments of weakness and moments of

00:22:55.340 imperfection but you try to polish an image as if that doesn't exist even if you are that old man

00:23:02.780 you go out there and you charge the enemy and you hope that your retainers are behind you and going

00:23:07.020 to get there before you so that you don't have to be in a bad spot but that image in and of itself

00:23:15.900 makes or breaks uh battles especially at this time period and into the medieval period you see

00:23:21.420 when the royal banner goes down people just leave the battlefield because like

00:23:29.040 king's dead we're done but as long as that banner's up they'll follow it

00:23:33.020 and that's symbolic of the king himself in person as long as that king is there in the

00:23:42.520 thick of things you don't flee the battlefield because if you do and the king makes it you know

00:23:48.840 you you were a coward and you were treasonous once the king's done your obligations are kind

00:23:54.200 of done pack it up and and leave but you literally literally rise and fall by that on the crusades 0.99

00:24:00.360 you see that with uh frederick barbarossa he he dies before he makes it there but to keep

00:24:06.680 to keep it going you know they prop him up in horseback weekend bernie style to like

00:24:13.320 so people rally behind it because in him is the embodiment of regality it's it's

00:24:24.040 our trouble is if we're not discerning and we're immediately disgusted by anything that

00:24:29.080 has a christian overlay to it it really takes us out of the mindset when you look at uh you know

00:24:36.760 medieval kingship is obviously ruled by divine right they're god's representative and it's your

00:24:42.200 job they're they're god's anointed leader of that nation so you're not just disloyal politically

00:24:51.240 you are spiritually an apostate if you stand against god's appointed representative

00:24:58.680 but that's a thing that goes much much further back and it's a reason that um

00:25:04.680 most all of the royal houses of europe come to find out even the royal house of spain

00:25:09.720 would trace their lineage back to Odin.

00:25:14.880 The Royal House of Sweden would trace it back to Lord Frey.

00:25:18.240 They would trace it back to the gods

00:25:20.580 taking that piece of the gods with them on the battlefield.

00:25:26.740 They represent the gods in their capacity ruling their nation.

00:25:32.060 So seeing the luck of a king and wanting to stand with it

00:25:39.680 and picking someone who is victorious and in the thick of the fight all the time,

00:25:47.000 that it's one of the reasons that I push on the 10th virtue of victory is victory isn't just a

00:25:55.820 goal to achieve. It in and of itself is a virtue. Your winningness shows a degree of your luck and

00:26:04.100 blessings that you receive from the gods and divine favor that someone has so it in and of

00:26:09.460 itself is a sign of that you're in the right spot if you're with a war leader or a king that's

00:26:17.380 that's victorious and and i think that's seen here um but yeah there's also that dose of reality

00:26:26.340 you got old men kings that aren't going to be able to to be the best you've got kids

00:26:32.420 you've got cripples you've got a lot of people that are in a spot where they can't but the idea 1.00

00:26:36.420 that you still go out there and you're seen leading your men is extremely extremely important 1.00

00:26:45.780 i mean there's there's plenty of examples throughout medieval royalty of that being

00:26:50.820 the case uh baldwin the fourth of the kingdom of jerusalem was notoriously that way he's a leper

00:26:55.860 he's literally falling apart but he's still out there on horseback leading the charge

00:27:01.780 and with his with his guys and as long as that was the case his knights would follow

00:27:08.740 a lot of people don't necessarily it goes without saying for a lot of our audience

00:27:12.260 but it's worth saying for this broadcast in case people don't get that

00:27:17.540 knighthood and chivalry in their real sense are very much based on

00:27:25.860 pre-christian paganism they're also true virtues that evolved in their later years under a

00:27:34.500 christian overlay but the principle of mounted warrior nobility being about the lord and retainer

00:27:44.180 relationship goes back well before christianity and is our thing

00:27:51.540 one of the other things to note about this in particular is we're going to be coming

00:27:55.380 up on a dragon here in about two weeks and he coincidentally and some say he made a mistake

00:28:03.860 when he was you know writing the story down but did he did he though because we talk about all

00:28:10.980 of these great deeds that beowulf did and then we talk about slaying a dragon right one of the big

00:28:18.180 theme themes of beowulf is fate will as fate will weird will as weird will and we know that our

00:28:27.300 narrator never lies to us right we've seen foresight coming up in the story so far and we see it again

00:28:35.440 here the narrator is preparing you for what else is to come um so that's going to be a theme that

00:28:42.100 you see as well you're going to be prepared for all of these things as they happen um you know

00:28:47.700 he's going to be fighting a dragon later on and they're already referring to him as as a hero that

00:28:52.660 is equivalent to fighting dragons so that's something to take note of as well is that

00:28:58.680 there is no way that the minstrel could have known that Beowulf is going to be fighting a

00:29:02.980 dragon later on it's but it's not mere coincidence that these things are put into the story

00:29:07.920 so that's one thing to remember too

00:29:10.860 alright so we do

00:29:15.200 have

00:29:15.920 one question I think that we might want to answer

00:29:19.280 before we continue

00:29:20.220 from the Real Madrid Fan 11

00:29:23.100 if something

00:29:25.040 can be Christian influenced can some things

00:29:27.280 also from Europe be Islamic influence

00:29:29.480 since a few parts of Europe

00:29:31.360 like the Balkans have some 0.63

00:29:33.220 European Muslims like Bosnians

00:29:35.100 what are your thoughts on that sir

00:29:36.900 So, and this, I think this might highly depend on where someone is answering this question.

00:29:52.840 The vast majority of us, and probably of the people watching, you're up to them, I'm making

00:30:02.000 air quotes but i gotta bring it in because my screen's smaller um is central northern and

00:30:09.680 western europe i think if you start getting into ottoman europe and greek europe and you start

00:30:20.240 getting into like russian europe i think you see a little bit more of that and you're more likely

00:30:29.200 to encounter it just like you mentioned in the question i think if you're dealing with iberian

00:30:34.560 things you're much more likely to see some of that but most of the time the influence

00:30:44.800 the like christian influence isn't hidden it's writ large for everyone to see christian influence

00:30:51.600 in europe almost all of the time is taking a pagan thing and then re re adding and reworking

00:31:00.240 it to put a christian overlay so there's not like subtle christianity seeping into it i think that's

00:31:07.200 very much a misnomer i think there's blatant christianity injected into it in an obvious way

00:31:14.480 and i think where you might see muslim influence for the same reason because it's based on a very

00:31:20.640 similar root religion or root mindset you would see islam written over it in big bold letters

00:31:31.440 spray painted all over it so i don't worry about the subtlety of that sneaking in what i think is

00:31:40.160 much more how it works is for muslims not to realize that a lot of their lore and a lot of

00:31:48.720 their history comes from pagan sources in pagan parts of arabia and in different places and

00:31:57.200 pagan persian things i think that what's much more likely is european christians thinking

00:32:03.600 that they're doing all this christianity when they come to realize that almost none of it is

00:32:08.720 biblical and what they're doing is various pagan traditions that somebody slapped a saint name on

00:32:16.400 or put a jesus coat of paint on much like the story that we're reading it much predates

00:32:21.920 the conversion of the tribes and talks about to christianity

00:32:27.760 but there's a a clear like they at awkward times inject like they they feel the need to add

00:32:37.280 little references to god throughout so it remains you know kosher with with that crowd

00:32:43.840 but i think those influences are rather obvious um one thing i also saw in the chat about leaders

00:32:50.320 today you know not leading from the front i think and i'm not disputing that that's the case

00:32:57.280 one of the things we see is that there isn't functional european monarchy so of course they

00:33:03.120 don't lead from the front if the monarchy is solely symbolic and they don't command men and

00:33:10.560 they have none of the teeth of monarch even why would they leave from the front and that's really

00:33:15.920 sad that said to me that it's gotten to that point um but i wonder what that looks like in a modern

00:33:22.800 context because we're not leading night charges into into battle we're not even leading lines of

00:33:30.560 infantry or lines of tanks that's not what modern warfare is so i don't know i don't know what that

00:33:37.120 looks like like you'll see when an american president goes to iraq or afghanistan or anything

00:33:42.880 like that all of a sudden everything stops the entire focus is on security and the whole it's

00:33:50.320 not productive to leading successful charges so i wonder what that looks like and i think that's

00:33:56.960 an interesting challenge should monarchy resurface in in a modern and a future context that way i

00:34:04.320 I wonder what that looks like because the engagement and the regular embodiment and being part of the struggle of a nation is, it takes such different forms.

00:34:19.640 It's one of the challenges that I think we all face in Ausatru is we see the world through the lens of our epic lore, and we see so many of our values portrayed in an early medieval context, figuring out how to live those principles.

00:34:37.840 but in the current world that we live in that isn't battlefield focus that isn't you know

00:34:46.620 everybody is a warrior that's slaying people and fighting for their life every day what that looks

00:34:54.520 like in our lives is you know one of our great challenges thank you sir all right we'll continue

00:35:03.960 on when hrothgar arrived at the hall he spoke standing on the steps under the steep eaves

00:35:09.680 gazing at the roof work roof work and grendel's talon first and foremost let the almighty father

00:35:15.060 be thanked for this sight i suffered a long harrowing by grendel but the heavenly shepherd

00:35:19.720 can work his wonders always and everywhere not long since it seems i would never be granted

00:35:25.740 the slightest solace or relief from any of my burdens the best houses glittered and reeked and

00:35:30.460 ran with blood. This one worry outweighed all others, a constant distress to counselors entrusted

00:35:36.020 with defending the people's sports from assault by monsters and demons. But now a man, with the

00:35:41.420 Lord's assistance, has accomplished something none of us could manage before now for all our efforts.

00:35:47.200 Whoever she was who brought forth the flower of manhood, if she is still alive, that woman can say

00:35:53.840 that her labor, the Lord of Ages, bestowed a grace on her. So now, Beowulf, I adopt you in my heart as

00:35:59.560 a dear son. Nourish and maintain this new connection, you noblest of men. There'll be

00:36:04.380 nothing you'll want for, no worldly goods that won't be yours. I have often honored smaller

00:36:10.380 achievements, recognized warriors not nearly as worthy, lavish words on the less deserving,

00:36:15.600 but you have made yourself immortal by your glorious action. May the gods of ages continue

00:36:19.580 to keep and requit you well. Beowulf, son of Ekthal, spoke. We have gone through the glorious

00:36:25.180 endeavor and been much favored in this fight we dared against the unknown. Nevertheless,

00:36:29.100 the less if he could have seen the monster himself where he lay beaten, I would have been better

00:36:32.780 pleased. My plan was to pounce, pin him down in a tight grip, and grapple him to death, have him 0.95

00:36:39.320 panting for life, powerless and clasped in my bare hands, his body in thrall. But I couldn't stop him 0.90

00:36:44.560 from slipping my hold. The Lord allowed it. My lock on him wasn't strong enough. He struggled

00:36:49.280 fiercely and broke and ran, yet he bought his freedom at a high price, for he left his hand

00:36:54.500 and arm and shoulder to show he had been here a cold comfort for having come among us and now he

00:37:01.080 won't be long for this world he has done his worst but the wound will end him he has has been hooped

00:37:06.360 in hair painting and pain limping and loping with it like a man outlawed for wickedness he must

00:37:11.980 await the almighty the judge the mighty judgment of god and majesty there was less tampering and

00:37:17.380 big talk then from unfurth boaster less of his blather and the hall things eyed the awful proof

00:37:22.300 of the hero's prowess. The splayed hand up under the eaves, every nail, claw, scale, and spur,

00:37:28.180 every spike and welt on the hand of that heathen brute was like barb steel. Everybody said there

00:37:33.920 was no honed iron hard enough to pierce him through, no time-proof blade that could have

00:37:38.500 cut his brutal blood-caked cloth. All right, so we've got a couple things here. Hrothgar arrives

00:37:44.600 at his hall, and when he gets there, he says, he makes the statement of, you have done what nobody

00:37:52.280 else could do. We have suffered long and hard under Grendel. For what reason we have been

00:37:59.720 cursed with this, we don't know, but we have suffered through it. And he speaks as a king

00:38:07.800 and a leader of his people, a king that was unable to stop what was happening, a king who

00:38:14.980 was defenseless in protecting his men and the lands of his men and the treasures of his men

00:38:19.940 in the families of his men. And I don't think enough attention gets paid to that. And the

00:38:27.600 reason I say that is because we are told over and over and over and over again up until this point,

00:38:34.300 Hrothgar is a good king. His men were less in number, but he was still king.

00:38:42.700 There are, you know, stories of kings being sacrificed for fields not producing.

00:38:49.940 would sacrifice their king for that so this tells you how loyal the people were to this particular

00:38:57.860 man and for what reason was that why was he a good king and he tells us in here i reciprocate

00:39:04.340 what you give me you give me your fealty and your loyalty you fight for me and you die for

00:39:09.860 me and i take care of you he is still unable to defend all of these people against grendel yet

00:39:17.540 still they stay. And why? If he was any lesser of a leader, they would not have stayed with him

00:39:26.740 because he is breaking his bond to his people by not being able to protect them.

00:39:33.980 So that's one thing to consider about the greatness of Hrothgar before Grendel and

00:39:39.880 during Grendel is even though he could not protect them, they stayed by his side.

00:39:43.360 because of the other things that he was able to provide for them.

00:39:51.060 And it's important to note the strain that that was on him as a leader, as a king. And I don't

00:39:57.940 think that gets stressed enough is the sorrow that is felt by him. And we see that sorrow coming back

00:40:03.820 up here in a little bit, but the intense sorrow and pain that is felt by a king when they cannot

00:40:12.460 protect their people so that's one thing i would like to know if the alshira godi would like to

00:40:17.580 talk about is that that pain that he has that nobody sees our narrator tells us about it and

00:40:24.780 he hints about it but you don't see it manifested in the way he rules and i think you're muted sir

00:40:36.380 i don't think so ah there we go so nick had muted me uh

00:40:45.100 i you know i mentioned this on the last stanza but even though this is

00:40:55.900 epic poetry it adds in elements of reality

00:41:00.140 life happens and if you're just inventing a story you can make it to where the good guys

00:41:09.280 always win and the bad guys always lose and you know

00:41:14.760 right is always vindicated and all of these things and the real world doesn't always work

00:41:22.020 that way um to be the best king in the world and not win and be faced with overwhelming odds that

00:41:28.700 are beyond your power to, uh, to confront. Um, and that's, that's one of the things is

00:41:39.160 Croftgar does his best to keep the courtly vision of how things ought to be alive as

00:41:51.980 best as he can um they celebrate they lavish their gifts their gifts upon the heroes and

00:41:59.280 upon their guests they go through the motions of feasting and doing what one ought to do in a hall

00:42:06.820 and of existing in the regality that he ought to exist in even when things are crumbling around

00:42:16.840 him when he's beset by you know terror at every nightfall um keeping up keeping up appearances

00:42:29.240 is really important and it's not about dishonesty it's about keeping your head up 0.98

00:42:36.360 you owe it to your men not to be pouty and not to look weak you know they're not stupid

00:42:45.000 But even when you're on the losing end, even in defeat, to carry yourself with a dignity that doesn't make them question, you know, why have we served this man?

00:42:55.400 Like, look at this weak, quivering, like, pile in front of us.

00:43:02.680 We're fixing to die for this guy, and we've made a bad choice.

00:43:06.820 um no you owe it to them to be as best you can to be the man that they swore oaths to

00:43:16.480 and up until you know up until the point in which you you're done and that's that that dignity is

00:43:24.280 is crucial and we see that we see that here and it really is kind of a

00:43:30.100 the pieces like that i think are are more more important to me and we'll see more of this

00:43:43.340 in part three but those moments of of frailty and things not working how they're supposed to

00:43:52.020 are more informative to me in this in this work than the you know feats of great heroism as

00:43:58.720 amazing as those are we get that and we celebrate that people don't think about the quiet pain of

00:44:06.560 being powerless and that's the thing we come to find out this monster's impervious to steal

00:44:13.060 you could have been the greatest swordsman in the world and no sword would have penetrated this guy

00:44:17.660 no amount of battle prowess would have done that just strength of muscle versus muscle was the

00:44:25.300 only way that was going to do this. And they didn't know that till the end. So some of the

00:44:31.440 tragic elements of this I think teach us a lot as well. One of the things that we see in Beowulf

00:44:38.160 and what Beowulf says as well is, I would have liked it a lot better if you could have seen his

00:44:44.100 whole body here, but rest assured he's gone. But one of the things that he hints at here is that

00:44:50.080 even he is not

00:44:51.840 even Beowulf being

00:44:55.660 the biggest and the strongest and the most noble

00:44:58.260 and the best that there is

00:44:59.640 even he has

00:45:01.720 moments where he's not strong

00:45:04.180 enough. He was strong enough to

00:45:06.220 kill Grendel by ripping his entire 0.64

00:45:07.980 shoulder from his body and 1.00

00:45:09.940 dealing him a mortal wound

00:45:11.840 but again

00:45:13.160 weird will as weird will

00:45:16.080 fate will what it wants and

00:45:17.960 no matter how strong you are, there are times when you are going to have to take the consolation

00:45:24.640 prize, but you do it with a big trophy, even if you do. So that's one thing on there is the

00:45:29.900 humility that he states that I wasn't strong enough to do it this way, but I still got the

00:45:34.460 job done. So that's something that I've always liked in that part as well. He's like, I still

00:45:39.420 won. It was a little bit messy, but I still did it. I got the job done either way.

00:45:45.060 and you're going to notice that Unferth shows up in again and I love to hate I love to hate

00:45:55.180 Unferth but it even states in here you know he was calling out Beowulf before and it says in here

00:46:03.440 there was less temperate and big talk then from Unferth the boaster less of his blather and as

00:46:08.840 the as the whole thing's eye the awful proof of what happened there is no denying how amazing

00:46:15.380 beowulf was there is no denying that beowulf succeeded there is no denying his his courage

00:46:21.240 or his strength it's not just words there is something there is a huge arm a huge trophy of

00:46:28.160 mauled flesh and scales nobody can deny that that happened and it shuts him up immediately

00:46:36.140 unfurth did not have the courage to face grendel we know this because he's still alive

00:46:42.620 yet he challenges the people who do so when it comes down to it here he sits quieted and what

00:46:51.380 is the best way to quiet your enemies and those who tell you you can't do something do it twice

00:46:57.300 and take pictures and that's exactly what bewolf did anything to add on unfurth

00:47:02.340 Yes, but it goes into one of the questions that's in the queue that we're going to end up answering later.

00:47:17.860 So I'll get that when we get to it.

00:47:23.580 All right.

00:47:25.600 Do we have any other questions in the queue we want to get to before we continue on?

00:47:32.340 um you know what we won't I'm gonna I'm gonna get to it now because for reasons anyways so

00:47:48.360 being in someone's presence and looking them in the eye is crucial

00:47:55.380 through just the circumstances with with with which we live so many of us

00:48:04.980 miss out on that in a lot of our social interactions and you notice with a lot of people

00:48:13.300 with people who tend to be reclusive and have their socialization on the internet

00:48:18.520 with younger people that grew up in a time

00:48:22.860 where it was even more heavily loaded with that.

00:48:28.080 The interaction of saying something to someone's face

00:48:31.480 is really different.

00:48:33.360 And I've said this a number of times as well.

00:48:36.860 The idea that, well, that guy wouldn't say that to my face.

00:48:41.900 If someone's heated, there's an implied threat there,

00:48:45.680 but not really.

00:48:46.780 Most of the time in the world we live in, there's probably not an immediate violent consequence to people saying rude or completely unfounded and inappropriate things.

00:48:59.120 But there is a gut level instinctive consequence to looking foolish in public, to being aware that everybody looks at you like you're either the villain or you're a coward or something that you say is completely inappropriate or a way that you're behaving.

00:49:19.260 Having to deal with the looks of scorn of other people when you do that, then there's another thing to be said when you are in the presence of greatness.

00:49:29.120 So there are people that, and there's all kind of hippie ways of describing it with auras and various other things, but it's absolutely real that there are people who have a presence that is greater than themselves.

00:49:45.300 in our faith.

00:49:49.220 There's different ways you can talk about that

00:49:52.100 within the soul complex.

00:49:54.560 I often like to refer to that as the woad self.

00:49:57.820 But there is an image of yourself

00:49:59.340 that projects beyond you

00:50:01.600 that people see and affects their vision of you.

00:50:08.260 And that can be a number of different things.

00:50:10.620 But it's sometimes when you see an old, shriveled up man that is a hero, that you are aware of the life that they lived, you can't help but not see this broke down elderly person in front of you.

00:50:32.440 you see a reflection of them in their prime of their glory that they've achieved

00:50:39.220 there's something different that happens in moments and I always talk about you guys may

00:50:45.540 remember this I always talk about the coolest thing as a gothi is when we see in someone else's

00:50:51.740 eyes when the house of truth became real for them and this is kind of what I mean about that

00:50:56.580 presence you can tell that that person is different than they were moments before

00:51:02.580 something has happened there everything about them

00:51:07.460 presents differently because they have awakened to our faith and seeing that is special you also

00:51:16.100 see that when someone has been transformed through circumstance we've talked a lot lately about the

00:51:25.300 in here you are and the idea of ascending and becoming something more than you are

00:51:30.900 and how heroes very often on the battlefield will achieve that state of being

00:51:38.820 more being superhuman being the ubermensch maybe just for a moment maybe for a small window

00:51:46.260 but touching their potential for a moment being their woad self as opposed to being separate from

00:51:52.420 it you see that in a lot of those cont cont uh contexts and i think that you see that here

00:52:02.180 when beowulf is standing draped in glory you know beneath the dangling arm of his foe

00:52:13.060 his presence is overwhelming i think his presence is overwhelming to everyone in the room

00:52:18.660 but to unfurth in a different way he can't look beowulf in the eye

00:52:24.180 and that is a very primal man-to-man reaction that you see there in a really special way

00:52:34.740 thank you sir

00:52:37.860 all right continuing on then the order was given for all of the hands to help to refurbish

00:52:44.500 as cherocked immediately. Men and women thronging the wine hall, getting it ready. Gold threads

00:52:49.360 shone in the wall hangings, woven scenes that attracted and held the eye's attention. But iron

00:52:54.200 brace as the inside of it had been, the bright room lay in ruins now. The very doors have been

00:52:58.700 dragged from their hinges, only the roof remained unscathed by the time the guilt-fouled fiend

00:53:02.900 turned tail in despair for his life. But death is not easily escaped from by anyone. All of us souls,

00:53:09.980 earth dwellers, and children of men must make our way to the destination already ordained,

00:53:13.960 where the body, after banqueting, sleeps

00:53:15.980 on his deathbed. Then the

00:53:18.000 due time arrived for Halfdane's son to proceed

00:53:20.040 to the hall. The king himself would sit

00:53:22.000 down to feast. No group ever gathered

00:53:24.120 in greater numbers or better order around

00:53:25.980 the ring giver. The benches

00:53:27.480 filled with famous men who fell

00:53:29.860 to with relish. Round upon

00:53:32.020 round of mead was passed.

00:53:34.500 Those powerful kinsmen, Hothgarn

00:53:35.980 and Hothroth, were in high spirits

00:53:37.820 in the raftered hall. Inside Herod, there

00:53:39.940 was nothing but friendship. The

00:53:41.920 shielding nation was not yet familiar

00:53:43.780 with feud and betrayal. The half-dained son presented Beowulf with the gold standard as a 0.61

00:53:48.560 victory gift, an embroidered banner, also breastmail and a helmet, and a sword carried high.

00:53:53.800 There was both precious object and token of honor, so Beowulf drank his drink at ease. It was hardly

00:53:59.160 a shame to be showered with such gifts in front of the hall troops. There haven't been many moments,

00:54:03.640 I am sure, when men exchanged for such treasures as so friendly as sitting. An embossed ridge,

00:54:08.560 a band left with wire arched over the helmet

00:54:10.660 had protection to keep the king

00:54:12.460 ground cutting edge from damaging

00:54:14.660 it when danger threatened

00:54:15.900 and the man that was battling behind

00:54:18.640 his shield. Next, the king ordered

00:54:20.580 eight horses with gold bridles that

00:54:22.600 he brought through the yard, into

00:54:24.660 the hall. The harness of one 0.98

00:54:26.560 included a saddle of sumptuous design,

00:54:29.000 the battle seat where the son of

00:54:30.440 half-dean rode where he wished to join the sword play.

00:54:33.080 Wherever the killing and carnage

00:54:34.420 were the worst, he would be to the

00:54:36.540 fore, fighting hard.

00:54:38.560 Then the Danish prince, descendant of Ing, handed over both the arms and the horses, urging Beowulf to use them well.

00:54:47.120 And so their leader, the lord and guard and coffer and strong room, with customary grace bestowed upon Beowulf, both sets of gifts.

00:54:56.480 A fair witness can see how well each one behaved.

00:54:59.960 Okay, so this is interesting for a couple different reasons, depending on what you're reading Beowulf for.

00:55:06.160 So when I talked about Beowulf in the introduction, we talked about the people who took it at an academic stance and they only mined it for information, right?

00:55:16.940 So this is a really good description.

00:55:20.220 If you have a good imagination, this is a description of Anglo-Saxon armor and gold work and things like that.

00:55:27.700 They're known for working beautifully with gold in their armor, in their helmets, and all of their things.

00:55:33.860 So there's an example of that.

00:55:36.880 But one of the things in here that I want to make point of is that it states again, when it's your time to go, it's your time to go.

00:55:46.300 Do not fear your life or do not fear your death because your day of death is going to be there with you like it or not.

00:55:52.540 So do so with honor.

00:55:54.760 But one of the things that they have in here as well, the ritual of gift giving itself.

00:56:01.540 This is extraordinarily important throughout our culture.

00:56:05.280 and it's important today. So when we look at it in an ancient versus a modern context,

00:56:11.460 ancient context, the Kings used to give jewels, horses, they would give women, they would give

00:56:17.720 land, they would give all the things that it was theirs to give, right? In return for

00:56:23.460 the loyalty and the service of, of the men. And he, almost all of these things are given here.

00:56:32.000 Like we have horses being given, saddles being given, you know, weapons and shields being given, and they're explained in detail.

00:56:40.600 But the ritual of the gift giving itself, just think of how important that itself is, right?

00:56:47.740 Our main ritual that we do is a gift between us and the gods.

00:56:52.680 We gift each other.

00:56:54.220 We gift each other for service, for loyalty, for frith.

00:56:58.760 we gift ourselves to be of service and to service so kings did not just give gifts to the people

00:57:08.480 the people also gave gifts to the king so that gift cycle is present not only between us and

00:57:15.340 the gods but between us and our king and between us as people so think of the gift giving itself

00:57:25.420 as a ritual because it really truly is.

00:57:29.420 So do you have anything to add on that part

00:57:31.340 with the gift giving?

00:57:38.060 Yeah, we talk about that all the time

00:57:42.880 on this program about the gift cycle.

00:57:46.660 This is that in a human sense

00:57:48.980 and it is more tangible

00:57:52.600 in a king and retainer

00:57:55.460 situation than it is

00:57:57.260 in a gods and

00:57:59.440 folk situation.

00:58:07.480 Gods bless us with gifts

00:58:09.620 but it's not like

00:58:11.540 we sit down

00:58:12.580 at a feast

00:58:15.060 and stuff just magically starts

00:58:17.400 appearing around us.

00:58:19.540 It functions in a much more

00:58:21.680 subtle way. And we give gifts to the gods. But again, as I've said many times, they don't

00:58:29.240 really drink our meat or really eat, you know, the meat of the sacrifice. The exchange is much

00:58:36.340 more on a metaphysical plane that you don't see. But you see it here because gods give what gods

00:58:43.520 give men give to the gods their worship they give loyalty they give things but a king and his

00:58:53.520 retainers what resources does a king have and he may give a favor down the line he may give

00:59:03.380 royal preference to something or something that is a little bit more esoteric but what the king

00:59:11.240 has is resources. And you'll see in the exchange, it's never an even exchange. And we like to think

00:59:17.880 that it is, but it's in proportion to the people giving. Hrothgar in the story is this, you know,

00:59:26.540 great king. It's told in a really interesting way because he's this great king that's got all these

00:59:31.780 horses and gold and, you know, gold weaponry and golden banner and all this stuff. But his kingdom

00:59:37.600 seems to exist of one hall with one war band of like 12 guys so it's it's told strange in that way

00:59:48.080 but you know a small war leader may not have that he may have you know an extra portion of the crops

00:59:54.960 or an extra proportion of the spoils that he can give he may can give you a bigger cut of you know

01:00:01.680 war spoils if he has lands to dispose of he can give you lands he can give you you know whatever

01:00:09.600 the case might be at the time but the idea is the king gives you gifts befitting a king and you know

01:00:18.400 the person of more humbler means gives what he can and sometimes that's a song sometimes that's

01:00:24.320 a poem sometimes that's a token of their loyalty oftentimes it's a showing of loyalty it's taking a

01:00:32.400 knee it's pledging to be that king's man and to have that king's back and to provide for that king

01:00:39.440 and have that loyalty um people of very little means they give what they have to give and the 0.51

01:00:47.360 king with his with his luxury and his spoils yes you want you want your king to be laid you know

01:00:53.360 just weighed down with gold and jewels and magnificence because like i said earlier he

01:00:59.280 symbolizes your folk he's your living idol of the glory of your nation the glory of your war band

01:01:11.520 you want to adorn him with all those things one of the other reasons that for kings to have immense

01:01:16.480 riches is for them to be able to distribute those as reward to people who've served them well

01:01:23.360 But the gift cycle that bonds us together in Sambal, the gift cycle that bonds us and our gods, the gift cycle that builds relationship through friendship is very much the gift cycle that goes on in the hall of our ancestors.

01:01:40.660 It becomes much more formalized when done from retainer to king, but the principle remains, and it's what ties this community together with bonds of loyalty based on it.

01:01:53.360 so we do have a question in the chat as well from uh robert eboy lee and it says good evening how

01:02:03.840 are y'all doing also what has been the greatest battle you have fought physical or otherwise and

01:02:09.040 did you rip your opponent's arm off how's a year ago have you ever ripped off an arm

01:02:15.280 so i ripped off a leg one time

01:02:16.880 um all right two stories one humorous the other not so much

01:02:24.080 so i was uh i was a bouncer at a bar in saint augustine florida and

01:02:32.240 back for a while there and i don't know if they still do this

01:02:40.360 but especially when pirates of the caribbean was a big thing

01:02:44.800 there was a whole lot of pirate dress up there'd be guys in pirate dress up that lead tours down

01:02:52.260 there for the tourists there'd be pirate pub crawl things one such piratey occasion

01:02:59.800 a piratey gentleman walked in with a painted on eyepatch which was humorous and fine he came in

01:03:10.240 had some drinks with his buddy whatever well when it's time to go a lot of patrons of bars think

01:03:16.480 that well they can stay as long as there's a drink in front of them and they're there's no

01:03:21.120 time for them to go like we can stop serving them but they get to sit there and nurse the remnants

01:03:26.560 of their drink for eternity city legislatures though don't they're unaware of this of this rule

01:03:35.920 um so they enforce things like you have to have the customers out and not consuming alcohol

01:03:41.680 at a certain point or your liquor license is at risk so it was often my job to you know hasten

01:03:48.720 people hey man time to go you gotta go gotta go night's over we'll see you guys tomorrow have a

01:03:53.440 good night all right man drink up time to go and you can only do it so many times so went to this

01:03:59.520 table and told the guy hey it's time to go and then went to the other tables and started clearing

01:04:03.360 him out and can check back like all right man come on this third time you know finish your drink gotta

01:04:10.000 go um went to some more tables this is the last table and everybody's gone we're all cleaning up

01:04:18.480 around him we're starting to come up on that hard deadline that he's got to be out so

01:04:26.160 physics work different in the reality that he lives in also so he did this thing where at some

01:04:32.160 point hey it is time to go please leave your drink and leave no i'm not leaving until i'm

01:04:38.480 not leaving as long as there's booze in this glass so i grabbed the glass and he's grabbing

01:04:44.640 the glass he's trying to play tug of war with me with the glass i don't care about the glass i

01:04:49.600 care that there's liquid in it so i just turn my wrist and all his drink pours out because it's

01:04:55.040 an outdoor place it's on a patio it doesn't matter he was very unhappy i'm like hey it's time to go

01:05:00.880 and he's like i'm not leaving i said yes you are so i went around and i grabbed him and he grabs

01:05:06.640 the table and holds on for dear life and he so i pry this little man from the table and i'm

01:05:15.760 carrying him out and his little legs are kicking as i'm you know taking him out and he starts

01:05:22.240 trying to hook his legs on the other tables as i'm pulling him out of the bar he hooks one of his

01:05:28.320 legs. I continue to drag him from the bar, and the leg pops off. I was unaware that this man

01:05:37.760 was a one-legged man, so I set him down on the sidewalk, went back in. I got his leg, and I

01:05:45.060 brought it to him, and he was not happy about the situation. I went back in the bar, and the

01:05:52.920 bartender, you know, he had a couple girls in there that he was talking to, but he was trying

01:05:57.540 to get them out too and and i walked in there and he you know he's like oh matt just ripped that

01:06:02.440 guy's leg off girls you got to go matt's gonna rip your leg off i've seen it and i was like i

01:06:08.220 didn't know he had i didn't know he only had one leg and he looked at me and he said dude was

01:06:12.860 dressed like a pirate you didn't think he had a peg leg and i didn't have a response so that happened

01:06:19.600 um on a serious on a serious note there was

01:06:27.520 okay it's funny

01:06:33.040 these are the stories that I have I am not trying to claim that I'm this super awesome

01:06:45.400 badass or that bouncing is equivalent to great deeds on the battlefield it's not but it's what

01:06:55.340 i have as a reference question was asked so this is what i got um so i i was

01:07:01.920 i'm trying to think no at the time i wasn't running security i eventually ran security there

01:07:08.180 but i was you know just one of the guys on the team at this time we had a crew of like 13 guys

01:07:13.140 and one night in the summertime in anchorage alaska at this bar that i bounced at that was

01:07:19.100 kind of the biggest deal in town so it got a lot of people at it we were at capacity that night

01:07:25.020 but the most dangerous thing in that kind of environment is the parking lot because you never

01:07:31.120 know what people have in the parking lot in the bar is a controlled environment you can check

01:07:34.760 people at the door you're aware of what people have access to and the surroundings in the parking

01:07:40.400 lot there's a lot of x factors um so let's uh start out at night like any other but we filled

01:07:52.080 up and we were at capacity capacity there was like 9.99 so it's a thousand people capacity

01:07:58.480 we're at capacity and we had the way it was laid out it was three main dance floors that

01:08:05.760 were connected in this bar that looks like you just built it and i mean that's basically what

01:08:10.320 happened you built it over the course of like 50 years adding on different little pieces to it

01:08:15.040 it's kind of cobblestone together and it looked like a log cabin on the outside so on one end

01:08:21.200 there was a hip-hop area that was mostly asians and pacific islanders in the middle you'd have

01:08:29.600 military guys it would be largely white and they'd have like a usually a rock cover band

01:08:36.640 and then on the other side you'd have a hip-hop area that was mostly blacks and some hispanics

01:08:46.400 and the hip-hop sections would mix back and forth when the dj do something they don't like or

01:08:50.880 whatever but they'd go through the middle and so you'd have these different or the band in the

01:08:56.400 middle would go on on a break and then those guys would go over and so you had a lot of these

01:09:01.280 different groups of people colliding with one another um over in the largely black and hispanic

01:09:11.280 hip-hop section a fight breaks out we get calls on our radio we go over there and it's one of those

01:09:17.120 like we're physically dragging people and chucking them out the door kind of fights and there was

01:09:22.400 you know 10 people involved so we're you know grabbing a guy checking them out the door

01:09:27.200 grabbing the next guy checking them out the door doing that for for these people

01:09:31.520 the next thing you know they're fighting in the parking lot so then we got to go out to

01:09:34.960 the parking lot so when the we're in the parking lot trying to break up fights that are happening

01:09:39.280 there and then we get calls no no back quick you know door on the south side fight so we go over

01:09:45.440 there and we come back in their friends and started fighting inside so and the more this

01:09:52.640 happens there's three rounds of us doing this chucking them outside coming back in then having

01:09:57.280 to follow the fight outside it became like and this was the most like this that ever happened

01:10:04.080 in real life but it became like one of those movie bar fights where everybody bumps into each other

01:10:09.120 and everybody's just fighting everybody else when it got that way we turned on all the lights and

01:10:15.200 just everybody out closing early gotta go um but it starts getting crazy in the parking lot what

01:10:21.520 happens is everyone in the parking lot starts calling their homies to come you know regulate

01:10:28.800 so the parking lot fills up with and it's largely the hip-hop community engaged in this fight

01:10:36.960 so everyone who would find themselves in that community gathers in our parking lot

01:10:42.320 so at this point there's probably 2 000 people in the parking lot or bar area and there's 13 of us

01:10:52.400 out there trying to keep the people the non-combatants safe in this crazy melee that we're

01:10:59.280 out there so we're out there and the cops have gotten calls and they're showing up

01:11:04.000 they form a riot line at the edges of our parking lot they have riot shields

01:11:10.560 and they have loudspeakers and they're like this is an unlawful assembly please disperse

01:11:17.360 but they won't enter the parking lot like they don't know what to do this is crazy and erupted

01:11:23.000 out of nowhere and they won't enter and they're you know riot armored and you know all of them

01:11:29.740 got guns and got cop things we're going out there and basically our bouncer uniform was the shirt

01:11:38.160 that i'm wearing now with a black vest with like a cloth black vest some of us especially when we

01:11:45.920 go out at night would wear uh kevlar underneath because there's often shots fired in that parking

01:11:53.440 lot in the summertime it's hot so you kind of it's it's hit or miss no pun intended so um

01:12:00.400 um we went out there and the cops refused to help us there was 13 of us so we just weighed in the

01:12:09.760 middle of it and start dealing with stuff and people are coming at us and we are laying people

01:12:18.280 out and one of the guys that I was there with that was my partner in some of this he had a

01:12:28.660 had an expandable baton and we're just

01:12:33.860 we're just doing what we can having each other's back and we're going through and

01:12:41.540 eliminating threats that are in the parking lot and uh so we're fighting we're fighting we're in

01:12:47.460 the thick of it and a moment starts to happen where everything works i don't know why it's

01:12:55.140 not because any of us are ninjas everything works everything they do misses everything we do is

01:13:04.020 beautiful and they're getting laid out and i remember right right where i was i could walk

01:13:09.380 there to this day literally there's three or four um hip-hop gentlemen in front of me on the ground

01:13:23.060 um hopefully learning lessons and and at some point the wave stops coming there's nobody else

01:13:33.240 around and i bump into something and i turn around to engage and he turns around and it's

01:13:42.820 me and my buddy and everybody else is done and all of my guys it it is brutal because we're

01:13:52.700 wearing white dress shirts where it's read up to the shoulder on both arms but we check and it's

01:14:01.500 not ours and everybody all of my guys are fine and we walked in we had some free pizza and it

01:14:07.660 was good night but this is what this is the story i was talking about a second ago that

01:14:13.340 with unfurth when we walked back in after we cleared the parking lot ourselves

01:14:18.940 the riot line of police could not look at us and it was very awkward because they're the same people

01:14:26.380 that work that shift that would very often give us a hard time they could not look us in the eye

01:14:33.900 and for an hour there we were transformed and it was kind of that's the best i've got

01:14:41.980 on something remotely similar it's a really good story sir and i'm pretty sure that uh

01:14:48.940 This particular episode is going to go down in history for the peg leg story.

01:14:54.720 I mean, Beowulf ripped off an arm, but you ripped off a leg.

01:14:58.640 So in turn, sir, you are as epic as Beowulf.

01:15:02.080 Somebody else got there before me and ripped off the leg.

01:15:05.800 I ripped off the replacement.

01:15:10.300 All right, we've got one more question before we move on to the next section.

01:15:14.920 Lydia asks, the king gives gifts befitting a king.

01:15:17.660 How can we take this principle into the modern day?

01:15:21.600 Would you like to talk about some of the things that the AFA does for outstanding leadership or gifts or things of that nature?

01:15:34.500 So that's interesting.

01:15:47.660 So I am in a spot where I forget that I have this robot camera.

01:15:59.480 And so sometimes it changes my camera view.

01:16:01.900 And I noticed that.

01:16:04.100 Stop it, robot camera.

01:16:06.140 Hold on.

01:16:07.420 It's a really cool camera.

01:16:08.660 It's just poor management by the owner of said camera.

01:16:17.660 I am in a spot where I am a sovereign, but I do not have mountains of booty to distribute.

01:16:32.960 The nature of our church doesn't work that way.

01:16:40.180 And just because of the modern situation and modern economy of things,

01:16:46.280 we have a lot of other things to do with the stuff that we have

01:16:58.540 than to provide Matt with riches,

01:17:01.340 despite some rumors that you might hear floating around.

01:17:06.260 That said,

01:17:08.420 we talk in leadership a little bit about

01:17:16.280 What things we have to help reward people on things.

01:17:20.480 We've got enough funds that we can do nice things.

01:17:24.260 But we often will reward people with positions, with opportunity, with tokens of our appreciation on stuff, with plaques, with names on plaques of things.

01:17:38.980 when someone is ordained as a Goethe or Githia, they get a ring.

01:17:46.700 When somebody is a very special long-term member of making the AFA happen,

01:17:55.320 they get an AFA honor ring.

01:17:58.220 A couple reasons. Rings are cool. It's a cool thing.

01:18:01.280 But hearkening back to our lore and our tradition,

01:18:03.700 It's one of my jobs as the sovereign of the AFA to be a ring giver, figuratively and literally.

01:18:12.960 But finding ways to honor our heroes and people who do great things in the AFA is always an interesting challenge because we don't have the wealth and abundance to give them teams of horses and golden armor and things of that nature.

01:18:33.700 But we try to or we try to find small tokens that are meaningful to give as gifts.

01:18:46.880 Sometimes we'll fly people out to an event if they're leaders that have done an amazing job.

01:18:52.360 And it's dual purpose. Some of that's a reward.

01:18:55.900 But most of the rewards within the AFA, and I was talking to Witten Young about that earlier.

01:19:01.320 whereas a lot of people view them as

01:19:07.720 they review they think of their rewards sometimes as a hardship like oh they're forcing you to go on

01:19:16.800 this work trip no to most of us that's you know some of our favorite time you know i talked to

01:19:23.360 to someone at feces the iron yard and they were thanking me for you know going all that distance

01:19:28.500 or whatever. And I'm sitting there, you know, man, I'm lucky I get to travel all over and do

01:19:32.840 all these cool AFA things and be with my folk all this time. And, you know, how fortunate I am that

01:19:37.940 I'm able to do that. So a lot of our rewards for my thanes when they do great things is giving

01:19:47.920 them more AFA things to do and more AFA responsibilities to take more time away from

01:19:53.300 their families and personal lives to do um but we're working on that on ways to properly gift

01:20:03.300 people that that achieve a lot for us and that do great things for us thank you sir all right

01:20:12.500 going on to our next next part here the chieftain went on to rework the others each man on the bench

01:20:21.060 who had sailed with Beowulf and risked voyage, received a bounty. Some treasured possession

01:20:25.960 and compensation of price in gold was settled for the geek Grendel had cruelly killed earlier,

01:20:31.540 as he would have killed more had not mindful God and one man's daring prevented that doom.

01:20:37.040 Past and present, God's will prevails, hence understanding is always best and a prudent

01:20:41.960 mind. Whoever remains for long here in this earthly life will enjoy and endure more than enough.

01:20:47.880 They sang then and played to please the hero

01:20:50.420 Words and music for their warrior prince

01:20:53.060 Hark tunes and tales of adventure

01:20:55.560 There were high times on the wall benches

01:20:58.300 And the king's poet performed the part with the saga of Finn and his sons

01:21:01.800 Unfolding the tale of the fierce attack in Criesland

01:21:04.640 Where Noth, the king of the Danes, met death

01:21:07.380 Hiddleberg had little cause to credit the Jude's son and brother

01:21:12.540 She lost them both on the battlefield

01:21:14.660 She bereft and blameless

01:21:16.660 they foredoomed cut down the spear gourd she the woman in shock waylaid by grief

01:21:21.720 whose daughter how could she not lament her fate when morning came and the light broke on her

01:21:27.500 murdered dears and so farewell delight on earth was carried away finn's troop of things all but

01:21:33.120 a few how then could finn hold the line or fight on the end with with hangist who saved the rump

01:21:40.420 of his force from the enemy chief so a truce was offered as follows for separate quarters to be

01:21:46.640 cleared for the Danes. Hall and thrones would be shared with the Frisians. Then, second, every day

01:21:52.480 as a dole out of gifts, Fenn, son of Focwald, should honor the Danes bestowed with an even

01:21:58.640 hand to Angus and Angus men, and rock gold rings, bounding to match the measure he gave his own

01:22:04.120 Frisians, to keep morale in the beer hall high. Both sides then sealed their agreement, which

01:22:10.080 owes to Angus Fenn swore openly, solemnly, that the battle survivors would be guaranteed honor

01:22:15.400 and status. No infringement by word or deed, no provocation would be permitted. Their own ring

01:22:21.800 giver, after all, was dead and gone. They were leaderless, and forced allegiance to his murderer.

01:22:27.620 So if any Phrygians stirred up bad blood with insinuations or taunts about this, 1.00

01:22:31.960 the blade of the sword would arbitrate it. A funeral pyre was then prepared. 1.00

01:22:37.640 Evelch and gold brought out from the horde. The pride of the prince of the Shildians lay

01:22:41.660 awaiting the flame. Everywhere there were blood plaster coats of mail. The pyre was heaped with 1.00

01:22:47.400 the boar-shaped helmets forged in gold with the gashed corpses of well-born veins. Many had

01:22:52.240 fallen. Then Hildebrand ordered her own son's body be burnt with knaps. The flesh of his bones

01:22:58.880 to sputter and blaze beside his uncle's. The woman wailed and sang kings. The warrior went up.

01:23:05.500 Carcass flame swirled and fumed and stood round the brutal mound and howled his head melting,

01:23:10.320 crushed gashes, spattered, and ran bloody matter. The glutton element flamed, consued the dead of

01:23:16.820 both sides. Their great days were gone. All right, so we've got a little bit for everybody on this

01:23:22.720 one. So if you're into the funeral rites, it's in there. One of the things that I want to

01:23:29.360 focus on on this one is the mother who lost her family, right? 0.83

01:23:40.320 So one of the things that you will find in epic literature, as well as in the sagas, is a lot of the time the women will be either, they either act as solid council or they act as a cattle prod.

01:23:56.940 And you'll see that more as we get into when the queen comes through as well. 0.72

01:24:02.020 there are a lot of things that men will fight and die for that'll be country cause their folk

01:24:10.080 but oftentimes a a woman will settle a lot of things a woman's heartbreak or a agreement with

01:24:21.960 a woman or any of those things men will fight for women but men will also be peaceful for women

01:24:29.880 And they will find a way to make that happen.

01:24:34.640 That is one of our roles.

01:24:36.600 Remember that we can lead the men to go to war, but we can also lead them to peace.

01:24:48.020 And on this one here, when they're talking about when the war was over, and the Alshira Godhi mentioned it earlier,

01:24:56.700 you can rally for a king

01:24:59.540 even if the king is an old man 0.98

01:25:01.860 as long as he's in the front

01:25:03.100 but when the lord is dead

01:25:05.920 sometimes you don't have anything else

01:25:09.740 to fight for

01:25:10.320 and you find yourself in a situation

01:25:12.840 where you have to

01:25:13.960 coexist at a minute

01:25:16.600 do you have any thoughts on that sir

01:25:20.800 in particular

01:25:23.120 so your last statement again one more time because i don't want to get something wrong

01:25:32.420 so when you lose a leader or you lose someone that is the head of the cause or you are just

01:25:42.040 defeated in general there are times when you have to find a way to coexist and you have to have that

01:25:51.260 griff otherwise it is just an endless battle of death and despair when the battle itself was

01:26:00.440 hard enough as it is yeah um absolutely and because i wanted to comment on a couple of things

01:26:07.580 first i wanted to

01:26:09.280 reiterate um that's one of the this whole poem is like this uh it's just rich with things about

01:26:21.080 how to how to behave um

01:26:26.900 the epic lore of the eddas is everybody's go-to but it doesn't teach the same like what do you do

01:26:39.080 with that how do you behave with the ethics of alsa true and this poem does um 0.89

01:26:45.200 Um, women being frith weavers is essential to women's proper social function. 0.99

01:26:59.660 There's lots of things that women do that are women's specialties, and the more that 1.00

01:27:08.880 move our women away from those or we lessen the value of those we rob our women of success and 1.00

01:27:19.360 their natural strengths and glories in life one of the biggest of those is they are able to settle

01:27:31.280 disputes and the calm things and i think that we've all been in those situations we've seen it

01:27:36.000 go the other way. They can absolutely stir two men who would never, ever fight one another into

01:27:41.880 a heated fist fight by choosing to make that happen. I've gotten a fight with a number of

01:27:48.520 guys bouncing to where, because they're girls behind them. They literally mouth to me,

01:27:55.360 I'm sorry, I don't want to do this. Because they got put on the spot and they got made to look

01:28:03.200 weak and like are you gonna take that are you gonna let him talk to you like that and like

01:28:08.480 and that's that's a thing but the inverse is also equally true putting a hand on somebody's arm

01:28:17.200 and asking them not to fight there or asking them to take you home or like hey how about you how

01:28:22.480 about you dance with me instead let's go dance doing those things sometimes very very subtle

01:28:29.120 de-escalate a situation very very well and that's an important skill that is in short

01:28:39.020 supply amongst our women these days unfortunately the idea of when the king falls everybody just

01:28:50.720 kind of stops and goes, collects their dead and everybody goes home is a very important

01:28:59.440 concept on things. And we see this displayed in different ways. I think

01:29:05.240 we need to look at the things that our ancestors did that were celebrated and look at the things

01:29:15.940 they did that were the subject of hardship and tragedy we don't want to ape how our ancestors

01:29:25.300 lived how they lived is irrelevant the thought of the values that they lived for and what they

01:29:33.620 chose to value and chose to not value are extremely relevant the individual actions

01:29:40.180 are contextual. What we see is finding resolution is valuable. If you can get awesome vengeance

01:29:49.760 and come out on top, that's also valuable. If two families or two groups of people are

01:29:57.460 involved in a generations-long blood feud, that is a tragedy. Now, there are principles of honor

01:30:05.300 that go into sometimes making that a necessity but it's tragic and finding ways to avoid that

01:30:13.780 is one of the themes that our ancestors placed great value in

01:30:23.060 when and this goes into and we talked a little bit about on the episode with tear as as the war god

01:30:30.900 but when when two kings take the field

01:30:37.560 a metaphysical struggle goes on when one of those kings falls

01:30:46.540 the issue's kind of been decided you don't have to like it

01:30:52.660 but you stop needlessly throwing life on it

01:30:59.160 and that's a that's a hard thing but it's it's a really important thing and we see that a lot

01:31:07.800 we especially see that in antiquity and through the middle ages when when the king goes down

01:31:14.680 everybody just kind of get figures that it's it's done put down your weapons we'll call it good

01:31:22.200 you know people go home we're gonna go home or you're you're we're gonna take you prisoner

01:31:28.480 whatever the deal is um but battle's over at that point a lot things in the age of kings and

01:31:38.720 war chiefs were very often personal in the sense that they were related to that king's claim on

01:31:47.760 things to that king's rights being enforced or not when that king falls it's a very natural

01:31:56.080 end to all right we don't every last person doesn't need to sacrifice their life

01:32:03.760 and that saves that idea has saved a lot of lives

01:32:12.960 we do have a question in the chat we might want to get to too before we get too much further

01:32:18.480 um as true texas asked here's a question for y'all would it be inappropriate to hold a blow

01:32:23.440 to slutnir he is technically offspring of locally of loki but he is also a boon to the all father

01:32:33.840 yeah he's a horse like and i've seen the other things and it's

01:32:41.760 it's strange because his siblings have different levels of sentience and personness

01:32:52.480 we have zero indication in the lore that slepner is capable of

01:32:59.280 exchanging in the gift cycle in a way outside of what a regular horse would be able to exchange in

01:33:12.000 that's so the issue is well should we not do it because

01:33:17.360 he's an offspring of loki no i don't think that's the reason that we shouldn't

01:33:21.920 In that way, the same way that we've talked about various giantesses being welcomed into and amongst the Aesir, he's clearly welcomed to and, you know, on-team Aesir as Odin's steed.

01:33:37.180 But he's a horse.

01:33:39.480 We have no reason that he's sentient.

01:33:41.880 He's not a talking horse that engages, you know.

01:33:44.760 And I'm not being silly because we do get the impression that Jormungand and that Fenrir are malevolent, that they have intent, that they have fought to do evil, to do chaos.

01:34:03.680 We're given that impression.

01:34:05.440 We aren't given that impression of personality about Sleipnir.

01:34:09.080 Now, that said, I've mentioned before, leaving out an offering for or giving a nod to, I don't think is inappropriate.

01:34:23.000 Hosting a big bloat for would seem very out of place.

01:34:27.700 And that may seem like a subtle distinction, but, you know, I mentioned the silly little first offering I did to Freya when I first became Alcetru.

01:34:36.020 And it was meant, well, it's not what I recommend, but it was what I had.

01:34:41.420 And I left her a shot of Goldschlager and some fancy feast because she had cats.

01:34:47.700 And that's all I knew at that point.

01:34:50.540 Something like that makes sense.

01:34:52.560 You know, a tradition that, you know, that I used to do and, you know, maybe me and Aubrey will do this year is at Mother's Night,

01:35:02.200 leaving out an apple or some carrots by the street because Wild Hunt's coming through

01:35:09.520 and Odin's riding Sleipnir through. Making a little offering as a nod to that is a nice

01:35:17.860 gesture. But as far as we know, he's a horse, magical horse. He's the best of horses, I

01:35:27.300 think he's described as. But we have no reason to think of him as being a god or a hero or something

01:35:36.560 that has got the sentience that you give bloat to him. He's a horse. All right. I'll come to

01:35:47.040 Mora Beowulf. Warriors scattered to homes and forts all over Friesland. Fear now are feeling

01:35:53.780 loss of friends. Angus stayed, lived out the whole resentful, blood-solemn winter with Finn,

01:35:59.700 homesick and helpless. No ring-world plow could up then and away on the sea. Wind and water raged

01:36:06.320 with storms. Wave and shingle were shackled in ice until another year appeared in the yard,

01:36:11.960 as it does to this day. In the season's constant, the wonder of light coming over us.

01:36:16.940 The winter was gone. Earth's lap grew lovely, longing woke in a cooped-up exile for a borage

01:36:23.620 home, but more for vengeance, some way of bringing things to a head. His sword arm hankered to greet 0.99

01:36:30.920 the youths. He did not balk once, halfling placed on his lap, dazzled the duel and the best sword

01:36:42.780 of all, whose edging was not only too well. As blood was spilled, the gallant fin slain in his

01:36:49.340 home after Golov and Osloff, back from the voyage, made old accusation. The brutal ambush, the fate

01:36:56.020 they had suffered, all blamed on Finn. The wildness in them had to brim over. The hall ran red with

01:37:02.820 blood of enemies. Finn was cut down. The queen brought away and everything the shieldings could

01:37:09.240 find inside Finn's walls. Frigian Key's gold collars and gemstones swept off to the ship.

01:37:15.200 Over the sea lanes, ten backed the Daneland, and warrior troop bore the lady home.

01:37:20.920 The poem was over. The poet had performed a pleasant murmur.

01:37:25.240 A pleasant murmur started from the benches.

01:37:27.580 Stewards did the rounds with wine and splendid jugs,

01:37:31.660 and Wethlau came to sit in her gold crown between two good men, uncle and nephew,

01:37:36.180 each of whom still trusted the other,

01:37:38.440 and the forthright unfurth, admired by all for his mind and courage,

01:37:41.840 although under a cloud for killing his brothers reclined near the king the queen spoke enjoy this

01:37:48.280 drink my most generous lord raise up your goblet entertain the geats duly and gently discourse them

01:37:55.360 be open-handed happy and fond relish their company but recollect as well all of the boons that have

01:38:02.740 been bestowed on you the bright court of herod has been cleansed and now the word is that you

01:38:07.980 want to adopt this warrior as a son. So while you may bask in your fortune, and then bequeath

01:38:14.980 kingdom and nation to your kith and kin before our decease, I am certain of Hrothov. He is noble

01:38:22.020 and will use the young one's well. He will not let you down, should you die before him. He will

01:38:27.220 treat our children truly and fairly. He will honor, I am sure, our two sons. Repay them in kind when

01:38:34.140 he recollects all of the good things we gave him once, the favor and respect he found in his

01:38:39.260 childhood. She turned then to the bench where her boys sat, Rethic and Hrothmund, with other noble

01:38:46.280 sons, all the youth together, and that good man, Beowulf the Geet, sat between the brothers.

01:38:52.880 Okay, so I've got a couple things to say about this, but the first thing I want to say is,

01:38:56.880 When we're talking about Finn being cut down

01:39:00.320 It doesn't matter

01:39:04.960 What's the best way of saying that

01:39:09.460 Even if you're a conqueror

01:39:12.520 And even if you try to

01:39:14.360 Do the best you can for peace

01:39:17.580 There are always going to be those that can't live in peace

01:39:21.260 There are always going to be those who cannot live with defeat

01:39:25.740 there are always going to be those that no matter what the oaths were made, they will break the oath

01:39:32.280 for personal glory rather than for the betterment of the community. And we see that in modern times

01:39:39.140 as well, where an oath doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who made the oath. It doesn't matter if you

01:39:43.560 were part of the oath. It doesn't matter if you made the oath. You did that in a moment. And then

01:39:50.120 when your own emotion and your own ego and things that are more important to you come up

01:39:58.200 no matter what the consequences are on the community you'll break that oath for yourself

01:40:04.840 we see that today and we saw that with our ancestors

01:40:08.920 and it's pointed out in here that the community is what matters the community is what needs to

01:40:18.300 be taken care of your own thirst for revenge can tear an entire community apart so i just wanted

01:40:26.900 to point that out in there that's a old context and it's a modern context as well we see that

01:40:32.220 over and over again and as pointed out that you're not just harming your own honor when you do that

01:40:38.780 you're harming the honor of everyone else around you as well i'll share a girl do you have anything

01:40:43.940 to add on that in particular well so on that and a little bit on the

01:40:51.140 on the side chat going on a little bit um

01:40:56.580 we have a warped concept of honor that's come down to us

01:41:01.300 honor

01:41:04.660 in our ancestors time the concept of honor wasn't your personal code of

01:41:17.380 you're not to be messed with that's not what it meant it had very much the sense that we still

01:41:25.820 have today when we're being formal and someone receives an honor it was a value that was placed

01:41:31.580 on you by society you behaving in a way that we typically today would talk about honor

01:41:41.740 evolved the way it has because that kind of behavior built reputation and value for you

01:41:48.060 in the community building reputation and maintaining your reputation was a reference

01:41:55.740 to honor because it was about your social stake that you had one of the issues with oaths

01:42:05.260 when one broke an oath in our ancestors time they were known as an oath breaker

01:42:10.300 their kin were known as kin of an oath breaker it affected their honor and the honor of their

01:42:17.180 family and the honor of people who had associations with them and there was a social consequence for

01:42:23.500 you breaking your word and not being trustworthy in today we don't have that social reinforcement

01:42:32.380 people don't take oaths seriously most people talk such a huge game and i see people use

01:42:39.900 oaths as a convenient excuse to misbehave or to not do things. But those same people never find

01:42:49.220 oaths binding if they have an ounce of butthurt about anything ever. All of a sudden, oath,

01:42:55.780 what oath? What are you talking about? And we see it, you know, in my time in Ousitru,

01:43:01.120 I have seen a lot more examples of oath-breaking than I have of oath-fulfillment, unfortunately.

01:43:08.300 And part of that is we are so soft.

01:43:14.040 We talk about this in terms of courage and cowardice. 0.50

01:43:19.920 If I get on here and call out people for being cowards, immediately I'm a mean bully and people don't find that tasteful.

01:43:31.680 The same people want me to celebrate heroes.

01:43:34.860 You can't do one without the other.

01:43:36.500 it's like on oaths we make this big to-do about how special they are but when you start calling

01:43:42.500 out oath breakers for breaking oaths in our ancestors time that would mean people put a lot

01:43:47.700 of social pressure on them in this time you're a bully for having the audacity to mention their

01:43:54.660 oath breaking and that's got to correct itself to get to a point where we can restore some honor

01:44:01.220 the other thing i want to point out is you know there's and i'm not following the conversation 0.98

01:44:05.540 over on the side completely but getting in stupid fights for your honor 0.98

01:44:13.300 is outmoded a little bit because you're not building a reputation getting in relatively 0.99

01:44:19.220 petty duels about honor in a time where that mattered a lot made sense because the the cost

01:44:27.780 benefit analysis was really different if you were to duel people because they said something bad

01:44:35.060 about you and get in fights you were celebrated by your society you were rewarded you were treated

01:44:43.700 well and it was a it brought your social value up in today's world if you do that

01:44:52.340 that is very often not the case yes there are obviously some situations where man's

01:44:57.300 got to do what a man's got to do

01:44:58.580 but more often than not what it does is give you a criminal record make people think that you're a

01:45:07.520 bully limit your ability to provide for your family and be successful in life that's not a

01:45:15.440 net honor game it's a net honor loss for you as your family you become a less productive member

01:45:21.480 a society because you sacrifice 10 years of your life and lots of your freedoms to punch somebody

01:45:29.360 in the nose that called you a name that you didn't like one time. So context is everything.

01:45:35.260 If you did that in the old West, you'd be a hero. You'd be awesome. If you did that last weekend,

01:45:42.220 you'd be going for a judge. So it's a real different scenario. And I think those things

01:45:48.200 need to be weighed before people make choices um that's what i got thank you sir

01:45:58.360 we go down after the tale is ended when he starts talking about this um

01:46:03.160 the word that was had and the oaths that were made and then we start talking about the hall

01:46:08.760 itself after the lay is over we go back to the hall and the queen is coming in and giving out

01:46:15.240 drink, right? Making her rounds. But one of the things that she makes it a point is to stop by 0.98

01:46:20.920 the king and say, I see that this great warrior is with us and that you intend to adopt him as

01:46:27.200 your son. And that's all fine and good. We're okay with that. He's a great man. Don't forget

01:46:32.660 your nephew because our nephew has that familiar bond. He's going to treat our sons well. If

01:46:38.400 something were to happen to us, I think that he's definitely going to be the one that you're going

01:46:42.420 of wanted to take care of our kids. But there's something in here when you look at it. And

01:46:47.560 in Brandyland Beowulf, when she looks across and it says in here,

01:46:54.000 all of these noble children are sitting on the benches. And in between the brothers sits Beowulf.

01:47:00.540 And she can look over and she sees Beowulf with her sons at her side. And it's a sign of nobility.

01:47:06.960 It's a sign of showing worth that her, that Beowulf, whether he has, and it doesn't say he has been adopted.

01:47:14.120 It says, I choose to adopt you, right?

01:47:16.480 You are a son in my heart.

01:47:18.160 But you look over across at the bench and the two sons are sitting between Beowulf.

01:47:23.800 So this giant of a man and these young nobles are all sitting together, but it shows you his rank and his worth at that hall.

01:47:34.460 He's sitting with the princes of the hall.

01:47:36.960 so when you look at the seating of a hall you know people sit according to their rank and

01:47:42.660 people are served according to their rank so this is a big huge thing for him to be sitting

01:47:47.900 at this bench with these boys and for her to look over and see that between the two

01:47:52.400 so when we're talking and when we're talking about going to a hall and looking around and

01:47:59.820 seeing who's there. You're looking to see who's there, where you fit in. And sometimes that is

01:48:06.940 in a modern context, sometimes that can be kind of at an unconscious level.

01:48:12.880 When you see the Alshira go to sitting at a table, sometimes you might ask yourself, 0.59

01:48:18.240 do I get to sit to his left or to his right? Do I approach this whole great big group of leadership 0.94

01:48:24.880 or do I not post this great big group of leadership? So I'm just going to make it a

01:48:29.180 point to throw this in here because it's a good spot too. Approach the Elshira Godhi at that table.

01:48:36.580 Okay. Walk up to that entire group of leadership. When you see us all grouped together, you see us

01:48:43.360 sitting all together with Godhar and folk builders and things like that. I imagine as a member that

01:48:49.120 might be a little bit intimidating to walk up to a table with the founder of your church and his wife

01:48:54.340 who is the most amazing Githya

01:48:56.380 that's ever lived. And then you have 1.00

01:48:58.280 the Alshira Godi who is like this great

01:49:00.360 strong powerful leader of an amazing

01:49:02.320 church with all of his

01:49:03.720 Godar and all of his folk builders. 0.99

01:49:07.560 And you look 0.97

01:49:08.440 at this table which would be like

01:49:10.400 the table of nobility in the hall.

01:49:14.020 Walk

01:49:14.540 up to that hall.

01:49:16.460 So that's something that I want to

01:49:18.560 put a similarity to

01:49:20.320 but also put a contrast to in

01:49:22.280 ancient times versus modern times. There doesn't have to be a big ceremony all the time in modern

01:49:30.220 times. There is a respect for the position that the Asherah Gothi holds, that the Founder holds,

01:49:36.520 that the Gothar holds, but they are not to the point where you have to not approach them.

01:49:44.120 You know, I don't want us to read this and read rank and think that we can't be approachable.

01:49:48.460 Make sure that you go into that group of people.

01:49:52.660 If you surround yourselves with noble people, it'll help raise your nobility.

01:49:59.020 So do that.

01:50:00.060 Insert yourself.

01:50:01.520 Raise your nobility.

01:50:05.040 Do you have anything to add about the past?

01:50:08.220 Yeah, I do.

01:50:10.180 Context, as I've said a thousand times, as I've said like 15 times tonight, context is everything.

01:50:18.460 if we're all sitting around eating and it's just whatever then you can have that conversation

01:50:28.640 um people don't do that during sumble because we're doing something that's very formalized

01:50:36.100 um and things evolve over time I don't think it's a attitude of stuffiness there just is a

01:50:45.820 certain amount of ceremony that goes on as things evolve and become bigger and a certain amount of

01:50:51.880 deference is nice at the same point in time you know both Steve and myself are we genuinely want

01:51:01.860 to talk to our folk and you know we've we've asked for people to do that we've expressed that we're

01:51:09.980 super open for people to talk to us and we want that interaction so i mean you'd be disobeying

01:51:17.260 the will of your king if you did not come up and approach and and do that um but but that's but

01:51:23.040 what's important is what's important is being comfortable with frankness yes go and approach

01:51:33.540 people who are in positions dress for the job you want not the job you have surround yourself with

01:51:40.860 people who are closer to what you want to be or where you want to be and be in their company if

01:51:47.160 you're welcome and don't get your feelings hurt if you're not you know if you come up to them and

01:51:52.260 they're doing something that's official and it's not the right time and place it's not a slap in

01:51:57.180 the face for things to get sorted out. Or people, you know, I've seen them at events will set up

01:52:04.180 the tables for, you know, special meals in a certain way to where maybe there's a high table

01:52:09.500 to where myself and the Witten and the Gothar sit. And, you know, some guy's just sitting there

01:52:16.300 and we're getting ready to eat. And somebody says, hey, you know, we're going to need you to move

01:52:20.920 this spot's reserved for, you know, these folks. Don't get hurt and offended because it's not,

01:52:25.940 it's not a taking offense thing um and that's one of the biggest things i just would like to

01:52:30.900 encourage everybody to do we need to be more comfortable with frankness and less quick to

01:52:36.660 have butt hurt that's one of the things about frith and the hall that's really important

01:52:43.220 it degraded over time as

01:52:48.020 more foppishness and you know i would argue more christianity took over the court of kings

01:52:55.940 But in our tradition, frankness is really important, being able to speak openly, but it implies certain things.

01:53:04.600 Your ability to speak openly, it goes hand in hand with your ability to accept things that are not your favorite with grace and without butthurt.

01:53:17.600 We all who are listening to this know that our world would be a lot better if a lot of people were a lot less sensitive over the little minutia and microaggressions.

01:53:31.180 So re-embracing a frank discussion of who sits where, that's part of the hall culture is I often wonder how the seating was laid out.

01:53:40.560 i think it was very obvious and the ladies of the hall enforced it a lot on prescribed rank

01:53:48.400 when there's kings and dukes and counts and there's a there's a structure when it's the

01:53:54.960 members of a war band not as much i think there's probably a feeling out process of who sat where

01:54:02.160 and whether you get to sit there without somebody saying hey you know that's my spot get up

01:54:06.800 um having those conversations is healthy and it's especially healthy amongst men

01:54:13.520 it's really important that we respond to those in a healthy way instead of

01:54:21.040 taking a frank assessment of ourselves as being meant as an insult

01:54:29.840 all right we're going to try to get the next couple sections here and then we've got some

01:54:34.640 questions that are stacking up all right the cup was carried to him kind words spoken and welcome

01:54:42.100 in the wealth of the rock gold graciously bestowed two-armed bangles a male shirt and rings and the

01:54:46.860 most resplendent twerk of gold i had ever heard tell of anywhere on earth or under heaven 0.82

01:54:52.860 there was no horde like it since hummus snapped the brosan's neck chain and bore it away with 0.96

01:54:59.160 his gems and setting into his shining fort, away from Imeric's wiles and hatred, and thereby 0.78

01:55:04.440 ensured his internal reward. Highlight the Geet, grandson of Swearing, wore this neck ring on his

01:55:10.820 net last raid at bay under his banner. He defended the booty treasure he had won. Fate swept him away 0.76

01:55:16.700 because of his proud need to provoke a feud with the Frisians. He fell beneath his shield in the

01:55:21.620 same gem-crusted kingly gear he had worn when he had crossed the frothing wavebat. So the dead 0.56

01:55:27.560 king fell into Frankish hands. They took his breastmail, also with his neck torque, and the 0.94

01:55:32.260 Pinir warriors plundered the slain. When the carnage ended, Geet corpses covered the field. 1.00

01:55:37.400 Applause filled the hall. Then Wethel pronounced in the presence of the company,

01:55:42.800 take delight in this torque, dear Beowulf, where for luck and where for also this mail from our

01:55:47.520 people's armory. May you prosper in them. Be acclaimed for strength, for kindly guidance

01:55:52.180 to these two boys and your bounty will be sure you have one renown you are known for all men

01:55:58.080 far and near now and forever your sway is white as the winds home as the sea around cliffs and

01:56:03.660 so my prince i wish you a lifetime's luck and blessings to enjoy this treasure treat my sons

01:56:08.720 with tender care be strong and kind here each comrade is true to the other loyal to the lord

01:56:13.500 loving in spirit the things have purpose the things have on purpose the people are ready

01:56:18.980 having drunk and pledged the ranks do as I bid. She moved then to her place. Men were drinking

01:56:24.260 wine at the rare feast. How could they no fate, the grim shape of things to come, the threat

01:56:29.820 looming over many thanes? As night approached, the King Hrothgarh prepared to retire to his quarters.

01:56:35.560 Retainers and great numbers were posted on guard, as so often in the past. Benches were pushed back,

01:56:41.200 bending gear and bolsters spread across the floor, and one man lay down to his rest, already

01:56:46.540 marked for death as their heads they placed their polished timber battle shields and on the bench

01:56:52.620 above them each man kid was kept in hand a towering war helmet webbed male shirt and great

01:56:58.820 shafted spear it was their habit always and everywhere to be ready for action at home or in

01:57:04.220 the camp in whatever case and whatever time they need a rose to rally around their lord

01:57:08.720 they were a right people all right so we have with what what coming through and giving out

01:57:15.860 gifts, a torque and a shield from the armory of their family and says, may they guide you and may

01:57:21.840 give you luck and may give you honor, but you can tell exactly what it is that is on a woman's mind

01:57:26.600 that's a little bit different than the king's. When she talks about all these things, may you

01:57:31.580 take delight, may you take honor in this, if the care of my sons is your priority, if you are true

01:57:39.720 to my children. I am giving these things to you and I am telling you in my speech

01:57:44.920 that I expect your loyalty to my children. So that is where her priority is. She talked also

01:57:51.820 about it in the previous bit when she says, your nephew would do well because he is closer to our

01:57:58.640 sons than Beowulf is. And now she reiterates it to Beowulf as well. My children are my priority.

01:58:05.900 My children are the future. Tend them well and honor is going to be yours. We are giving you

01:58:11.540 these gifts. I'm telling you as a woman, this is what I expect in return. So the whole idea that

01:58:17.820 women in this time and space are docile and they are only there to literally hold the cup and walk

01:58:25.060 around is not true. They influence politics and they influence the leaders with the things that 1.00

01:58:33.540 they say and the actions that they have. They are very blunt to make sure that their family and

01:58:39.460 their children are first and foremost taken care of, that their interests are being taken

01:58:43.880 care of. So the docile woman just handing out meat and smiling with nothing to say is 1.00

01:58:50.320 not correct. I'll share your goal, do you have anything to add on that? 0.85

01:58:59.720 I think you're muted. Yep. Funny when you said that, I said I'm waiting for Nick to take

01:59:05.360 mute thing off um yeah i mean yes and no i think that the young women absolutely are 1.00

01:59:14.080 because they don't have the interest or the 0.99

01:59:20.240 gravitas to make that effective but specifically you see um noble women 0.99

01:59:28.880 And having that, and you see a lot with queens, the women in hall culture, and in a large part today, do a whole lot to set the pecking order. 1.00

01:59:49.980 and you know you can see this i've mentioned this a lot if you're in a room full of full of mixed 0.77

01:59:58.900 company and all of the women the guys that the women show the attention to

02:00:04.420 helps sort out the social status of the people in the room

02:00:09.200 Some of that is the natural magnetism of the men, but a lot of that is the intentional, where women want to put that emphasis.

02:00:25.400 and in the chaotic world of today it gets morphed into a lot of different things but the more 1.00

02:00:33.060 structured the society is the more the women flex their subtle arts of social manipulation 1.00

02:00:42.940 manipulation isn't a bad word you can manipulate things maliciously or in a way that's 1.00

02:00:51.800 dishonorable but there's plenty of completely respectable ways to manipulate the situation

02:00:57.080 and i think that we've got it in our lexicon as as a negative word when it's not um but specifically

02:01:06.200 women determine the man with the most clout in the room often and when you deal in a situation

02:01:17.960 like this especially with an aging monarch the women have a lot to do with the succession and 0.90

02:01:28.600 how that works and they have a lot at stake very often the queen's value is 0.91

02:01:38.440 they're the queen and then they're the mother of the next king

02:01:43.320 it's their job to make sure that works because if it doesn't and their kids get pushed aside

02:01:52.680 they're very quickly thrown in the dust heap and that's you know that's suboptimal so figuring that

02:02:03.840 and using the powers that they have while they have them to ensure that their children are well

02:02:11.940 taken care of and to get oaths and agreements in public to that effect are very very valuable

02:02:20.740 because it's real easy you know after the king dies if you're a celebrity and you're

02:02:26.020 awesome and you're prominent and you have a lot of power behind you for

02:02:30.580 the princess just go hunting with you and disappear one day um and you know we don't

02:02:35.940 talk about them anymore i don't know um and that but that but that happened a lot um

02:02:43.540 so that's that's that's very much a thing to do that to do that publicly to do that in the side

02:02:48.180 of the court and in the side of the gods in a ritual place is really important to secure

02:02:55.860 those things and to secure the next relationship very often the the the queen would go and

02:03:05.940 would then become the queen of the next king depending in a in a more elective war band you

02:03:12.020 see this and it you read a lot about this on the lady with the mead cup i talk a lot about how it's

02:03:16.520 very redundant this is one of the three or four points that it says 17 times um

02:03:25.320 but yeah the the the man that the the former queen chooses to be you know the guy she's going

02:03:34.220 to put attention on is a huge factor in their ability to take control of that leaderless war

02:03:41.700 band or not. Once it's more formalized in a hereditary monarchy, her securing position 0.99

02:03:49.420 for her sons is extremely important. And if not, her, you know, maybe becoming the queen 0.94

02:03:57.800 of the next king is really important too if she wants to keep her spot and keep her family's 0.99

02:04:02.720 prominence. All right. So we went through a lot of cultural things and how to act things and how

02:04:15.840 to hold old things and importance of things. So now we're going to get back into the Quentin

02:04:20.980 Tarantino movie portion. So Grendel's mother is going to be coming now. They went to sleep and

02:04:28.820 one paid dearly for his knight's ease, as

02:04:30.860 happened to them often. Ever since

02:04:32.940 Grendel occupied the gold hall, committing

02:04:34.780 evil until the end came, death after his

02:04:36.900 crimes. Then it became clear,

02:04:39.180 obvious to everyone once

02:04:40.840 the fight was over that an avenger lurked and was

02:04:42.820 still alive. Grimly finding

02:04:44.740 time, Grendel's mother, monstrous hellbribe, 1.00

02:04:47.120 brooded over her wrongs. She 1.00

02:04:48.800 had been forced down into fearful waters

02:04:51.000 and cold depths after Cain had killed his

02:04:52.840 father's son. Felt his own

02:04:54.860 brother with a sword. Branded an outlaw

02:04:57.000 unmarked by having murdered, he moved into the wild, shunned company and joy, and from cane 0.86

02:05:01.120 their sprained misbegotten spirits, among them Grendel, the banished

02:05:05.200 in a curse, due to come grips with the watcher and Herod, waiting to do

02:05:09.180 battle. The monster wrenched and wrestled with him, but Beowulf

02:05:12.660 was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him.

02:05:17.440 He relied for his help on the lord of all, on his care and favor.

02:05:20.960 Zoriole became the foe, brought down the hellbrute, broken and bowed outcast 0.89

02:05:25.220 from all sweetness. The enemy of mankind made for his death den, but now his mother had sallied 0.97

02:05:32.080 forth on a savage journey. Grief wracked and ravenous, desperate for revenge, she came to 0.79

02:05:37.480 Herod. There inside the hall, Danes lay asleep, earls who would soon enter a great reversal,

02:05:42.840 once Grendel's mother attacked and entered. Her onslaught was less only by as much an Amazon

02:05:48.400 warrior's strength is less than an armed man's when he had to the sword. Its hammered edge and

02:05:54.180 gleaming blades slathered in blood, raises the sturdy boar ridge off a helmet. Then in the hall,

02:06:00.120 hard-honed swords were grabbed from the bench. Many a broad shield lifted and braced. There was

02:06:05.900 a little thought of helmets or woven mail when they woke in terror. The Heldam was in panic,

02:06:11.560 desperate to get out, in mortal terror the moment she was found. She had pounced and taken one of 0.77

02:06:16.100 the retainers in a tight hold and headed for the fen. To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved

02:06:20.480 of friends he trusted between the two seas. She had done away with a great warrior, ambushed him

02:06:25.600 at rest. Beowulf was elsewhere. Earlier, after the award of the treasure, the Geed had been given

02:06:31.060 another lodging. There was an uproar in Herat. She had snatched their trophy, Grendel's bloodied

02:06:35.820 hand. It was a fresh blow to the afflicted bond. The bargain was hered, both parties having to pay

02:06:41.160 with the lives of friends, and the old lord, the gray-haired warrior, was heart-sore and weary when

02:06:46.040 he heard the news. His highest place advisor,

02:06:48.240 his dearest companion, was dead and gone.

02:06:50.560 Beowulf was quickly brought to the chamber.

02:06:52.220 The winner of fights, the arch-royer

02:06:53.700 came first footing in his

02:06:56.040 fellow troops to where the king in his wisdom

02:06:58.020 waited, still wondering whether Almighty God would

02:07:00.040 ever turn the tides of his misfortunes.

02:07:02.360 So Beowulf entered with his band in attendance

02:07:04.100 and the wooden floors banged and rang

02:07:05.980 as he advanced, hurrying to address the prince

02:07:08.100 and his inguines, asked if he had rested

02:07:10.220 since the urgent summons had come as a surprise.

02:07:14.200 All right, so Grendel's mother,

02:07:16.040 they're having a good time. They're having a great feast. Everything is great. Beowulf is

02:07:21.360 a hero. We're making oaths. We're adopting people as sons. We're sitting with nobility.

02:07:26.160 We're receiving all of these wonderful gifts. The king is elated because his misery has been

02:07:31.460 relieved and he feels his people are protected. They all party, go to bed, and then it happens

02:07:37.100 again. And it's Grendel's mother this time. And this is where we start looking at the difference

02:07:43.140 between Grendel and Grendel's mother. There is nothing in here that talks about the size of

02:07:49.260 Grendel's mother. That's not a thing. It has made a point that Grendel is a huge monster.

02:07:57.880 She is not described as a huge monster. She's described as terrifying. She is described as

02:08:05.920 wrathful. She is described as in a mother's rage and suffering. That's how she's described. 0.99

02:08:15.180 She's different. She's calculated. Grendel barges in and just starts snatching men up and throwing

02:08:23.660 them in his purse and taking them off to eat them. She does not just come in for revenge and start 1.00

02:08:30.860 hacking and slashing and murdering everybody. Oh no, no, no. She takes the absolute dearest 1.00

02:08:38.680 person to the king in this hall. His best friend and his confidant since childhood,

02:08:43.940 his closest counselor. That is the person she takes. It's calculated and it's almost like

02:08:51.540 it's planned. And there's a big difference. Grendel had no qualms about who he was snatching

02:08:57.100 up and biting the heads off. Did she just really happen to grab the one person that was closest to 0.69

02:09:04.080 the king? I don't think so. And I think it shows the difference between Grendel and Grendel's

02:09:09.800 mother. The calculated fury of a mother. The grief and the revenge that she has to seek.

02:09:19.340 knowing that she probably is not is not going to be able to go against all of these men the way

02:09:28.200 that grendel had in the past she takes the nearest and dearest to the king and she takes off and it

02:09:35.820 says in here she was filled with terror she took him and she ran they heard a huge commotion

02:09:41.300 commotion she was discovered she grabs the best friend of the king and she takes off with him

02:09:47.640 completely different personality of attack. So there was a question from Sarah earlier on,

02:09:58.380 and we're going to get into this a little bit when we go into the next fit, but the question was,

02:10:02.500 did Grendel's mom have a touch of humanity left somewhere in her that caused her to seek such 0.99

02:10:07.280 revenge? Touch of humanity? Maybe. Touch of sanity that Grendel didn't have? Yes. 0.97

02:10:14.960 there's something more to her than just the raw primal monster within there is something that

02:10:25.900 is more cunning and more vengeful and more spiteful and we can see that kind of in our 0.95

02:10:34.940 lore as well when you have the difference between ymir and the jotuns that you face

02:10:40.980 be Ragnarok, right? He is all primal and all energy and all raw. You have Jotuns down the

02:10:49.840 line that are more calculated. They're more cunning. They use disguises and magic and things 1.00

02:10:56.460 like that. It's a difference. Whether it's an evolution or not, can't really say because it's

02:11:01.280 Grendel's mother, so that would make sense on a lineup. But the different battles that we face,

02:11:05.880 the different battles that you face.

02:11:09.280 It is not always the same monster,

02:11:11.860 even if it's a related scenario.

02:11:14.900 The monsters can get smarter, they can get harder,

02:11:17.400 they can get more cunning.

02:11:20.800 The monsters are not always the same.

02:11:22.580 The battles you face are not always going to be the same.

02:11:24.760 You can't fight them all the same,

02:11:26.740 as we're going to see when we get into Grendel's mother here in a few minutes.

02:11:31.520 Your thoughts on that, sir?

02:11:32.780 Why did she pick him?

02:11:35.880 villain well i think i think that exactly what you said um because of his status it's one of the

02:11:43.720 things with with vengeance it wasn't about it would be dishonest to say that none of it was about

02:12:00.200 punishing or hurting someone that hurt you but the concept was more about and in a bigger scale

02:12:11.580 about balancing scales someone took something from you and you need to get back the value that

02:12:20.440 was taken and you cannot get the exact thing back because it just the world doesn't work like that

02:12:28.580 there's nothing you're going to do that's going to bring you know nothing she could

02:12:31.940 have done is going to bring grendel back so what can she get that

02:12:41.380 brings an equivalent value or damages her foe in an equivalent way because that's the core

02:12:49.060 of the aussitrew concept of justice it's not about punishment it's fine there's time for that

02:12:57.140 but the fundamental is about rebalancing scales and about literally getting people to pay their debt

02:13:04.500 to you um so every warrior in the hall is not equal and it doesn't have to be beowulf who

02:13:14.260 happened to kill her son it's how much value can she extract you know what is the person of value 0.98

02:13:20.980 if you know you've got a complete loser kid that's useless and he's the one that goes out 0.99

02:13:28.940 and kills a member of my family in medieval iceland if i'm taking vengeance i'm not going 1.00

02:13:35.160 to go after your dullard kid i'm going to go after the best you have that's equivalent to what i have 0.98

02:13:41.140 because you know some random dude you had do the do the job isn't the same as taking the prince 0.98

02:13:48.640 that's one of the things taking the highest ranking guy she could find in the hall because

02:13:53.860 Beowulf was in a different chamber that's an intentional you know that's revenge that is

02:14:02.380 that is getting vengeance for the loss of her son who to her was the most dear thing that was all she

02:14:08.920 had um but yeah the difference is really different but i think we over

02:14:18.040 when dealing with our lore and when dealing with monsters and giants and things i think we go too

02:14:26.920 far trying to logify it i don't think logify is a word but i'm gonna use it anyway um

02:14:32.680 um so you know Loki has to take the form of a horse to give birth to Sleipnir okay but he

02:14:45.340 doesn't mate with a wolf to produce Fenrir he doesn't mate with a serpent to produce Yormungan

02:14:51.940 And the Yotnar and trolls and forces of chaos don't have to function in a logical way. 0.94

02:15:05.560 A sentient, malevolent troll which can give birth to a completely primal, bestial child like Grendel. 0.99

02:15:19.120 it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to conform to biology as we know it because these aren't

02:15:26.560 biological creatures they're mythological creatures they're of they're of something

02:15:32.800 from the ether not of something from you know the biology book and that's that's one of the

02:15:39.280 things i don't think they have to be i don't think they have to be i don't think the pairing

02:15:47.360 has to necessarily make sense the difference is very obvious that one is is a primal unthinking

02:15:54.960 force of chaos that i hear joy must crush joy and the other is very much you took my son how can i

02:16:03.520 hurt you the most and i'm going to get his arm off the wall because that's not cool and there's much

02:16:10.560 more thought to it as a matter of fact the three different monsters that beowulf battles are three

02:16:18.000 very different very different foes and i think that's one of the things that adds a lot of

02:16:24.080 richness to the story yes yes all right obviously not only is his hall being attacked again but one

02:16:39.040 one of his dearest friends has been snatched at the end of this. Then Hrothgar the shielding's

02:16:45.380 helmet spoke, rest, what is rest? Sorrow has returned. Alas for the Danes, Asher is dead.

02:16:51.260 He was Yermenthal's elder brother and soulmate to me, a true mentor, my right-hand man when the

02:16:56.680 ranks clashed and her poor crest had taken and battering in the line of action. Asher was

02:17:01.420 everything the world admires in a wise man and a friend. Then this roaming killer came in a flurry

02:17:06.180 and slaughtered him in Herod. 0.96

02:17:09.720 Where she is 0.83

02:17:10.320 hiding, gliding on the corpse, and glorying

02:17:12.380 in her escape, I cannot tell.

02:17:14.500 She has taken up the feud because of last

02:17:16.260 night when you killed Grendel, wrestled and 0.99

02:17:18.020 racked him in venuous combat, since

02:17:20.240 for too long he had terrorized us

02:17:22.080 with his depredations.

02:17:24.000 He died in battle, paid with his life,

02:17:26.360 and now this powerful other one

02:17:28.120 arrives, this force for evil, driven to

02:17:30.200 avenge her kinsman's death,

02:17:32.980 or so it seems to

02:17:34.240 things in their grief and the anguish every everything endures at the loss of a ring giver

02:17:38.760 now that the hand that bestows so richly has been stilled in death i have heard it said by my people

02:17:44.400 in hall counselors who live in the upland country that they have seen two such creatures prowling

02:17:49.480 in the moors huge marauders from some other world one of these things as far as anyone can either

02:17:54.260 discern looks like a woman the other warped in shape of a man moves beyond the pale bigger than 0.54

02:17:59.180 any man, an unnatural birth called Grendel by the country people in former days. 0.77

02:18:04.980 They are fatherless creatures, and their whole ancestry is hidden in the past of demons and

02:18:09.080 ghosts. They dwell apart among the wolves on the hills, on windswept crags, and the treacherous

02:18:13.980 caches, where cold streams pour down the mountain and disappear into the mist of moorland.

02:18:18.920 A few miles from here, a frost stiffened wood waits and keeps watch above the mere,

02:18:23.660 an overt hanging bank and a maze of tree roots mirrored in its surface. At night there,

02:18:28.880 something uncanny happens, the water

02:18:30.800 burns, and the mere bottom has never

02:18:32.860 been sounded by the sons of men.

02:18:35.340 On its bank, the heather stepper

02:18:37.940 halts.

02:18:38.820 The heart in flight from pursuing hounds

02:18:40.800 will turn to face them with firm

02:18:42.840 set horns and die in the wood rather 0.94

02:18:44.900 than dive beneath its surface.

02:18:46.920 That is no good place.

02:18:48.860 With wind blows up and stormy weather

02:18:50.680 makes clouds scud and the skies

02:18:52.660 weep. Out of its death, a dirty

02:18:54.740 surge is pitched towards the heavens.

02:18:56.960 Now help depend

02:18:58.820 depends again on you and you alone. The gap of danger where the demon waits is still unbeknown

02:19:03.960 to you. Seek it if you dare. I will compensate you for settling the feud as I did the last time

02:19:08.420 with lavish wealth. Coffers of coiled gold if you come back. Okay, seriously Hrothgar,

02:19:16.060 you could have told me there was two to begin with, right? Like, he could have said something.

02:19:20.760 There could have been, well, there's Grendel, but then there's this other Grendel's mother

02:19:23.740 thing that's out there. This is the first time we're hearing about Grendel's mother.

02:19:27.580 this is information Beowulf probably would have needed to know beforehand. So moral of the story

02:19:32.800 is if somebody comes in to save you and save your entire kingdom and like take everything and make

02:19:39.780 it better and save the entire world, you might want to give them all of the pertinent information

02:19:44.120 ahead of time so you don't lose not only all of your people but your best friend as well.

02:19:49.800 So if you are somebody who is in a position of leadership, make sure that you give your hero

02:19:54.660 all the information he needs to probably take care of that in the first place all right that's

02:19:59.780 my rant they should have told bay wolf ahead of time it wouldn't have made for such a good story

02:20:03.620 though right so basically hrothgar's speech is telling us um sorry sorry man i went off on it

02:20:15.860 nick muted me not you i was gonna say the other thing to it is part of hrothgar's

02:20:22.740 shame at being unable to defend his hall and his men he doesn't want to advertise that there's more

02:20:28.180 of it he's like all right one and done if this guy comes in and can you know take out one of these

02:20:32.740 guys then maybe it'll be cool for a little bit maybe we'll be able to handle the next one maybe

02:20:38.580 it'll you know maybe it won't be a problem no he doesn't want to admit the depth of his inability

02:20:45.780 to face the things that are arrayed against him yeah information we could have had yesterday would

02:20:53.700 have been great and basically what his speech he's telling he's telling beowulf exactly where to find

02:20:59.680 her right so he's saying okay you turn left over there down by the moor and then you're going to

02:21:04.940 see some bubbling water and they need you to jump in that water because that's where she apparently

02:21:08.520 comes out of. He knew this the whole time. He knew it the entire time. All right. So Beowulf's

02:21:18.400 going to go looking for mom. This is where it gets a little bit interesting as well. Like I said,

02:21:24.020 when I read these things, it's like a movie in my head. It's kind of awesome. Beowulf,

02:21:29.520 son of Ekthau, spoke. Why, sir, do not grieve? It is always better to avenge dear ones than

02:21:34.840 indulge in mourning for every one of us living in this world means waiting for our end let whoever

02:21:39.980 can win glory before death when a warrior is gone that will be his best and only bulwark 0.80

02:21:44.660 so arise my lord and let us immediately set forth on the trail of this troll dam

02:21:48.640 i guarantee you she will not get away not to the dens underground nor upland groves nor the ocean

02:21:54.300 floor she'll have nowhere to flee to endure your troubles today bear up and be the man i expect

02:21:59.240 you'd be. With that, the old lord sprang to his feet and praised God for Beowulf's pledge.

02:22:04.500 Then a bit and a halter were brought for his horse with the plated mane. The wise king mounted the

02:22:09.440 royal saddle and rode out in style with a force of shield bearers. The forest paths were marked all

02:22:14.960 over the monster's tracks, her trail on the ground wherever she had gone across the dark

02:22:19.780 moors, dragging away the body of that thing, Hrothgar's best counselor and overseer of the

02:22:24.140 country. So the noble prince proceeded, undismayed, upfells and screes along the narrow footpaths

02:22:31.260 and ways where they were forced into single file, ledges on cliffs above layers of water

02:22:37.960 monsters. He went in front with a few men, good judges of the lie of the land, and suddenly

02:22:43.760 discovered the dismal wood. Mountain trees growing out at an angle over gray stones, the bloodshot

02:22:49.440 water surged underneath. It was a sore blow to all of the Danes, friend of the shieldings,

02:22:54.360 a hurt to catch in everyone of the noble company when you came upon Asher's head at the foot of

02:23:01.000 the cliff. Everybody gazed at the hot gore, kept wallowing up in urgent war horn, repeated its

02:23:06.760 notes. The whole party sat down to watch. The water was infested with all kinds of reptiles.

02:23:13.740 There were writhing sea dragons and monsters slouching on the slopes by the cliff,

02:23:17.680 serpents and wild things such as those that are often surface at dawn to roam the sail road and

02:23:22.920 doom the voyage down they plunged lashing in anger at the loud call of the battle bugle

02:23:28.100 an arrow from the bow of the geet chief got one of them as he searched the surface

02:23:32.520 the seasoned shaft stuck deep in his flank and his freedom in the water got less and less it was his

02:23:38.300 last swim he was swiftly overwhelmed in the shadows prodded by barbed boar spears cornered

02:23:45.420 beaten, pulled up to the bank, a strangle-like berth, a loathsome catch. Men gazed out in awe.

02:23:51.440 Beowulf got ready, donned his war gear indifferent to death. Its mighty hand-forged wine-webbed

02:23:57.100 male shirt would soon meet with the menace underwater. It would keep the bone cage of 0.90

02:24:01.400 his body safe. No enemy's class could crush him in it. No vicious arm lock choked his life out.

02:24:07.880 To guard his head, he had a glittering helmet that was due to be muddied on the mere bottom

02:24:12.640 and blurred in the upswirl.

02:24:14.880 If it were beaten gold, the princely

02:24:16.720 had gear hooped and hasped by

02:24:18.720 the weed and smith who had worked wonders.

02:24:20.840 In days gone by and adorned with boar shapes

02:24:22.780 since it still had resisted every word.

02:24:25.420 And another item lent by

02:24:26.780 Unferth at the moment of need was

02:24:28.660 of no small importance. 1.00

02:24:31.700 The brown handed him 0.99

02:24:32.740 a hilted weapon, a rare and ancient 0.79

02:24:34.780 sword named Hunzing. The iron

02:24:36.860 blade with its ill-boating patterns had been

02:24:38.880 tempered in blood. It had never

02:24:40.720 failed the hand of anyone who hefted it in

02:24:42.660 battle, anyone who had fought and

02:24:44.720 faced the worst of the gap of danger.

02:24:47.260 This was not the first time I had

02:24:48.720 been called to perform heroic feats.

02:24:50.960 When he lent the blade to the better swordsman

02:24:52.820 Unferth, the strong-built son

02:24:54.660 of Eklof, could hardly have

02:24:56.660 remembered the ranting

02:24:58.740 speech he had made in his cups.

02:25:00.840 He was not a man enough to face

02:25:02.800 the turmoil of a fight under water

02:25:04.580 and risk to his life. So there

02:25:06.620 he lost fame and respite.

02:25:08.420 It was different for the other, rigged

02:25:10.500 out in his gear, ready to do battle. All right, so she has basically taken the king of the friend,

02:25:18.060 she has drug him through the woods, she has ripped his head off and left it, sitting there for them 0.80

02:25:22.840 to find. Again, different monster. She is hurting them in all the possible ways that she can hurt 0.99

02:25:29.780 them. She's not only taking him, she's like ripping him apart and leaving a trail for them to 0.98

02:25:36.180 find. That's disturbing. It shows you just how brutal she is and just how heinous and vengeful

02:25:52.540 she is and just how hurt she is. Like we said, we're not dealing with just an out of his mind

02:25:58.780 monster, we're dealing with not only a monster, but a woman who has lost a child, a mother on

02:26:07.760 vengeance. And she is doing things like leaving the head of Ashir for them to fight. They get to 0.98

02:26:15.840 the water and there's all of these monsters and all of these things. And remember, your narrator

02:26:22.020 is always going to prepare you. So we already know that Beowulf can probably deal with a singular

02:26:27.780 sea monster. So now we're going to see what we can do with a whole bunch of them. Unferth gives

02:26:35.020 him a sword, Hunting. And the name of that sword is Hunting. And this is important to know because

02:26:41.640 this sword has never failed. What we are being told up until this point is that this is an epic

02:26:47.300 sword. It has never been swung in battle and failed. It has always been a champion. It has

02:26:53.240 always won the battle. It doesn't miss. And Unferth is giving Beowulf a sign of peace and a sign of

02:27:05.060 acceptance in giving him this sword. This is a familiar, an ancient sword, an epic sword that

02:27:12.380 he's giving to Beowulf. It's a sign of extending that hand in peace. I am giving this to you. He

02:27:20.260 is accepting that Beowulf is a better man than he is, and it says, you know, there is no longer

02:27:26.320 the memory of the way he talked to Beowulf when he got there. He's no longer challenging the

02:27:31.200 awesomeness that is Beowulf. He has just accepted that he is the lesser, weaker man, and that he

02:27:36.920 indeed is a coward, and he sure as hell isn't going to go in the water, but hey, Beowulf, 0.83

02:27:41.000 I'll give you my sword. You can take my sword with me. Anything to add on that, sir? 0.98

02:27:47.620 yeah i think he i think you're uh breaking up a little bit sir uh i'm up because

02:28:05.340 all right so we're going to get into the last couple fits we're going to go into probably two

02:28:27.100 more and i'm going to read these two together because they they flow well together and there's

02:28:32.860 a lot of things in here that I'm going to point out just in these two, and it's pretty much the

02:28:37.700 whole thing. Beowulf, son of Ekbal spoke, wisest of kings, now that I have come to the point of

02:28:44.780 action, I ask you to recall what we said earlier, that you, son of Hafdain, and gold friend to the

02:28:50.480 retainers, that you, if I should fall and suffer death while serving your cause, would act like a

02:28:55.820 father to me afterwards. If this combat kills me, take care of my young company, my comrades in

02:29:01.140 arms, and be sure also, my beloved Hrothgar, to send Hyglet the treasures I received.

02:29:06.760 Let the lord of the Geath gaze on that gold, let Hrothal's son take note of it, and see

02:29:11.100 that I found a ring giver of rare magnificence, and enjoyed the good of his generosity.

02:29:17.660 And, unfurth, is to have what I inherited.

02:29:20.560 To that far-famed man I bequeath my own sharp-honed, wave-sheened wonderblade. 1.00

02:29:26.500 With Hrondina shall gain glory or die. 1.00

02:29:29.280 After these words, the Prince of the Weathergeats was impatient to be away and plunged suddenly. 1.00

02:29:33.920 Without more ado, he dived into the heaving depths of the lake.

02:29:37.160 It was the best part of the day before he could see the solid bottom.

02:29:40.640 Quickly, the one who haunted those waters, who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds for a hundred seasons,

02:29:48.020 sensed a human observing her outlandish lair from above.

02:29:51.660 So she lunged and clutched and managed to catch him in her brutal grip.

02:29:54.960 But his body for all that remained unscathed, and the mesh of the chainmail saved him on the outside.

02:30:00.520 Her savage talons failed to rip the web of his worcesters. 0.89

02:30:03.960 Then once she touched bottom, the wolfish swimmer carried the ringmailed prince to her court so that, for all his courage, he could never use the weapons he carried.

02:30:12.360 And bewildering horde came at him from the depths, droves of sea beasts who attacked with tusks and tore at his chainmail and ghastly onslaught. 0.96

02:30:20.840 The gallant man could see he had entered some hellish turnhole, and yet the water did not work against them,

02:30:25.880 because the hall roofing held off the force of the current.

02:30:28.940 Then he saw firelight, a gleam and a flare-up, a glimmer of brightness.

02:30:33.080 The hero observed the swamp thing from hell, the torn hag, and all her horrible strength. 0.80

02:30:38.680 Then heaved his war sword and swung his arm. 0.95

02:30:41.660 The decorated blade came down, ringing and singing on her head, but he soon found his battle torch extinguished.

02:30:47.120 The shining blade refused to bite. It spared her and failed.

02:30:50.160 this man in his need. It had gone through many hand-to-hand fights. It had hewed the armor and

02:30:55.100 helmets of the doomed, but here at last the fabulous powers of that heirloom failed.

02:30:59.820 Eglis' kinsmen kept thinking about his name and his fame. He never lost heart.

02:31:05.360 Then in a flurry he flung his sword away. Then king-inlaid, worm-looped patterned steel was

02:31:10.960 hurled to the ground. He would have to rely on the might of his arm. So must a man do who intends

02:31:16.120 to gain enduring glory in combat life doesn't cost him a thought when the prince of the war

02:31:20.940 geeks warming to this fight with grendel's mother gripped her shoulder and laid about him in battle 0.81

02:31:25.000 frenzy he pitched his killer opponent to the floor but she rose quickly and retaliated grappled him

02:31:29.940 tightly in her grim embrace the sure-footed fighter felt daunted the strongest of warriors 1.00

02:31:34.840 stumbled and fell so she pounced upon him and pulled out a broad wedded knife now she would

02:31:39.920 avenge her only child but the mesh of the chainmail on bewell's shoulder shielded his life

02:31:44.040 turned the edge and tip of the blade. 0.99

02:31:48.300 The son of Ekthal would have surely perished 0.94

02:31:50.360 and the Geese lost the warrior under the wide earth 0.98

02:31:53.200 had the strong links and the locks of his war gear

02:31:56.120 not helped save him.

02:31:57.640 Holy God decided the victory.

02:31:59.460 It was easy for the Lord, the ruler of heaven,

02:32:01.440 to redress the balance once Beowulf had got back up to his feet.

02:32:06.100 Then he saw a blade that voted well,

02:32:08.360 a sword in her armory,

02:32:09.600 an ancient heirloom from the days of the giants,

02:32:11.740 an ideal weapon,

02:32:12.620 one that any warrior would envy

02:32:16.320 but so huge and heavy itself

02:32:18.720 only Beowulf could wield it in battle

02:32:20.880 so the Shilding's hero, hard-pressed and enraged

02:32:24.020 took a firm hold on the hilt and swung the blade in an arc, resolute low

02:32:27.840 then bit deep in her neckbone and severed it entirely 0.98

02:32:31.140 toppling the doomed house on her flat she fell to the floor

02:32:34.040 the sword dripped blood and the swordsman cladded

02:32:36.940 a light appeared and the palace brightened

02:32:39.680 the way the sky does when heaven's candle is shining

02:32:42.360 clearly. He inspected the vault

02:32:44.500 the sword held high. Its hilt raised

02:32:46.620 to guard and threaten.

02:32:48.500 Hyglis Thane scouted by the wall in Grendel's

02:32:50.460 lake. Now the weapon was to prove its worth.

02:32:52.880 The warrior determined to take revenge

02:32:54.640 for every gross act

02:32:56.600 Grendel had committed. Not only

02:32:58.380 for one occasion when he'd come to slaughter the

02:33:00.420 sleeping troops. Fifteen

02:33:02.440 of Hrothgar's houseguards surprised by their

02:33:04.300 benches and ruthlessly devoured. And as

02:33:06.380 many again carried away. A brutal

02:33:08.360 plunder. Beowulf in his fury

02:33:10.420 now settled the score. He saw the monster

02:33:12.320 in his resting place, wore weary and wrecked, a lifeless corpse, a casualty of the Battle of

02:33:17.420 Herak. The battle gaped at the stroke dealt after death. Beowulf cut the corpse's head off.

02:33:24.040 Immediately, the counselors, keeping a lookout with Hrothgar walking over the lake water,

02:33:29.480 saw heave up in a surge of waves and blood in the backwash. They bowed gray heads and spoke in

02:33:35.400 their sage-experienced ways about the good warrior, how they never expected to see the

02:33:39.920 prince returning in triumph to their king. It was clear to many that the wolf of the deep had

02:33:47.280 destroyed him forever. The ninth hour of the day arrived. The brave shieldings abandoned the

02:33:51.960 clifftop, and the king went home, but sick at heart. Staring at the mirror, the strangers held

02:33:57.080 on. They wished without hope to behold their lord, Beowulf himself. Meanwhile, the sword began to

02:34:02.600 wilt in gory icicles and slather and thaw. It was a wonderful thing the way it melted as ice melts

02:34:08.120 when the father eases the fetters off the frost and unravels the water ropes.

02:34:12.020 He who wields power over time and tide, he is the true lord.

02:34:16.680 The geek captain saw treasure in abundance, but carried no spoils from those quarters

02:34:20.580 except for the head and the inlaid hilt embossed with jewels.

02:34:24.280 Its blade had melted in the scrollwork on his burnout,

02:34:27.020 so scalding was the blood of the poisonous fiend who had perished there.

02:34:30.800 Then away he swam, the one who had survived the fall of his enemies.

02:34:34.820 flailing to the surface. The wide water, the waves, and pools were no longer infested once

02:34:40.120 the wandering fiend let go of her life in this unreliable world. The seafarer's leader made for

02:34:46.280 land. Resolutely swimming, delighted in his prize, the mighty Lodi was lugging to the surface.

02:34:51.660 His things advanced in a troop to meet him, thanking God and taking great delight in seeing

02:34:55.480 their prince back, safe and sound. Quickly, the hero's helmet and the maelster were loosened and

02:35:00.360 unlaced the lake settled clouds darkened above the bloodshot depths with high hearts they headed

02:35:05.880 away along footpaths and trails through the fields rose they knew each of them wrestling with the

02:35:10.760 heads that they were carrying from the lakeside cliff men keenly in their courage and capable

02:35:15.080 of difficult work it was task of four to hoist grendel's head on a sphere and to bear to the

02:35:19.800 strain of the bright hall but soon enough they neared the place fourteen geats and fine fettle

02:35:25.000 striding across the outlining grounds and delightful throng of their leader in he came

02:35:29.400 then the thanes commander the arch warrior to address hrothgar his queen his courage was proven

02:35:34.200 his glory was secure grendel's head was hauled by the hair dragged across the floor where the people

02:35:39.440 were drinking a horror for both queen and company to behold they stared in awe it was an astonishing

02:35:45.280 sight all right so that is that is the death of grendel's mother so a couple things difference

02:35:53.760 again between the difference between grendel and grendel's mother when we get into grendel's

02:35:58.820 mother's lair. You know, she goes in there, she pulls him down. He's being attacked by all kinds

02:36:02.960 of sea monsters, because apparently every time Beowulf goes into the water, something wants to

02:36:07.540 eat him, and he just has to fight sea monsters. Beowulf should probably just stay out of the water.

02:36:13.840 However, when he gets down into the lair, he notices things about the lair.

02:36:18.920 There's an ambiance to it, right? There's light. There's a fire light. It almost sounds cozy with

02:36:27.260 its vaulted ceilings and things scattered all over the place. This is not just a mindless monster.

02:36:35.260 This is something with thought and feeling and a sense of humanity in it. It is something that

02:36:43.620 we can recognize. We can't recognize ourself in Grendel. We can't recognize that insanity and

02:36:51.160 that primalness, but we can recognize things of ourselves in Grendel, especially if you're a

02:36:57.080 woman with a cozy little cottage and things hanging on the wall and the love for your child

02:37:01.500 and the vengeance that you would seek we can recognize that and what was easier to who was

02:37:09.700 easier to kill grendel or grendel's mother they had a whole bunch of men with swords beating on

02:37:18.440 grendel and it was like toothpicks being thrown at him it didn't bother him at all

02:37:22.880 beowulf was able to go toe to toe with grendel and rip his arm off grendel feared beowulf

02:37:31.620 grendel's mother didn't she was she was fighting to the death no matter what

02:37:35.960 she could have had him if he didn't have that mail on she had her chance she took it

02:37:41.020 it didn't work she was harder to kill than grendel

02:37:45.720 when you are in a battle for whatever it is that you're fighting for

02:37:53.420 the enemy that you recognize

02:37:57.320 the foe that you know

02:38:01.180 is much harder to fight and much harder to get over

02:38:07.360 than an enemy that you don't recognize

02:38:11.840 a face that you don't know

02:38:13.720 somebody that you can't relate to.

02:38:16.960 And it all goes back again to

02:38:18.800 you can't be betrayed by anyone but your friends.

02:38:22.720 An enemy can't betray you, but your friends can.

02:38:25.800 You always recognize,

02:38:28.060 the enemy that you recognize is always the hardest to kill

02:38:31.620 and is always the hardest to deal with.

02:38:35.580 Anything to add on that, sir?

02:38:43.720 um no other than to reemphasize the distinctions that you just made

02:38:53.540 grendel's just mean because he's a primal force of chaos and being mean and killing stuff that's

02:39:06.700 happy um whereas the mother has that intent

02:39:15.020 grendel it's funny because in her own way she becomes more primal but her primal

02:39:22.620 is like a focus driven 0.97

02:39:25.900 i will kill this i will kill this person no matter what and it her singleness of willpower 0.98

02:39:38.220 makes her so very hard to overcome whereas grendel doesn't have that he's scared he's 1.00

02:39:44.780 you know he's a a wounded animal and she's not she's a vicious killer of i'm going to 0.99

02:39:52.140 revenge my son and i'm gonna you know pull out every last bit that i have to kill this man um 1.00

02:40:02.220 and it's a very that 0.99

02:40:06.060 directed intent is very very different than you know the lumbering monster that kills because it's

02:40:15.260 what he does um but yeah no that's the only thing i really have to add on that

02:40:22.140 so sarah's got a question about um the two swords so i'm going to answer kind of those both in

02:40:29.600 in one shot the first question was do you think unfurth sword failed because it had unfurth germs

02:40:35.340 were on it and what do you think drew beowulf's gaze that one blade among so many other weapons

02:40:41.840 that ended up being the right one to use so this is something that we've actually discussed in the

02:40:47.100 women's book study that we've had. And it's a point that my first mentor pointed out to me the

02:40:54.320 first time that I got walked through Beowulf. Does Unfurred Sword fail? The sword that does

02:41:00.720 not fail, the sword that has never failed, it fails today. And if you look at the breakdown

02:41:08.540 by all the people who argue over Beowulf on the internet, it's that, well, she's got a magic charm

02:41:14.220 that no sword can touch her. But, but does she though? Because a sword touched her. So that

02:41:21.440 can't be it. And then you have the other ones that are like, well, it was a sword that was

02:41:26.280 blessed by God. It doesn't say that. It doesn't say it was blessed by God. It said it had runes

02:41:31.320 on it. So this is how I was walked through it the first time. And it made a lot of sense. And I kind

02:41:37.600 of think it's a little bit beautiful. First of all, Unferth's sword that never failed. Yeah,

02:41:44.220 Unferth was the last one to have that sword. No matter how strong your family is, no matter how

02:41:50.460 undefeated your family is, if you are, if you damage your well, if you put poison in your well,

02:42:00.080 your line is no longer undefeated

02:42:03.160 it is up to you to make sure

02:42:06.500 that your

02:42:07.500 your honor and your family's luck

02:42:11.280 continues on

02:42:12.720 and your community and your folk

02:42:14.700 you don't just get to

02:42:17.240 carry the

02:42:18.060 the

02:42:18.940 the unbeatable sword

02:42:22.040 and you don't get to have it just because 0.99

02:42:25.100 if you are a coward 0.98

02:42:27.000 and you have no courage 1.00

02:42:29.080 and you run your mouth and you're really not worth that sword,

02:42:31.740 you're going to taint the sword. 0.99

02:42:33.840 Just like if you have no worth and you're kind of a pile 1.00

02:42:38.260 and you break your oaths and you just talk shit all the time 1.00

02:42:43.080 when you get in your cups, 0.99

02:42:44.240 but you haven't really done anything of worth,

02:42:47.180 you're tainting the honor of your people.

02:42:50.220 So yes, Sarah, I would agree that that's a thing.

02:42:54.240 It's got Unfurth cooties on it.

02:42:55.820 It's got Unfurth's bad luck on it.

02:42:59.080 That, that is one theory of that. Yes. But why is it that there's that one sword that works?

02:43:05.900 When you look at the sword, if you look at Leslie Hall's version of it, the translation of it, as well as Tolkien's, they talk about it having runes on it. It was forged in the time of the giants. And it has the story that it actually has written on the sword is a story of a flood, right?

02:43:24.480 which would be going back to what when if our people were hearing this in or in an oral

02:43:30.520 in an oral way right like if they're hearing the story in those times prior to christianity they're

02:43:38.540 going to think of the killing of ymir and all of the flood that ensued from there right the killing

02:43:45.840 of chaos, the managing of chaos, um, and the order that came from it. So that sword itself

02:43:54.220 is very much order defeating chaos. The way my mentor explained it to me, why did the sword melt?

02:44:01.200 The only thing that was left of the hilt. And this was kind of a lesson that, that he bestowed

02:44:06.660 upon me. When you are going up against life or when you are going through a moment in your

02:44:15.160 spirituality where it's kind of a battle and you're experiencing something, you're having

02:44:19.920 an awakening of your own. You can tell people all day long about the battle that you fought

02:44:27.840 and your experience with the gods and your experience with this whole thing. But in the

02:44:36.040 end, all you have to show them is the result. The blade melts, the battle is done. There is

02:44:43.200 no monster for them to see, but what you have in your hand is this beautiful jeweled hilt.

02:44:48.120 And that beautiful jeweled hilt is what you learned and what you became because of those

02:44:55.160 things that you went through and because of your personal experience that you can't explain to

02:45:00.620 somebody else. All you can show them is the result of that. I can't tell you about my personal

02:45:06.720 relationship and experience with this because I can't put it into words, but I can show you that

02:45:12.920 I am a better person since I found the gods, since I have started venerating my ancestors,

02:45:18.700 since I joined the AFA. I can show you my hilt. I can show you my result.

02:45:24.980 So that's the story that I like to tell with that.

02:45:31.800 And do we have any other questions or do we have anything else to add on that, sir?

02:45:36.280 um just that

02:45:39.700 there were generic utility weapons that smiths would just crap out that were random

02:45:52.940 and then there were blades that get named um we don't hear a name of this blade but it's ancient

02:46:00.740 it's as ancient as is fathomable by the audience it's from a primordial time before man

02:46:09.020 um when you name a blade a blade gets a destiny and it has a fate and it has certain elements of

02:46:23.600 character to it one way to look at it at its dissolving is it has met its purpose

02:46:33.440 as if it was faded from the most ancient of times to put away this particular

02:46:42.260 piece of chaos and once it served its purpose it dies um it coincides with the light conquering

02:46:55.560 the darkness um there's this fire lit cave where this monster lives chaotically with

02:47:05.240 her freakish chaos son and they've got all this booty this is this is an outpost of chaos in the

02:47:15.300 world when she is slain order takes over the chaos and there's a beachhead of order in this

02:47:23.860 land of chaos and the light overcomes the darkness um that that theme happens as that blade meets

02:47:35.140 its destiny and does fulfills its purpose the light shines um and i think that's really important

02:47:44.400 too and yeah i it's hard to tell you know it's hard to know exactly what was in in the poet's

02:47:50.940 mind but um yeah i think the blade fails because of

02:47:59.180 unfurth's bad hymenia and bad luck that he's put into it um

02:48:08.460 because it taints things uh you're

02:48:13.900 you can come into the world with the most amazing orlog the most amazing heritage 0.56

02:48:21.820 and with such an amazing hand and you can still squander it and screw it up by being a dirt bag

02:48:29.180 and i think that's one of the things you can have this magnificent storied weapon that is

02:48:33.420 like the best sword around but if it's kept in the company and wielded by and worn by

02:48:42.940 a person of low character it loses its it loses its might the blessings on the sword

02:48:49.580 leave it

02:48:53.500 and i think that's the same thing for a lot of things for relationships for

02:48:59.660 stuff you can poison the things around you and cause luck to flee from them by

02:49:08.380 getting your ick on them

02:49:14.140 and i just want to point out unfurth can't do anything right not even lend a sword

02:49:18.940 He can't do anything right.

02:49:20.680 I hate Unfurth.

02:49:22.880 Just going to add that for the end.

02:49:26.020 Unfurth does nothing right.

02:49:29.300 So that's what we've got.

02:49:31.360 Grendel's mother is dead.

02:49:33.340 So I think that's probably where we're going to end it on here.

02:49:36.920 And then in our next one, we're going to get into the celebration

02:49:40.960 and the party following Grendel's mother's death.

02:49:44.660 Beowulf's return home.

02:49:46.140 his rule over his kingdom

02:49:48.740 and his battle with a dragon.

02:50:02.500 I can't hear you, sir.

02:50:06.000 That was my fault this time

02:50:07.540 because I muted myself.

02:50:09.140 So do we have any questions

02:50:10.580 in the queue that we did not get to?

02:50:13.660 Let's look.

02:50:16.140 Yeah, I'm looking. It looks to me like we got them.

02:50:25.440 Oh, we have one from Nick. When we were talking about oaths, right? How does it relate to holding of oaths who made it simple? They are the responsibility of the whole congregation, the self-lord beneath the group.

02:50:39.480 um

02:50:43.080 so who's responsible for those oaths at symbol

02:50:48.380 i mean that's the thing honestly and i think that we can overplay it we're not

02:50:55.160 writing an epic poem to where everything needs to be carried to the most extreme it's obviously

02:51:01.780 the person who makes them and you're going to be over some horns where people say dumb things

02:51:06.600 but it's the responsibility of the one making it but if you're there and you assent to it

02:51:13.960 and the group assents to it there's an obligation to do what you can to try to make sure that gets

02:51:20.500 fulfilled um and we do take it seriously and that's why is is to reinforce that that's why we

02:51:27.260 approve oaths before they're made or stop people if they didn't get an oath approved before they

02:51:33.880 make it but um people are going to let you down and you're going to be in the company of people

02:51:41.320 that are of low character because we live in the wolf age and many people are of low character

02:51:51.960 unfortunately that's the thing you try to mitigate it as much as you can

02:51:56.280 and in the same way that you're harmed if someone of low character is sharing a horn with you you

02:52:02.200 are elevated if you are sharing the horn with heroes and so you do what you can to protect

02:52:09.640 yourself over the horn but i don't ever think that you should this was one of the um things

02:52:18.120 that i asked my mentor early on because i'd only ever done some at uh at my house with

02:52:26.280 close friends of mine and i was coming to my first afa event and doing stumble with

02:52:33.000 some people of questionable value and he said that's why you build up a certain amount of armor

02:52:41.000 with your hymenia is so you can take some hits if you need to because just as you're lessened by

02:52:48.920 doing something with unsavory people you're elevated by doing something with great people

02:52:56.120 and you know the couple of people that were at midsummer that year that maybe weren't the best

02:53:00.360 folks do you think that you know matt do you think your hymenia benefited were you more

02:53:06.760 damaged by sharing a horn with those people than you were elevated by sharing a horn with stephen

02:53:12.680 um and i think that's something important to consider and

02:53:22.680 you can never get it perfect but you want to err on the side of you know trying to stack more wins

02:53:27.720 than you stack losses in that and surrounding yourself with it's not a hundred percent or zero

02:53:35.800 game so you want to keep do your best to keep yourself in good company it's not the end of

02:53:43.720 the world if somebody who's a dirt bag slips in but the more you can counterbalance that with

02:53:50.760 heroes and great people the better and do what you can to take precautions to where you're not

02:53:56.680 knowingly uh letting people pour value in that circle

02:54:05.240 we did have two more questions that i want to answer so the first question was

02:54:13.000 i think that's all we have left

02:54:18.280 what do you think could make and direct a great movie or tv show based on beowulf

02:54:22.520 Quentin Tarantino. That's got my goal. Yuck. I don't like Quentin Tarantino. I dislike him

02:54:29.880 greatly. He's just so flippant. I don't think he would take it seriously. I'd say Jon Favreau. 0.60

02:54:37.640 Okay. The Alshira Gothi disagrees with me, so we'll go with the Alshira Gothic decree.

02:54:43.020 Quentin Tarantino cannot make the movie. All right. And best Beowulf translation.

02:54:49.540 I would prefer to read Hall, Leslie Hall.

02:54:56.440 That's the translation that I like the best.

02:55:00.020 But Tolkien is really good as well, so those would be my top two.

02:55:04.780 Do you have any preferences, sir?

02:55:06.780 I have no preferences.

02:55:08.080 I'm not that guy.

02:55:09.180 I think there's good things about each.

02:55:11.480 There's not one translation I was reading and had to throw it down in disgust.

02:55:18.740 I am entertained by Seamus Haney's version just because my mentor I was talking about earlier

02:55:30.740 that had the conversation about Hermania with me was a very proud Englishman and he was completely

02:55:36.240 disgusted that this Irishman was translating this stuff and you know Seamus would throw in

02:55:42.280 some like Irish colloquialisms and that that offended him and was was a source of merriment

02:55:47.520 for me. So I have fond memories of Seamus Haney's version just for that, just for that barb. 0.98

02:55:59.120 I think that is all of our questions. Do you have anything else to add tonight, sir?

02:56:03.840 No, once again, great job on this. It's really a privilege to have you on here,

02:56:09.980 both explaining it and literally reading the text it's nice when we have something small enough

02:56:19.160 that we can read the whole text people can hear it there's a lot of people that are listening to

02:56:24.060 this that may have never encountered this before and i think that's awesome so thank you for that

02:56:29.580 as always i appreciate audience you guys are what fuels so much of this with your questions

02:56:37.440 and your participation really appreciate you um yeah i don't have any breaking news until next

02:56:45.120 time please join us uh next week as fawn and i talk about yule and various yule traditions

02:56:51.440 and as fawn talks about the pig face um

02:56:57.840 until next time hail the gods kill the folk hail the afa and remember victory never sleeps 0.99

02:57:07.440 100.

02:57:08.440 TREVED

02:57:09.440 000.

02:57:10.600 1 dot more.

02:57:11.700 You're Okey,

02:57:25.880 your new power is a storm.

02:57:34.580 Thank you.

02:58:04.580 Thank you.

02:58:34.580 Thank you.

02:59:04.580 Thank you.

02:59:34.580 We'll be right back.

03:00:04.580 Thank you.

Asatru Folk Assembly - November 23, 2023

11⧸22⧸23 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 72 - Beowulf and Grendel's Mother

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