Asatru Folk Assembly - 11⧸8⧸23 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 70 - Beowulf and Grendel

00:00:00.000 Transcription by CastingWords

00:00:30.000 Thank you.

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

00:03:00.000 this is not a test I repeat this is not a test run for your lives the 1980s are here run run run

00:03:30.000 Hi, everyone. Welcome to Victory Never Sleeps. I am Witten Callahan, and I am joined by folk

00:03:54.880 builder Sarah Ault. And until the else year ago, the is safely at the location for this

00:04:00.940 piece of the Iron Harriard that is this weekend. My good friend Sarah Ault, who I think is as big

00:04:07.980 a fan of Beowulf as I am, is going to be here with me to discuss Beowulf and answer any questions

00:04:14.840 that we might have. And Nick, I don't know where you got my graduation picture from,

00:04:20.820 but kudos. It's kind of concerning that you found it. Sarah, where was that picture from?

00:04:35.880 I think you posted it one day when we were sharing pictures of our high school days.

00:04:43.300 That's where Nick got the pictures from. Oh, my picture.

00:04:46.640 That was 1988. Mine was from the year I graduated. I think I'm sitting on top of a car in a parking

00:04:59.420 lot somewhere. That's what we did. Awesome. Yeah, so that's my graduation picture and a picture of

00:05:09.460 Sarah from high school. So now you know what we looked like when we were young. Holy Aquanet is

00:05:14.100 right. There is a lot of Aquanet in mine, too. All right, so before we get officially started

00:05:20.620 tonight, we got a few announcements. Tickets for the Feast of the Einherjar are still on sale at

00:05:28.040 the Runestone store. It is not too late to get your ticket. That is going to be our Baldur's

00:05:33.040 Hoff District Feast of the Einherjar, which is going to be in South Dakota this weekend.

00:05:37.760 And the Elster Yargothi is already en route, so he will be there, as will Founder McNallan and Githia McNallan from Odenshoff, as well as a ton of Baldur's Hoff leadership and membership will be there this weekend.

00:05:53.280 So it's a great venue. It's going to be a great event. So tickets are still on sale for that.

00:05:58.440 contact any of the Baldur's Hof leadership if you have any questions about what to bring and

00:06:06.480 if you can come and directions and all of that good stuff so we will still be monitoring that

00:06:11.380 up until the event so please go ahead and get your tickets for that not to be confused with

00:06:16.960 the Feast of the Iron Harriar event that is happening at Baldur's Hof itself which is going

00:06:22.100 to be next weekend so we've got two Feast of the Iron Harriars back to back but go ahead and

00:06:28.120 support your district. If you can make it to South Dakota, please get your ticket bought for that.

00:06:32.760 Also, since we do have Folk Builder Alt here, I do want to do a plug for the As A True Academy.

00:06:39.560 And Sarah, if you can just give us a real quick rundown on that As A True Academy and how things

00:06:45.580 are going and how do they contact the staff for that.

00:06:58.120 um the everything with the osteo academy is going very well this year we are offering grades

00:07:07.100 kindergarten through third grade um hopefully by next year we will have add fifth and sixth

00:07:13.520 grade onto it so we'll we'll cover all that elementary type stuff um you can go to

00:07:22.560 aussitrueacademy.org and hit the contact button and you will an email will come to me and i will

00:07:30.220 reach out to you and i can answer any questions you have and i can get your students enrolled if

00:07:36.300 they fit into that thing um the the most important thing with the aussitrue academy is you have to

00:07:43.120 be a member of the afa to join it it is well worth it the program is wonderful we have gothy

00:07:51.140 Rob Stamm, who is amazing as our dean. We have Githya Sheila McNallan, who taught school,

00:08:00.420 and she offers a lot of support throughout the program. We have Rachel Johnson, who knows every

00:08:08.160 single law about homeschooling in every state in the United States, and it's just amazing what she

00:08:14.240 brings to the program um we also every friday we have a parents meeting and there's always a guest

00:08:21.520 storyteller at that meeting to read a book to the children next week it will be matt will be on to

00:08:29.360 read a story to the children it is very much a program that is is well worth doing if you're

00:08:37.280 choosing um homeschooling and if you are also true it is one of a kind there is no other program like

00:08:46.240 it and it is was a very long making and we are incredibly proud of it awesome thank you ma'am

00:08:55.040 uh just before before we get started into the meat and potatoes of tonight's topic i also want

00:09:02.160 to put up here where you can watch this or watch or listen to the podcast we are on all kinds of

00:09:08.160 streaming um odyssey entropy twitter rumble youtube vk if you go into the description box

00:09:15.120 of this podcast here on youtube you can get all the links for that also we are on twitch that's

00:09:21.920 new to me i think that's been new for a while but kind of behind on the time twitch also we can go

00:09:26.960 on Twitch. Before we get too far ahead, I do just want to plug that there is a weekly Baldur's Hoff

00:09:35.360 Ladies Book Study. We are currently covering Beowulf. We just killed Grendel's mother

00:09:41.840 with the girls, didn't we? I think we did. Yes, we did. Yes, we did. So we are covering that. We do

00:09:54.520 have the last one third uh the last third we did and we're looking for our following week

00:10:04.440 yes yeah so if you do want to get caught up on those contacts sarah alt she does have them

00:10:10.280 recorded um we kind of pick bay wolf apart and go through some main themes that we think are

00:10:14.440 relevant especially for women also if you are a lady of the afa there is a handy dandy study

00:10:20.520 guide that you can download off of our spiritual excellence group. No, off of the ladies, the

00:10:25.780 ladies, ladies group. So if you are one of our AFA ladies, definitely go to the ladies group.

00:10:32.260 There is an awesome study guide that's got a couple different translations and side by side

00:10:38.320 with the old, the old English version of that as well. It's got room for notes. Yeah, it's got

00:10:44.620 everything you need to actually have a productive book study. So we've got that as well. That being

00:10:49.640 said, I do want to just do a couple shout outs real quick and answer one question and then we're

00:10:55.500 going to get started, Sarah. All right. So thank you, Ronald Blake, $50 for help a new couple get

00:11:08.420 back on their feet. Thank you, Ronald Blake. You are continually being generous with helping the

00:11:15.220 AFA out with all of our fundraisers and helping out the Hoffs and donating in general. So we

00:11:19.820 deeply appreciate that. You're here every week and we very much appreciate what you do. So I'm

00:11:25.820 going to answer two questions and then we're going to get into the introduction. Uncle Krampus asks,

00:11:29.700 why is Beowulf still relevant to our folk today, all of these centuries later and what can we

00:11:34.440 learn from it? Oh, we are going to get into that, believe me. Why is it still relevant? Because I

00:11:39.520 can show you through Beowulf all of the things that apply to generosity, that apply to honor,

00:11:45.260 that apply to frith, that apply to the importance of our ancestors, that apply to oaths, that apply

00:11:51.460 to how women act and hold themselves in a hall, to how we conduct symbol, to the importance of

00:11:58.940 the gift cycle. Also, one of the biggest things that I take from Beowulf is, in fact, leadership

00:12:04.940 and nobility. So we'll be focusing a lot of that on a lot of that as we go through.

00:12:13.480 Then the questions that you guys are going to have tonight, keep in mind, we are trying to

00:12:17.600 cram the first third of the poem with Grendel and Beowulf tonight. So if you do have questions

00:12:23.620 about Grendel's mother or about the dragon, which happens later on in the poems, please save those

00:12:28.560 because we will have numerous calls about this topic. So save those questions for then.

00:12:32.920 One more question from Yager Kuningaz. Have either of you considered the correlation between the Anglo-Saxon Futhark and Beowulf? Beowulf is great and an important part of our overall lore. I love all the Kenyans.

00:12:45.580 have i done that not necessarily so i've been studying beowulf for a long time but i have not

00:12:53.380 applied the anglo-saxon huthark to beowulf specifically yet that sounds like an interesting

00:12:59.420 concept that i would probably explore would be kind of interesting so i think that might be

00:13:06.580 awesome that might be my next delve into beowulf might be to do that um all the kennings yes we're

00:13:13.560 go over a lot of the kennings kennings are a big part of of beowulf they're a big part of the

00:13:19.880 the poetic nature of it so it's awesome sarah have you ever considered the

00:13:25.080 correlation between anglosax and futhark and beowulf at all

00:13:35.640 not really um

00:13:36.840 grandmother part with the sword and the story on the sword, but for the most part, no.

00:13:53.000 Also, one last question before we get started on that. What is an easy translation of Beowulf

00:13:58.820 to read? The translation I own is very difficult for my modern English mind to read. I get it.

00:14:04.580 I understand. I get it. The first time I read Beowulf, I was just, I didn't understand it at

00:14:09.900 all. We read it in high school, and it was a direct translation of the Anglo-Saxon. It was

00:14:16.060 very much like reading Beowulf for the first time, the same way that I read the Blue Spell

00:14:22.840 with the Bellows translation the first time. It just went over my head until I actually picked

00:14:28.020 it apart. So my recommendations for Beowulf translations are going to be J.R.R. Tolkien's

00:14:36.700 version of Beowulf. His translation of Beowulf is great. I really like Dr. Leslie Hall's version

00:14:44.680 of Beowulf. Both of those can be found online. They are open source. You don't have to pay for

00:14:49.480 them. You can download PDFs. You can find those online. Also, this is the one that you would have

00:14:56.120 to purchase, and this is a really good version, Beowulf by Seamus Haney. This is an easy-to-read

00:15:03.900 version. It's not that at all. Also, Tolkien's is pretty easy as well. I'm not going to necessarily

00:15:11.600 promote this book because I haven't got through this translation all the way, but it's got some

00:15:18.300 funny things in it. I am going to warn you about this. It's a feminist revision of a macho heroism,

00:15:24.640 So I'm not necessarily going to recommend this book, but this is super easy to read.

00:15:29.540 I just don't recommend it if you're looking for something that's fully immersed in our culture, because there's a lot of hilarious banter in here.

00:15:41.640 But it's most definitely a modern version of Beowulf, and I'm going to leave it at that.

00:15:48.240 I'm not saying it's good or bad. I'm not recommending it.

00:15:50.300 I'm just saying it's a modern version in modern English and the way modern

00:15:54.660 people talk today, but it is quite hilarious.

00:15:58.040 It was a gift from folk builder, Mike Joyner,

00:16:00.220 because he knows I'm addicted to Beowulf and I love it. Every,

00:16:03.780 I love anything Beowulf. So, all right.

00:16:09.680 Let's see. One more question. It looks like Lydia asks,

00:16:13.800 Witten Callahan, why did you pick Beowulf as a spotlight story?

00:16:16.820 What are your favorite messages and overall themes?

00:16:19.000 I always say when people ask me what the first, where should they start? I always tell them that

00:16:26.260 you need to start with Beowulf because in order to understand the more academic works that are very

00:16:33.460 dry reading sometimes, but also very important to understanding the culture of the people

00:16:40.400 and culture of our folk before, basically when this was still the religion of the folk before

00:16:48.600 they were Christianized. In order to understand the culture behind that, and a lot of the reasons

00:16:52.980 why we do still do certain things today, you have to read Beowulf first, because Lady with a Mead

00:16:59.620 Cup is very Beowulf heavy. I recommend if you are going to read this book, you need to have a copy

00:17:05.760 of Beowulf side by side with it. It will help you tremendously. Also, Culture of the Tootins. There's

00:17:14.580 a lot of references to Beowulf, especially when it comes to honor, frith, hospitality,

00:17:21.240 things like that. There's a lot of references to Beowulf. Again, I'd recommend having a good

00:17:26.360 translation of Beowulf to refer to. Also, one more reference, and then we're going to get started.

00:17:36.740 A lot of the things that we find in Beowulf when they're starting to talk about things like ship

00:17:41.000 burials, how to mourn people, the gift giving, symbols, drinking rituals, and the adornments

00:17:47.660 that they have on their swords, their shields, their helmets, what their helmets look like.

00:17:54.740 These two right here, the Viking Age, volumes one and two. So if you want to look more in depth

00:18:00.220 into that, if you guys start asking me questions about that, we're going to start having literally

00:18:05.080 a 72-hour call on Beowulf, and that's not the point. What we want to cover is

00:18:12.620 what we want to cover is the basic ideals and how to apply them in a modern context. That's

00:18:19.660 what we focus on in the Ladies' Book Study, is how do we apply this and how do we recognize this

00:18:23.740 in our culture. All righty. Okay, so that being said, we're going to go ahead and get into the

00:18:32.320 intro of Beowulf and bear with me because the intro to Beowulf sometimes can be as important

00:18:38.100 as Beowulf itself. So there's a few things that you need to understand about the text before you

00:18:43.280 start jumping into it. Beowulf itself survived as a single manuscript, which means there was

00:18:52.400 only one manuscript of Beowulf written down and preserved that we know of. Every translation that

00:18:59.180 we have of Beowulf. Everything that you see from Beowulf is from this one manuscript. And that

00:19:05.360 manuscript is called the Cotton Vitellis A-15. And that is based off of Sir Robert Cotton. He was

00:19:13.640 a collector of old things and manuscripts. And he had this huge library of stuff. And the library

00:19:19.820 was so huge. And he had so many books that he had case upon case upon case upon case books.

00:19:26.000 And on top of these cases, he had busts of like Roman emperors, all kinds of different Roman emperors.

00:19:32.460 And this one was found on the case that had the Emperor Vitalius on it.

00:19:38.220 And it was A15, so it was on the first shelf, the 15th manuscript from the left.

00:19:46.420 This manuscript itself, it was not just a story of Beowulf.

00:19:50.780 There was several other stories that were included in this bound manuscript.

00:19:55.080 and those were um what were they

00:19:59.120 the life of saint saint christopher was one uh judith was the other um beowulf

00:20:07.500 and there was two more

00:20:10.640 there was um alexander's letters to aristotle and there was one other one i'd have to check my notes

00:20:19.560 to get that other one but there was a basic theme with all five of these manuscripts and they

00:20:24.500 they call this um like a liver monstorium and it's not the liver monstorium that's a different

00:20:30.960 book i'm going to get to in a second but there's something that binds all of these together and that

00:20:37.040 is monstrosity or um fantasy what we would consider fantasy sci-fi today right if you

00:20:47.140 are familiar with any of those things um like the um life of saint christopher for example

00:20:55.080 um the life of saint christopher he actually had like the head of a dog right um until he converted

00:21:01.160 and then he was miraculously saved and he was a normal human being um judith has a woman um killing

00:21:07.840 a rapist in it um the letters to aristotle were like hey you would not believe the things i'm

00:21:15.200 seeing on this journey. And then Beowulf, of course, includes the three monsters and the epic

00:21:20.120 hero, which is Beowulf, and then the three monsters of Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the

00:21:24.620 dragon. Now, this is important for a couple reasons. There is another book titled Libra

00:21:33.060 Monstorium, and it was the history of the Franks, Gregory of Tur's history of the Franks, and there

00:21:39.040 is a character in there, Heilig, and he was actually a historical person. And this is how

00:21:44.920 we help trace when this was actually written, because Heilig was actually a historical person

00:21:49.800 that died in like 520. So we can kind of determine that through the correlation between these texts

00:21:57.880 that this actually took place in the late, late fifth, early sixth century. But this wasn't

00:22:05.760 written down until like way later, right? We bring this up for a couple reasons. The difference

00:22:16.800 between when it was written and when it happened is really, really important. The original form was

00:22:23.300 probably written down sometime between like 975 and 1025. There's a lot of debate on how did it

00:22:30.600 exist beforehand? Was it a single manuscript that was written by, you know, this Christian monk,

00:22:35.760 or was it an oral translation or an oral tradition first that he had heard that story and then

00:22:41.960 written down, changed a couple major nouns in the book, and it was an actual story there?

00:22:50.780 Or was it somewhere in between, right? One of the big arguments that this was not something that

00:22:57.280 could have been written down and advertised is because this happened. Let me step back with that

00:23:08.040 for a second. When the Viking invasions were running through, this is the time when this

00:23:13.980 was supposed to be happening or right after that. So it wouldn't make sense for there to be an epic

00:23:19.880 poem about people who had just conquered you, right? So they wouldn't be telling this epic

00:23:26.040 poem about their conquerors so they think that that's why it was written down later until later

00:23:31.720 like it had been an epic hero story from like the scandinavia denmark and then it had made its way

00:23:38.920 lower into europe um one of the big things to remember is that

00:23:45.880 the biggest complaint about beowulf is how how heavily christianized it is

00:23:52.040 and that we shouldn't value it because of the the concepts of christianity that are in it

00:23:58.880 one thing i want to point out with that so if this was happening um in the 600s to 700s

00:24:05.280 they were not christian beowulf would not have been a christian hrothgar would not have been

00:24:11.080 a christian none of these people would have been christian um christianity came later now you have

00:24:17.060 to remember in order to be considered a Christian text, there are some major things that would be

00:24:22.780 Christian. And those things are not mentioned in Beowulf. God is mentioned a lot, but the only

00:24:29.800 other biblical references are Cain and Abel. That is the only other biblical reference in there.

00:24:36.200 They reference like a flood, but there's floods in every tradition, in every culture, in every

00:24:44.020 creation story, including our own. There is also the mention of like hellfire and things like that.

00:24:50.660 But is it H-E-L-L or is it H-E-L? You don't know. You just don't know. But there is the mention of

00:24:56.940 a singular God. Now that obviously was added by the Christian monk who put that in there. He was

00:25:02.260 emphasizing that. But keep in mind that when you're thinking about, I don't want to read this

00:25:07.740 because it's a Christian text. Number one, they never once mentioned Jesus. They don't mention

00:25:12.900 Mary. They don't mention the saints. They don't mention the church. They do not mention the cross.

00:25:19.780 The other argument on whether or not this is Christian or pagan is sometimes the number nine

00:25:25.020 will pop up, but you have to distinguish, is that the number nine? As we see the number nine and as

00:25:29.660 true, and how our people revered it, or is it biblical time, which was a real thing, and how

00:25:35.060 someone who was a scribe of that culture would have referred to time as, like the ninth hour.

00:25:42.900 would not necessarily have been related to Astro. That would have been a biblical concept

00:25:50.100 of time. So the only real things that are Bible-based are going to be the descriptions

00:25:55.200 with Cain and Abel, possibly the flood, depending on how you read it, and probably the time when

00:26:01.040 Beowulf came out of the water after fighting Grendel's mother. So keep in mind that when

00:26:07.840 you're reading this despite the heavily christian concepts right um a lot of those are what they

00:26:14.160 call gnomic passages and they're parables but you take a lot of the things that they're talking

00:26:20.280 about those are ours you know the the concept of hospitality the concept of wisdom the concept of

00:26:26.920 courage and nobility um those are ours they're not necessarily christian parables you can take

00:26:36.300 these things they're they're what we preach and live and and do every single day with the nine

00:26:43.700 noble virtues so if you take that out of it is it again is it a terrible um so why do i bring this

00:26:53.680 up this is really important because of the fact if you look at the time frame of it it depends on

00:26:58.960 how you read it right there is a lot of debate on what this the value of Beowulf is and you have

00:27:10.080 your hardcore academics and you have those of us that are looking for basic things in the religion

00:27:15.300 and the religiosity of it um the cultural aspects of it um Tolkien for example in Monsters and

00:27:22.800 critics, he criticizes the critics. He says, all you have done is mined this thing for information

00:27:29.400 and you have no appreciation whatsoever for the actual monsters in it or the poetry itself or the

00:27:35.880 concepts that they are trying to do. Like you are just mining it for information, right? From what

00:27:41.180 their shields look like to what the queen did, why she served Hrothgar first. You're just mining it

00:27:49.700 for cultural nuggets because there are so few things, there are so few things written down

00:27:56.760 for us to go off of that this was like a gold mine and we're like picking at the walls. I found

00:28:02.740 a nugget of information about our ancient ancestors. So that was one of the, one of the

00:28:08.500 biggest complaints on what I call Beowulf one more time with feeling versus the academics where

00:28:16.960 they're like, there is so much more to Beowulf than the shields or the literary translation of

00:28:24.160 a name or this, that, and the other. There's so much more here than that. And if you're only here

00:28:30.640 for the nuggets, you're missing out. So that is my rant on the intro to Beowulf. This is why this

00:28:38.160 is going to take forever. Sarah, do you have anything to add on the Beowulf introduction?

00:28:42.280 no not on that that part i agree with you on that part it's it's the small things like

00:28:54.400 that she serves the king first with the meat horn or the way the hall is set up or how unfurth is

00:29:01.640 sitting at the king's feet where technically he shouldn't deserve to be there there there's

00:29:08.160 there's all the little things that you can pick out out from it that still apply to us today

00:29:22.460 like you can still see actions in Beowulf you can still see characters and you can still see

00:29:28.720 personality traits that you can pick out and how people relate to each other even today so that's

00:29:37.500 one of the things that we're definitely going to point out we've got some questions stacking up so

00:29:41.900 before we get into the first fit we're going to answer a couple of those questions uh go the east

00:29:47.840 asks witten callahan who would you cast in in a beowulf movie that would actually be actually

00:29:54.220 watchable as opposed to the one from a few years ago well go the east i would i would cast you go

00:30:01.960 the East. But only if you work on leg day, because Beowulf's got some strong legs, bud.

00:30:09.960 But Beowulf is supposed to be noble and handsome in the best of men. So I'm going to go ahead and

00:30:17.360 put Go the East as Beowulf. Sarah, who would be Hrothgar? Who's going to be our king, Sarah?

00:30:31.960 Stephen McNallan would be a good Hrothgar. I agree with you. I think that would be awesome.

00:30:53.780 so we are casting founder mcnellen and go the east as hrothgar and uh beowulf i think that

00:31:01.880 would be an excellent movie to watch and i look forward to seeing it i think we should make that

00:31:06.280 happen eric the red light asks what are your thoughts on the various beowulf films are any

00:31:12.180 recommended or is it better to skip them all i don't know you're asking a person that likes the

00:31:17.440 book, not the movie. Beowulf and Grendel is not that bad. It's not. Any movie that sexualizes

00:31:29.840 Beowulf and Grendel's mother puts my teeth on edge because that's not a thing. It's gross

00:31:37.680 if you understand Grendel's mother in any concept whatsoever. So they're entertaining,

00:31:46.540 but they take a lot of they take a lot they take a lot of uh what's the right word

00:31:57.420 i don't even know what the right word is but they're doing it just for views they're doing

00:32:03.460 it just to be sexy or just to be trendy or just to have people come spend money and there's not

00:32:10.400 very many of them that are close to the actual story, but out of all of them, if you forced me

00:32:17.140 to watch a Beowulf movie, the only one that I would not scream at horribly would probably be

00:32:22.440 Beowulf and Grendel. And Adam asks, would it be possible to have an oral telling performance of

00:32:30.340 Beowulf at a future event? I believe our tales should be experienced. Oral tradition defines

00:32:35.080 our cultures and many learn best that way. Yes and no. Um, if somebody would want me to

00:32:41.560 read that, I totally could. It takes four to five hours to read Beowulf out loud from start to

00:32:49.740 finish. And that's without stopping and jumping down any rabbit holes. So that would be a very

00:32:57.040 long performance. Um, it could be something that split up into three different events maybe. Um,

00:33:03.380 but yeah, that's, that's about a four to four to five hour affair. If you can get me to only read

00:33:09.440 it and not go, oh, by the way, and anybody who's ever sat at a table with me and brought Beowulf

00:33:15.240 up knows that if you bring it up, I'm going to go, oh, by the way, have you ever considered this?

00:33:21.280 And then it's going to be an entire hour on that topic. So only if you can get me to read it only,

00:33:27.460 Adam. All right. Speaking of reading, I think Sarah and other topics also. Yes. Yes. All right.

00:33:39.060 Speaking of reading, I can read Beowulf pretty quickly. So what Sarah and I have kind of talked

00:33:44.140 about is it might be beneficial for us to actually read this to you a little bit. And then as we're

00:33:49.240 going through it, we're going to go through and we're going to talk about some of these things,

00:33:52.500 some of these ideas. Keep in mind, it only takes four hours to read it. We got three calls to do

00:33:58.600 it. We're only going to go through like the first 16, 17 fits. So it's not that big of a deal.

00:34:04.260 I read really fast because I've done this a few times. So, all right. So we're going to go ahead

00:34:09.460 and read fit number one. And I'm just going to read one of the translations that we have.

00:34:17.140 And I'm going to just going to pick the easiest one. And then I'm going to go back through and

00:34:21.400 to tell you some interesting tidbits. So we're going to start with fit number one, the life and

00:34:27.160 death of skill. You're going to have to forgive my enunciation and pronunciation of words. I'm

00:34:33.720 sure go the East. We'll have a heyday with this later. That's okay. That's fine. So the Spear

00:34:40.480 Danes, so the Spear Danes and days gone by and the Kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.

00:34:45.320 We have heard princes who wrote campaigns. There was shields, chiefs and scourge of many tribes,

00:34:50.320 a wrecker of meat benches, rampaging among foes.

00:34:53.200 This terror of the hall troops had come far.

00:34:56.320 A founding to start with, he would flourish later on in his powers waxed and his worth

00:35:00.160 was proved.

00:35:01.180 In the end, each clan on the outlying coats beyond the whale road had yielded to him and

00:35:06.120 began to pay tribute.

00:35:07.960 That was one good king.

00:35:09.760 Afterwards, a boy and child was born to shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by God to

00:35:14.440 the nation.

00:35:15.380 He knew what they had told, and long times and troubles they had come through without

00:35:18.960 a leader.

00:35:19.340 so the lord of life the glorious almighty made this man renowned shield had fathered a famous

00:35:24.340 son bale's name was known through the north and the young prince must be prudent like that

00:35:28.840 giving freely while his father lives so that afterwards in the age when fighting starts

00:35:33.040 steadfast companions will stand by him and hold the line behavior that's admired is the path to

00:35:38.100 power among people everywhere shield was still thriving when his time came and he crossed over

00:35:42.560 into the lord's keeping he was where his warrior band did what he bathed them when he laid down the

00:35:48.580 long whom the Danes. They shouldered him out to the sea's flood, the chief they revered,

00:35:52.580 who had long ruled them. A ring-world prowl rode on the harbor, ice-clad, outbound a craft for a

00:35:57.420 prince. They stretched their beloved lord in his boat, laid out by the mast amid ships and great

00:36:02.540 ring-giver. Far-fetched treasures were piled upon him, a precious gear. I never heard before a ship

00:36:08.260 so well-furbished with battle-tackle, bladed weapons, and coats of mail. The mast treasure

00:36:12.860 was lowered on top of him, and it was travel far out into the ocean's sway. They decked his body

00:36:17.560 no less boundfully with offerings than those first ones did who cast him away when he was a child

00:36:21.860 and watched him alone out over the waves and they did set up and they set a gold standard up

00:36:28.140 a high above his head and let him drift to wind and tide bewailing him and mourning their loss

00:36:33.080 no man can tell no wise man in the hall or weathered veteran knows for certain who salvaged

00:36:39.080 download. All right, a couple things about this. The word what? The word what? W-H-W-A-E-T in

00:36:50.000 Anglo-Saxon. That's translated a whole bunch of ways. A whole bunch of ways. It can be so or low

00:36:59.100 or whatever it is. There are a very select few of people, and if I can get a $100 donation to the

00:37:07.080 AFA, I will tell you what the Brandy translation of what stands for, but I will not do it and I'll

00:37:13.500 only do it to those who donate. That is going to be a very special donation. So if that donation

00:37:19.340 comes in, you will be messaged by very lengthy, my very lengthy, what does what mean? And it is

00:37:26.140 quite entertaining and a little bit spicy. So I will send that to you for a hundred dollar donation.

00:37:32.800 but basically what it means is, Hey, listen up. Do you guys want to hear the story? Because I

00:37:39.320 got something to tell you. That's not my spicy version of it, but you'll see it translated as

00:37:46.820 low. You'll see it translated as so you'll see it, see it translated in the one that Mike Joyner

00:37:52.640 sent me as bro. Um, that is the storyteller's way of, of getting your attention and tell you to

00:37:59.840 listen. Okay. Um, one of the words, and I'm going to pick out a few words. I'm not going to spend a

00:38:05.800 whole lot, a lot of time breaking down the words themselves because we would be here forever.

00:38:11.180 But one of the things I want to pick out is your day. And you'll see that in the Anglo-Saxon are in

00:38:17.800 the, in the old English version of it, it's going to be the last word in line number one. And they

00:38:23.860 talk about days gone by, right? And if you look at that word, you can kind of recognize it

00:38:29.920 because that G is usually pronounced as like a Y. So it's years ago, years gone by, days gone by.

00:38:39.980 So they are talking about things that happened in the very distant past. And that's where it

00:38:44.240 comes into this whole, when was this actually written down thing? This happened a long time

00:38:48.560 ago. This is their version of Once Upon a Time in a Land Far, Far Away, right? So that's just

00:38:56.480 interesting because it goes to the context of when was it written, right? And then we start

00:39:04.100 talking about the lineage of Beowulf. Sarah, do you want to let people know what I always preach

00:39:12.720 about when I'm saying if you're going to do a book study, what do you need to keep track of?

00:39:18.560 the the the order the genealogy of of who comes from who because that'll come up over and over

00:39:36.860 in the story so it's easiest if you know whose son is who is and that sort of thing

00:39:43.520 yes one of the biggest things that you're going to run into with doing anything regarding the

00:39:52.680 sagas and and in beowulf as well is there are over over 70 proper names in beowulf um

00:40:01.740 rather than reading it rather than reading it and having to flip back to the index and go

00:40:08.640 who in the world was this person again? I always let my ladies know, hey, the best thing to do is

00:40:14.520 keep a notebook or keep notes. Like as people are introduced, draw little lines to them. There's

00:40:21.140 kind of a meme floating around that I got sent to me today that I'm not going to share because it

00:40:26.140 made me laugh, but I was kind of like, yeah, that is what I look like. And it's that meme of the guy

00:40:31.280 standing in front of the board, like looking all panicked with like the red strings going everywhere

00:40:35.500 and papers everywhere. Yeah, that's what I'm telling you to do. Keep track of that because

00:40:40.620 it's important of whose sons belong to who. And Sarah, why is it important that we understand

00:40:49.480 the deeds of the grandfather and the deeds of the father and the deeds of the son? How does that

00:40:55.060 correlate to this thing that we do?

00:41:05.500 I'm not sure if Sarah can hear me well the importance of the I am I seem to be having

00:41:25.260 a little bit internet trouble. So if you could repeat the question. Oh, sure. I'm sorry. So why

00:41:42.660 is it important, you know, in, in what we do that we know who the father is and what the father's

00:41:49.620 deeds are. And then we recognize who his son is, and then we add his deeds. And then we have

00:41:56.260 the grandson who is this king, and now he's adding these deeds. Why is that important to

00:42:02.640 concepts that we have because that is all part of our our

00:42:22.240 our um the word escapes me the our our lock our or lock but it's not yeah or log and weird

00:42:32.640 our hamenja that as well yes it get it goes into it all comes together as part of ours

00:42:40.940 religious i'm they totally escaped me yeah no you're good so the importance of the

00:42:48.400 the grandfather is important because it affects you know the the orlog of the son which affects

00:42:55.560 his grandson so i mean everything builds upon each itself in layers right so it's important

00:43:02.200 to know who belongs to who and who did what and when you know it's kind of like setting your

00:43:06.500 starting point right and it also runs into your luck it all tie it ties all together with the

00:43:14.580 deeds of your tribe so that's one of the things that we want to point out as well as it's important

00:43:18.200 to track that when you're reading these things because you'll notice that it starts layering on

00:43:22.600 top of itself and it'll not only repeat itself a lot in here it will go over the same thing over

00:43:30.080 and over again. For example, hi, I'm Beowulf. This is my lineage. And then he meets the next

00:43:35.200 person. Hi, I'm Beowulf. This is my lineage. Happens all the time. So they're building layers

00:43:41.700 is what they're doing. Yep. One of the things that we have in here and how we know that this

00:43:49.040 is definitely from the Northern side is that you have Skadelandum, which would be Scandinavia,

00:43:56.880 right? They're specifically telling us we are from Scandinavia, that they're saying it right

00:44:03.340 there in the translation. And Baal's name was known through the north. Now, keep in mind,

00:44:07.680 this is not Beowulf. This is just Baal. This is the son of Shiel Shefson. And one of the things

00:44:15.900 that they talk about, and it says in here, a young prince must be prudent like that, giving freely

00:44:20.060 while his father lives so that afterwards in age, when fighting starts, steadfast companions will

00:44:25.420 stand by him and hold the line. What he's talking about here is generosity, the gifting cycle,

00:44:31.520 right? Making sure that as a leader, you are taking care of your men, because if you don't

00:44:36.200 take care of your men, what's going to happen? Sarah, what's going to happen if we have a leader

00:44:42.240 that is just working and sending them off to war and never reciprocating that frith and that bond

00:44:51.480 between them.

00:45:21.480 Sorry, Sarah. I think your internet doesn't take care of his men. They're not going to fight for

00:45:26.000 him and they're not going to defend him. Yep. Oh, I think we lost Sarah. I'm sorry, Sarah.

00:45:37.820 I think she's having some computer issues. But so what we've got with that is that's going to

00:45:43.560 be an example of generosity. That's going to be an example of the gift giving cycle, right?

00:45:47.320 these men are fighting for him these men are dying for him these men are bringing him wealth

00:45:54.400 and basically signing up to be his layman that is a gift and he is gifting them in return whether

00:46:03.760 it's through spoils of raiding whether it's through gifts of horses or just in general taking

00:46:10.040 care of his people it's important that you do that and show that generosity so that when you

00:46:15.580 really need them, they're going to be there because they know that when they need you,

00:46:20.260 you're going to be there. So that's one of the things I wanted to point out with that. Like I

00:46:23.520 said, I take a lot of leadership and nobility concepts of Beowulf. And that's kind of what I

00:46:28.620 teach to our leadership as well as to our women is leadership and nobility and how to make sure

00:46:34.940 you're building frith, which we will get into is extraordinarily important for women themselves.

00:46:40.060 and in the old english they have they talk about the beloved companions and the chief men

00:46:47.200 i mean you can see that in the translation from old english it actually translates to

00:46:52.320 beloved companions so that's an important concept as well um after this here we go into

00:47:01.240 the ship burial, right? We talk about all of the beauty of it. One of the interesting things,

00:47:11.560 just as a side note, our people were doing ship burials, sending people out to sea,

00:47:17.980 but they were also doing cremation, which we will see later on in our third or fourth call

00:47:22.780 with Beowulf, but cremation stopped in, in the north around the 1100s after Christianity really

00:47:33.380 took hold because Christianity does not approve of all the way up until like, I believe the 60s

00:47:38.840 or 70s would not approve cremation for their religious reasons. So a lot of this stuff that

00:47:46.140 you see with the ship burials and pushing them off, if there is a ship burial, it could be in

00:47:51.560 that time when they were burying the body with the grave goods rather than cremating it because

00:47:58.540 you had that overlap of Christianity moving north. But yeah, the cremation actually stopped

00:48:06.520 for the Christians, for our people after full Christianization around 1100 because it was very

00:48:13.420 taboo to cremate somebody. If you look up, just a point of reference, if you're interested in

00:48:19.100 ship burials, if you look up Sutton Hoo, the Sutton Hoo ship burial, there's a very, very good

00:48:24.500 archaeological example of that that you can find, and that was a ship burial that was found in

00:48:30.120 Suffolk, England, I believe. There's a whole lot of archaeological information on that,

00:48:37.360 so definitely look that up if you're interested in the ship burials, all right? Awesome.

00:48:43.520 so from there we're going to go into a little bit of the building of the hall and more of

00:48:52.800 beowulf's lineage so we start with shield skeeftan or skilled sheeftan then we have his son beo and

00:48:59.480 then from beo we have halfdane and halfdane is where we're going to go next so keep in mind

00:49:04.320 we're going to we're going to be four generations down because we're building layers of greatness

00:49:08.980 One of the things I want you to remember when you're reading Beowulf is your narrator will never lie to you.

00:49:15.580 Unlike modern novels and such, the narrator will never lie.

00:49:22.600 The narrator will always tell you the truth and will always tell you things that are upcoming and give you hints.

00:49:30.960 One of the things he's giving hints to is how important it was that Baal was born.

00:49:37.700 the son of shield there is an upcoming lay an upcoming song or poem that's going to be

00:49:47.200 introduced to us where we're going to be introduced to a king who ruled poorly before this particular

00:49:55.780 dynasty did and we're going to see the very very stark difference between hrothgar's family

00:50:02.420 and between him so that's going to be upcoming i'm not going to talk too much about that now

00:50:07.560 because I'll point it out when it comes. But keep in mind, your narrator will never lie to you.

00:50:12.800 So this is already telling us and setting that stage, setting the stage for the difference

00:50:17.340 between a good king and a bad king. All right. So talking about the Hall of Herod, I'm going to

00:50:23.920 read a quick to you guys. Hi, Sarah. And I don't think we have any questions. I'm wondering if my

00:50:35.640 producer is telling me if we have questions or not. I don't think that we do. I think we're doing

00:50:44.940 okay. All right, so the Hall of Herod. Then it fell to Baal to keep the forts. He was well regarded

00:50:52.940 and ruled the Danes for a long time after his father took leave of life on earth, and then his

00:50:57.540 heir, the great Half-Dane, held sway for as long as he lived, their elder and warlord. He was four

00:51:02.900 times a father the fighter prince one by one they entered the world progar hrothgar good halga and

00:51:09.820 a daughter i have heard who was on anala's queen and a balm in the bed of the battle scarred swede

00:51:15.180 the fortunes of war favored hrothgar friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks young followers a

00:51:20.260 force that grew to be mighty army so his mind turned to hall building he handed down orders

00:51:25.340 for men to work on the great meat hall meant to be a wonder for the world forever it would be his

00:51:29.660 throne room and there he would dispense his god-given goods to young and old but not the

00:51:34.380 common land or people's lives far and wide through the world i have heard orders for work to adorn

00:51:39.320 the wall step were sent to many peoples and soon it stood there finished and ready in full view

00:51:43.520 the hall of halls herod was the name he had settled on whose utterance was law nor did he

00:51:49.440 renege but doled out rings and torts at the table the hall towered its gables wise and high awaiting

00:51:54.960 to a barber's burning.

00:51:56.960 That doom abided, but in the time it would come,

00:51:58.920 the killer instinct unleashed among in-laws

00:52:01.060 the bloodlust rampant.

00:52:02.760 Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,

00:52:05.080 nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him

00:52:06.900 to hear the din of the loud

00:52:08.940 banquet. Every day in the hall, the heart being

00:52:10.940 struck in the clear song of the

00:52:12.900 skilled poet telling the mastery of the man's beginnings,

00:52:15.540 how the Almighty had made the earth

00:52:16.960 and the gleaming plain girdled with water.

00:52:19.240 In his splendor, he set the sun and the moon

00:52:20.980 and the earth's lamp's lights, lanterns for

00:52:22.960 men, and filled the broad

00:52:24.020 lap of the world with branches and leaves and quickened life and every other thing that moved

00:52:29.460 so times were pleasant for the people there until they finally won a fiend out of hell began to work

00:52:34.320 his evil in the world grendel was the name of the grim demon haunting the marches marauding around

00:52:39.040 the health and the desolate fens he had dwelt for a time in the misery among the banished monsters

00:52:43.780 cain's clan whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcast for the killing of abel

00:52:49.320 The eternal Lord had exacted a price. Cain got no good from committing that murder because the Almighty made him a thema and out of the curse of his exile, they're spraying ogres and elves and evil phantoms and giants too, who strove with God time and again until he gave them their reward.

00:53:06.420 Okay, so now we're getting introduced to Halfdane, and then we get introduced to Hrothgar.

00:53:14.460 So what they're setting up here is all of these men, all four generations of these men were good kings.

00:53:20.980 That's what they're telling us.

00:53:22.240 In regards to building halls, in regards to handing out rings and gold and gifts of thanks and generosity.

00:53:30.900 um one of the things that we have on here that i want to point out also is again your narrator

00:53:39.480 will never lie to you and it says in here the hall towered is gables wise high and awaiting

00:53:45.720 a barbarous burning they're telling us things that happen not necessarily as part of the story

00:53:52.760 so this is a little bit confusing until you get further down the line and they'll mention it again

00:53:58.160 actually. And what they're actually talking about is there's some kind of sacred land that this

00:54:04.340 place is built on or claimed land. And it was with the Hethrobor kingship. And what they were doing

00:54:13.020 is there was a political marriage between Frau Waru and their heir, Engold. And they fight.

00:54:24.060 they burn Herod to the ground, and Hrothgar and his nephew, Hrothulf, end up beating them,

00:54:35.720 but Herod ends up getting burned. So they're telling us things that happen in the future,

00:54:41.740 but they're leading up to things, right? When we talk about Grendel, so let's talk about Grendel

00:54:48.540 for a minute. Before we do that, sorry, Sarah, I'm jumping down into another rabbit hole here.

00:54:55.660 What they're also talking about before they introduce Grendel, they talk about the setting

00:55:01.240 of order in the gifts. And they talk about that specifically about the creation of the earth,

00:55:08.300 about the moon and the stars and the lights. They talk about giving life and populating life

00:55:15.620 Um, before they introduce Grendel, they introduce order. Okay. Just as our gods took disorder and

00:55:27.960 chaos and moved it into order, they are showing us that order is good. And after that, we talk

00:55:37.660 about disorder. So we're setting up those two things, order versus disorder, order versus

00:55:43.480 chaos directly after that we start talking about grendel and sarah can you tell us where

00:55:52.120 grendel comes from what what happened and why is it bad and why does that represent grendel

00:55:59.880 with Cain and Abel.

00:56:02.440 Well, Cain killed Abel, and the biggest thing that our ancestors were horrified by and discounted

00:56:20.080 was kinslaying. So when you slay your brother, that is the biggest wrong you could create,

00:56:28.260 and that causes chaos and grendel came from chaos

00:56:33.060 yes ma'am and this is one of those very very stark biblical references here is the the battle

00:56:44.400 between cain and abel one of the worst things that you could ever do to in our culture one of

00:56:53.340 very worst things you can do is slay your own, to hurt your own, to hurt your community. Kinslaying

00:57:00.480 was one of the worst things that you could do. Keep that in mind because we're setting up for

00:57:05.840 more things. It is the worst atrocity that there is. It is so bad that from that atrocity sprang

00:57:17.100 all of the things that they consider bad, right? They specifically list like elves and giants and

00:57:25.720 ogres and evil phantoms, but they're just listing things from lore and adding their own

00:57:32.260 stuff to that. So Grendel was one of these monstrosities that happened because of the

00:57:41.820 first kinslaying as the Christians see it, right? Kinslaying is one of the worst things. You can see

00:57:48.200 it in our lore as well, right? You see that in the stories of Baldr. Baldr dying by the hand of

00:57:58.580 his brother, whether it was fooled or not, was awful. And it set off all of these things, right?

00:58:05.080 so the ultimate chaos equals the ultimate worst things possible is what basically what it's saying

00:58:15.220 you can't do anything worse than that as far as they're they're concerned so that's why when we

00:58:21.800 talk about the the awful burning of the the awful burning of um the hall itself they mention that

00:58:30.960 They mention that in here when they talk about the killer instinct unleashing among in-laws, the bloodlust rampant, right?

00:58:39.280 So again, your narrator is setting you up to go, oh my goodness, this looks, sounds bad.

00:58:45.980 And then you go down here and said, oh, it's really bad.

00:58:48.260 If you kill your kin, Grendel's going to pop out of nowhere.

00:58:51.740 So that is kind of what we got with Grendel.

00:58:54.180 He is chaos to the order.

00:58:56.360 So they're demonstrating the differences between order and chaos on that.

00:59:00.960 Alright. So from here, we have a whole lot of information about Grendel and how terrible he is. And before we get into that, I promise we're going to be getting into Beowulf here pretty quick. Because basically what's going to happen is we've got the lineage of the hull, right? These four men.

00:59:21.020 from there we are introducing this order or we're introducing what order is and we're introducing

00:59:27.540 what chaos is we're setting that up so from there we get into grendel itself um a couple things to

00:59:35.520 know about that is there is a lot of descriptions on what he was i can read that for us if you guys

00:59:44.040 like this one's a little bit lengthy and we're already at an hour but what we've got on there is

00:59:50.900 when you think of Beowulf and the way Beowulf plays in my head is like a Quentin Tarantino

00:59:59.500 movie. Um, I have a very active imagination, especially when it comes to battle scenes and

01:00:06.260 all of the stuff that's, that you're reading in here, it's very descriptive and it's,

01:00:11.460 it's a beautiful poem, even if the, what he's describing is not a beautiful thing,

01:00:15.980 but it's written very beautifully. It's trying to nail home for you what it is that is actually

01:00:24.400 going on. So we're going to go ahead and read that really quick. We're going to explain Grendel a

01:00:29.580 little bit and talk about what it means when he comes, why he comes, and why he hates these people

01:00:34.680 so bad. So after Nightfall, Grendel set out for the loft house to see how the Ring Danes were

01:00:40.580 setting into into it after their drink and there he came upon them a company of the best asleep

01:00:45.860 from their feasting insensible to pain and human sorrows suddenly then the god cursed brute was

01:00:51.100 creating havoc greedy and grim he grabbed 30 men from the resting places and rushed to his lair

01:00:56.300 flushed up and inflamed in the raid blundering back with the butchered corpses then as dawn

01:01:01.180 brightened in the late in the late day broke grendel's powers of destruction were plain

01:01:05.140 their wasa was over they wept to heaven and mourned under mourning their mighty prince the

01:01:10.240 storied leader sat stricken and helpless humiliated by the loss of his guard bewildered and stunned

01:01:15.300 staring aghast at the demon's trail in deep distress he was numb with grief but got no

01:01:20.480 respite for one night later merciless grendel struck again with more gruesome murders malignant

01:01:25.360 by nature he never showed remorse it was easy then to meet with a man shifting himself to a safer

01:01:30.120 distance in the bed in the bodies for he could blind the evidence of his eyes the obviousness

01:01:35.960 of that hall watchers hate whoever escaped kept a weather eye open and moved away so grendel

01:01:41.400 ruled in defiance of right what one against all into the greatest house in the world stood empty

01:01:46.200 a deserted wall stead for 12 winters seasons of woe the lord of the shielding suffered under his

01:01:51.300 load of sorrow and so before long the news was known over the world sad lays were sung about the

01:01:56.500 set king and the vicious raids and ravagers ravages of grendel as long an unrelenting feud

01:02:02.020 nothing but war, how he would never parlay or make peace with any day, nor stop his death

01:02:08.000 dealing, nor pay the death price. No counselor could ever expect fair reparation from those

01:02:13.280 rabid hands. All were endangered, young and old, were hunted down by the dark death shallow who

01:02:18.400 lurked and swooped in the long nights, on the misty moors. Nobody knows where these reavers

01:02:22.660 from hell roam on their errands. So Grendel waged his lonely war, inflicting constant cruelties on

01:02:27.720 the people, atrocities, atrocious

01:02:29.720 hurt. He took over Herat,

01:02:32.060 haunted the glittering hall after dark,

01:02:33.720 but the throne itself, the

01:02:35.580 treasure seat, he was kept from

01:02:37.640 approaching. He was the

01:02:39.580 lord's outcast. Those were hard times,

01:02:41.800 heartbreaking for the prince of the shieldings,

01:02:43.600 powerful counselors, the highest in the land,

01:02:45.960 who lend advice plotting how best

01:02:47.520 the bold defenders might resist the beat

01:02:49.740 of the sudden attacks. Sometimes

01:02:51.700 at pagan shrines, they vowed offering

01:02:53.760 to idols, swore oaths to the killer, but souls

01:02:55.820 might come to their aid and save the people.

01:02:57.720 That was their way. Their heathenish hope deep in their hearts, they remembered hell. The almighty

01:03:02.520 judge of the good deeds and the bad, Lord God, head of the heavens, high king of the world was

01:03:06.440 unknown to them. Oh, curse is he who is the time of trouble, has the thrust of his soul in the

01:03:10.940 fire's embrace. Forfeiting help, he has nowhere to turn, but blessed is he who has come to the death

01:03:16.160 can approach the Lord and find friendship in the Father's embrace. All right, that sounds super

01:03:20.900 Christian-y, but let me break it down for you. Just trust me here. All right, so I'm gonna ask

01:03:27.380 Sarah after reading all this

01:03:29.060 Sarah

01:03:31.420 what is it that

01:03:33.380 angers Grendel the most?

01:03:36.040 What is it that makes him

01:03:37.500 want to kill these people?

01:03:39.220 What is it that they have that he does not have?

01:03:47.180 He does not have

01:03:48.740 the

01:03:49.980 warmth of the hall

01:03:52.740 the acceptance of the people

01:03:54.860 and

01:03:55.820 he does not have the fame that the king has

01:04:01.000 yeah he doesn't have a community he doesn't have frith

01:04:07.780 the the sounds that are coming from this hall as people are celebrating together

01:04:15.480 stumbling together feasting together so i mean the sound of their happiness

01:04:20.820 enrages him. One of the things that you want to watch as well is he specifically talks about

01:04:29.520 how many people Grendel is killing. And this is going to give us an idea of the monstrosity that

01:04:35.220 is Grendel. He's picking up 30 men. He is picking up 30 men and devouring and butchering 30 men at

01:04:42.060 a time. Okay. He hears the singing. He hears the feasting. He hears the clinkling of the horns and

01:04:50.080 the glasses and the laughter and the song and the conversation. And it puts him into a rage,

01:04:57.040 an absolute rage. And from there, he's killing everyone. 30 men at a time. Now think about this.

01:05:06.120 Think about putting yourself in Hrothgar's position. You can't just leave your place

01:05:09.620 unattended. So you have 30 men that are dying. The next night, he's got to post guards. What's

01:05:15.980 going to happen to those guards? They're going to die. And again, and again, and again.

01:05:24.160 So this tells you a few things. Number one, Prothgar's got a lot of followers because we're

01:05:28.200 losing like 30 people at a time, right? The size of this monster has got to be amazing. Okay.

01:05:36.500 30 men. They have swords, they have shields, they have helmets, they have spears.

01:05:41.280 they can't touch him they can't kill him they can't get away from him there's nothing in here

01:05:49.060 that ever tells us that there was a single survivor that fought grendel there was nobody

01:05:57.240 that got away to tell him the story so when they talk about think of yourself as a leader of men

01:06:04.440 and you are knowing that these men are going to die and these men know they're going to die

01:06:09.200 and you clean up the blood of your kin every single morning.

01:06:19.880 That's awful and atrocious, but it also talks about a leader of men and how he feels sending

01:06:28.000 his men to know that they're going to die. A good king will what? A good king will be

01:06:34.220 humiliated by that loss. He cannot protect them. He will mourn and he will be devastated. And

01:06:42.920 Hrothgar is those things because Hrothgar is a good king. A lot of this also, when we talk about

01:06:55.780 the throne. So he is wreaking havoc. He is coming in and he's splattering blood and guts all over

01:07:05.200 the wall. And he's tearing men to shreds and shoving them in his man purse and carrying them

01:07:09.440 off to his lair. Yes, I said Grendel has a man purse. It's okay. He's shoving men in his man

01:07:15.080 purse and he's taken off to his lair to have a snack later. He's eating these men and butchering

01:07:20.280 them. One thing he cannot touch is the throne. Can't touch the throne. The throne is the

01:07:28.440 representation of order. Okay. He cannot fully defeat order. He's the epitome of chaos, but that

01:07:38.900 throne is the example of order in their constant battle. He can't walk up to that throne. And it

01:07:46.160 says in there that he is cursed by God. God will not let him approach that throne. Take the word

01:07:52.380 God out of that. Order will not be conquered by chaos. All of these terrible, awful things happen

01:08:01.860 to us. We go through our lives and we are defeated again and again and again. And we feel like we're

01:08:08.540 getting butchered again and again and again. And sometimes we feel like we're in Grendel's man

01:08:13.720 purse, right? But one thing always stands. And the one thing that always stands is that throne,

01:08:21.520 that golden, beautiful throne that is never blood spattered, that is never destroyed,

01:08:26.820 that Grendel cannot touch. Okay. Like I said, take the word God out of this.

01:08:33.200 There's one thing that is always stable and that is order. And there is one thing that is always,

01:08:39.840 always what

01:08:43.520 what creates that order

01:08:45.500 Sarah

01:08:47.980 what created the order

01:08:49.560 at the time of creation

01:08:53.920 yeah

01:09:05.500 the gods

01:09:07.720 you know our gods put things to order they named the stars in the heavens you know they they set

01:09:14.280 the stars on their way in the moon and and they created midgard out of the bones of ymir

01:09:18.880 they put order from chaos so one thing no matter how many times you feel like the guy in grendel's

01:09:26.780 man purse there is always a constant chaos is not going to defeat order this tells us that chaos

01:09:34.980 cannot touch order. There are some things that will never, ever wane. There are some things that

01:09:41.060 will always be steadfast and that throne will always be steadfast. He can't touch it.

01:09:46.820 Now we're jumping into a brandy rabbit hole. Sorry about that. But yes, man purse.

01:09:53.700 All right. So we've got a couple of questions that are piling up. We're going to answer those

01:09:58.420 really, really, really quick. Just want to make sure that there's nothing else that I want to

01:10:03.300 cover on that. Sarah, am I missing anything from that fit in particular that we've talked about

01:10:07.840 before? No, not to this point. Got a couple questions here. Did you enjoy the not-so-subtle

01:10:23.000 influence of Beowulf on the 13th Warrior? I thought it was a nice homage. I thought it was

01:10:27.760 a nice homage, but again, anything that's Beowulf-related movie-wise, I'm going to be like,

01:10:34.900 really? You didn't do it right. Super, super hard on that. But yes, it's a good homage.

01:10:44.340 All right. Isolation can breed a sort of hopelessness, better depression. I wonder

01:10:48.700 if Grendel could have allegorical significance associated with that lonely depression.

01:10:54.120 maybe maybe um isolating yourself will cause you insanity and destruction i will give you that

01:11:02.420 maybe when what you should do is gather to a community and you decide to be grendel and you

01:11:09.720 decide to go out on the fence and isolate yourself and not participate in joy and not participate in

01:11:15.380 celebration and not be a part of your community that mentality can take over and then you allow

01:11:22.880 yourself to be a victim of chaos versus being something that holds up that order.

01:11:30.820 Finraith said, who do you think would portray Grendel well in a movie?

01:11:36.860 I don't know. I don't know. Um, the Alshira Godhi is here. Maybe I'll ask the Alshira Godhi who he

01:11:45.280 thinks should portray Grendel in the movies. Who would be good?

01:11:52.880 I'm on the spot.

01:11:55.320 This is one of those questions that I give a lot of thought to when asked.

01:11:58.580 So I'm kind of in my head right now contemplating.

01:12:04.960 I'll let you contemplate.

01:12:06.500 What if?

01:12:08.040 All right.

01:12:11.500 Ron Perlman.

01:12:13.200 Hey, that's a good one.

01:12:16.200 I wouldn't have thought of that, but that would be excellent.

01:12:20.800 Well done, sir.

01:12:22.880 do what i can go these stam asked what is grendel how did he originate is he pure chaos um yes

01:12:31.440 so grendel is a monster originated from the original death um the cane versus abel which is

01:12:37.280 the most bad thing you could ever do killing your kin hurting your community hurting your family

01:12:43.920 is he pure chaos yes i'm gonna say yes i'm gonna ask the alshira gothi if he's going to disagree

01:12:50.080 with me on that but i'm going to when we talk about grendel's mother i will talk about the

01:12:55.680 difference between pure chaos and organized chaos but i'll share a godly what's your opinion on that

01:13:03.920 uh is that the dichotomy we're working on is pure chaos versus structured chaos

01:13:10.080 yes and

01:13:19.180 I suppose of chaotic

01:13:22.060 things

01:13:22.940 one of the

01:13:28.000 I don't know one of the themes with

01:13:31.860 Grendel is

01:13:33.100 the emotional flailing

01:13:40.060 of chaos where it shoots out in all directions and where it's driven by a degree of madness

01:13:50.080 so i do i do think that's more of an unfiltered chaos in that scene

01:13:55.080 and then we've got another question i'll share with you that i'm going to give to you

01:14:04.680 and i'll answer it as well when you say your own when we talk about killing your own

01:14:10.620 being one of the worst things you could ever do hurting your own hurting your own community

01:14:15.200 do you mean people we share frith with or people of our race in general if we kill a fellow aryan

01:14:22.000 in self-defense or war is that offensive to the gods i'll share a go the i'm gonna let you take

01:14:26.860 that one first so context with so many things context is everything we have we have circles

01:14:40.360 that kind of ripple out from us that connect us in a greater degree with proximity to ourselves

01:14:49.940 it's hard to say i know we we are very big on talking about brother wars no more brother wars

01:15:00.000 but every war in the epic stories of our folk almost invariably is a brother in that sense

01:15:07.940 that we extend it to everybody of our race at that time the world looked very different than it does

01:15:15.120 now. On the hierarchy of things, yes, killing a member of your family is pretty well understood

01:15:28.840 as always being one of the worst things that can be done. And the way that it is, at least

01:15:38.240 I think at best described in Culture of the Teutons, it's the kind of a calamity that

01:15:50.320 you can't avenge. Because if a kinsman slays a kinsman, your only source of vengeance in

01:15:59.340 writing those scales would be to continue the cycle of killing your own. So your own

01:16:07.060 Ximena is perpetually weakened in that cycle.

01:16:12.000 There's no way to make it right.

01:16:14.760 I think that extends, again, a lot of things are situational, but I think in the world

01:16:24.140 that we live in today, I think it does extend to our extended chosen family, to the Astro

01:16:32.220 Folk Assembly to our church. I think acting against other members of our church is similar

01:16:40.340 if a degree removed from acts of violence against one of your own blood kin. And the

01:16:48.720 further you go out, yeah, I think on the scale of things, someone of our race, killing other

01:16:56.820 members of our race is a deeper tragedy than if it was applied to one of us killing someone

01:17:05.760 of another race. And I think that, I think that scales in, in proportion to your, your

01:17:14.520 interconnectedness. But we see that we see that just culturally, and it's not just an Aryan

01:17:21.040 concept it's a known fact of existence and it's something that we wouldn't be so hesitant to say

01:17:29.360 and we've heard many times in the media the idea of how how terrible black on black crime is

01:17:36.080 by that same principle how terrible white on white crime is and we don't want that the biggest

01:17:42.080 lament to me about the current situation between Russia and Ukraine is, again, two tribes of our

01:17:51.960 folk are killing one another with no boon to our folk. And so I think that that principle writ large

01:18:01.860 is harder to do when you deal with the politics of nation states. But as a general rule,

01:18:09.160 yeah you don't want to inflict harm upon those that you share commonality with the closer that

01:18:17.320 commonality the more that commonality becomes bonds of frith and the consequence for shedding

01:18:23.620 that person's blood becomes much greater but the principle applies it just weakens the further out

01:18:29.220 from your direct kin group it goes thank you sir all right we're going to move on to the next one

01:18:39.780 so i will keep reading if you want me to keep reading this stuff otherwise i'm going to

01:18:45.360 summarize this one because this is where we get into the part where

01:18:48.720 the people who love Beowulf will, uh, see that Beowulf is going to be the man that other men

01:18:58.940 want to be. And we're about to see this. Um, so where we're at right now is we've already

01:19:02.980 established the genealogy of Beowulf and why they are our genealogy of Hrothgar, why they're good

01:19:08.520 kings. Um, and we've got the introduction of Grendel and him destroying everybody. So basically

01:19:14.860 what happens next. And like I said, I will read it if you want me to read it. Otherwise I'm going

01:19:18.780 to summarize this part because at this point in time is where we start getting those layers again.

01:19:23.160 We're going to start repeating ourselves because what happens is Beowulf has gotten

01:19:28.240 Beowulf has gotten word that there's something shady going on, right?

01:19:37.860 And he is going to come on his way to get it. So this is to fix this issue. So what we've got

01:19:42.860 from this point forward over the next few fits is, Hey, I'm Beowulf. Well, hi Beowulf. Who are

01:19:48.700 you? And he basically gives his rundown of his awesomeness. And then we go to the next person

01:19:52.900 and you're like, hi, I'm Beowulf. Here's why I'm awesome. And we have all of these people get man

01:19:58.200 crushes on Beowulf because I'm going to point out a couple of things in these particular fits,

01:20:04.160 which are going to be Fitz 4 and Fitz 5. Now, we talk about Hylax Thane, which is Beowulf himself,

01:20:15.460 all right? He was over in Gateland, and they specifically tell us there is nobody else like

01:20:22.320 Beowulf alive. It says that in here. There was no one else like him alive. If you look at the

01:20:29.060 hall version um what the hall version says about him is heard in his home the heroes then living

01:20:35.720 he was the strong stoutest and the strongest sturdy and noble there is nobody else like beowulf i want

01:20:41.700 you to keep that in mind because we're going to start listening to the things that beowulf has

01:20:45.200 done beowulf is before we do go ahead take just a second to uh acknowledge five coffees

01:20:57.140 that were purchased for us by ronald blake ron we appreciate your donations as always thank you

01:21:04.280 very much carry on okay so it looks like the requests that i've gotten in the private chat

01:21:14.600 are overwhelmingly read so i'm gonna read all right while i'm reading so you guys don't just

01:21:22.380 have to watch me watch my face if the alshira go they would like to walk around and show us the

01:21:27.720 amazing venue while i'm reading that might give them something to look at while i'm reading this

01:21:32.240 fit i'll show you guys the hall but it's pitch black out so i don't think that's going to

01:21:37.580 translate today all righty so i'm going to go ahead and i'm going to read but i'm going to

01:21:43.520 read two fits i'm going to read fit four and fit five all right so that trouble time continued

01:21:50.520 woe that never stops, steady affliction for Half-Dane's son, too hard an odile. There was

01:21:55.480 panic after dark. People endured raids in the night, riven by terror. When he heard about Grendel,

01:22:00.880 Hilux Thane was on his home ground over in Geatland. There was no one else like him alive.

01:22:05.600 In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, high, born, and powerful. He ordered a boat that

01:22:10.140 would ply the waves. He announced his plan to sail the Swan's Road and search out the king,

01:22:15.500 the famous prince who needed defenders nobody tried to keep him from going no elder denied him

01:22:21.060 dear as he was to them instead they inspected omens and spurred his ambitions to go whilst he

01:22:27.280 moved about like the leader he was enlisting men the best he could find with 14 others the warrior

01:22:32.620 boarded the boat as captain a canny pilot among the coasts and currents time went by the boat

01:22:37.660 was on the water in the close in close under the cliffs men climbed eagerly up the gangplank sand

01:22:44.120 churned in the surf. Warriors unloaded a cargo

01:22:46.060 of weapons, shining more gear in the vessel's hold.

01:22:48.760 Then heaved out, away with

01:22:50.040 the will in the wood

01:22:51.980 wreath ship.

01:22:54.800 Over the waves of the wind blew

01:22:56.140 her in foam at her neck. She flew like

01:22:58.080 a bird until her curved prow had covered

01:22:59.940 the distance on the following day. At the

01:23:02.040 due hour, those seafarers sighted

01:23:04.020 land, sunlit cliffs, sheer

01:23:06.140 crags, looming heatlands, and

01:23:08.020 landfall they sought. It was the

01:23:10.080 end of their voyage, and the geese vaulted over the

01:23:12.040 side, out on the sand, and moored

01:23:13.980 up their ship. There was a clash of mail and a thresh of gear. They thanked God for that easy

01:23:18.360 crossing on the calm sea. When the watchman on the hall, on the wall, the shielding's lookout,

01:23:23.620 whose job it was to guard the sea cliff, saw shields glittering on the gangplank and battle

01:23:27.900 equipment being uploaded, he had to find out who and what the arrivals were. So he rode to the

01:23:32.440 shore, the horsemen of Hrothgars, and challenged them in formal terms, flourishing his spirit.

01:23:37.520 What kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in coats of mail, sailing here over

01:23:42.020 the sea lanes, and your steep hold boat. I have been stationed as lookout on this coast for a

01:23:46.480 long time. My job is to watch the waves for raiders, any danger to the Danish shore. Never

01:23:51.680 before was a force under arms disembarked so openly, not bothering to ask if the sentries

01:23:57.040 allowed them safe patches, passage, or the clan had consented. Nor have I seen a mightier man at

01:24:02.660 arms on this earth than the one standing here, unless I am mistaken. He is truly noble.

01:24:08.360 This is no mere hangar-on in hero's armor.

01:24:11.360 So now before you fare inland as interlopers,

01:24:14.140 I have to be informed about who you are and where you hail from.

01:24:17.020 Outsiders from across the water, I say it again.

01:24:19.680 The sooner you tell where you come from and why, the better.

01:24:23.760 The leader of the troop unlocked his word horde.

01:24:26.220 The distinguished one delivered this answer.

01:24:28.140 We belong by birth to the geek people, and I owe allegiance to Lord Hygdonk.

01:24:33.700 In his day, my father was a famous man, a noble warrior,

01:24:36.260 lord named Ekthal. He outlasted many a long winter and went on his way. All over the world

01:24:42.480 wise men in council continue to remember him. We come in good faith to find your lord and nation's

01:24:47.520 shield, the son of Halfdane. Give us the right advice and direction. We have arrived here on a

01:24:51.480 great errand to the lord of the Danes, and I believe therefore there should be nothing hidden

01:24:54.980 or withheld between us. So tell us if what we have heard is true about this threat, whatever it is,

01:25:01.000 this danger abroad in the dark nights, this course maker a mongering death in the shielding's

01:25:04.900 country. I come to proffer my wholehearted help and counsel. I can show the wise Hrothgar the way

01:25:10.420 to defeat his enemy and find respite, if any respite is to reach him ever. I can calm the

01:25:15.960 turmoil and terror in his mind, otherwise he must endure woes and live in grief for as long as his

01:25:20.380 tall stands at the horizon on its high ground. Undaunted, sitting astride his horse, the Coast

01:25:26.140 Guard answered, anyone with gumption and sharp mind will take the measure of two things, what's

01:25:30.820 said and what's done i believe what you have told me that you are a troop loyal to our king so come

01:25:35.940 ahead with your arms and your gear and i will guide you what's more i'll order my own comrades

01:25:40.800 on their word of honor to watch your boat down there on the strand keep you safe in her fresh

01:25:44.840 air until time comes for her curve prowl to prove wings preen on the waves and bear this hero back

01:25:50.580 to geatland they want so valiant and venturesome come unharmed through the clash of battle so they

01:25:55.560 went their way, their ship rode water, brought being bound by its hawser and anchored fast.

01:26:01.660 Four ships flashed above the cheat guards and brightly forged, work of goldsmiths watching

01:26:05.720 over those stern-faced men. They marched in steps, hurrying on, so the timbered wall rose before

01:26:10.040 them, radiant with gold. Nobody on earth knew of another building like it. Majesty lodged there,

01:26:14.620 its light shape over many lands. So their gallant escort guided them into the dazzling stronghold

01:26:20.620 and indicated the shortest way to it, and the noble warrior wheeled on its horse and spoke these

01:26:24.520 words. It is time for me to go. May the Almighty Father keep you in his kindness, whatever your

01:26:30.380 exploits. I'm away to the sea, back on alert against any raiders. All right, so this is where

01:26:36.200 it gets a little bit entertaining. Beowulf hears about this monster, and as we see, Beowulf tends

01:26:42.580 to like monsters. Beowulf likes to fight monsters. Beowulf likes to prove how big and strong he is

01:26:47.680 and how noble he is, and he likes to kill things. So he hears of this outstanding monster over here

01:26:53.740 bothering Hrothgar and all of his people. And he's like, awesome, a monster. I know just what

01:26:59.600 to do. I'm going to go kill it. He's got a bad habit of jumping into things and kill. And

01:27:04.940 fortunately he comes out on top, but he's just like, it's a monster. I got it. It's fine.

01:27:10.060 So he hears about this. He gets a boat and he runs over there. And it says in here,

01:27:16.700 specifically, it says when people heard that he was going to go, no one tried to stop him.

01:27:24.040 Not his family, not his king, not the old, not the young, not even the people who didn't like

01:27:30.960 him very much. Instead, they started doing things to bless his journey and give him foresight.

01:27:38.780 Not a single person tried to stop him. There's something to be said about that.

01:27:46.700 If you say you're going to go do something, number one, there is a very good possibility

01:27:50.280 he's the only one that can do this, which according to what our narrator tells us, who

01:27:56.120 again never lies to us, there is nobody else like Beowulf.

01:27:59.360 Keep that in mind because that's coming up later.

01:28:01.320 There's nobody else better than Beowulf.

01:28:03.260 He is the biggest.

01:28:03.960 He is the strongest, right?

01:28:04.980 Like the Princess Bride and the Great Big Giant, I am the biggest and the strongest.

01:28:08.140 Beowulf actually is.

01:28:10.740 Nobody tried to talk him out of it.

01:28:12.980 they encouraged him along the way and they did things before he went

01:28:17.740 to try to help him out try to give him some insight

01:28:22.520 there's something to be said about that when they're just like i'm gonna go fight this giant

01:28:28.860 and they're like awesome beowulf you go we know you're gonna come back we know you are

01:28:33.380 and beowulf rolls up with 14 other men in this ship that he got

01:28:40.000 they have all heard about grendel this is a popular story because if they're hearing it

01:28:46.960 you know the stories from the merchants and all these things they're being told

01:28:49.920 these 14 men that are going with beowulf 110 know what they're getting into it's not a mystery

01:28:57.380 and he finds the best of his men these men are knowingly going to fight a monster that kills

01:29:05.240 30 men a night, barehanded, throws him in his man purse and takes off to his letter to eat them.

01:29:10.440 They are knowingly following Beowulf to possible death, not knowing if they're going to survive.

01:29:17.740 Beowulf's probably going to survive because he's the biggest and strongest, but they might not,

01:29:21.900 and they follow him anyway. Why? Because of his nobility, because of his goodness,

01:29:28.980 and because he is a statue of order. They follow him because he is good. They follow him because

01:29:34.820 he is noble. They follow him because he is victorious time and time and time again.

01:29:41.520 So keep that in mind. These men that are getting in this boat, most of them think they're probably

01:29:46.420 going to die, but they're going to go down in flames or they're going to succeed with Beowulf.

01:29:51.120 Right? One or the other. I'll show you a little bit. Anything to add about that at all?

01:29:55.840 Yeah, absolutely.

01:29:56.640 So, certainly everything you said, but also, everyone can't be the hero, but you gain fame and Ximena, and your luck is enhanced when you tie yourself to the hero.

01:30:22.700 You want to back the winner.

01:30:24.400 That's one of the subtle things that we do during Sumble. We share boasts and oaths to do things so that all of us who participate in that Sumble get benefit if you follow through on your oath.

01:30:40.900 It's the same reason that we assign somebody to shut you down if your oath isn't approved or if we don't want to stand with it.

01:30:48.960 Because if we affirm it and in some way help it along, then we get a little bit of benefit from it.

01:30:57.060 If we affirm it and help it along and you don't succeed, then we bear some of the costs.

01:31:04.080 it's the same thing with

01:31:06.780 and I

01:31:07.720 think this is worth a lot of people

01:31:10.520 considering

01:31:11.100 there is tremendous glory

01:31:16.800 in

01:31:17.940 serving with

01:31:20.540 and serving a great

01:31:22.640 man and a great hero

01:31:24.080 everyone is not going to be

01:31:26.480 the biggest and the strongest and the hero

01:31:28.380 of the story but you following

01:31:30.620 your lord into battle

01:31:31.940 even if

01:31:33.080 You know, even if the outcome is uncertain and the odds are greatly against you, you stand to profit greatly by being in his company when he does great deeds.

01:31:45.700 Standing, being counted on the right side of things is more important than momentary victories and is certainly more important than survival.

01:31:59.140 you gain glory. So much of the theme

01:32:03.100 that we've seen so far and we'll continue to see is

01:32:07.220 building fame and building reputation.

01:32:11.660 Earlier I caught a brief bit of it while I was eating some of my

01:32:15.260 dinner, but

01:32:15.880 thought escaped me. Hold on. It'll be there.

01:32:26.980 It was, it was good to, it was something I wanted to bring up at the time.

01:32:34.340 Oh yeah.

01:32:35.120 So they ask, you know, knowing where you came from being important, your pedigree being

01:32:40.860 important.

01:32:43.260 Yes, it is important for your blood lineage and for telling about who you are, but also

01:32:49.140 the reason that's important is that lineage, that family, that tribe, that nation has a

01:32:56.620 reputation that you're tying into by, you know, Hey, I don't know you, but I know your people

01:33:02.220 and they're all solid. So you're likely to be solid as well. You know, Oh wow. You stood with

01:33:09.240 Beowulf against Grendel. Cool. You know, right this way, you build fame for yourself and building

01:33:16.320 fame and having some people speak of your deeds and the people you, you stood with when they

01:33:22.560 accomplish great deeds was always something to be celebrated and is so today yes sir we also see

01:33:32.240 the respect of a man by another man okay so we always have this saying well i shouldn't say we

01:33:42.460 some of us ladies have this saying that we always watch how men react to other men

01:33:49.420 they are either going to be threatened by that man or they are going to respect that man.

01:33:56.540 There's never an in-between. He is either your lesser or your superior.

01:34:02.860 Men don't see each other as equals, so not always. But we kind of watch how men treat other men

01:34:08.400 as women. If there is a man that has the respect of every other man in the room,

01:34:15.080 that man is the leader even if it's not by title we watch that we also watch when there is someone

01:34:24.780 who deserves that respect and that we see specific things that we want to to honor as well we can

01:34:32.540 actually bring that honor to that man women can determine that worth and the other men will

01:34:38.340 sometimes go wait a minute why is he getting all the attention so the respect of men to men is is

01:34:44.800 displayed here because Beowulf jumps out of this damn boat. He doesn't write first. He doesn't

01:34:50.560 call first. He doesn't send smoke signals first. He just shows up in a foreign country with 15 guys

01:34:56.320 in a big, beautiful boat, armed to the teeth, and he just jumps out like he owns the place,

01:35:01.080 right? There is an air of superiority and nobility there. I don't mean any harm,

01:35:07.900 but look at me. I'm like asserting my dominance over this entire situation right here. I'm not

01:35:13.940 asking for permission. I'm here to kill monsters, right? Just jumps out. He doesn't even send a

01:35:20.320 message ahead. You know, this poor person sitting on the wall is like wielding his spear at him

01:35:25.900 going, who are you and why are you here? I've never seen anybody that's ever dared to just

01:35:30.380 jump onto the shore fully armed to the teeth like you own the place. And he's like, oh,

01:35:35.720 it's no big deal. I'm just Beowulf. I'm here to kill a monster for you. And the guy's like, oh,

01:35:39.980 okay well in that case there's more to it than that but the guy instantly instantly when he sees

01:35:46.080 him makes the comment of this is not just some hanger-on in hero's armor this is a noble man

01:35:54.260 i can tell looking at him that he is strong and noble powerful and strong and he can also tell

01:36:01.480 that by the men who are following him you can tell who's in charge and the men are following behind

01:36:07.120 so it's an instant recognition of authority um but yeah he just rolls up like he owns the place

01:36:13.520 i'll show you go the do you have anything to add about a man's respect for men and

01:36:18.600 authority and following the leader um i do i just want to first i want to reiterate the point that

01:36:27.380 you made, because one of, I don't know, Beowulf is very important to me as a piece of our lore, and

01:36:37.900 unfortunately, it seems to have lost some prominence in this generation of folks. Back

01:36:46.780 when I first got involved in Auschwitz-Required Reading, one of the most important things about

01:36:53.880 it is it displays social values of our ancestors and the social dynamics that

01:37:04.440 also true fosters or responds to and those things are timeless the

01:37:10.800 circumstance might be different but the principles remain and that's shown

01:37:19.260 throughout your point that women by how they react to men in the group affect the way other men

01:37:26.440 see things because they notice the deference shown they notice those things in the same way

01:37:33.040 that you mentioned about men men notice those things as well and we absolutely every single

01:37:38.260 one of us sizes each other up at first sight and it's instinctual when we don't it's i wonder how

01:37:49.000 women perceive that when we say it because i think it may mean different things to them than it does

01:37:55.320 to us yes if you perceive that you could possibly be that person's rival in some way you size them

01:38:04.820 up in a martial way like hey can i take this guy with this guy kick my butt but you do the same

01:38:11.140 thing with with old men you know see how he carries himself see if he has the look of somebody

01:38:18.920 that's seen some stuff that's worthy of listening to or see if he's foolish you see those things you

01:38:26.880 size all of those things up you size up if they've got a limp or if you know wow okay that guy's

01:38:34.140 limping. Why is he limping? You know, has he seen some stuff? Does, is that leg his? How does this

01:38:41.700 work? You, you always wonder those things. And something that's, I think that's some, one of the

01:38:52.160 things, uh, two, okay, two things. Sorry, guys, I'm at this camp and I'm a little bit distracted,

01:38:57.780 But two things. One of the ways that people recognize immediately that Beowulf is a dignified guest. Yeah, he's the biggest and the strongest, and he's acting boldly. But heroes of old would always display their best war here, or display their best whatever, depending upon the circumstance.

01:39:25.140 But when he hopped out of that boat, he probably hopped out of that boat wearing as much of his treasure as he could put on himself to look his very best and to make an impression.

01:39:36.320 Trying to look your best and make good first impressions was central to the world of our ancestors, is central to the concept of Ausatru, and is central to our interaction, whether we want to admit it or not.

01:39:51.540 So looking the part is really important.

01:39:56.380 And the other thing is being of noble bearing.

01:40:01.900 There's something about, and we all pick up on this in different ways,

01:40:06.200 but when sizing people up, does this person stand tall?

01:40:10.120 Is their head held high?

01:40:11.220 Are their shoulders out?

01:40:12.140 Is their chest out?

01:40:13.700 Are they, you know, they have a swagger to their walk?

01:40:16.460 How are they, how do they carry themselves?

01:40:18.540 So we see a lot in the lore talks about, you know, a prince's son does this, a prince's son does that.

01:40:26.700 The idea that a noble, a warrior, a prince among men displays certain things,

01:40:34.320 and those things were almost always equated to some sort of a martial element to them.

01:40:41.160 But, yeah, those things are really important, and we all do those things whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

01:40:48.540 One of my favorite quotes from this particular text, I have a few, but one of my favorite that

01:40:59.420 we have is, I'm going to kind of read it in the one that we already have, is anyone with gumption

01:41:04.820 and sharp mind will take measure of two things, what's said and what's done. And Hall says that

01:41:10.380 as the difference surely twix words and works, the warlight shield bearer who judges wisely

01:41:17.700 well shall determine. So a person with brains will determine the truth of two things, what is

01:41:24.020 done and what is said. And he basically says, I believe you and I have a feeling you're about to

01:41:28.700 show me. So that's really wise words that I believe. Anyone with gumption and sharp mind

01:41:34.860 will take measure of two things, what's said and what's done, because you can say anything that

01:41:38.740 you want to do. And he says, I believe you, but he has to wait to be shown this now, right?

01:41:43.940 So Beowulf's also going to have to step up to this boast, and he's going to have to step up to the deed.

01:41:49.160 Words are nothing sometimes.

01:41:50.940 Words can be an inhalation of breath and an exhalation of sound, and then from there it is nothing.

01:41:56.820 That is why we take oaths so seriously.

01:41:59.340 If you make that oath, do it with intent.

01:42:02.080 Don't just say it.

01:42:03.640 The words are important.

01:42:05.080 So make sure that you make them count, and make sure you follow up with action and deeds, not just words.

01:42:10.980 Because you have to measure both things, not just one.

01:42:14.100 Anything to add on that, sir?

01:42:22.040 No, just a thought to the reaction back when you mentioned that no one tried to talk him out of it.

01:42:29.800 Everyone immediately jumped in line of, okay, cool, let's back this guy,

01:42:34.080 because he's chosen to take it upon himself to bear the burden of those words.

01:42:37.820 and in a properly functioning society that means everything when we're sitting around

01:42:45.860 joking or whatever you can carry on in one way but once somebody steps up and says all right

01:42:51.080 i'm that guy i'm gonna do it let's go that person has put himself on the spot and you know you can

01:42:58.760 either get on the team or you can stand on the sidelines and wish you'd gotten on the team

01:43:03.800 because there was no question

01:43:07.180 this person was going to follow through on their words

01:43:11.840 or die trying. Anything else would make them

01:43:15.320 just as the reputation of the hero precedes one

01:43:19.880 the reputation of the coward precedes one as well.

01:43:23.780 Definitely.

01:43:26.460 All right. We're not getting any questions

01:43:29.560 so I'm going to keep going guys. We're going to go on

01:43:32.100 fit six. Yeah, we're going to do just fit six real quick. Because there's just a couple things

01:43:39.560 that I want to point out on this one. Again, we're building layers. So you are going to see

01:43:43.260 the narrator. The narrator is going to repeat a few things. Like I said, he's going to meet

01:43:48.900 somebody. He's going to like, hey, I'm Beowulf. Beowulf, I'm awesome. Next person. Hey, I'm Beowulf.

01:43:53.600 I'm awesome. Next person. Hey, I'm Beowulf. I'm awesome. That's kind of the process that we're

01:43:57.620 going, but you're going to notice a couple themes in this here when I say about men addressing men.

01:44:04.600 It was a paved track, a path that kept them in marching order. Their male shirts glinted hard

01:44:09.080 and hand-linked. The high-gloss iron of their armor rang, so they duly arrived in their grim

01:44:14.800 war-gave in gear at the hall, and where from the sea stacked white shields of the toughest hardwood

01:44:20.260 against the wall, then collapsed on the benches, battle dress, and weapons clashed. They collected

01:44:24.480 their spears in the seafarer's stock and the stand of grayish tapered ash, and the troop

01:44:28.840 themselves were as good as their weapons. Then a proud warrior questioned the men concerning

01:44:33.460 their origins. Where do you come from carrying those decorated shields and shirts of mail,

01:44:38.440 these cheek-hinged helmets and javelins? I am Hrothgar's herald and officer. I have never

01:44:43.660 seen so impressive or large an assembly of strangers. Stoutness of heart, bravery, not

01:44:48.740 banishment must have brought you to Hrothgar. The men whose name was known for courage, the gate

01:44:55.140 leader, resolute in his helmet, answered in return, we are retainers from Heiglik's band,

01:45:01.220 Beowulf is my name. If your lord and master, the most renowned son of Hafdain, will hear me out

01:45:06.260 and graciously allow me to greet him in person, I am ready and willing to report my errand.

01:45:14.660 Wolfgar replied, a Wendell chief renowned as a warrior, well known for his wisdom and temper of his mind.

01:45:21.260 I will take this message in accordance with your wish to our noble king, our dear lord, friend of the Danes, the giver brings.

01:45:27.240 I will go and ask him about your coming here, then hurry back with whatever reply it pleases him to give.

01:45:32.660 With that, he turned to where Hrothgar sat in an old man among retainers.

01:45:36.380 The valiant follower stood four square in front of his king.

01:45:39.300 He knew the courtesies.

01:45:40.760 Wolfgar addressed his dear lord.

01:45:42.680 People from Geatland have put ashore.

01:45:44.600 They have sailed far over the wide sea,

01:45:46.280 and they call the chief in charge of their band by the name of Beowulf.

01:45:49.340 They beg, my lord, an audience with you,

01:45:51.040 exchange of words, a formal greeting.

01:45:53.000 Most gracious Hrothgar do not refuse them,

01:45:55.560 but grant them a reply.

01:45:57.040 From their arms and appointment,

01:45:58.260 they appear well-born and worthy of respect,

01:46:02.000 especially the one who has led them this far.

01:46:04.320 He is formidable indeed.

01:46:06.420 So we've got Beowulf making an impression,

01:46:08.900 not just on the century that's sitting on the wall that's just out there doing his job,

01:46:15.860 an everyday man, okay? He is impressing an everyday man. He is now impressing a man of

01:46:24.220 leadership, okay? So we are working our way up to the top here. Just by talking to him and just by

01:46:33.900 the way he held himself with the things that he had on his back, with his shields, with his spheres,

01:46:38.900 With the quality of men that he had with him, he is formidable indeed.

01:46:45.460 This middle man between Beowulf and the king is telling him, you know, Hrothgar, don't refuse him.

01:46:52.380 Like, there's something about this guy. I feel it in my bones.

01:46:55.600 I think this is the one that's going to rip the man purse off of Grendel's shoulders and save us.

01:47:01.360 he's now not he's now impressing has impressed a normal human being man an everyday man

01:47:08.960 now he is impressing a noble man it is harder to impress people the further up the line of

01:47:18.460 their authority not saying that you don't deserve that or that the authority itself has any bearing

01:47:23.080 to it it's the quality of person in that authority that quality in theory should rise at each step

01:47:30.080 so he's impressing the next level

01:47:32.780 so that again tells you

01:47:34.460 the quality of the nobility

01:47:36.800 and goodness and strength of Beowulf

01:47:38.240 and how he holds himself and his men

01:47:39.700 alright and I also want you

01:47:42.660 to remember the name Wolfgar

01:47:44.060 this is going to come up later and it's going to be very very important

01:47:46.760 so remember that name Wolfgar

01:47:48.840 sir do you have anything to add on this particular fit

01:47:53.040 nope

01:47:58.520 Nope.

01:48:00.800 All right.

01:48:02.900 All right, I'm going to do one more, and then we will check in from there.

01:48:08.000 So now we're sitting at the king.

01:48:09.640 So Beowulf has arrived.

01:48:11.640 He has been given authorization to move forward.

01:48:15.460 He gets pointed to the hall.

01:48:17.360 He gets to the hall, and the advisor to the king goes,

01:48:21.100 Whoa, who are you? What are you here for?

01:48:23.600 I'm Beowulf. I'm awesome. Here's why.

01:48:25.840 I'm going to kill your monster.

01:48:26.780 all right you look legit gonna take you to the king he comes back and says all right we get to

01:48:33.060 talk to the king so this is what we do from there hrothgar protector of the shieldings replied i

01:48:38.200 used to know him when he was a young boy his father before him was called ekthau breath of

01:48:44.780 breath of the geek gave ekthau his daughter in marriage this man is their son here to follow up

01:48:49.560 an old friendship a crew of seamen who sailed for me once with a gift cargo across the geatland

01:48:54.980 and returned with marvelous tales about him.

01:48:57.420 A fame, they declared, with the strength of

01:48:58.980 thirty in the group of each hand.

01:49:00.900 Now holy God has in his goodness guided him

01:49:02.880 here to the West Danes to defend us from Grendel.

01:49:05.260 This is my hope, and for his heroism

01:49:07.180 I will recompense him with

01:49:09.000 rich treasure. Go immediately,

01:49:11.000 bid him in the geats he has in attendance

01:49:13.000 to assemble and enter. Say moreover

01:49:15.020 when you speak to him that they are welcome to Denmark.

01:49:17.740 At the door of the hall,

01:49:19.160 Wolfgard duly delivers this message.

01:49:20.760 My lord, the conquering king of the Danes, bids me to

01:49:23.020 announce that he knows your ancestry, also that he welcomes you here to Herod and salutes your

01:49:28.120 arrival from across the sea. You are free now to move forward to meet Hrothgar in helmets of armor,

01:49:33.140 but shields must stay here. Spears must be stacked until the outcome of the audience is clear.

01:49:38.040 The hero arose, surrounded closely by his powerful thanes. A party remained under orders to keep

01:49:43.220 watch on arms, and the rest proceeded, led by their prince under Herod's roof, and standing on

01:49:48.080 the hearth and its web links that the smith had woven. The fine forge of meth in his gleaming

01:49:53.800 male shirt was a lute in his helmet, Beowulf spoke. Greetings to Hrothgar, I am Heiglet's

01:49:58.280 kinsman, one of his hall troop. When I was younger, I had great triumphs. The news of

01:50:02.480 Grendel hard to ignore reached me at home. Sailors brought stories of plight you suffer

01:50:06.480 in this legendary hall. Now it lies deserted, empty, and useless once the evening light

01:50:11.260 hides itself under heaven's dome. So every elder and experienced councilman among my

01:50:15.680 people supported my resolve to come here to you, King Hrothgar, because all knew of my awesome

01:50:20.940 strength. They had seen me bolstered in the blood of enemies when I battled and bound five beasts,

01:50:25.460 raided a troll nest in the night sea slaughtered sea brutes. I have suffered extremes and avenged

01:50:30.000 the geese. Their enemies brought upon themselves. I devastated them. Now I mean to be a match for

01:50:34.580 Grendel. Settle the outcome in single combat. And so my request, O King of Bright Danes, dear Prince

01:50:40.040 of the Shieldians, friend of the people in the ring of defense, my one request is that you won't

01:50:45.400 refuse me, who have come this far

01:50:47.440 the privilege of purifying Herod

01:50:49.160 with my own men to help me and nobody else

01:50:51.500 I have heard moreover that the monster

01:50:53.520 scorns in his reckless way to use

01:50:55.540 weapons therefore, to heighten

01:50:57.420 heightless fame and gladden his heart I hereby

01:50:59.500 renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield

01:51:01.620 the heavy war board

01:51:03.740 hand to hand is

01:51:05.520 how it will be, a life and death fight

01:51:07.660 with the fiend

01:51:08.960 whichever one fails must deem it

01:51:11.520 a just judgment by God

01:51:13.640 If Grendel wins, it will be a gruesome day.

01:51:16.040 He will glut himself on the geats in the war hall,

01:51:18.000 swoop without fear on the flower of manhood

01:51:20.300 and on others before.

01:51:22.140 Then my face won't be there to be covered in death.

01:51:24.280 He will carry me away as he goes to the ground,

01:51:26.700 gorged and bloodied.

01:51:27.720 He will run gloating with my raw corpse

01:51:29.840 and feed on it alone in cruel frenzy,

01:51:35.000 fouling his more nest.

01:51:37.680 No need then to lament for long or lay out my body.

01:51:40.300 If the battle takes me,

01:51:41.320 send me back to this breast webbing

01:51:43.400 in the way Lin fashioned and Hatho gave to me, to Lord Heidlec. Fate goes ever as fate must.

01:51:50.840 Okay, a couple things on this one because it's super exciting. So he goes over to Rathgar and

01:51:57.680 he says, hey, I know this guy named Beowulf. He's like, Beowulf? I know Beowulf. I know Beowulf's dad.

01:52:02.260 I know Beowulf from when he was little. I've heard all about Beowulf. I know the things.

01:52:08.500 his reputation precedes him. The reputation of his father precedes him. The reputation of his

01:52:16.640 king, also his uncle, precedes him. There is already a relationship here. I think we lost

01:52:23.020 the Al-Shiragodi. There is already a relationship between Hrothgar and Beowulf. He even says in here

01:52:30.220 he's here to repay a debt. He is here to help for a reason. Okay. All right. So another thing I want

01:52:37.900 to put in there is, now I need to be a match for Grendel. Settle the outcome in single combat. He's

01:52:43.380 going to do this by himself with his own men. He does not want anybody else but his trusted men

01:52:49.500 to help him here, okay? So he's also heard, he's also heard, moreover, that Grendel doesn't use

01:52:58.800 weapons. Grendel is hand-to-hand combat. He doesn't use a sword. He doesn't have any armor.

01:53:07.900 Beowulf just scoops up 30 people throws in his man purse runs way um bloodies the hall so he's

01:53:14.180 like you know what if Grendel's not going to use a sword that I am going to bring even brighter

01:53:18.180 fame to this situation to myself to Hrothgar to my kin to your hall I'm going to go toe to toe

01:53:25.020 with Grendel no sword no shield no nothing just me and Grendel man to man right man to monster

01:53:30.300 and he makes this he makes this boast and he makes this this oath that this is what he's going to do

01:53:36.920 and he says fate goes ever as fate must or as Leslie Hall puts in there goes weird as she must

01:53:44.700 go so this is very much the concept of fate if it is my day to die it is my day to die

01:53:52.680 if the ancestors are calling me home today then the ancestors are going to call me home today

01:53:57.580 it's mere grendel whichever one it's meant to be it's meant to be I am not going to fear

01:54:02.500 what's going to happen because fate is what fate is. I will not fear actions and I will not fear

01:54:12.320 pain and suffering because if it is my day to go, it's my day to go. And that is a concept of fate

01:54:17.620 that has carried our ancestors through and still affects us today. If it's our day to go,

01:54:24.080 it's our day to go. We will live without fear up until that day. I'll share your goal. Anything to

01:54:28.200 add on that? Not really, other than restating the obvious that courage is

01:54:46.680 fundamental to nobility and to work. His courage makes him worthy.

01:54:54.600 courage

01:54:57.740 courage equals

01:54:59.820 worth

01:55:00.400 yes

01:55:03.820 all right

01:55:07.780 so now we're going to need to go

01:55:10.140 into the next fit this is going to be fit number eight

01:55:11.980 this is going to be when we hear

01:55:13.780 Hrothgar's story

01:55:16.020 about how he knows Beowulf

01:55:18.280 and exactly what's going on with Grendel

01:55:20.120 Hrothgar the Helmet of the

01:55:22.180 Shielding spoke Beowulf my friend you have

01:55:23.980 traveled here to favor us with help to fight for us there was a feud one time began by your father

01:55:29.360 with his own hands he had killed half love was a wolfing so war was looming and his people in fear

01:55:35.380 of it forced him to leave he came away then over rolling waves to the south things here the sun

01:55:40.200 the sons of honor i was then in the first flush of king kingship establishing my sway over all

01:55:47.400 the rich strongholds of this heroic land heredar my older brother and the better man also a son of

01:55:53.160 half dain had died finally i had i healed the feud by pain by pain i shipped treasure trove to the

01:56:00.060 wolf beans and that thou acknowledge me with an oath of allegiance it bothers me to have to burden

01:56:05.040 anyone with all the grief that grendel has caused the and the havoc that he has wrecked upon herod

01:56:10.260 are humiliations my household guard are on the wane fate sweeps them away into grendel's clutches

01:56:16.020 but god can easily halt these raids and harrowing attacks time and again when the goblets passed and

01:56:20.720 season fighters got flushed with fear they would pledge themselves to protect herod and wait for

01:56:24.940 grendel with wedded words but when the dawn broke in the day crept over the each party blood's

01:56:29.340 battered benches the floor at the meat hall where they had feasted would be slick with slaughter

01:56:34.020 and so they died faithful retainers and my following dwindled now take your place at the

01:56:38.520 table relish the triumph of heroes to your heart's content then the bench was cleared in the banquet

01:56:43.380 hall so the geese could have room to be together and and the party sat proud in their bearings

01:56:47.800 strongest all word and attendance to buy with decorated pitcher pouring bright helpings of

01:56:52.200 need in the minstrel saying filling her out with his head clearing voice gladdening the great rally

01:56:56.880 of the geats and the danes all right so hrothgar already knows of beowulf he even said that i know

01:57:04.300 beowulf i know him since he was like this tall right because i know his dad bailed his dad out

01:57:09.340 in a bad spot you know his dad ended up killing somebody which was one of the wolfians and then

01:57:14.460 his people kind of kicked him out and said, man, you got us in way over our head, and this is on

01:57:18.980 you. He went over there to Hrothgar, and Hrothgar took him in. Not only did Hrothgar take him in,

01:57:25.380 Hrothgar paid the wereyield. He sent treasures over to the wolfings, and in return, Ekthau owes

01:57:31.320 him allegiance, right? His son Beowulf showing up in the greatest time of need is a partial

01:57:42.000 repayment for that. That oath of allegiance is following over to Beowulf. Beowulf is gifting

01:57:49.300 that in return. So again, gift cycle, allegiance, loyalty, gift for a gift, and the building of

01:57:57.180 Frith. I'll share a go, anything to say about that? Yes. No, honestly, you're covering it super

01:58:10.720 Well, Beowulf, like I said, is really important to me.

01:58:14.800 I'm not glossing over it, but you're hitting all the points that need to be hit.

01:58:21.220 The idea of the endurance of loyalty for generations is just worth thinking on when folks have a moment.

01:58:35.000 I know that in 2023, loyalty is fleeting, and so much in our lives seems disposable.

01:58:50.980 The generational loyalty of, hey, you helped my dad back in the day, cool, I've got you now.

01:58:58.740 I don't think a lot of people

01:59:03.060 I don't think we see that

01:59:06.960 exhibited today nearly as often as we should

01:59:09.960 and it's something we should certainly see more

01:59:12.040 I agree

01:59:16.880 all right

01:59:19.300 these next fits are going to be long

01:59:22.460 but I'm going to read them together because it's important

01:59:25.660 we're going to be talking about Unfirth

01:59:27.500 and we're going to be talking about Brecca.

01:59:29.660 And I would like to read them together because it flows better.

01:59:32.680 It makes a little bit more sense when we go back and talk about it.

01:59:35.920 So I'm going to go ahead and read Fitz 9 and 10.

01:59:39.160 I'll try to make this quick,

01:59:40.520 but it's important to get the whole context of it

01:59:42.480 before we start breaking it down.

01:59:45.200 If at any point in time you guys want me to summarize,

01:59:47.420 I'll summarize Elshira Godi if we start getting tired or something.

01:59:52.740 All right.

01:59:55.260 From where he crouched at the king's feet,

01:59:57.140 unfurred, the son of Eklav spoke. Contrary words, Beowulf's coming. His sea braving made him sick

02:00:02.120 with envy. He could not brook or abide the fact that anyone else alive under heaven might enjoy

02:00:07.680 greater regard than he did. Are you the Beowulf who took on Breka in the swimming match on the

02:00:12.660 open sea, risking the water just to prove that you could win? It was sheer vanity made you venture

02:00:17.120 out into the main deep, and no matter who tried, friend or foe, to deflect the pair of you,

02:00:22.160 neither would back down the sea test obsessed you you waited in embracing the water taking

02:00:27.060 its measure mastering currents riding on the swell the ocean swayed winter went wild in the

02:00:32.560 waves but you vied for seven nights and then he out swam you came ashore the stronger contender

02:00:37.780 he was cast up safe and sound one morning among the hrothraims and made his way to where he

02:00:43.760 belonged in rotting country home again sure of his ground in strong room and bond so brecca made

02:00:50.020 good his boast upon you and was proven right. No matter, therefore, how you may have fared in every

02:00:55.060 bout in battle until now, this time you'll be worsted. No one has ever outlasted an entire

02:00:59.480 night against Grendel. Beowulf, Ektho's son, replied, Well, friend Unferth, you have had your

02:01:05.960 say about Breck and me, but it was mostly beer that was doing the talking. The truth is, when

02:01:10.380 going was heavy in those high waves, I was the strongest swimmer of all. We'd been children

02:01:14.420 together and grew up daring ourselves to outdo one another, boasting and urging each other to

02:01:18.220 risk our lives in the sea, and so it turned out each of us swam holding a sword. A naked heartproof

02:01:23.480 blade for protection against the whale beasts. But Breka could never move out farther or faster

02:01:28.000 from me than I could manage to move out from him. Shoulder to shoulder we struggled on for five

02:01:32.480 nights, and so the long flow and the pitch of the waves he perished cold night falling winds from

02:01:36.860 the north drove us apart. The deep boiled up in its wallowing scent of the sea of roots wild.

02:01:41.900 My armor helped me to hold out. My hand ring, chain mailed, hand forged, and linked a fine

02:01:46.200 close-fitting filigree of gold kept me safe when one some ocean creature pulled me to the bottom

02:01:50.820 pinion fast and swayed in his grip i was granted one final chance my sword plunged and the ordeal

02:01:56.440 was over through my hands the fury of battle had finished off the sea beast all right we're going

02:02:03.980 to go on to the next one here time and again foul things attacked me lurking and stalking but i

02:02:08.620 lashed out gave as good as i got with my sword my my flesh was not for feasting on and there would

02:02:13.540 be no monsters gnawing and gloating over the banquet at the bottom of the sea. Instead, in the

02:02:17.700 morning, mangled and sleeping, the sleep of the sword, they slopped and floated like the ocean's

02:02:22.040 leavings. From now on, sailors would be safe. The deep sea raids were over for good. Light came out

02:02:27.800 from the east, bright guarantee of God, and the waves went quiet. I could see headlands and buffeted

02:02:32.460 cliffs, often for undone courage. Fate spares the man it is not already marked. However it occurred

02:02:37.820 my sword had killed nine sea monsters. Such night dangers and hard ordeals I have never heard of,

02:02:42.900 nor a man more desolate in surging

02:02:44.920 waves. But worn out as I was,

02:02:46.980 I survived. Came through with my life.

02:02:49.440 The ocean lifted and laid me ashore

02:02:50.860 and I landed safe on the coast of Finland.

02:02:53.100 Now I cannot recall any fight you

02:02:54.920 entered on Firth that bears comparison.

02:02:57.620 I don't boast when I say

02:02:59.040 that neither you nor Breka were ever

02:03:00.780 much celebrated for

02:03:02.940 your swordsmanship

02:03:03.600 or for facing danger in the field of

02:03:06.960 battle. You killed your own kith and kin

02:03:09.080 so for all your cleverness

02:03:10.960 and quick tongue, you will suffer damnation

02:03:12.920 in the depths of hell. The fact is,

02:03:14.760 unfurth, if you were truly a king and courageous

02:03:16.640 as you claim to be, Grendel would never have gone away

02:03:18.780 with you such unchecked atrocity.

02:03:21.640 Attacks on your king, havoc

02:03:22.920 and hair out and horrors everywhere.

02:03:24.860 But he knows he need not ever be in

02:03:26.880 dread of your blade making a mizzle of his blood

02:03:28.900 or a vengeance arriving ever

02:03:30.700 from this quarter from the victory

02:03:32.560 shieldings, the shoulders

02:03:34.800 of spear. He knows he can trample

02:03:36.800 down you Danes

02:03:38.740 to his heart's content, humiliate and murder

02:03:40.880 without any fear of reprisal.

02:03:42.880 But he will find me different.

02:03:44.640 I will show him how Geat shaped to kill

02:03:46.540 in the heat of battle.

02:03:48.020 Then whoever wants to may go bravely to Mead

02:03:51.020 when morning light, scarfed in sundazzle,

02:03:53.480 shines forth from the south

02:03:54.580 and brings another daybreak to the world.

02:03:56.700 Then the gray-haired treasure-giver was glad.

02:03:58.980 Far-famed in battle, the prince of the Bright Danes

02:04:00.780 and keeper of his people counted on Beowulf

02:04:02.440 on the warrior's steadfastness in his word.

02:04:04.660 So the laughter started and the din got louder

02:04:06.500 and the crowd was happy.

02:04:08.060 With well came in, Hrothgar's queen,

02:04:09.680 observing the courtesies adorning her gold where she graciously saluted the men in the hall and

02:04:14.760 handed the cup first to Hrothgar their homeland's guardian urging him to drink the cup and enjoy it

02:04:19.180 because he was dear to them and he drank it down like the warlord he was with festive cheer

02:04:23.800 so the helming woman went on her rounds queenly and dignified decked out in rings offering the

02:04:28.460 goblet to all ranks treating the household and the enseveled troop until Beowulf's turn to take it

02:04:32.980 from her hand with measured words she welcomed the geet and thanked him for granting her wish

02:04:37.840 that a deliverer she could believe in would arrive and case their afflictions.

02:04:42.200 He accepted the cup, a daunting man, dangerous in action and eager for it always.

02:04:46.280 He addressed what Beowulf, son of Ekbal, said,

02:04:48.900 I have fixed purpose when I put to sea.

02:04:51.300 As I sat in the boat with my band of men,

02:04:53.000 I meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted to perish in the attempt,

02:04:59.020 in the frame's clutches, and I shall fulfill that purpose,

02:05:01.760 prove myself with a proud deed, or meet my death in the meat hall.

02:05:05.740 This formal boast by Beowulf, the Geek, pleased the lady well,

02:05:09.180 and she went to sit by Hrothgar, regal and arrayed in gold.

02:05:12.980 Then it was like old times in the echoing hall, proud talk and people happy,

02:05:17.860 loud and excited.

02:05:18.920 Soon enough, Hrothdane's heir had to be away to the night's rest.

02:05:22.860 He realized that the demon was going to descend the hall,

02:05:25.140 and he had plodded all day, from dawn and light until darkness,

02:05:28.380 gathered again over the world as stealthily nightshapes came stealing forth under the cloud mark.

02:05:32.560 The company stood as the two leaders took leave of each other.

02:05:34.820 Hrothgar wished Beowulf health and good luck, named him Hallwarden, and announced as follows.

02:05:39.780 Never since my hand could hold a shield have I entrusted or given of the Dane's Hall to anyone but you.

02:05:45.200 Word and guard it, for it is the greatest of houses.

02:05:49.120 Be on your metal now, keep in your mind your fame, beware of the enemy.

02:05:52.300 There's nothing you wish for won't be yours if you win through alive.

02:05:58.200 All right, this is one of my favorite parts of Beowulf.

02:06:00.980 and i know sarah's in the chat and she's probably going to be laughing when i do this but

02:06:06.520 unfurth go home unfurth you're drunk okay he's like so you're beowulf huh you're here to save

02:06:15.640 the day so i want you to picture this thing all right unfurth is sitting at the foot of the king

02:06:21.500 at the foot of the king not beside the king he's not you know sitting in a place of honor he's

02:06:27.300 sitting at the foot of the king. Kind of just sitting there, taking up space.

02:06:37.820 Yes, this part irritates me. So I love to hate Unfrith. That's going to be the first thing that

02:06:43.760 you need to know about me when I start on this rant. I love to hate Unfrith. First thing you

02:06:48.080 need to know about Unfrith is his name means Unfrith, right? His name literally means pot stir,

02:06:54.780 shit starter anti frith unfrith his name literally means that when you translate it through

02:07:02.100 that's not a good start okay he's sitting at the feet of the king and nobody's really talking to

02:07:09.040 him it's he's he is unimportant until he opens his mouth in a disrespectful way and he opens

02:07:18.780 his mouth because he is angry that beowulf is there because somebody has taken attention from

02:07:22.800 him. So from the way it sounds in this book, in this poem here, he's known and he's renowned and

02:07:30.680 he's got a good reputation, but it's all kind of false, right? Because he says, oh, it was not you

02:07:36.720 that went with Brecca and, you know, you couldn't even swim against Brecca. Brecca whooped you.

02:07:41.840 What do you have to say about that? You're sitting here giving me your resume on how

02:07:44.820 awesome you are. You couldn't even win a swimming match against Brecca.

02:07:47.480 and beowulf says yeah well go home on first you're drunk sorry let me tell you about my

02:07:55.460 match with brecca we swam for days and days shoulder to shoulder keep in mind we have been

02:08:01.700 told there is no man stronger faster better than beowulf so we'll get into the shoulder to shoulder

02:08:06.720 with brecca here in a minute but the only thing that kept beowulf from beating brecca was the

02:08:12.600 fact that he was dragged down to the bottom of the ocean by a whole bunch of sea monsters which

02:08:16.660 is going to be a theme, and Beowulf just needs to learn to stay out of the water, dragged down to

02:08:21.020 the ocean, and he has to fight sea monsters, so he says, you know what, I didn't technically lose

02:08:25.540 that battle to Breka, I mean, I guess I did, but here's the thing, I was battling sea monsters,

02:08:29.900 and not only did I battle sea monsters, and I killed them all, and all of their bits and pieces

02:08:33.660 were floating on top of the ocean, I just saved all the sailors in the future, because you know

02:08:38.040 what, no more sea monsters, now how about you, Unferth, you Kinslayer, because I don't hear

02:08:44.300 anything about you, you can't wield a sword, and you have not had any prowess in battle, come to

02:08:50.200 think of it, you know what, you're still sitting here, which tells me that you've never actually

02:08:54.380 battled Grendel, because nobody who's ever actually battled Grendel has survived, so let me just go

02:08:59.820 ahead and put this on you, that you are absolutely the reason, and your attitude, and your kinslaying

02:09:05.660 is more than likely the reason Grendel's running free to begin with. How about them apples?

02:09:10.460 anyway that's my rant about unfurth um you have a kinslayer sitting at the foot of the king

02:09:20.740 in the hall you have a kinslayer running his mouth in a feast hall

02:09:28.860 what is the worst thing that you could possibly do to your community

02:09:35.000 kill your kin right and here he is sitting up here he is sitting at the foot of the king

02:09:41.520 listening to the king's conversations listening to what's said to the king listening to all of

02:09:46.760 these things so Beowulf puts him in his place and he tells him yeah go home on foot you're drunk

02:09:53.000 and then he talks about this is actually what happened with Brekka

02:09:57.120 interesting thing about Brekka if he is the biggest and the strongest in the

02:10:03.460 fastest, why is he swimming shoulder to shoulder with a man? And he tells us this. He tells us

02:10:09.880 that we have been friends since childhood. His nobility, his good character, and his goodness,

02:10:18.400 I believe, are the reasons that they were shoulder to shoulder for five days. He wasn't

02:10:23.940 going to leave Brecca alone. The only thing that separated Brecca, and he says so in his narrative,

02:10:29.780 The only thing that was able to separate him from Brekka was the sea itself, was the power of nature itself that he could not control that overpowered him.

02:10:39.260 And then he got sucked down to sea monsters.

02:10:42.180 Even in competition, he did not leave his childhood friend behind.

02:10:46.300 He was shoulder to shoulder with him until he was face to face with sea monsters, separated him by the ocean itself, which to our ancestors is going to be the most powerful force there is.

02:10:56.480 it tells you a lot

02:10:58.760 about Beowulf's character

02:10:59.740 so

02:11:01.120 I'm going to stop there and see if

02:11:04.500 I'll show you if Gauthier has anything to add about

02:11:06.760 Unferf

02:11:07.720 No, not specifically

02:11:20.580 again, you covered it

02:11:22.740 very well, but

02:11:23.820 I think

02:11:25.060 there is a long tradition

02:11:30.560 especially in the hall

02:11:33.180 of someone

02:11:36.360 often someone feeble and of

02:11:40.160 semi-comical character

02:11:42.040 testing and challenging oaths and things

02:11:47.040 and calling people out and seeing how they respond

02:11:50.020 we see that in the file position

02:11:54.120 in in symbols and toasting we also see reflections of that in the medieval period with

02:12:01.580 court jesters they can get away with acting completely inappropriately in a court where

02:12:08.800 there would be great consequences to people outside of that position but there's something

02:12:13.460 to be said of the

02:12:15.440 dude that sits at the king's

02:12:19.460 feet and

02:12:20.620 challenges stuff

02:12:23.500 and says

02:12:25.180 uncouth things that

02:12:26.940 he feels need to be said.

02:12:29.320 Now the way it's described here

02:12:31.360 Unferth is a dishonorable

02:12:33.440 toad and not a good person

02:12:35.540 and Beowulf

02:12:37.140 more than meets the challenge

02:12:39.700 to his words

02:12:41.340 but

02:12:43.220 that's important and that also talks about that hall culture and

02:12:47.460 so much of this goes back to how we perform the ritual

02:12:51.480 of Sambal is having someone that challenges us

02:12:55.120 if necessary. The other thing is

02:12:59.040 truth is one of our virtues.

02:13:03.300 There is a place even in the presence of royalty of

02:13:07.240 a certain amount of frankness and honesty as opposed to

02:13:11.460 not if something needs to be said or you feel like you need to say something say something

02:13:18.100 because nothing erodes friff worth uh worse than grumbling under your breath in a latent

02:13:29.300 just under the surface hostility that doesn't get aired in the hall culture if you could air

02:13:35.620 your problem and get it dealt with swiftly and immediately then everybody could go on with

02:13:40.720 their merriment and not have that toxicity in the hall.

02:13:49.100 So we got a couple of questions about this particular couple of fits. Sarah starts with

02:13:55.880 Hrothgar was such a great king, yet he let a kinslayer sit at his feet. Could this be part

02:14:00.020 of the reason for Grendel's presence? So I'm going to answer that in Brandyland Beowulf,

02:14:03.900 and then I'm going to let Matt give us his answer on that one.

02:14:10.720 Grendel was born, not born, but Grendel's type was originated because of the monstrosity that

02:14:21.040 is Kinslaying. That's specifically said. It's very telling to me that Hrothgar is being attacked

02:14:27.140 and he's got a Kinslayer at his feet. Does he know he's a Kinslayer? We don't know. Beowulf does.

02:14:33.580 but what are you what are you letting into your house what kind of wisdom are you relying on

02:14:41.180 because is with where he's sitting is he just that yappy chihuahua or is he listening to all

02:14:49.300 of these conversations and working all of these politics and taking advantage of situations right

02:14:53.900 is he the reason i don't think he's reason the reason but it's very telling that you have

02:15:01.420 somebody, because it's a theme that you see layered over and over again. The most horrible

02:15:07.520 characters in this story are all Kinslayers. Every single one of them. So could it be part of it? I

02:15:16.540 don't know. Brandyland Beowulf would probably say, yeah, it means something. It means something that

02:15:21.620 is unforced specifically that challenges Beowulf. To me, that's significant, but I'll let

02:15:28.600 the Alshira Gauthi give his opinion on that?

02:15:34.240 It's significant in that it reinforces the overriding theme, but I don't think it's the

02:15:42.480 reason that Grendel and his reign of terror is being inflicted upon Hrothgar. But it's

02:15:51.940 certainly relevant. It's not accidental. That is a theme throughout this piece. And I think

02:15:57.960 this is another touch back to that thing. Adam's got a question. Beowulf seems to like to prove

02:16:06.120 himself by swimming contest. Is there any historical significance to that? Was that a thing?

02:16:12.540 The swimming contest itself. So remember our narrator never lies to us and our narrator is

02:16:18.300 setting up layers. We repeat the same things over and over again. He's preparing you for what's to

02:16:24.440 come. Not only does the story of Brekka in the swimming contest prove his strength, his worth,

02:16:34.480 his nobility, his commitment to friends and frith, that shows all of that, but it also sets us up

02:16:43.400 for what he has to do with Grendel's mother, which is going to be coming in part two.

02:16:47.380 the narrator continually gives us little hints he'll say something or or something will happen

02:16:54.440 like Beowulf will tell a story about um fighting sea monsters and the next thing you know

02:16:59.460 he's fighting a sea drake right so you kind of just got to watch what the narrator's doing is

02:17:05.940 there any historical context significance to that historical um not that I know of but I'll let the

02:17:12.060 I'll share a go. They touch on that. He might have something. Um, but what I'm getting from

02:17:17.160 this specifically, this contest specifically is the showing of his loyalty to Brekka that he

02:17:22.960 didn't desert his friend until the sea, which was the most strongest force they knew of separated

02:17:27.940 them. And then he killed a whole bunch of sea monsters. So it increases his worth. It increases

02:17:32.400 his fame, increases his luck. And it also sets us up for what's to come. I'll share a go.

02:17:42.060 Yes, absolutely. It's a historical thing, but when forced to come up with a specific example of it in history or to cite a time of it, I can't.

02:17:57.200 Other than the princes, sons of kings, nobles would always, since the furthest imaginings, compete at noble arts that are tests of strength and whatever else.

02:18:19.160 We see this constantly with horse racing or spear throwing or rock throwing or, hey, watch me do this thing.

02:18:28.080 Can you do it better?

02:18:29.520 Usually as it relates to warfare, but very often we see warriors going overboard in Viking contests between the boats.

02:18:39.180 We see that frequently in the sagas.

02:18:42.500 Swimming was certainly not unknown and something that these folks had to learn how to do.

02:18:48.080 and swimming with the weight of some war gear on you was also something

02:18:51.920 that was commonly done, done for sport

02:18:56.100 and for contest. I can get back to you.

02:19:00.160 I can't think of a time off the top of my head outside of this

02:19:03.180 showing of it in Beowulf, but it absolutely was a thing, and I don't think we're going far

02:19:08.080 out on a limb to say that.

02:19:13.260 All right. So we've got

02:19:15.880 three more fits to do, and then

02:19:18.020 the rest of that we're probably going to put

02:19:20.100 in with Grendel and Grendel's mother

02:19:22.100 in the upcoming call.

02:19:24.060 So we have three more

02:19:26.220 fits to do, as long as you guys

02:19:28.260 are patient with us. Appreciate

02:19:30.080 all of your comments and

02:19:32.060 encouragement and questions.

02:19:35.240 Alright.

02:19:36.600 So the watch for Grendel.

02:19:37.840 So

02:19:38.200 Rathgar has

02:19:41.160 entrusted Beowulf with

02:19:44.020 his hall. This is a big deal. For those of you that are close to Hoffs, this is a big deal.

02:19:54.180 You understand the attachment that you have to that building, especially if you've had to build

02:19:59.860 it from the ground up. There is literally a piece of you in that building, and that's not something

02:20:05.300 that I can explain to somebody who hasn't built them. You know, the Alshirago understands what

02:20:11.160 i'm talking about there's there's literally a piece of the alshira godi in every half

02:20:14.980 there's a piece of me literally in baldur's half for all of you who tend those buildings

02:20:19.780 it's a physical emotional psychological and spiritual attachment so i did not understand

02:20:27.160 that part of it where he's like i've never trusted my hall to anybody i'm just like okay

02:20:32.400 yeah it's a super expensive hall no i get it now i get it now it's my half this is his hall

02:20:40.500 um but that's something that i never fully comprehended as many times as i read it i

02:20:45.980 understood it but it never sparked that that that understanding and that feeling in your soul that

02:20:55.340 oh yeah i get it hrothgar i get it man i know what you're doing um but he's leaving his hall

02:21:03.240 to Beowulf, which is a big deal, and he's trusting him with it. He's hoping I see you in the morning.

02:21:12.280 Hrothgar's going to bed not knowing if he's going to wake up to a massacre or triumph, okay? It's all

02:21:18.520 up in the air at this point. So we are going to go into fit number 11, the watch for Grendel.

02:21:24.940 Hrothgar departed then with his house guard, the lord of the shieldings, their shelter in war,

02:21:29.640 left the mead hall to lie with

02:21:31.680 Wethla, his queen

02:21:33.860 and bedmate. The glory,

02:21:35.820 the king of glory, as people learned, had posted

02:21:37.860 a lookout. It was a match for Grendel,

02:21:39.900 a guard against monster, special protection to

02:21:41.820 the Danish prince, and the

02:21:43.660 geet placed complete trust in his strength of limb

02:21:45.660 in the lord's favor. He began to remove

02:21:47.800 his iron breastmail, took off his helmet, and

02:21:49.780 handed his attendant

02:21:51.200 the patterned sword as Smith's masterpiece,

02:21:54.140 ordering him to keep the equipment guarded,

02:21:55.940 and before he bedded down, Beowulf, the prince

02:21:57.820 of goodness, proudly asserted,

02:21:59.640 When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel,

02:22:03.040 so it won't be a cutting edge I'll weed to mow him down easily as I might.

02:22:07.220 He had no idea of the arts of war, of shield, or of swordplay,

02:22:10.460 although he does possess a wild strength.

02:22:12.780 No weapons, therefore, for either this night.

02:22:17.340 Unarmed, he shall face me, if face me he dares.

02:22:20.720 And may the divine lord in his wisdom grant the glory of victory

02:22:23.280 to whichever side he sees fit.

02:22:25.280 Then down the brave man lay with his bolster under his head

02:22:28.100 and his whole company of sea rovers at rest beside him.

02:22:31.960 None of them expected he would ever see his homeland again

02:22:35.240 or get back to his native place and the people who reared him.

02:22:39.300 They knew too well the way it was before,

02:22:42.000 how often the Danes had fallen prey to the death in the mead hall.

02:22:45.180 But the Lord was weaving a victory on his war loom for the weather geats.

02:22:51.180 Through the strength of one, they all prevailed.

02:22:53.980 They would crush their enemy and come through in triumph and gladness.

02:22:56.820 the truth is clear almighty god rolled over mankind and always has then out of the night

02:23:01.340 came the shadow stalker stealthy and will the hall guards were slack asleep at their posts

02:23:06.160 all except one it was widely understood that as long as god disallowed it the fiend could not

02:23:11.540 bear them to his shadowborn one man however was in a fighting mood awake and on edge spoiling for

02:23:16.860 action so there's only a couple things that i want to point out on this one hrothgar goes to

02:23:22.680 bed and leaves Beowulf and all of his men there. What does one man do? I want you to think about

02:23:30.400 this. These men knowingly got into this boat with him, not knowing if they were going to come back.

02:23:35.840 Now we have one man who's knowingly going to be the first person at the door. You think of all

02:23:43.500 these guys lined up on the mead benches, and then you got one who's kind of the barricade.

02:23:48.340 they don't know if they're going home they don't think they're going home they might die here

02:23:55.620 and they're okay with that because they're dying with beowulf they're dying with a noble leader

02:24:01.340 they are dying for a noble cause they will go down in fame and glory and their names

02:24:07.080 will be in songs and lays that are sung in halls etc etc etc

02:24:12.580 this is loyalty this is fidelity this is a prime example of fidelity fidelity is virtue

02:24:23.060 these men would die for beowulf these men would die for beowulf's cause why

02:24:29.980 because beowulf is good and beowulf is noble beowulf is a hero beowulf has a reputation

02:24:38.760 and fame. He is

02:24:40.720 known to be a good and noble man.

02:24:43.760 So they

02:24:44.560 are knowingly lying down.

02:24:47.640 Knowingly

02:24:48.080 possibly going to die.

02:24:52.880 Now, Sherry, do you have anything to add

02:24:54.520 about that at all?

02:24:57.420 Yeah, they were

02:24:58.460 Beowulf's men.

02:25:00.420 And the

02:25:00.680 one of the

02:25:03.760 I don't know, a way it was

02:25:06.500 expressed was for

02:25:08.120 a lord's retainers to outlive him on the battlefield was shameful

02:25:15.540 because they allowed their king to go down and they made it and they made it home and um

02:25:21.220 in the inverse to for beowulf in front of his retainers not to be the first in battle not to

02:25:30.340 lead the charge was equally shameful that reciprocity with lord and retainer is another

02:25:37.160 One of the things this poem illustrates in a really beautiful and a straightforward way.

02:25:46.860 And I think that's the essential thing.

02:25:50.380 If they are all going to die, then I'm going to be the first one at the door.

02:25:55.400 I'm going to have the pride of place of being the one that goes down first.

02:26:00.840 That in and of itself was an honor for that man.

02:26:07.160 And one of the really interesting things for me on this one, they slept with peace of mind. Why did they have peace of mind? Because what fate is, fate will be, right?

02:26:23.680 Yeah, the battle is half won because they have the courage to be there. The fact that they were there and they slept, even if they lose, they die as heroes.

02:26:35.140 and if they win, you know, even the more so.

02:26:39.820 But the hard part was over.

02:26:43.220 The hard part was getting on the boat

02:26:45.040 to even go there.

02:26:49.720 All right, two more fits left, guys,

02:26:52.440 and I am going to read them together

02:26:54.300 and we will cover them from there.

02:26:56.340 They're a little long, bear with me.

02:26:59.980 In the moors down through the mist bands,

02:27:02.720 God cursed Grendel came greedily loathing.

02:27:04.520 The bane of the race of men roamed forth, hunting for a prey in the high hall.

02:27:08.580 Under the cloud mark, he moved towards it until it shone above him a sheer keep of fortified gold.

02:27:13.600 Nor was that first time he had scouted the grounds of Hrothgar's dwelling,

02:27:16.660 although never in his life before or since did he find harder fortune or hall defenders.

02:27:21.700 Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead and arrived at the bond.

02:27:25.980 The iron-braced door turned on its hinge, and his hands touched it.

02:27:29.200 then his rage boiled over he ripped open the mouth of his building maddening for blood pacing

02:27:34.740 the length of the patterned floor with the loathsome tread while a baleful light flame from

02:27:39.460 flame more than light flared from his eyes he saw many men in the mansion sleeping a ranked company

02:27:45.200 of kinsmen and warriors quartered together and his glee was demonic picturing the mayhem before

02:27:50.400 morning he would rip life from them limb rip life from limb and devour them feed on their flesh but

02:27:57.460 his fate that night was due to change.

02:27:59.680 His days of raveny had come to an end.

02:28:02.180 Mighty and canny.

02:28:03.840 Heiglis Kinsman was keenly watching

02:28:05.580 for the first move the monster would make.

02:28:07.740 Nor did the creature keep him waiting,

02:28:09.680 but struck suddenly and started in.

02:28:11.720 He grabbed and mauled a man on his

02:28:13.500 bench, bit into his bone lappings, bolted

02:28:15.580 down his blood and gorged on him in lumps,

02:28:17.640 leaving the body ugly, lifeless, eaten

02:28:19.520 up, hand and foot.

02:28:21.520 Venturing closer, his talon was raised to attack

02:28:23.560 Beowulf where he lay on the bed.

02:28:25.640 He was bearing

02:28:26.180 in with open claw when the alert heroes come back and armlock forestalled him utterly. The

02:28:33.140 captain of evil discovered himself in a hand grip harder than anything he had ever encountered in

02:28:37.360 any man on the face of the earth. Every bone in his body quailed and recoiled, but he could not

02:28:42.400 escape. He was desperate to flee in his den and hide with the devil's litter, for in all of his

02:28:47.380 days he had never been clamped or cornered like this. Then Heiglick's trusty retainer called his

02:28:52.020 bedtime speech sprang to his feet and got a firm hold fingers were bursting the monster backtracking

02:28:58.000 the man overpowering the dread of that land was desperate to escape to to take a roundabout road

02:29:04.040 and flee to his lair in the fence the latching power in his fingers weakened in the worst trip

02:29:08.840 worst trip the terror monger had taken to herod and now the timbers trembled and sang a hall

02:29:14.560 session that harrowed every dane inside the stockade stumbling and fury the two contenders

02:29:19.280 clashed at the building, the hall clattered and hammered, but somehow survived the onslaught and

02:29:23.380 kept standing. It was handsomely structured, a sturdy frame, braced with the best of the

02:29:27.780 blacksmith's worth inside and out. The story goes that as the pair struggled, the meat benches were

02:29:33.500 smashed and sprang on the floor, gold fittings and all. Before them, no shielding elder would

02:29:37.680 believe that there was any power on earth capable of wrecking the horn-rigged hall

02:29:44.060 unless the burning brace of a fire engulfed in flames. Then an extraordinary wail arose,

02:29:48.760 of bewildering fear came over the Danes.

02:29:51.240 Everyone felt it who heard that

02:29:52.700 cry as if it echoed off the wall. A god

02:29:54.680 curse screamed, strains of catastrophe,

02:29:56.780 a howl of the loser, the lament of

02:29:58.700 the hellsurf keening his wound.

02:30:00.580 He was overwhelmed, menaced tight by the man

02:30:02.920 who of all was foremost

02:30:04.600 and strongest in the days

02:30:06.240 of his life.

02:30:09.780 But the earl

02:30:10.620 troop's leader was not inclined to allow

02:30:12.580 Collar to depart alive. He did

02:30:14.660 not consider the life much

02:30:16.600 account to anyone anywhere. Time

02:30:18.580 and again, Beowulf's warriors worked to defend

02:30:20.520 their lord's life, laying about them as best they

02:30:22.500 could with their ancestral blades.

02:30:24.400 Stallward and action, they kept striking out on every

02:30:26.520 side, seeking to cut straight to the soul.

02:30:29.120 When they joined in struggle, there was

02:30:30.480 something they could not have known at the

02:30:32.540 time, that no blade on earth,

02:30:34.580 no blacksmith art could ever damage

02:30:36.520 the demon opponent. He had conjured

02:30:38.660 the harm from the cutting edge of every weapon,

02:30:40.740 but his going away out of his world

02:30:42.580 in the days of his life would be

02:30:44.360 agony to him, and his alien spirit

02:30:46.520 would travel far into the fiend's keeping.

02:30:48.580 Then he who would have harrowed the hearts of men with pain and affliction with former times and had given offense also to God found that his bodily powers failed him.

02:30:57.600 Heiglath's kinsmen kept him helplessly locked in a handgrip.

02:31:00.980 As long as either lived, he was faithful to the other.

02:31:03.020 The monster's whole body was in pain.

02:31:04.680 A tremendous wound appeared on his shoulder.

02:31:07.640 Sinus split in the bone-lapping burst.

02:31:10.040 Beowulf was granted the glory of winning.

02:31:11.840 Grendel was driven under the fenbanks, fatally hurt to his desperate lair.

02:31:17.280 His days were numbered.

02:31:18.440 The end of his life was coming over him, and he knew for certain.

02:31:22.140 And one bloody clash had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the Danes,

02:31:25.840 the man who had lately landed among them, proud and sure, had purged the hall.

02:31:31.340 Kept it from harm, he was happy with his night work and the courage he had shown.

02:31:35.340 The geek captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes,

02:31:38.120 and he had healed and relieved a huge distress, unreliating humiliations.

02:31:42.820 the hard fate they have been forced to undergo no small affliction clear proof of his cannot be

02:31:48.980 could be seen in the hand of the hero displayed high near the roof the whole of grendel's shoulder

02:31:53.860 and arm his awesome grasp okay so here comes grendel loping around super excited because

02:32:00.860 there's all kinds of people so the hall again and it says in here the hall again sounded like

02:32:06.620 it used to. There was hope in the hall, right? There is a renewed hope with the arrival of

02:32:15.280 Beowulf. Somebody this time might make it through. He might actually get this. There's nobody bigger,

02:32:22.040 bad, or stronger than Beowulf. We might actually get our savior here, right? And there is a renewed

02:32:29.940 hope. And that can be demonstrated with Wethwild walking around and actually doing a stumble with

02:32:35.760 them and him boasting and the people are happy and singing. Grendel hasn't actually heard that

02:32:42.320 in a long time. One of the things that put him in the rage was the joy of these people to begin

02:32:48.060 with. And now he hears it all over again. He's like, all right, here we go. Fresh blood. I've

02:32:52.360 got a whole new brand. You know, it's like, it's like getting a brand new kind of potato chips

02:32:57.780 you've never had for, for before, you know, it's like getting the new version of wrap snacks,

02:33:02.560 right, Matt? You know, he got all these Danes for a long time, and now he got this fresh blood with

02:33:08.380 the Geats. Maybe they taste different. Beowulf's super excited. A whole bunch of people to eat.

02:33:14.760 And he is unafraid. He is unafraid. He has never felt fear. Ever. Never felt fear. And Beowulf

02:33:24.520 even yells a gunfarth over this. He has no fear of you. He walks all over you. Zero fear. You are

02:33:31.320 not scary. Zero fear. But as Grendel walks in here, he picks up the first man and it's like

02:33:38.620 a Quentin Tarantino movie. You got bits and pieces flying all over the place. You know,

02:33:42.600 crumbs falling in the man purse. He's super excited. He's doing his thing. The next person

02:33:46.940 he goes to is Beowulf. And we have heard over and over again that there is no man as strong

02:33:53.000 as Beowulf, that his grip and his strength and his might is so massive. And Grendel is

02:33:58.500 grabbed by Beowulf. He's grappling with him. They are hand-to-hand combat.

02:34:06.040 And Grendel fears for the first time ever. This is the first time Grendel has ever felt fear.

02:34:13.660 And the first thing he wants to do is what? Run away, right? See, this is the difference between

02:34:19.220 the good and the evil, the order and the chaos. The order stands firm, and the hardest hurdle is

02:34:26.540 getting over your fear and doing what you need to do. Fear is a natural thing. It's how you act in

02:34:31.700 that fear is what matters. And you can see the difference between Beowulf and Grendel,

02:34:37.260 the success and the failure. Beowulf has already conquered his fear by going in and saying,

02:34:41.940 if I die, I die. It's meant to be. Conquered that fear. Moves through that fear. Grendel,

02:34:49.060 on the other hand, has zero fear, fears it for the first time, feels it for the first time,

02:34:52.820 and tries to run like a bat out of hell.

02:34:55.380 And in the process, gets his shoulder ripped off.

02:34:59.480 Beowulf is not going to let him go

02:35:01.000 without some kind of fatal wound.

02:35:05.720 I guess that's what I have to say about that.

02:35:07.940 I'll share your goalie.

02:35:08.600 Do you have anything to add?

02:35:09.500 There's probably something else in there.

02:35:11.240 I get excited about the shoulder ripping off.

02:35:13.980 I think it's kind of exciting.

02:35:14.940 Oh, and also, his Ben tried to get up and help him.

02:35:19.020 But nobody knew that you can't cut him.

02:35:20.820 And he's built like a sword himself.

02:35:23.920 You can't cut him with swords.

02:35:25.640 There's nothing you can do with him except rip his shoulder off.

02:35:31.200 That's your ability, Terry.

02:35:38.340 No, Brandy, you're doing too good a job.

02:35:41.860 No, you got it.

02:35:43.280 You covered all the important stuff.

02:35:46.260 It's exciting.

02:35:48.760 that is, you know, the

02:35:50.440 the fact that the

02:36:00.460 the chaos

02:36:04.920 of this monster

02:36:08.020 that's bred of treachery

02:36:10.260 has taken all the joy from the hall

02:36:14.020 and it's made

02:36:15.660 the place of celebration

02:36:17.800 and gloomy and

02:36:19.620 has sapped joy from the world.

02:36:25.340 The fact that hope and that

02:36:27.160 standing against the chaos

02:36:30.600 not only slew it, but sent it running off to go die

02:36:35.500 in a hole while joy then

02:36:39.560 took place in the hall. Joy then came back

02:36:43.540 to the hall.

02:36:47.800 And you talked about how Grendel was spurred on by, uh-oh, people are in there having a good time. I better go mess it up.

02:37:00.660 And we see that. We see that all of the time.

02:37:05.220 We see that as a perennial infection amongst our folk.

02:37:11.220 When we are winning, when we are happy and things are good, that's when chaos strikes.

02:37:19.960 That's when treachery within the hull strikes and takes, you know, snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

02:37:31.500 When we're winning and things are good, that's when we need to be most vigilant against this kind of thing attacking.

02:37:38.640 And it's just really, it's just beautiful how it all unfolds in, you know, this kind of, into the first chunk of our story.

02:37:55.520 Uh-oh.

02:37:58.120 So Brandy has disappeared.

02:38:00.680 It's just me now on my end.

02:38:02.920 I don't know if that is experienced by everybody or if she's coming back.

02:38:08.640 But either way, I believe that's where Brandy wanted to stop tonight with her reading.

02:38:19.740 In two weeks, we'll be back on, and Brandy's going to redo us some more for the rest of this,

02:38:27.620 because I think that was really nice, and I'm really glad that that's the route that Brandy took on that.

02:38:35.000 she has returned but because of her leaving and coming back i'm now in my rightful place

02:38:40.980 in the in the order on the screen which i'm used to um

02:38:47.240 but you you're you're running this show tonight brandy what do you what do you got

02:38:54.280 kick it back over to you sure so i think we're probably going to end it there with the actual

02:38:59.080 part between Grendel and Beowulf. So what we have upcoming with the next call that we have

02:39:06.020 is we're going to be going into a lot of background stuff about lays about certain kings and queens

02:39:12.000 and certain other lays. And there's a lot of historical, I shouldn't say historical, but

02:39:15.960 there's a lot of background on that that explains a lot of things. So those are going to be a little

02:39:22.160 bit more labor intensive to read because you kind of got to break them down a little bit.

02:39:29.080 and understand why they're in the poem you know we've got we've got a couple songs coming up and

02:39:34.120 things like that no i am not going to sing um but we have joy and celebration and part of that joy

02:39:41.160 and celebration are going to be poems about things that have happened before and we're going to see

02:39:47.160 a lot about the role of women both good and bad um coming up in our next call and also grendel's

02:39:54.360 mother, which is a totally different monster than Grendel. So if you guys have any questions or if

02:39:59.620 there's anything that you want to see in particular, if you want us to focus on linguistics, I am not

02:40:05.260 necessarily your person. I have the background, but it's only regurgitating information that people

02:40:09.940 smarter than me have written down and recorded. So keep that in mind, but let us know what you

02:40:16.320 guys want to see with the next one. What kind of themes do you want us to stick with the themes and

02:40:20.120 keep reading or is there something in particular that you're looking for?

02:40:32.060 So I see over in the questions, little known fact, in world history class in ninth grade,

02:40:40.160 1996

02:40:42.700 I was first

02:40:44.800 to ask the question would I prefer

02:40:46.680 we return to

02:40:48.080 monarchy

02:40:49.000 I was known as Monarchy Matt

02:40:51.800 and I've not changed my opinion

02:40:54.760 on that I absolutely think that

02:40:56.500 that's

02:40:57.260 the ideal way for

02:41:00.260 our folk and that's absolutely

02:41:02.480 what I prefer

02:41:03.200 and I don't

02:41:06.440 just say that running the AFA

02:41:08.320 I say that when I was

02:41:09.340 a little nerdy kid in ninth grade history class

02:41:13.580 getting mocked. So I stand by that position. I'm pretty

02:41:17.760 firm on it.

02:41:22.180 Also in the questions.

02:41:25.640 Oh, okay. So apparently somebody wants to see what I'm

02:41:29.520 drinking. This is what I'm drinking. There's glare

02:41:33.460 on it there.

02:41:34.660 I have shown the can.

02:41:39.000 Consider the can shown.

02:41:41.240 Last question that I see on here, and then I'll kick it back over to Brandy.

02:41:45.080 I am at an event, and I'm going to need to get to sleep and be ready for folks tomorrow.

02:41:50.660 But what are some of the highlights from Culture of the Teutons that stand out to you?

02:41:58.240 Don't know if that question was to me or Brandy, but I'll give you mine,

02:42:01.600 And then I'll throw it over to Brandy and she can give you hers and then close out with anything she'd like to or keep keep going.

02:42:09.460 The night's young. So. It was so good.

02:42:15.640 There was a lot of moments in it that. I had to it was strange that I'd never done this in a book before, but I had to just set it down and digest it.

02:42:26.400 And I had to do that several times in Culture of the Two Tons.

02:42:31.600 A couple of things that stood out was the idea, the better explanation for Frith.

02:42:42.460 I think it literally translates into peace often, and so people leave it at that.

02:42:49.100 And there's so much more to it that fleshes it out and makes it so much more robust.

02:42:57.000 and something especially for a young man as I was at the time

02:43:02.160 to get a little bit more excited about by just, you know, than just peace.

02:43:07.700 And also talking about our concept of justice.

02:43:16.560 And it's easy, and Groenbeck goes, I think, a little bit unrealistically far

02:43:23.420 with his idea of vengeance, but the idea of when something is taken from you, the fix

02:43:31.080 is to retake that or to be compensated as where guilt is in, you know, as close to an

02:43:38.600 equitable measure for what's been taken from you. We talk a lot about the idea of one paying

02:43:46.600 their debt to society but we've lost a lot of the meat to that the point isn't just the punishment

02:43:56.480 of someone who's done wrong it's the recompense for what the person who's been wronged has lost

02:44:03.840 and that's that resettling of the scales by getting back what you lost and that's something

02:44:10.700 I just want to reiterate that I mentioned earlier about the idea of kinslang and why that was such

02:44:15.620 a horrible curse to our ancestors um if my uncle kills my brother you know in any other circumstance

02:44:26.580 the answer is okay cool well i go kill my uncle and that settles it and our family's square but

02:44:31.180 no that means my family loses yet again and the only way to fix that is you know my cousin coming

02:44:39.400 after me and there's no end to it and you're dealing with the same pool of resources even if

02:44:44.940 you take that to a wereguild situation it's money going from the pocket of one of my family members

02:44:51.800 to the pocket of the other of my family members but there's a net loss altogether we are my family

02:44:58.400 is made less in every step of that so there's no winning it it's something that's permanently lost

02:45:04.320 if a foe takes something from you you can take something from them of equal value you can take

02:45:10.060 something from them of greater value there's ways to settle the score but when it's in your own house

02:45:16.500 you can't it's just loss and uh it talks in there and tells you the two times about

02:45:22.940 the inability of our soul to reconcile permanent loss that we can't that we can't fix in some way

02:45:32.020 that we can't rebalance or make right but uh yeah i think those are the two things that stand out

02:45:37.280 the most, but it's a fantastic book all the way

02:45:39.240 around.

02:45:41.880 Good night, guys. You're doing awesome,

02:45:43.440 Brandy. Thank you for filling in tonight.

02:45:45.380 Yep, you're welcome.

02:45:47.520 All right, guys, we will

02:45:48.780 pick up

02:45:51.260 in two weeks, so Witten Spahn

02:45:53.400 is going to be with us next week, and

02:45:55.720 I will be with you guys the week after.

02:45:59.340 So if you have any questions regarding Grendel

02:46:01.180 and Grendel's mother in the next episode,

02:46:03.140 now is the time, or then is the time to ask them.

02:46:06.160 Until then,

02:46:07.280 I am going to go ahead and get some sleep as well because I also have an event that I need to get to.

02:46:11.840 So it has been great.

02:46:13.440 You guys are amazing.

02:46:15.400 We appreciate all the donations that we got tonight and all of your support and generosity.

02:46:21.180 So until next time, guys, hail the gods, hail the folk, hail the AFA, and remember victory never sleeps.

02:46:29.060 Good night, everybody.

02:46:37.280 Thank you.

02:47:07.280 Thank you.

02:47:37.280 Thank you.

02:48:07.280 Thank you.

02:48:37.280 Thank you.

02:49:07.280 Thank you.

Asatru Folk Assembly - November 09, 2023

11⧸8⧸23 Victory Never Sleeps, Episode 70 - Beowulf and Grendel

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