Beowulf DJ #5

"From where he crouched at the king's feet, Unferth, a son of Ecglaf's, spoke contrary words. Beowulf's coming, his sea-braving, made him sick with envy:"

Unferth is the opposite of a good warrior, he starts bickering with Beowulf and questioning Beowulf's, when he really doesn't have any strengths of his own. Unferths name stands for Folly, which means lack of good sense, or foolishness. Unferth could be compared to a jester, although he claims to be a "warrior" his actions and his strengths are much more similar to a court jester. An example of his foolishness would be when he started a flyte with Beowulf, there would be no possible way that Unferth could ever match up against Beowulf, but he envies him so much that he felt the need to anyway.

Beowulf DJ #3

"Fate goes ever as fate must."

Beowulf believes that the winner of this fight will be decided by god, if he is destined to die then so be it. He is not afraid to die because he believes that if he dies in this fight that was the time that God had chosen for him to pass. Although he is completely aware of his abilities, and his "awesomeness" Beowulf seems like a character who leaves it all up to fate. He fights every battle knowing that he will win depending on what fate has in store for him. The Poem Beowulf is written by a christian but the society itself as described is not, but the poem continuously aludes to the bible, and Beowulf himself seems as if he is a christian character, as if he believes in god, based on the trust that he puts on the "creator".

Beowulf DJ #2

"He knew what they had tholed, the long times and troubles they'd come through without a leader; so the Lord of Life, the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned."

A major theme in this poem is Christianity, throughout the poem god is referred to as the "almighty" and the "lord of life", god is watching over everyone, he sees that Shield Sheafson is a great leader and he sees that the people respect him and parade him with gifts, and gods gift was a son, Beowulf was a gift from god which explains his greatness. When Cain killed Abel god exiled Cain's clan and condemned them as outcasts, but Cain killed Able because he was jealous that god had more approval for able. Every deed that is done in this poem is for the attention of god, and good things done will be rewarded by "the almighty" and bad things done will be condemned by him.

Beowulf DJ #1

"There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. This terror of the hall-troops had come far. A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was proved."

Shield Sheafson was feared by many, he was explained as a "scourge of many tribes" scourge meaning a person that causes great trouble or suffering. And although this would usually be thought of as a bad thing, it actually made him a great king. He earned respect by causing fear, those who feared him also worshiped him. This description of Shield Sheafson could be a foreshadow to Beowulf's leadership, if Beowulfs becomes feared by his own people he will be thought of as a great leader. Fear is what conquers all.

Branwen

Branwen in Welsh mythological terms stands for White or beautiful Raven. Ravens symbolized warfare and battleground figures, and in this story it is Branwens job to keep peace between Ireland and the Isle of the Mighty to prevent a war, she was the peace pledge. Although her "battleground" duty was to prevent war from happening she failed when she called her brother complaining about the way the Irish were treating her. Even though she was being treated poorly she shouldn't have told her brother because she knew there would be a retaliation and in doing so she destroyed two countries to help herself. Ravens have to been known to travel alone and not in packs, Branwen was looking out for herself not for the people of both her countries. Her name could also connect to the powers that she has to train birds to speak and send messages, she has a strong connections with birds because she herself symbolizes one

Death of Conchobhar

The short story, Death of Conchobhar, is about a fight between Cet, a very arrogant warrior who was described in the story as "the most troublesome monster in Ireland", and Conchobar, the very perfect King of Ulster. It was a custom of the Ulstermen to take the brains of those they killed in battle, and Conchobhar was in possesion of the brain of Meis-Geghra. Cet however stole the brain and then threw it at the back of Conchobhars head, after the fighting was over Conchobhar was told by the doctor that if the brain that was now inside his head along with his own brain was taken out he would die, but if it was kept in there he would surivive but would not be aloud to do very much such as; get angry, converse with woman, run, mount on a horseback, and eat food gluttonously. So he sat in his chair for seven years until he heard the news that the Jewish people had Crucified Jesus Christ, he was very angry and felt the need to avenge Jesus by going after the Jews. This action caused the brain of Meis-Geghra to fall from his head along with his own brain which caused him to die.

It is strange how quickly this story shifted into a christian story, because in the beginning you would not think that it had anything to do with religion. It wasn't until the end that Conchobharns belief was even known.

The main theme of this story in my opinion is the the importance of Christianity. Conchobhar, the king of Ulster, was not supposed to run or fight after the quarrel with Cet, but when he heard that the Jewish people had crucified Jesus Christ he risked his life to avenge Jesus.

Even though it wasn't known until the end of the story that Conchobharn was a Christian, the meaning of this story is that those who believe in Jesus Christ, especially during this time will do anything for him, Conchobharn thought that even though it would kill him it was his duty to avenge Jesus after he was crucified.