When Beowulf and his men arrive to battle the dragon, they face difficulty right off the bat. Beowulf’s army, with the exception of Wiglaf,  “did not take their stand in a troop around him, with warlike valor– they fled to the woods and saved their lives”. Are these men wrong for fleeing a situation they know they cannot win? Are they betraying Beowulf, or not because he normally handles such battles on his own? In some aspects, don’t they owe Beowulf for everything they have, therefore should they have left him?”

In what ways did the battles between Grendel and his mother differ from the confrontation with the dragon? Does this show any changes in Beowulf’s character?

Why does Hrothgar accept Beowulf and his men? After all, they arrive armed and unknown, and could be seen as a serious threat.

Consider two heroes of this week, Beowulf and Christ in Dream of the Rood. Do they share heroic qualities, or are there significant differences between them?

I’m really looking forward to meeting you all, though in the weirdest beginning of the semester I’ve ever had, I’ll be away at the Modern Language Association (MLA) conference in Austin, TX, the week that classes start. This means we won’t meet in person on January 7, our scheduled first day of class.

Instead, I’ve made a video to take you through much of what we would normally cover the first day of class, describing the focus and aims of the class and guiding you through the syllabus. Please watch the video and fill out this short survey by Monday at 5am. That way, I’ll be able to get a sense of what the video conveyed and what it didn’t, before we meet in person on Tuesday, January 12. In the video I explain what you need to do to prepare for class when we meet on Tuesday, and I will send you all an email detailing that, too. In the meantime, please email me with any questions you might have that can’t wait until Jan 12th: seamanm[at]cofc.edu