Draig Slayers

     1.   What genres do the following texts belong to, and how do their intended period contexts, purposes, and intended audiences differ?
Voluspa is a mythological tale, Beowulf is an epic poem , Volsunga Saga is a legendary saga and The Hobbit is a fantasy novel. Voluspa addresses Gods and men for its purpose, discussing both the creation of the world, the end of it through war and revitalisation.

Beowulf has a more detailed description of battle, having been written in the tenth century its depiction of going to a new land to rescue people seems like a fitting purpose as they explored neighbouring and far borders it would be easy to presume they were superior. The idea that their hero would save these new people from a wretched monster (or that a monster would live alongside these foreign people) helped reinforce their purpose at the time whilst exploring outside of their country. The intended audience would be within an Anglo-Saxon background as the poet was. Volsunga Saga originates from the thirteenth century and tells the story of the Volsung Clan, its purpose is to touch on the decline of the clan both through magical forces and man. Through that exploring power imbalances and responsibilities. The Hobbit served Tolkien's desire to have more English lore. Having read various European ones extensively, he felt a need to draw from them and create his own. Whilst borrowing and adapting from parts of European works. His audience was originally children however adults enjoy his collections too.

 3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to cite from the original texts).
In all four of the texts a beast in the form of a dragon is slain, however the reasoning for slaying the Dragon sometimes differs as well as what has triggered the attack. The heroes mortality doesn’t always survive. 
In both Beowulf and The Hobbit a thief triggers the dragons wrath by stealing from its treasure hoard. The Hobbit elaborates more on the thief by telling his story, whereas in Beowulf the thief is loosely described as accidentally stealing “The intruder who broached the dragon's treasure and moved him to wrath had never meant to. It was desperation on the part of a slave fleeing the heavy hand of some master” (Heaney, 1999). Bilbo Baggins however steals with intention, which sets forth Smaug's rage. “No fireworks you ever imagined equalled the sights that night. The dragons wrath blazed to its height, till he was blind and mad with it.” (Tolkien, 1937). Between the two texts there's similar imagery of the dragons destroying giant areas of the landscape and the rage that the dragons feel. However, Beowulf passes after defeating the dragon whereas Bard survives and becomes king after defeating Smaug. Bilbo also survives whereas the thieves fate is presumably grim. 
Völuspa differs in that it summarizes the battle with the dragon in a shorter and less violent fashion as suits its poetic style “Far-famed Thor, the son of the Earth, the son of Odin, goes forth to fight the snake” (Terry, 1990) “Sigurd thrust his sword under his left shoulder, so that it sank in up to the hilts/ now that the mighty worm was ware that he had his death wound” (Morris, 1888) After a sneak attack, Sigurd too ends up dying with his victim. 
Smaug in the hobbit is capable of speech, as is Fafnir in the Volsunga Saga. Both are portrayed as intelligent beings, Beowulf's dragon also is described as having human emotions and although Voluspa only briefly describes its beast, due to the presence of other mythological creatures and Gods; presumably it too is a sentient being.

4. How did Tolkein draw on Old Norse and Old English texts in his ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ fantasy novels? Provide some concrete examples.
Tolkein was a professor of Anglo-Saxon literature and linguistics, so he drew heavily from what he was an expert on. Gandalf who is a Wizard in LOTR/The Hobbit has the same name as a dwarf in Völuspa although it is spelled ‘Gandalfr’ which means ’wand elf’ in Old Norse (behind the name, 2008). Otter a character in Voluspa is the basis for Smeagle/Gollum. Bilbo Baggins was based on the thief from Beowulf. 
8. Discuss what you think any of these texts desire (in the sense of their intention, how they wish to be received, what pleasures they offer, etc.)
Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon literature and linguistics at Oxford. As he had studied European texts so heavily he noticed a gap in English mythology and legends so felt a desire to create his own lore based off other texts of nearby regions to make his more viable but also added his own flare. His texts were first marketed for children and had the intention of passing on these myths/legends to them in a more interesting way. They offer curiosity to children, a sense of adventure and escape. Given Tolkien grew up in an orphanage, having the ability to roam the land with friends or just being able to escape within a book would have been magical for him. So, I would say that The Hobbit either consciously or subconsciously had that element of drawing the reader in put in on purpose. 


Edited to add comment:

       Hey Chris, I really enjoyed the tidbit details around the film including film difficulties. That's quite interesting that they attempted to film it in a Nordic country like it is in the original tale. The follow up documentary sounds quite intriguing. I did intend to watch the film as I'd been interested in the post-colonial elements of giving Grendel a voice in a fair manner rather than just viewing him as an ‘other’ to be slain or tamed. I agree with what you said about Beowulf not being so much a hero but more of a complex grey character capable of villainous deeds too. Grendel seems to have a Frankenstein's monster (Shelley, 1818) arc where he has human emotions and desires which does add to that fun who was the bad guy and who was the good? Were both or were neither?

References: Behind the Names (2008) Heaney, S. (Trans). (1999) Beowulf: a new translation. London: Penguin,pp 70.
Morris,W. & Magnussun, E. (1888) The Story of the Volsungs (Volsunga Saga) London, Walter Scott Press. P59. Shelley, M. (1818) Frankenstein. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor and Jones.
Terry, P. (1990,1966). Poems of the Elder Edda Translated. University of Pensylvania Press, Extract 3. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1937) The Hobbit. London: Harper Collins. p235.