Week 12 Storytelling: The King and the Dragon

Long ago there was a mighty warrior who was known far and wide for his heroic deeds. In his youth he travelled to a foreign land to defeat two monsters that were wreaking havoc on the locals. This astonishing feat was the start of him being regaled as a hero. He returned to his homeland and became king after his uncle passed away. He spent many years in relative peace. Every so often a new challenge would present itself but it was nothing in comparison to his challenge he faced years ago.

One day while the people of his kingdom were presenting their problems to their ruler a peasant from a distant part of the realm presented him with a new dilemma. A dragon had attacked his village and was living in the neighboring mountains. The king was skeptical of the peasant’s claims but intrigued at the same time. This would finally be a chance for him to relive his glory days and have an opponent worthy of his skill.

The king assembled a small group with only the best warriors his land had to offer. The mountains would be difficult to maneuver with an army and he wanted to surprise the dragon. The men set off on their journey in good spirits knowing their warrior king was leading them to what they felt should be a victory. He had never lost a battle before after all.

The men located the dragon and got quite cocky because the mighty beast was asleep out in the open. The king called off his men and went to kill the dragon himself. Foolishly he woke the dragon. In a bit of rage the dragon breathed a mighty breath of fire that instantly killed half of the king’s men. A great battle ensued between the king and the dragon. The king’s shield was effective in blocking the beast’s flames but he soon grew weary. The years had not been kind to the king and he was not the strapping young man he once was.

The king was cornered and with one mighty swipe of its tail the dragon flung him into a pile of boulders. When turning to face its attacker, the dragon left its vulnerable soft belly exposed. One of the quick thinking men ran in and thrust his sword straight into the heart of the beast. It let out a mighty bellow and fell with a heavy thud. The remaining fire within the dragon died out and smoke wafted out of its nostrils. The man ran to his king as he breathed his last breaths. Both the dragon and the king perished in the epic battle but the kingdom had a new hero to praise.

The King and The Dragon

Author’s Note: This is a retelling of the story Beowulf. I included bits and pieces from the whole unit, with a primary focus on the end with the battle with the dragon and Beowulf’s death. I chose not to use Beowulf’s name within my retelling because I was hoping my readers could guess this was his story. For the same reason I chose not to mention Grendel or his mother specifically. I felt this story was ultimately a very brief summarization of the classic story Beowulf.

Bibliography: "The Story of Beowulf" by Strafford Riggs, (1933). Web Source: Untextbook

Reading Diary B: Beowulf

In the second half of the Beowulf unit, Beowulf finally met and battled Grendel. He became an instant hero in Heorot. However after Grendel was killed an even worse monster became angered, Grendel's mother. After Beowulf killed Grendel everyone was finally able to sleep peacefully without a guard. In the night his mother sought revenge for her son and killed all the men within the Great Hall. The queen knew it was the work of Grendel's mother so Beowulf set off to kill her. He accomplished his task and at last the Danish people were safe. Beowulf then returned home to Geatland with all the treasures the Danish people had given him. He eventually took the throne in Geatland after his uncle passed. The story skips forward a couple of years, during times of peace. Eventually a dragon comes along and a great battle takes place between the mighty beast and Beowulf. They both end up perishing from the battle but Beowulf did not kill the dragon, his companion Wiglaf did after Beowulf had been struck down.

Beowulf and The Dragon

Reading Diary A: Beowulf

For my reading this week I diverted from the reading plan I did a couple of weeks ago. I chose to read the Beowulf unit. I read it in high school and saw the animated movie with Angelina Jolie so this was a refresher. I enjoy rereading classic pieces of literature such as this. Plus, the story of Beowulf is such an intriguing one because of his battles against mythical beasts. In the first half of the unit Beowulf's background is detailed, he journeyed to Daneland, and he arrived at Heorot. Beowulf journeyed to this land so that he could defeat the mighty Grendel that was wreaking havoc on the Danish people (his fight with Grendel will be in the second half). Before this point many people doubted Beowulf on his stories, achievements, and his abilities. In going to Daneland and defeating Grendel he could prove himself once and for all.

Beowulf the Bada$$

Famouss Last Words: Week 11

This past week was a pretty hectic one. I had a lab practical in my Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy class. It was over the muscles in the shark, nectarus, and cat. This was definitely the most difficult practical we have had so far so my entire week was devoted to studying for it. Someone actually did the math based on how much we had to memorize and how little we were tested over. Only 12% of what we had to know was actually on the practical! I’m pretty sure doing that math is the ultimate form of procrastination, but at least I wasn’t the one who did it!

In addition to studying for the practical I also had to write an essay for my History of Science class. It was an analytical essay over John Buridan’s paper On the Compatibility of Earth’s Diurnal Motion with Astronomical Phenomena. This paper questioned whether or not the Earth rotated on its axis. This paper was of course written during the medieval ages before they knew the answer to such questions. The way he wrote this paper exemplified the classrooms within the universities during this time period. The manner in which he did this is called the scholastic method. This is the form of proposing a question based on an authoritative text then detailing the various sides of the argument. This was also how the classrooms during this time was conducted. It was an interesting read but slightly confusing. I didn’t even know what the Buridan’s stance was until I went to office hours to speak with my professor. He went back and forth so many times and proposed so many different argument that it was hard to figure out which point he agreed with.

Overall it was a great week that ended with a basketball and football win! That made me a very happy girl!

FYI the Earth Does Rotate On its Axis

Extra Reading Diary: Looking Glass

For today’s assignment I chose to do some extra reading rather than write an essay. Since I read the Alice and Wonderland unit earlier in the week I wanted to read the Looking Glass unit. I read the first half of it because it had the sections with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, and the Walrus and The Carpenter. I remembered both of these sections from the Disney movie, but I never understood the desire of the Walrus to eat the little baby oysters. My child self couldn’t understand why someone could be so mean! One big difference between this unit and the movie I once loved was the addition of Humpty Dumpty. I guess he didn’t make the cut for the movie! Humpty grows angry with Alice because she knows the nursery rhyme of Humpty Dumpty so she knows what he is doing perched up on the wall. He doesn’t believe her when she insists that his story is within a book. I did love how they brought up the premise of unbirthays in this section! Overall it was pretty cool to see a part of the Alice story that I have not seen before. What made it even better was the fact that it was a popular nursery rhyme mixed in with this classic piece of writing.

Humpty and Alice

Reading Diary B: Alice and Wonderland

In the second half of the Alice in Wonderland Unit Alice has tea with the Hare and Mad Hatter, plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts, and takes part in a trial. At the very end of the unit, Alice wakes up and realizes her crazy adventure had merely been a dream. I don’t think I will ever quite understand this story. It’s very odd I don’t know how Lewis Carroll could have come up with such crazy ideas (without the help of drugs). My favorite part in this second section of the unit was the tea party, even though they didn’t sing a very merry unbirthday song. I think I enjoyed this section the most because of the banter between Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Hare, and the Doormouse. Alice is so rude! It was very comical to me to listen to her griping about them not having manners when she was being just as wicked. Now I am really in the mood to go watch the movie…  

A Very Merry Unbirthday to You

Reading Diary A: Alice and Wonderland

I chose to read the Alice and Wonderland unit this week. I chose to read it because when I was a kid I loved the Disney movie. I watched the movie awhile ago, wishing to reminisce about my childhood. Wow, did I not realize when I was young how weird that movie is. At the very start of it Alice "sees" a rabbit talking and reading a watch! This ridiculousness only grows from this point on. This movie was of course based on Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass. After reading the first half of the unit it seemed fairly similar to the movie I used to love. The book was definitely different for its time. A common question people pose when reading this is, "was Lewis Carroll on drugs when he wrote this?". I tried to find out myself, because this is definitely an interesting read. I came across some sites that said no he didn't, and some that said yes he did. Back during this time people took opium for headaches so it is likely that he might have. Either way, this guy wrote a pretty trippy story that has some how found its way into the hearts of children all over the world thanks to the magic of Disney.

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