People resisting the Covid vaccines are like the counselors in “Beowulf” worshipping false idols to ward off Grendel’s attacks.
Tag Archives: Beowulf
Worshipping False Covid Idols
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-vaxxers, Beowulf poet, Covid vaccine, COVID-19 Comments closed
Beowulf Would Favor Vaccine Mandate
Beowulf would favor vaccine mandates and passports and his firmness would convince the rest of society to go along.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, Covid, Covid vaccine, Vaccine mandate Comments closed
Can We Be Beowulf Strong?
“Bowulf,” a poem about rage, violence, and the end of empire.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Anger, Beowulf poet, end of empire, grieving, resentment, violence Comments closed
On Jan. 6, 2021 Grendel Stormed Heorot
“Beowulf” is a poem in which a once proud nation sees a dismal future. Should America take note?
Why I Think the Way I Think
I survey my intellectual history, especially the evolution of my thinking about literature’s impact on human behavior.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Antonio Gramsci, Carl Jung, Carleton College, Hans Robert Jauss, Harper Lee, Huckleberry Finn, intellectual history, J. Paul Hunter, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jerome Beaty, Karl Marx, Literary Theory, Madame Bovary, Mark Twain, New Criticism, Norman Holland, Percy Bysshe Shelley, racism, Reader Response Theory, reception theory, Sigmund Freud, Terry Eagleton, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tobias Smollett Comments closed
WandaVision and Grendel’s Mother
In which I compare Wanda from WandaVision with Grendel’s Mother. Who knew?
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, destructive grieving, WandaVision Comments closed
For Halloween, Read Headley’s Beowulf
For Halloween, reread Headley’s new translation of Beowulf, which uses the language of millennials and generation z.
In a Dark Time, Beowulf Was My Virgil
If Dante had his Virgil, I have Beowulf. Both poets helped up negotiate dark times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Aeneid, Beowulf poet, Dante, Divine Comedy, grief and grieving, Virgil Comments closed
When Grief Turns Violent
In protesting police violence against communities of color, protesters must avoid grief-fueled violence, the archetype of which is Grendel’s Mother.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, George Floyd, Marat/Sade, Minneapolis riots, Peter Weiss, police racism Comments closed
