Putting the president’s farewell address last night in terms of Beowulf, Obama was calling upon us to be Wiglaf. Wiglaf is Beowulf’s nephew who, after having lived a comfortable life during Beowulf’s reign, realizes that Beowulf can’t solve all his problems. He must step up himself to save the country from the dragon.
Tag Archives: Beowulf
What Would Beowulf Do?
Beowulf offers us guidance for fighting back against Trumpism. Here’s a step-by-step account of the three monsters that will be facing liberals and what they must do.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Beowulf poet, Donald Trump Comments closed
Homer’s Warning about Revenge Killings
What will it take to bring peace between police and black communities? Homer has a vision of such a truce at the end of “The Odyssey” but it may not be realistic.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "the meeting after the savior gone 4/4/68", Alton Sterling, Black Lives Matter, Ceremony, Dallas police killings, Grendel's mother, Homer, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Odyssey, Philando Castille, race war Comments closed
King’s Clown Rampaged in Orlando
Perhaps more than any other American writer, Stephen King understands such incidents as the Orlando massacre. The famous horror writer dreams America’s nightmares and appears prescient when they come true.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Grendel, gun violence, It, John Milton, mass murder, Omar Mateen, Orlando killings, Paradise Lost, Stephen King Comments closed
Grendel Strikes in Orlando
In what has become a grim tradition for this blog, I rerun my post on Grendelian violence in response to the Orlando mass killing at a gay bar.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, mass shootings, Omar Mateen, Orlando mass shooting Comments closed
To Defeat White Militiamen, Be Beowulf
White militiamen rode into the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge like Grendel, but they left as though they had gone mano a mano with Beowulf. The fed essentially took a page out of the Geat warrior’s book and came away similarly successful.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf poet, Cliven Bundy, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, white militiamen Comments closed
Cruz as Beowulf? Try Grendel
Thursday Normally I would be delighted with a New York Times article that matched up presidential candidates with works of literature, such as Ted Cruz with Beowulf, Hillary Clinton with Persuasion, and Bernie Sanders with Around the World in 80 Days. This piece, however, strikes me as so uninformative that it’s all but useless. I’ve tried […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Around the World in 80 Days, Bernie Sanders, Carla Fiorina, Charles Dickens, Democrats, Donald Trump, Election 2016, GOP, Hillary Clinton, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Austen, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne, Mansfield Park, Marco Rubio, Mark Twain, Mike Huckabee, Oliver Twist, Persuasion, politics, Rand Paul, Tale of Two Cities, Ted Cruz Comments closed
This Time Grendel Chose Umpqua
Every time there is another mass killing, this time at Umpqua Community College, I turn to “Beowulf.” Few works understand such violence as well as this medieval Anglo-Saxon epic.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ceremony, Charles Harper Mercer, gun control, Leslie Marmon Silko, mass shootings, NRA, serial killers, Umpqua College shooting Comments closed
