Dragon Slayer. Week
1~3
Dragon Slayer.
What genres do the
following texts belong to?
Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, Lord of the Ring/Hobbit.
I
believe that the following books may seem like that they all belong
under the category of “fantasy.” However, I think that Voluspa, Volsunga Saga,
Beowulf would be more suitable if it was classified differently.
Voluspa
The first text,
Voluspa is under the category of Mythological poem. This is because the
following text refers to gods from the poem. This can be clearly proven because
"Hear
my words / you holy gods' (l.1)
"By
Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3) the text mentions
gods.
Another clue that
gave me in order for me to notice that this was a mythological poem is that,
the text that was written was in a poetic style.
Nothing was there when time began,
neither sands nor seas nor cooling waves.
Earth was not yet, nor the high heavens,
but a gaping
emptiness nowhere green.
Beowulf
Beowulf is under
the category of epic genre. Epic genre usually consist of warriors, dangerous
settings, and heroic figures. This may seem like mythological poem. However,
this is an epic genre does not talks about gods in the text. An example which
backs this statement is
“The dragon began to belch out flames and bum bright
homesteads.”
This is a clue to the viewers that epic genres talks about true heroic
figures like Beowulf who slays dragons.
Volsunga Saga
Volsunga Saga is a
text that is under Saga genre. Saga is also very similar to epic. Many viewers
may get confused with the two genres. However Volsunga Saga is clearly a Saga
genre because unlike epic genre Saga does consist gods and myth. Although, the
main focus of the text is based on the men/character.
ʺUnknown to men is
my kin. I am called a noble beast: neither father have I nor mother, and
all alone have I fared hither.ʺ
Is an example of heroic figure of Sigurd which
shows his pride and confidence.
Lord of the
Rings/Hobbit
The two texts are fantasy
genre as it is widely known by a lot of people around the world. It was quite
difficult for me to identify the difference between Saga and fantasy genres.
However, I have found difference between the two following texts. Saga is tales
that was told/written by people hundreds and hundreds of years ago. However,
fantasy novel such as the Lord of the rings and the Hobbit, was written by a
creative writer that wrote novel about his ideas. I also noticed that fantasy novels
usually contain and mainly focuses on adventures, dragons, and magic.
All the following
genre were quite hard to identify since they had a lot of similarities.
However, they were clearly different if you are able to clearly identify the
difference that they have rather than to find similarities.
Please feel free to add on/correct my ideas in the comment box if you guys want to add more/or think differently :)
Hey Daehun,
ReplyDeleteI had raised a question in reply to james’ point about Voluspa being a Mythical Song? Could the two be combined? What I have noticed in your analysis, the Voluspa song has been called a Poem. Is it really a poem or could it be a song, hence the title?
I too would think it is a poem as poems can be turned into songs but there is a fine line between the two. I did a quick read up on the differences between songs and poems. The difference would be content. Though the difference with this content would be human emotions which highlight a person's feelings. Furthermore:
“literary experts would be quick to correct you regarding this. In fact, they would be able to pinpoint a number of differences between verses from a poem and verses from a song. One difference is the content. While both literary forms delve into a person’s emotions, the verses in a song will often evoke human emotions pertaining to personal experiences. On the other hand, the verses of a poem are written based on the emotions felt by an individual, regarding their perception of different situations, events, people, or places.”
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-poetry-and-song/
“Another major difference between poetry and song is the meaning and message they try to convey. The meaning and message found in most songs, especially those songs that are composed today, are pretty direct and straight to the point. In fact, there is not much thought and analysis needed, on the part of the listener, to determine what the song is all about. In the case of poetry, poets will often utilize a variety of different figurative forms of speech in order to convey a particular message. It is for this reason, that many times, the message of the poem may not often be what it appears to be. As such, it takes quite some time to carefully analyze a particular poem in order to get into the meaning of the poem itself.”
http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/difference-between-poetry-and-song/
I hope this helps. I too still have difficulty in distinguishing poems from songs, but I thought the part where he says, “hear my words, you holy gods” was a clear give away that this was a spoken song.
Wow thank you Allan for your effort. Now you mention, I was getting a bit confused with the concept and the relationship between song and the poem. But after reading your link, it helped me to understand exactly and able to distinguish the two.
ReplyDeleteIn the link that you have given me, there was an easy summary of a way to find the difference between the two.
1. Both poetry and song are literary works that are characterized by the use of verses and rhyming words, that are created as a result of the emotions experienced by the writer.
2. Of the two, poems are considered to be more in-depth than songs, because of the presence of ‘flowery’ words and figurative forms of speech.
3. Poems are appreciated by the manner in which the verses are written. Songs are mostly appreciated based on the accompanying music, and the manner in which the song is sung by the singer.
To conclude what I have written, I believe that Voluspa is a oral poem.