Sorry for the delay Medieval Lynx's I was trying to figure out how to do this whole blogging thing since I have never done it before. I was suppose to blog yesterday so I am a day late and I apologize for that, but I still wanted to get my thoughts out there and tell you about my reaction to the reading of Exodus.
To be honest I had to re-read parts of the poem a few times because it was very repetitive and I was losing track of my thoughts and notice I wasn't comprehending what I was reading. In regards to the Anglo Saxon culture I made numerous connections between what we have been discussing in class and how it relates to this text.
While I was reading the poem I took a few notes comparing this poem to the Anglo Saxon culture that we have been discussing in class the past week. A few connections I made include:
1. A strong emphasis on religion
- The poem contains biblical themes such as; referring to the heavens above, God, and Moses.
- This idea of sacrifice when Abraham was going to sacrifice his first born son in return for victory, but then God stopped him because he saw that Abraham was willing and obedient to him. His faith was tested and God gave him protection.
- There is also this idea of that if you don't follow obey God then you were destined to a horrible life filled with plague, panic, and death. But if you did obey him then you will be rewarded with women, jewels, gold, and good fortune.
2. Moses is the heroic character that is worshiped because God works through him.
-Moses appears as the great leader of the Israellites.
- He is portrayed as being a bold and confident army leader who gives war like commands and encourages his men before going into battle.
- This also supports the organized hierarchy that we have discussed in class.Moses states that God works through is hands and in return people follow him because of that. Everyone belongs where they belong, so we get a sense that God is above all, and he works through the hands of Moses and the Israellites follow Moses and believe they will receive good fortune because they are doing what God wants them to by following Moses's commands.
3. Using animals and the wilderness as part of the scenery
- On page 137 the text talks about the wilderness in the form of a burning bush and that the Lord of Hosts was exalted in the wilderness.
- On page 139 the black birds of prey croaked for carrion and the wolves howled a grim evening song eager for prey. Again this depicts how this culture uses animals to represent this idea of soldiers preying on each other on the battlefield.
- The text also mentions the great and mighty Lion on the flag. I instantly thought of pictured this great and powerful army and Moses leading them with a flag that had this huge and powerful lion on it ( and the house of Lanister from Game of Thrones of course :) ) This shows how this culture uses animals to symbolize other meanings such as power.
Brittany, I love that you emphasized Moses' role as a heroic leader. I also find it very interesting the difference between the Biblical Moses and the Anglo Saxon's version (quiet and flawed versus bold and courageous). Great job at covering so much information over Exodus!
ReplyDeleteKinzi, I found it very interesting how the Anglo Saxons took this piece of literature and wrote their own version of the story and shed a different light on Moses versus the stories we have read about him from our own culture views.
ReplyDeleteBrittany, I really like when you wrote about Abraham and how his faith was tested! Having some background knowledge of Christianity, I can say I believe our faith is tested daily. As the Anglo-Saxon stories definitely hit on the trials and tribulations of its people in almost all of the passages we have read.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the points you state about the lion as well. I found that very intriguing. When I think of the symbolism behind the meaning of a lion I also think of strength, fear, and honor. I believe that is how the writer was trying to portray Moses.
Brittany,I agree that this reading was difficult for me to sit down and read all at once. I found myself thinking about other things that were on my mind instead. I also like that you brought up the lion on the flag. Reading that in your post made me think about the movie Narnia and how the lion represented God. They for sure use animals as symbols such as power. I like that you put that in their!
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