All Good Things Must Come to an End

    One of the most important things I’ve learned is that it is better to know a little about a lot. Meaning, when I first entered this class, I didn’t know what to expect. I genuinely thought it was going to be a class based entirely around something like Game of Thrones and about a people that were incompetent and ignorant. While the book series is close in content by the violence and sexual innuendos, that is not all this time period has to offer. This era offers more than just violence and what Shrek tells us. There is magic, intellect and passion in this time period. Margery Kempe is a prime example of passion even if it is overdramatic. Magic is something that is relevant to the tales of this time, like in Beowulf and Bisclavret. All the texts we have read this semester have shown to me that imagination is a beautiful thing. As well as fiction. Reading imaginative, fun, and thrilling texts can take you to an alternate place and it puts the world into perspective. I’ve learned that women have come a long way, and God was a fearsome entity. Fear of the unknown had a lot of influence on the environment, and men had a masculinity complex. Popularity was earned by fame and fame was earned by defending a person’s treasures be it family, land, or valuable objects. Violence was just as intriguing then as it is today and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know all of you and to hear your ideas. This class has been very insightful and invigorating. I hope you all have an exciting summer, keep reading!  

This is it

Alright Guys,

I'm late to the party, but I blog on Saturday's, so that's what I get. Well I honestly learned a lot in this class; through discussions and the blogs I've gained a new perspective on medieval times. It wasn't a dark time, it was a booming time with a lot of focus on religion and storytelling to make things interesting. My favorite part of this class was looking through the lais and stories similar to them and trying to understand why it was important for these things to be said or communicated. I learned that we (meaning progressive society with lots of technology) shouldn't be so willing to just accept why somethings are okay to discuss in medieval times but not today. We shouldn't be so willing to dismiss the value of what we can be taught about our society through one long since passed.

The Most Surprisng Thing I learned

As the semester draws to a close, I am finding it rather hard to think of something surprising that I learned. To an extent, I had a vague sense that the Medieval period had a lot of the issues that we discussed in class. For example, I knew to some extent that they held extremely anti-semitic views. As well as that women had some degree of agency. I had had previous classes kind of touch on these issues or I had encountered them myself in my own personal reading. I think what made this class interesting to me was bringing all of these ideas and thought processes together into one context and then broadening it out into many as well as applying it to the modern day. I guess I have to say what was most surprising was that these works of literature can still have so much power and influence today as they would have when they were more widely read or shared.

Coming to an End

Dear Bloggers,

With the school year and Medieval Literature coming to an end, I see that I have learned many new things about myself and this class. One thing I have learned is that I do not like to blog and I will stick to writing papers. Other than that I feel that this class has been really useful. The Middle Ages is not a time where people are stupidly running around with pitch forks and having no idea what is going on. It is a time where people are discovering their sexuality, learning about different people, and finding women to be the source of all evil. This class has taught me to not just take things for face value and look deeper. I honestly would have never guessed how many times we would have bring up penises in class, but it wasn't out of context. This class has given me a whole new perspective on the Middle Ages and that is something I will carry with me. It has taught me that I need to research and look into things before developing an arguable opinion because, before this class, all I really would have know about the Middle Ages would be from Monty Python. It has been a good semester!

Most Surprising Thing I've Learned

The most surprising/interesting thing I've learned while in this class has definitely been either how violent this time period was and also how this society viewed sex.
 I wrote a blog about all the different forms of torture that was common during the Medieval era, and there were so many insanely painful forms that I was in total and complete shock. There were ways of stretching people out enough to rip them in half, drowning women who were thought to be witches, having stakes driven through people's legs, etc. It was appalling to research this topic and to see all of the various websites that contained hundreds of ways that people were tortured.
Also I wrote a blog about sex and how intensely regulated it was during the Medieval period. There were restrictions on what time of day sex was permitted, what positions were acceptable, and who sex was acceptable to be between. The restrictions for the time of day stated that sex was only allowed during the night in complete darkness. Men were only allowed to be on top (missionary) unless they were fat, then it was acceptable for the women to be on top. There was absolutely no anal, oral, or other positions allowed ever. Sex was only allowed between a married man and woman for the strict purpose of procreation. Sex for fun was completely inappropriate.
This class has taught me a lot about Medieval times that I previously had bias towards. Medieval people weren't completely dirty and living in filth, they wore vibrant clothing, and there were times of good and happiness it wasn't all just bad and killing everyone.

Class overview

The most important thing that i learned in this class was how to pull key words out of texts to paint a vivid picture of what the story is mainly about. Another good thing that i learned and will be able to use in my business degree is to think more critically about the information in front of me. This will be key in being able to listen to everything and making a good decision based off all of the information taken in. lastly i learned how to right a paper based on poems and texts instead of just on numbers and vocabulary words.

This was a very interesting class that enlightened me on the middle ages, which is cool because i really enjoy learning about history. I would take another class like this just because it was very informative, and a different approach to learning than just a lecture. It was fun being able to hear how everyone has a different interpretation of how they see different key aspects of a story. Overall this class was fun, and had a good time in class even though I am not a morning person.

Nobody Can Top our Blog

When looking for another blog that was related to the middle ages I found this blog.

http://jekely.blogspot.com/

In this blog there are quite a few posts about the middle ages, it says that this blog is more centered around the art and its history in the middle ages. The post that I found most interesting would be the one about the Medieval treasure in a grave from the Mongol Invasion. There were many rings and other treasures that were found in this place. This blog post is mainly about the historical facts from mainly Hungary during the Middle Ages. It is a really interesting idea and topic, it also gives me some new and interesting information on the subject. It also talks about how this grave site was not the only place where they would find these things, and how they had archaeologists who would always be able to lead these things to find more treasures from the middle ages. I like this blog post cause it was more about actual physical things that were found that could be dated back to the middle ages rather than what we generally talk about on this blog which is more of the fictional things.

How Women and Men are Portrayed

When looking for a scholarly article about one of the texts i stumbled on one that went with a lot of the texts we read as a whole. The article that I read is titled Men and Women as Represented in Medieval Literature and Society. In this article there is a lot about how the women and men are thought to be portrayed, which is the men being heroic and the women being damsels in distress. In this article it is refuting that idea and saying what the stories are actually like. It also talks about how women are not usually given the main role of a story, they are generally the supporting roles to the medieval texts. Another reason it gives for having women in the stories was to recognize the men in the stories for their brave and heroic acts, even if they died which meant there would be people to mourn when they died as well. It also talks about how Grendel's mother is characterized differently since she is an outcast because she is a descendant of Cain. It says that she does not have to live up to these morals that the other women are living up to. 

After reading this article I think that it is pretty spot on with what it has to say about women in these stories. Also what it says about the men in many of the stories. This article is something that would help a person get to thinking on what women and men were thought to do in the Medieval Literature times. It not only discusses what the roles of men and women have in the texts form Medieval Literature but also what people who do not really read much of it usually think about it. It is a great way to summarize most of the readings taht we have done over the semester, because it talks about a couple of the people that we have read about in class.

http://digitalcommons.apus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1048&context=saberandscroll

Sumorlæcan Néawung

The title of this is supposed to mean Summer is Coming. I'm not completely certain but I tried to look it up.

This semester has been pretty interesting and I've enjoyed it a lot. Probably the most interesting thing that I have learned would have to be how to actually read the way some Medieval Literature has been written. When I first looked at how some of the texts were written I thought I would never be able to understand what they were saying. But after reading a few different pieces I started to pick up on how to actually read the texts and understand what they meant. Although I still do not know haw to read every single word I am able to now pick up what the main meaning of the text is. I can not actually pronounce how the words are written. I really thought this was an intresting class, and I'm glad that I chose to take it as an elective for my Literature class because it has helped me to get into the readings that I do and also really think about what is being written.

Endless Knowledge and Endless Thanks

Hello Everyone!

This semester has been a whirlwind, it seems like yesterday we were reading the blickling homilies. I will admit I was rather illiterate in medieval literature at the beginning of the semester; by no means do I consider myself an expert but I do believe if the time comes when I am standing face-to-face with a scholar of medieval literature I may be able to hold my own. We may not have had to memorize anything in this class, but I am prepared to astound a dinner party with my oration of the first 18 lines of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (thanks Dr. Mann). 

If I take anything away from this class it is that the Middle Ages were a vast period of time that is oftentimes overlooked. Individuals who lived during the middle ages are unseen for their contributions to literature or art or science. They are often overshadowed by the enlightenment and the renaissance. We should praise the individuals of the past for their contributions to culture, because trust me they contributed. 

The issues of the past are relevant today. For example, the use of violence throughout the different medieval texts. The same glorification of violence reigns true today. We are surrounded by violence in the news, in movies, in music: we are gradually being desensitized to it and yet this is nothing new it is a societal malady that has always existed. 

I would like to thank Dr. Mann for sharing her knowledge with us and encouraging us to open our minds and to analyze everything. Thank you for bringing enthusiasm to even the most difficult texts.

Thank you to my fellow classmates. I have so enjoyed getting to know you. You all are interesting, kind, genuine, and bright individuals. I have no doubt that your futures will be filled with abundant blessings and successes.

Goodbye dear friends, may the fourth be with you . . .

 

What I've Learned

Over the course of the last 16 weeks I have learned a lot of interesting aspects to Medieval Literature. I had an idea that I would be reading stories about knights in shining armor who come to women's rescue, but I didn't realize how many texts dealt with religion. Religion was a huge part of these author's lives and I wasn't expecting to be reading a whole lot about religion. I am not a very religious person so this concept was not only surprising to me, but I learned a lot of new concepts in regards to religion. I never thought I would get so annoyed by a saint like I did with Margery.

I also liked how we looked at stories from different theoretical perspectives. I especially liked how we deconstructed Beowulf from an environmental point of view. As I read the story I thought well if these monsters are killing men then sure Beowulf has a right to protect these people, but I didn't take into account that maybe these men were in their space and their noise invaded Grendel and his mother's privacy, which means the monsters had ever right to strike back at them. 

I also enjoyed learning about the Anglo Saxon culture because I believe it helped explain how these texts were written. We are usually seeing a male character who is honored with fame and riches for his excellent battle skills. What makes a man "a man" is how he shows it on the battle field and in return he will receive glory, honor, women, and treasure.