Unit 1: weeks 1 to 3
Here are the questions for weeks 1 - 3. Please use the comments section to post your answers. Do not make a new blog: 1. What genres do the following texts belong to? Voluspa, Volsunga Saga, Beowulf, The Hobbi t and Lord of the Rings . Give some examples from these texts that support your identification (for example: "Voluspa is an example of the _____ genre, as the following references to gods from the poem illustrate: "Hear my words / you holy gods' (l.1) "By Odin's Will I'll speak the ancient lore" (l.3), etc). 2. What are some possible features of residual (or "secondary") orality preserved in Voluspa, according to the criteria Ong (1982) advances? 3. Identify a central incident that happens in at least four of the above texts, and discuss how it is both similar and different in each example (remember to cite from the original texts). 4. How did Tolkien draw on the Old Norse and Old English texts in his Hobbit and Lord of the Rings