FRIDAY IN CLASS
I was out of town, and we were too close to the start of Beowulf to give you a worthy group work assignment or even worthwhile individual questions.  The object was just to READ.  You were supposed to start reading in class, get as far as you could, and read more over the week-end to get to the following point.  Since the sections have different translations, the reading assignment is given two ways.

2nd and 3rd:  line 498, p. 35
6th: through section 7, ending on p. 23

IN CLASS TODAY
We straightened out the Danes (Jutland/modern Denmark) vs. the Geats (Sweden), and noted that there was a different tribe, actually called the Swedish, who also lived in Sweden. And no,
Beowulf is not related in any way to Beo (the son of Schild/grandfather of Hrothgar). We established Hrothgar's creds as a king, noted details of the building of Heorot/Herot (more details to come), the ancestry of Grendel, and what specifically irritated him.  (NOT just "the noise" in the hall)

We made note of the evident knowledge of the Bible (at least Genesis in the Old Testament) on the part of the scop, in that the story of Cain and the Creation story are both mentioned here.  However, be prepared to see mixed messages, though, of both the belief in Fate (wyrd) as well as in Christianity.  The heroic ideal will also reflect values taken from both traditions.

We looked at Grendel's first attack in part to note that we have to infer or deduce a physical description--nothing in the poem describes how he looks.  Killing 30 men in their sleep and carrying them off to his lair, however, suggests considerable size and strength!

NOW--what I just wrote doesn't take the place of reading. If you just didn't read in class or over the week-end, go back and read now.  You have a head-start based on this post; now keep going till you get to the assigned point.

FOR TOMORROW
If you're behind to your best to catch up.  If you're hopelessly stuck, read FIVE MORE PAGES and have some specific questions to ask tomorrow.

If you're on target, just go ahead with five more pages of reading. (In the Heaney text, this means "ten" page numbers, but you're only reading the right-hand side.)