Consider: Ruling families. Before World War I, before democracy in western Europe, monarchy was the norm. A monarch is the head of a royal family. And so family dynamics, marriage, and familial relations were indistinguishable from politics. What are the family relationships at Finnsburg?

Ruling Women: How does Grendel's Mother compare to Weahltheow? Does her status depend on being able to kill people, to utterly destroy their homes and families? Are kings, queens, and criminals the only characters who are free? What does freedom mean under a monarch; is it a desirable state?

What role do the digressions play? Which elements of the Beowulf-plot do they emphaisze?

Extra Reading J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Monsters and the Critics." What is Tolkien's main point? What views is he trying to correct?

M. S. Griffith, "Some Difficulties in Beowulf, lines 874-902: Sigemund Reconsidered" (free through UMass)

OE Language: Weak Verbs

A) kA, chs. 11-14; OEA § 7