Today's class began with the ever so regular projector problems. Thankfully we managed to get technology on our side in only a few minutes. Who knows when it'll just stop working for good?
We popped Beowulf into the laptop, found where we left off, and continued from there. I have got to say, when Grendel was on screen attacking everyone, I could feel the evil he emanated. Good thing Beowulf was around, and managed to kill Grendel. Too bad Grendel's mother wasn't too happy -- leaving all the men in Herot pinned to the chandeliers as a sign to Beowulf of her anger. Shudders.
Moving from that terrible scene into something a bit more light, we opened our homework and continued with The Canterbury Tales. Discussion ensued regarding the fact that Chaucer didn't finish his work on the stories. Questions were raised as to the exact number of stories each member of the pilgrimage was to tell. Our textbooks record 124 stories as the original plan, yet only 24 were penned by Chaucer before he died. Librarius.com has these 24 stories online. However, Librarius states that 30 people went on the pilgrimage. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the
word you want. After some research, I have concluded that there is no sure conclusion. Some sources suggest 24 pilgrims, each with two stories. Some sources suggest 30 pilgrims, with two stories, bringing a total story count to 120. And our textbook suggests 24 pilgrims (if you consider the 'tradesmen' to be one entity), each with two stories, although that math doesn't add up to 124. Let's all agree that he died before he finished and leave it at that (although some think he intentionally didn't finish -- but that's another story altogether).
A question was also posed about the monk's "lover's knot". Here's a link to a lover's knot.
FOR HOMEWORK:
1) Read The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (pp. 65-70). Do the questions on the sheet handed out for the pilgrims, beginning with the Merchant and ending with the Wife of Bath (for a total of nine sections).
2) Be aware that there will be a quiz soon. Tuesday was mentioned, but nothing was set in stone. You have been warned...
Lethologica is an apt word to know as it is a condition that befalls us all at some point.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be a fitting word for the definition too: Letho (I'm thinking lethary, meaning sluggish or having no energy) and Logica (logic or knowledge)...words are wonderful.
Speaking of wonderful, how fantastic is that ring? Simple in design yet elegant and full of meaning.
Lastly, thanks for doing the leg work on the pilgrim/story thing. Perhaps the fact that there seems to be no satisfactory ending confirms its existence as literary fiction.
In short, nice blog!