[gothic-l] Re: Beowulf and the Geats

[Anthony Appleyard]

  "Philip Rusche" <ruschep at nevada.edu> wrote:-
> ... Also what Beowulf King of the Danes are you referring to? And what
> would he have to do with the fictitious Beowulf the Geat in the poem?
> Le's statement in another post that myth is based on history is also false.

Beowulf the Geat (or Be:wawulfaz the Gautaz or whatever he called himself in
the language of his own time) was not necessarily fictional. Remove the
dragon; replace Grendel and his mother by an ordinary gang of air-breathing
human forest bandits; and the events as thus changed may have happened.

Similar night have happened in classical Greek legend with Bellerophon slaying
the Chimaera in Asia Minor. {Khimaira} is Greek for "billygoat". Bellerophon
likeliest in reality fought against a local chief whose name or symbol was
Billygoat. Over time and re-telling, "he slew King Billygoat" became "he slew
a billygoat", and then that supposed billygoat had to be given special
dangerous characteriatics to make it a worthy enemy for a mighty warrior.

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