Beowulf

              This week we were introduced to a lot of medieval concepts that were most likely foreign to us. I thought it was a little hard to keep up with discussions seeing as how there was so much to take in but what I would really like to go into in more depth is the idea of the ring and what it's significance is in medieval literature. In a primitive mind set rings served as guardians that kept demons and evil spirits from entering the body. Rings also serve to symbolize keeping the soul in place with the body, this may also serve as a sort of symbolic immortal status (1).
               We also see the ring s everlasting impression when couples propose to each other with an eternal circle. This symbolizes that the commitment of the ring-giver to his/her people. Just as we saw in Beowulf when I believe the author/translator refers to Beowulf exclusively as a "ring-giver". This term comes with much more weight than the simple fact of protecting a group of people. In these times a leader is what defined a group of people just as when Beowulf or even his father lead their people, the Geats were known as a strong, proud, honorable group of people. We see throughout history how important the "ring-givers" are in a society. They are the difference between a strong and weak society.
               

 1. Frazer, James, 1922. The Golden Bough. Published by Penguin Books Limited with an introduction by George Stocking Jr., 1996 (Frazer's abridged version).