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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Things are slow today, so I thought I'd post some interesting words and phrases from the John Gardner version.
Grendel speaking of deer: "That is their happiness: they see all life without observing it."
"...blackening the night with my stench..."
"...I am secretly unfooled."
"...fuliginous riddling hex..."
"...pale skin of words that closes me in like a coffin."
"...it was my own language, but spoken in a strange way, as if the sounds were made by brittle sticks, dried spindles, flaking bits of shale."
"...brattling birds..."
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I admit I'm at a total loss here, great turns-of-phrase aside. Is this a reworking of Beowulf?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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No, it's the book, Grendel, by John Gardner. Grendel is the narrator. I just enjoy some of the words and turns of phrase he used, and thought you all might like to see some, is all.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Yes but Grendel is a sort of reworking of Beowolf, with the story told from the monster's point of view.
I'm working on a musical version myself. I need help with the title...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've never heard of the book before... Great idea! And it's not even written in Old English! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A musical Beowulf, hmm? Well, Grendel swims up through fire-snakes: what about something with fire-snakes in the title?
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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I seem to recall a chink, thump, thump, chink (not in Grendel's version, the poor beast). The chiasmus of the old English version does inspire a good beat. It no doubt helped the storytellers.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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We do seem to have an innate love of rhythmical patterns, don't we? Maybe visually as well as auditorily?
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enthusiast
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Jackie has an astute sense of drawing others out in conversation. Yes, visually as well as auditorily. I know the blocking actions of actors helps them remember lines...I'm certain the oral poets of lore kept their cadence through movement, and when they had a pulled hamstring, they probably improvised (or is it extemporized?), giving us plenty of variability in form.
How many men and women wrote Homer's greatest works?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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How many men and women wrote Homer's greatest works? Is this a trick question? I have to say, my favorite poetical rhythm is the old ta-DA ta-DA ta-DA ta- DUH-UH, ta-DA ta-DA ta-DA ta- DAH. What can I say? I'm a stick-in-the-mud.  Odd--I never realized this before, but the first ta in each line is definitely the pick-up eighth note in 6/8 time. (I realized that when I tried to figure out why I felt compelled to put that UH in there: to allow for the "missing" beats in the measure, since there's no rest symbol in poems.) Songs in triple time are always favorites of mine, too. No, I'm not crazy--I don't think. Thanks, Brandon--you do tend to lead my thoughts down new pathways.
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