Gustave Dore

Gustave Dore was a french artist who did engravings, illustrations and sculptures. Many of his engravings were done in wither steel or wood. He preferred engravings to any other type of artwork, he did work as a commissioned artist for many authors and works of literature. He lived from 1832 to 1883. Gustave was already making art at age five and at age fifteen, he had his first illustrated work published. He began to carve his artwork into stone when he turned twelve. He began his artistic career publishing in Paris. As well as doing work for Milton, he also did illustrations for Dante. He also illustrated a version of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" and a version of the bible. His version of the English Bible did very well and in 1867 he had a major exhibition in London. Dore did most of his work in France and England. He was a true European Artist. He did his work for John Milton in 1866, this is when he did his artwork in Paradise Lost, including his famous depiction of Satan. I posted this and another image from Paradise Lost below, there are more images from Paradise Lost on the link below.

Gustave Doré

http://www.danshort.com/pl/

The Heavenly Hosts


Depiction of Satan

http://www.danshort.com/pl/

Post 4: Through the Guards Eyes

I hate my job, just staring at the ocean day, after day, after day. It is always the same, no one ever show up. No threat is ever posed. Why me? Why do I have to be the only person in this entire land that has to sit here and stare at the big, blue, pointless ocean? Honestly, why could I have not been a warrior like the other men? Or better yet, A King. I could do Hrothgar’s job better than he. He can’t even keep Grendal out of his silly little hall. What kind of king is that? Clearly, he should be doing this job, not me.

Funny, it looks like there is something on the horizon, a boat maybe… no. There is no way; my mind must be playing tricks on me because I have been looking at the plain ocean for so long. There cannot possibly be a boat. There has not been a boat in what seems like ages. But, it seems to be getting larger and coming closer. Maybe it really is a boat, maybe someone really has come to our land. Yes, it is a boat. For once my job is interesting. But who is it, could this be danger? Hopefully it is help for our fight against Grendal. It is most definitely a ship, a ship that has now landed on our banks. And men are disembarking. There are not many though… how could so few men come to fight? Are they a threat?  (The men disembark and talk to the scout, he then returns to his thoughts).

So they are not a threat, they are here to help protect us from Grendal. The King will be happy that they are here to help restore order. But how can this man be here to help if he only has fourteen men? He can’t honestly think that he can defeat Grendal like that? I mean yes, he is in very good shape and it looks like he could easily take on twenty men by himself and win. He is the picture of health and all of his men seem to be in perfect shape as well. They have the proper armor and the proper training from what he has told me. But it seems like he is a little cocky to say the least, if he thinks that he can take on Grendal with just fourteen men. This man is either insane or just overly arrogant. The king will be happy but now I must take this man and his troops to him and assign someone to watch their weapons. Maybe just staring at the sea was better than actually working… at any rate this man might actually be a hero. He does indeed have potential. He is by far a noble man it seems. I guess the fate of the great hall is in his hands now.  (486)

Rings

Rings are a huge theme in Beowulf. They appear everywhere and have high importance throughout the story.  The king is considered to be the bearer of rings. It is a very important part of the job of a king. When Beowulf and his army return home from fighting, the king is handing out rings to them. But why is this? Why are rings such an important part of this story and of this culture?

These rings are considered to be a form of bounty or treasure and are handed out to the warriors when they return from fights. It is almost like a medal for the people of these times. The rings are of value and can be worn on fingers or on chains around someone’s neck. This makes them more personal and more practical than something larger. A ring can be worn anywhere, where as carrying a chest of gold around would not be as practical. They are proof that the king has recognized them for something of great importance. These rings are almost a way of showing off the great service that the warriors have given to both the king and the people.

It is interesting to me that rings were so important back then, however it is even more interesting to me that people find it to be a distant thing. Even today in the United States of America, rings are given as rewards or trophies in a way. When a baseball team wins the World Series, each player is given a ring to commemorate they year that they were the best. This also happens for other professional sports such as football and basketball.

Even classes for high school and college have rings. They are a way for a class to commemorate their time together and their accomplishments through the years that they shared at an institution. These rings hold memories and accomplishments for the people that own them. For instance many people will were their college class ring for their whole life because it is a way for them to hold the memories of college close and make them feel more connected to their class as a community. The ring is something that they all have in common.

Of course, when we think of rings today, we usually think of engagement or wedding rings. This is another way that society uses rings to connect people. These rings connect people on a closer level, but it is interesting to think that rings were connecting groups of people so long ago. How could such a tradition withstand so much time? It was of importance in society then and it still is today. This only goes to show that some traditions can be timeless; the importance of the ring is clearly one that will last for quiet a while.  (471)