Road Trip--My Story

Road Trips—In Literature

Literature offers a plethora of road trip stories such as the one Beowulf takes with his buds to save Geatland and earn honor. Homer’s “Odyssey” is the great-grandparent of all road trips. (If you haven’t read Margaret Atwood’s “Penelopiad” (“The Odyssey” from Penelope’s point-of-view), you should. No one yet has taken up my story-telling challenge, so I am offering up another story in the context of the previous blog posting, How to Read “Beowulf.”

Road Trips—My Story

Back in the waning days of undergraduate school at LSU in the late 1970’s, I shared an apartment in Baton Rouge with two roommates. Our “friendkind” consisted of a loosely-knit group—non-trad college students, fast food workers, day laborers--just trying to get by. Its composition ebbed and flowed, depending on the weather and the moon.

Late one Wednesday, my roommates and I were working on a project due soon when a party materialized at our door. They informed us that Buddy had recently met a chambermaid who worked at the Alamo Plaza in Biloxi. Her day off was Thursday. A road trip to Biloxi was happening tomorrow so Buddy could get to know his new acquaintance better. Departure time was late afternoon so those with classes or day work could put in their day. Return time was very early Friday morning so those with classes or day work could put in their day.

Thursday afternoon we made the two-plus hour drive to Biloxi. Buddy met up with his girl. The rest of us hung out on the beach, drinking beer, eating shrimp, lolling about. Buddy and his girl got one room to themselves. She could only swing one room for the rest of us. That night, as we sorted out who would sleep in beds, in chairs, on the floor, in the bathtub, we heard a thumping and whimpering from the room next door—and it wasn’t a radio playing the blues. We decided to go as a group to investigate.

A disheveled fellow answered our knock. “You got a party going on over here?” we asked.

Uncertainly the fellow replied, “Yeah, we having a party.”

“Well, we’re having a party, too,” someone piped up. “We should all party together.” As we pushed into the room, I recognized the whimperer as a girl I went to high school with, Thea. As we milled about their room, I discreetly asked, “Are you OK?”

“No, I’m not OK,” she said quietly.

We put a plan in motion. One of our group just happened to have some “pain killers,” which someone managed to administer to Thea’s male companion. It did not take long before he was feeling no pain. We agreed that the guys would sleep in their room, and the girls, with Thea, would sleep in ours. No one had to sleep in the bathtub, after all.

Friday morning, we headed out a little earlier than planned, taking Thea with us and the coil to their car. As we approached Slidell, we realized that we had forgotten Buddy at the Alamo Plaza.

“Buddy’ll find his way home,” someone shrugged.

In Baton Rouge, we dropped Thea at her parents’ house. Later, I called her mother, who told me that they had sent Thea to Arizona to stay with an aunt. It was the only time I have ever heard of a girl going to “stay with an aunt” when she was not unwed and pregnant. I never received news of Thea again.

 

How To Read Beowulf (Or Let's Take a Road Trip)

After teaching medieval English studies at the college level for 10 years, I transitioned to teaching high school English.  Much to my surprise, seniors overwhelming preferred excerpts in the anthology of “Beowulf” over “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” I thought that the seduction, partying, intrigue, and lifestyles of the rich and famous of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” would have more appeal than drunk, “stoopid” men cowering in the face of the monster Grendel with the hero Beowulf saving the day. Ultimately, I ordered whole copies of “Beowulf” for the seniors to relish. The Old English epic poem has a lasting popular appeal.

Backgrounds—the Two Traditions

If you think memorizing poetry is difficult, imagine memorizing all 3182 lines of “Beowulf”! The Beowulf poet composed the poem long before William Caxton introduced the printing press to England in 1476. Before then, anything related to religion or law was committed to parchment; everything else relied on oral tradition—stories composed and passed down by word of mouth.

Why poetry? “Beowulf” was composed long before prose became acceptable for literary works. Anything with rhyme or meter is easier to memorize, leading to the alliterative tradition. The alliterative line has the repetition of similar consonant sounds across the line with a pause in the middle, aiding memorization and recitation.

Backgrounds—the Old English Time Period (499 A.D. or 700 A.D. to 1100 A.D.)

The dates of the Old English time period vary, depending on your interpretation of history. The Germanic chieftains Hengist and Horsa invaded what ultimately became England in 499 A.D. leading some to identify that year was the beginning of Old English. Old English language became recognizable as a language around 700 A.D., leading others to argue for that year as the beginning.

Unlike the Romans who oversaw the Celtic Isles until 450 A.D., the Germanic invaders intermarried with the native Celtic women. They held backyard barbeques, put up picket fences, and adopted collie dogs. With this intermarriage between Celtic women and Germanic invaders, England grew into a fledgling country which traced its history on the Germanic side back to Scandinavia, including Denmark and Geatland—the setting of “Beowulf.” As an epic poem, “Beowulf” celebrates the history of those who helped make Britain the empire on which the sun never sets.

Start Reading! Some Suggestions

·         Choose a translation. Take a few minutes researching and find the translation—poetry or prose—that is comfortable.

•         Read slowly and carefully. Forget immediate gratification!
• Create a list of characters as you read with a brief bio. If you confuse characters as you continue, simply consult your list.
• ·         Re-read what you don’t understand.
• ·         Re-read what you do understand and enjoy.
• ·         As “Beowulf” was composed in the oral tradition, be brash and read it aloud.
• ·         Be even brasher and organize an event to read “Beowulf” aloud. Invite some friends, buy some mead, and read! The group could assign parts and act out the poem or each could simply read a predetermined number of lines. Just don’t be “stoopid.”

Road Trips—In Literature

Literature offers a plethora of road trip stories such as the one Beowulf takes with his buds to save Geatland and earn honor. Homer’s “Odyssey” is the great-grandparent of all road trips. (If you haven’t read Margaret Atwood’s “Penelopiad” (“The Odyssey” from Penelope’s point-of-view), you should. No one yet has taken up my story-telling challenge, so I am offering up another story in the context of “Beowulf.” Because of length, my story is in a separate posting.