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Beowulf Boast: Game


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I was looking through my old files on my computer when I found an assignment that I completed for English. Our class was assigned to write a Beowulf Boast based on the techniques used by the Beowulf Poet. Basically, you make the accomplishments of your life seem amazing, no humbleness allowed. To make it interesting, you use massive ammounts of kennings. Kennings are used to replace words with more abstract compounds. For example, "death" may be replaced with the words "sleep of the sword." The two things mean the same, but using "sleep of the sword" hides the meaning in plain sight and makes it sound more poetic.

Another technique is to use synonyms to hide what you are saying.

I propose a game where one person will make a Beowulf boast (of at least four lines) and the next people will try to guess what character from a Brandon Sanderson book the boast applies to. Whoever gets it right gets to write a new one that people will guess on. If there are more than five wrong guesses, provide some hints, if nobody gets it after ten guesses, just reveal it.

For example:

When fire comes, I remain.

Practitioner of the alloy of senses,

I have obtained the highest degree of my calling,

Battled the Ending God,

And led my people to a new world.

This boast is for Spook.

He is the Survivor of the Flames

He uses tin, metal of the senses.

He is a savant, the highest degree of a Misting is to be a savant,

He fought against Ruin, the god who wanted to destroy Skadrial.

He then became the leader of the people who survived to live on New Skadrial.

I hope that this isn't too confusing.

My boast for you to guess is thus:

Didact of herbs,

I betrayed truth for circles of weath,

Living in a society run by a tyrant,

My offspring became wielders of weapons.

If anybody is interested, here is the Beowulf Boast that I wrote. If you want me to edit in an explanation, just let me know.mif anybody wants to guess on that, they are fine to, just make sure that it is annotated seperate from the other guesses.

I am Sirce, Wielder of Luck, son of Dabalina, son of Christmas, king of skies and herbs.

Hailing from ye ol’ motherland across Ægir’s domain, usher of swift gales and riling pipes.

My Lord accrues massive armies of unique servants of which I am heir.

I am apprenticed to my begetter; a thaumaturge of our châteu’s scullery.

I have charmed the offspring of the serpent of old, and thus, no challenge peeves me.

With knowledge as my arbalest, truth my buckler and wit my helm, no blow lands.

I have captured the Drigg’s boon and I release it with a passing breath.

Challenged the sleep of the sword with seraphic protection.

Matched only by gods in loyalty, cunning, adaptability, courage, devotion, imagination, and humor.

I have been laid in siege by the Giver of Salt and have held fast.

I have attained the highest degree of glory over the Scum and outwitted Hawswitch in stratagem.

I am the sovereign of heretofore and whithersoever, a true disciple of the Son of Sander.

My only divine foes are Hemalorus, Imbecilia, Barbatronus, and Cantus-Shepantus.

I have Sojourned in the lands of the East, and been adopted as one of the mighty Clankers.

My legacy shall be engraved in history and Gaea’s charge itself.

Betwixt this day and my end I shall deal death to the Cavetroll, Shepherd of Dingbats,

And give up a tithe of my life for the paramount two annum.

Here is the explanation of my Boast:

So, Sirce Luckwielder, my name. I got the name Sirce while at my friends bachelor party. It was on his XBOX and I thought it sounded cool. Since nobody else knew me at the party, I got the nicknames: Sirce, Milkman, and Blazer. I use Luckwielder because when I play card games (Egyptian Ratscrew, Scum, Palace, you name it) I have a sixth sense on how to play my cards. Dabalina is my dad's alias. He works in Human Resources and he will put on a fake voice and call people to play pranks on them. Christmas is because my grandpa's name is Noel, another word for Christmas. He is the king of skies and herbs because he is a heart surgeon and he flew Fighter planes in the Air Force.

The second line is where my ancestry is from. Ægir’s domain Is the sea. While I have ancestors from all over Europe and New Zealand, my last name comes from Scotland. That's where the roaring pipes and swift gales come from.

The third line is about my dad's PEZ dispenser collection. If you don't know what they are, picture little tubes in the shape of a rectangle with a head on top. The head will look like a character from a movie, or a cartoon, or whatever they decide to put on them. By tilting back the head, it will eject small candies. My dad collects the dispensers and has over 2700.

The fourth line is about my mom. She is a great cook and she is teaching me the ways of our kitchen.

The "offspring of the serpant of old" comes from a Studio C episode about a Puritan roommate. He called women offspring of the serpant of old. "No challenge peeves me." This comes from a Balloonshop episode called "I'm Auite Peeved."

I am a nerd, so truth and knowledge are my primary weapons when I face challenges.

The Drigg's boon is another name for music. It comes from an idea for a book that I had. I play trumpet and can kind of sing.

Line eight is about how I have had a lot of close experience with death. For one example, when I was born I had the umbilical cord around my neck four time. Another time was when an ATV fell on me when I was four years old.

The next line is traits that I have. At least, I like to think that I do.

The Giver of Salt is my calculus teacher. His name was Mr. Saltzgiver and he was tough.

I am pretty good at games. Hawswitch is my friend who has this super strategy when he plays chess. Somehow I actually beat him once.

Line twelve is about how I am often verbose. People will complain about how long my texts are. My friends and I will have battles to see who can come up with the longest run-on sentences, the best David Charlestonesque metaphors and I actuslly write essays for fun sometimes. It is also about my love of Brandon Sanderson.

Line thirteen is another reference to Studio C. This episode was their own gods of the Ancient Greek Pantheon. These are the gods of aging, stupidity, running out of toilet paper, and unfinished . . .

The next line is about a trip I took to Europe for school. While in Germany, I tried out my accent on the words I knew. The locals actually asked if I was actually German. The term Clankers comes from the book Leviathan. In the book, which is fantastic by the way, the Germans are called Clankers. It is a rewritten version of World War One where the Central powers use mechanics and the Triple Entente combine animals genetically. They are called Darwinists.

The next line is just saying that I want to be famous and do things that will be remembered.

The Caverroll, Shepherd of Dingbats is something I call my friend. When we play cards we have some fake swear words and insutls, this is one of his.

The last line is about going on to serve a mission for two years for my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Another term fle us is "Mormons."

So there you go, that is my boast. What I loved about it was how I could say so much without anybody understand anything unless I sat down with them. I love how compacted it is and how much meaning it contains. When we actually read them, we tried to guess who wpeach one was about. The teacher had to give mine to a my friend because she needed someone who could get through it. When people guessed on mine, they kept thinking that it was some teacher, or the English Sterling Scholar, who was alos in the class. Overall, the entire experience was awesome and it was fun to write this and share it.

It you actually read all of this, I congratulate you. Bravo! If you want to say anything about it or coment on it, just say something either here or as a reply to my profile feed.

Edited by Sirce Luckwielder
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Hoo boy. :P
 

I bare my defiance before the Ancient of Days.
I have cast my shadow in the cracked vaults of the world,
Have broken and remade myself in the darkest of places
Where life-fire dims and the shades of the valiant reside.
Hope-giver I am, the bright clarion that rouses the downtrodden.
My name alone smites the highborn from their brightlit thrones and manses.

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Unyielding, I hold my own, though storms rage and worlds burn.

Never shall I surrender to temptations or deception. 

I have my name, my hope, my cause. These things must suffice.

I understand what I must do. I cannot be abased. 

Unhindered by the web of lies, I comprehend the truth. 

I will never be broken. 

 

There you go. 

Edited by Lindel
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