Yet the prince of the rings was too proud

to line up with a large army against

the sky-plague.

beowulf, 2345-2347

So learn from this

and understand true values. I who tell you

have wintered into wisdom.

beowulf, 1722-1724

awesome. just awesome. want this to be said of me one day.

They are fatherless creatures,

and their whole ancestry is hidden in a past

of demons and ghosts. They dwell apart

among wolves on the hills...

beowulf, 1355-1358

But he knows he need never be in dread

of your blade making a mizzle of his blood

or of a vengeance arriving ever from this quarter --

from the Victory-Shieldings, the shoulderers of the spear.

beowulf, 595-598

i would dread my blood being made a mizzle.

Well, friend Unferth, you have had your say

about Breca and me. But it was mostly beer

that was doing the talking.

beowulf, 530-532.

ooooooooooooh.

They had seen me boltered in the blood of enemies

when I battle and bound five beasts,

raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea

slaughtered sea-brutes...

therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame

and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce

sword and the shelter of the broad shield,

the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand

is how it will be, a life-and-death

fight with the fiend. Whichever one death fells

must deem it a just judgment by God.

beowulf, 419-441

beowulf is a new david: a king who comes with three triumphs (remember david had already killed the bear and the lion before goliath, so having killed goliath and triumphed a third time he was ready to become king) and now, like david, renounces armor, saying that the battle is the Lord's.

The leader of the troop unlocked his word-hoard;

the distinguished one delivered this answer...

beowulf, 258-259

The river was a snake looking for someone new to tempt, You were the apple of my eye, I saw you everywhere I went.




Samuel Dickison

lyrics via Moon Face

some notes regarding the cooking of pork

1. Father Capon deals not with the humble pork cutlet nor with its preparation in his otherwise magnificent book, Supper of the Lamb. This was revealed to me today, making me feel like I did the first time I realized that I could actually drink the entire Dr. Pepper can. There was, finally, a bottom to my pleasure. 

b.  Pork is wonderful barbecued. Or bbq'd. Or thrown onto a fire, smothered in a deep red sauce that smells like burnt wood and Jack Daniels. Perhaps the Lord didn't want Israel sacrificing pork because He knew it would be too much of a temptation for them not to actually let the pieces burn up on the alter. I doubt that was the actual reason, but I like it anyways. 

iii. If you ever barbecue pork, I recommend the following: Having well basted the meat in sauce, pepper, and salt, lay an apple (make sure it's a tart one - Pink Ladies work well) sideways on the cutting board, so that the stem is sideways. Cut through it, making circular rounds. You want them maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. That way you give moisture to the pork without demanding too much of the poor apple. Cut these rounds in half, and nick out the harder core-esque bits. Drop those bad boys right on top of the pork whilst it chars. When you flip the pork the one time that will be necessary (any more and you're throwing away not only any possibility of being called a grill-master but also the juices the pork and apples try to hard to hoard against the flames) make sure that you put the apples back on top on the cooked side. 2 apples will top about 6 decently sized pieces of pork, or enough for 3 hungry bachelors. 

There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know.

 Ambrose Bierce

one of the greatest phrases i've ever read

soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells. 

from Robert Frost's poem Birches