The opening line of Beowulf isn't actually confusing

 Hwæt wē Gār-Dena in gēardagum þēodcyninga þrym gefrūnon hū ða æþelingas ellen fremedon

The above is the Old English opening line for Beowulf.  There's been a lot of debate on how to translate the opening word "Hwaet".  This is ironic because "hwaet" is Old English for "what", so the question is, what's there to translate‽  Here's a straight translation without punctuation (though capitalization is added per modern convention).

What we have heard of the majesty of the Spear-Danes in days of old how the nobles performed acts of courage

The problem comes from punctuation that has been added by translators.  For Centuries, translators have added punctuation to that treats "Hwaet" as an interjection.

An interjection is a word or phrase that is grammatically independent from the words around it, and mainly expresses feeling rather than meaning. - Merriam-Webster

So, the punctuation typically breaks up the first line into two sentences, but that breakdown is the reason for the confusion.

Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in gēardagum, þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon, hū ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. 

There are huge debates on how to translate "Hwaet" as an interjection. Choices that have been made are "Lo!", "Listen!", "So,", "Hark!" and "Bro!", among many others. However, a plain reading the text reveals something that's typically missed in all of these debates.

"Hwaet" is not an interjection! It should be treated as an intensifying adverb.  It shouldn't be separately punctuated because it is grammatically necessary to the sentence.  The first line should just be:

"Hwæt wē Gār-Dena in gēardagum, þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon, hū ða æþelingas ellen fremedon." 

Or

"What we have heard of the majesty of the Spear-Danes in days of old, how the nobles performed acts of courage."

This restores a concept from the plain reading, that of parallelism between the two phrases with structures that utilize an intensifying adverb.  This is the raw poetry of the line.  In fact, if there are to be two sentences, the breakdown should be between these two phrases (which currently form a run-on sentence).

"What we have heard of the majesty of the Spear-Danes in days of old. How the nobles performed acts of courage."

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However, from my perspective, there's another problem that now arises with modern translations.  That is, modern translations seem to treat Beowulf as story being told by a bard as some myth from long ago.  In my opinion, that's not how a plain reading of that first line introduces the story.

Let's try a literal-based (word-for-word) translation.

What we Spear-Danes in days-of-old of-people-kings majesty have-heard how the nobles courage performed

If we take "we" to be inclusive to an intended audience having some relationship with the Spear-Danes, then this isn't a bard's retelling of an old myth.  It could be the speaker including the audience in a story about a shared lineage.  Taking this into account may render the modern translation as follows:

What of the Spear-Danes in days of old, of the kings' majesty we have heard. How the nobles performed acts of courage.

By respecting the grammar of the original text (even without punctuation as guides), we actually may  discover a sentence that introduces a story as a matter of heritage, a claim of shared greatness from which the audience descends.  Such an introduction actually recontextualizes the entire surviving story of Beowulf.  This story regales the audience with great deeds of a shared history.

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Sources:

• The status of hwæt in old English - George Walkden
• Listen! Beowulf opening line misinterpreted for 200 years - Jonathan Brown
• What is Hwæt? The Debate Behind Beowulf’s Opening Line - Hana Videen

Adventure in Hobbiton

To travel to Hobbiton from Auckland requires a car rental or a tour bus, similar to our previous tour to Rotorua. My choice was the tour bus option. Unfortunately, the drive on the tour bus to Hobbiton was rather annoying due to another passenger who was a know-it-all that disrupted the tour guide's chatter with an endless series of inane questions (apparently, to which this person already knew most of the answers). Besides that, the Hobbiton tour itself was definitely a highlight of our New Zealand trip.

The day of our trip (December 13) was mostly sunny, which offered a spectacular backdrop for the tour. We got to see dozens of Hobbit homes. I love the Hobbit story, and the films, so this was a special treat. Many of the Hobbit homes were sized for forced perspective during filming, while many others were sized at nearly human scale for filming close-up shots with the actors.

We took a lot of photos. In some photos, we appeared slightly larger than a Hobbit would next to their home, but in other shots, we were giants. The Hobbiton tour guide was genuinely entertaining. He bore a striking similarity to David Tenet. 

The amount of detail for each home exterior is amazing. Even more detail was present in the Hobbit home interior that we also toured.

After the Hobbiton tour and return to our transport back to Auckland, we had one additional stop at the reservoir on Waikato River. Unfortunately, the ride back to Auckland was with that same know-it-all, but overall, the adventure was great!

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Db1JxYTINd3/?img_index=1

New Zealand South and North Islands

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December 3 - 15, 2025, with Allie (and sometimes her cousin) at Queenstown, Frankton, Queenstown Airport, Provenance Cafe, Frank's Eatery, Pantry By Frank's, Ma Boulangerie Bakery, New World Supermarket, Kawarau Bridge, Kawarau River, DoubleTree By Hilton, Water Taxi, The Lake Counter, Wakatipu Grill, Stacks Pub, Hilton Queenstown Resort, Queenstown Beach, Remarkable Gifts, Jellycat, DF Souvenirs, The Outpost Souvenirs, Global Culture, The Station, William Rees Statue, Finz, Real NZ Visitor Center, Anita Gelato, Skyline Gondola, StratosFare, Skyline, Kiwi Park, Mavora Lakes, Manapouri Community Hall, Lake Manapouri, Manapouri, Frasers Beach, Anduin River (Waiau River), Te Anau, Auckland, Auckland Airport, Auckland Harbour Bridge, Westhaven Marina, Auckland Zoo, Kingsland, St. Kevin's Arcade, Bestie Cafe, Myers Park, Four Points By Sheraton Auckland, Queen's Head, Sky Cafe, Sky Tower, Odettes Eatery, Typo, Market Square, Remarkable Gifts Auckland, The Christmas Heirloom Company, Auckland CBD, Oji Sushi, Origino Bistro, OK Gift Shop Auckland, Pier 11, Atrium On Takutai, Amano, Auckland Harbor, Mission Bay Beach, eSarn Wok Mission Bay Thai Eatery, Kapiti at Mission Bay, Mission Bay, Achilles Point, Robert Harris Cafe, Karapiro Dam, Hobbiton, Te Puia, Rotorua, Polynesian Spa, Sulphur Point, Lake Rotorua, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland

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Also see

• Queenstown Dec 3-5 - Gondola and Central Business District
• Queenstown Dec 6 - Lord of the Rings Filming Locations Tour
• Queenstown Dec 7 - Extra day in town
• Auckland Dec 8-9 - Arrival and Exploration
• Auckland Dec 10 -  Auckland's Harbor and Newmarket Mall
• Auckland Dec 11 - Rotorua, New Zealand
• Auckland Dec 12 - Auckland Zoo and Horse Races
• Auckland Dec 13 - Hobbiton Movie Set Tour
• Auckland Dec 14-15 - Mission Bay and Achilles Point, then Home

Tour of the Solar System News, from Mercury to outer limits of the Solar System

 Let's take another tour of the Solar System with current news about each of our major objects.

Mercury - Dramatic Flyby Confirms That Mercury's Radioactive Aurora Touches the Ground, backup link and source material.

Venus - The Founder of OceanGate Wants to Send 1,000 People to Colonize Venus, backup link.

Earth - Why Nasa is exploring the deepest oceans on Earth, backup link.

Mars - Mars helicopter Ingenuity breaks 3-month flight gap with 53rd Red Planet hop. backup link.

Ceres - The Dwarf Planet on Our Doorstep, backup link.

Jupiter - James Webb Space Telescope sees Jupiter moons in a new light, backup link.

Saturn - 100-year 'megastorms' on Saturn shower the ringed planet in ammonia rain, backup link.

Uranus - NASA's New Horizons will investigate Uranus from the rear (Neptune, too). Here's how you can help, backup link.

Neptune - Neptune's Disappearing Clouds Linked to the Solar Cycle, backup link.

Pluto - None Of Pluto's Five Moons Actually Orbit The Dwarf Planet, backup link.

Haumea - NASA Studies Origins of ‘Weird’ Solar System Object: Dwarf Planet Haumea, backup link.

Makemake - The Dwarf Planet Named for an Easter Island Fertility God, backup link.

Eris -  Meet the Solar System's five, backup link.

Quaoar - Dwarf planet Quaoar has a ring instead of a moon, and scientists don't know why, backup link.

Orcus - The Dwarf Planet Orcus, backup link.

Salacia - As big as Ceres, but much farther away, backup link.

Gonggong - First dwarf planet in solar system named after Chinese mythical figure, backup link.

Sedna - 2029 will be the perfect year to launch a mission to Sedna, backup link.

Movies I watched in 2022

2022 isn't a full return to form for the movie industry, but it's a good few steps forward.  There was still a significant period of time where I just wasn't interested to see any movie in the theaters for weeks, if not months.  Overall, though, I saw quite a number of movies.  This won't be a review.  I'm just going to list what I saw with links for streaming if someone else wishes to see them now.

2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024 - 2025 - 2026

George the Welder

On a whim, I decided to get myself Krispy Kreme today.  I drove to the one nearest to my home.  As I approached the entrance to KK, a mother opened to door for her young son while holding her baby and bady bag in her left arm.  Then she did something rather strange. While juggling her baby and baby bag, she actually attempted to hold the door open for me as well.  I was like "Thank you, but I should be holding the door for you" as we exchanged smiles.  I politely reached over her to hold the door for them, and then again for the inside door.  She then took her son to check out the donut making machinery while I went to the counter to order my donuts.  

I got a warm and gooey glazed donut, along with a raspberry-filled donut, and a milk.

As I left the counter with my order, I decided to sit in the dining area.  After quickly devouring my glazed donut, I then pulled my raspberry donut from the bag to eat it.  That's when I was approached by a tall man, a gentleman.  He was wearing a rather colorful and intricately patterned shirt.  His hair and beard were long long since white, his face weathered, his stance slightly crouched, and his demeanor friendly.  I hadn't noticed at first though.  My face was down in my phone, playing a tired but engaging game.  

This gentleman approached me and got my attention by mentioning the fact that we were both eating raspberry-filled donuts.  He then asked me if I fish or hunt.  "I don't."  He asked how long I've in Colorado. "It's been a few years.  How about you?" I asked with expressive interest.

This sparked a conversation that lead to him asking if it OK to sit down at my table.  "Of course!" Our conversation continued.  He asked,  "what do you do for work?"  I replied with "software design", knowing full-well he wouldn't have the first clue what that is.  However, I answer this sort of question forthrightly and directly as a matter of respect.  As expected, he didn't know how to progress with that topic, so he just took the opportunity he needed to talk about his life, his father and family.

As we talked, I caught a glimpse of the mother as she was grabbing a table for her family. She give me knowing expression, like she briefly sympathized with me for getting roped into my situation.

Well, it turns out this gentleman has seen a few things in his long 88 years.  He has a sister that is 94. He moved to Colorado in the 50's from Chicago.  He was a welder.  He was in the Air Force, though I'm not sure if he was a welder in the Air Force, or not.  He mentioned how he was on the basketball team for the Air Force that won a championship.  I inquired about this further, thinking he might be someone I could look up later.  However, it turns out it was a league made up of the various squadrons, not college.  His team was the only team to have a black player.  It's my impression that he felt the need to make an excuse for this fact by saying the black guy was the only other member of his squadron willing to do the required daily run of four miles.  If so, it's interesting that he felt the need to make such an excuse. He was clearly proud that he was a part of the championship team.  I'm guessing that others at the time felt like his team cheated by accepting a black guy in the team?  However, my impression could be wrong; maybe he had other reasons for mentioning this fact in this manner.  Either way, this makes me question, what excuses am I making now for something that will be perfectly normal in 30 years?  

He talked about his time at Rocky Flats (backup link) working on equipment for the production of nuclear bomb triggers, I presume as a welder. This was his segue to discuss a particular incident that lead to multiple diseases that he now suffers.  I'm not going to talk about specifics of the incident or his resultant diseases, other than to say some incidents at that site are public knowledge and can be read about separately.  However, hearing his first hand account solidifies concerns over the defunct Rocky Flats facility.

We talked about other things too, but I did more asking than telling because I can see he was man facing his own mortality and seeking to share his experiences.  He just needs someone to listen.

His name is George.

Letter (at least some) that we should think about restoring to English

Eight years ago, I wrote an article about the letter thorn, that used to be used in English to represent TH sound.  Before that, I wrote about even more common sounds in English that aren't represented by English letters. Well, a few years ago, Austin McConnell also covered this topic in his video 10 Letters We Dropped From The Alphabet. In particular, my mind was blown at learning the origin for the name of "&".

Out of all these letters, I think we'd benefit from the restoration of thorn, and maybe some modification thereof so that the voiced and unvoiced TH sounds can both be represented.  (Much like Austin, I'm not a fan of eth.)