I've noticed a few things that are very similar that we have touched on in the Lord of the Rings.
There's a lot of talk about ring givers. That being people who give freely of their riches. This matches with the hobbits giving of gifts and of the sayings of the high one. also the term "ring-giver" makes me think there is something more significant about rings in this culture that I'm not seeing. This might add something more significant to the value of the One Ring.
Also the long lineage and the historical value of each person in that lineage makes Beowulf a lot longer than it would be if it just concentrated on him. Definitely reminds me of that Monty Python skit. It also reminds me of the hobbit lineage that just seems to keep going in LOTR.
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A "ring-giver" (< OE beag-gefa) is a word with much significance, as it denotes a generous lord.
The term "ring" here, however, is not the same kind of ring we think of. Our modern Eng. word 'ring' comes from an Old English word, hring. A "beag" (=mod.Eng. 'ring') is a ring worn around the arm, rather than the finger, and served somewhat as a monetary unit in early Germanic societies.
ya when gandalf was introducing strider/aragorn/dunadan to frodo, he went out of his way to explain how aragorn was the son or arathorn and one of bloodlines to the throne of gondor and so forth. Same with gilfrendel and the like.
From the term you explained does it have anythign to do resembling like a mark of a faction or clan to distinguish people from societies and one another.
Even on the first page of Beowulf, there are similarities. Boromir's burial much resembles Scyld Scefing's.
I haven't gotten to Boromir yet. That's really interesting about the term "Ring-Giver". Thanks for the input.
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