The first source for my final project is from The National Endowment for the Humanities. (http://www.neh.gov/news/old-english-new-influences) The source itself is very brief, but provides great insight into the impact that old English literature, especially Beowulf, had on the modern epics such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. In Lord of the rings especially, anglo saxon themes becomes apparent in regards to charaters and the role they play. Saruman for example derives from searu which means "treachery" or "cunning." So Saruman is a treacherous man. Not only do themes play in to the modern epics, but so do the characters, dragons, mermaids, horned monsters all play into the story telling of danger and adventure that the old English epics portrayed. Another big point made is alliteration. This alliteration and use of more compound structuring of phrases and sentences helps to bring forth who a person is by not just labeling them a warrior or evil individual, but using terms like helmberend or "helmet bearer" to really help to visualize who these individuals are and to use words to create this more refined and detailed image of a character and those around him.