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Old English Epic: Beowulf's Legacy

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. It tells the story of Beowulf, a Geatish hero who uses his superhuman strength and courage to defend the Danes from the monster Grendel and later Grendel's mother. Later in life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. The poem explores themes of loyalty, honor, good versus evil, and the fleeting nature of life.

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42 views8 pages

Old English Epic: Beowulf's Legacy

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. It tells the story of Beowulf, a Geatish hero who uses his superhuman strength and courage to defend the Danes from the monster Grendel and later Grendel's mother. Later in life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. The poem explores themes of loyalty, honor, good versus evil, and the fleeting nature of life.

Uploaded by

Carlota Dcp
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Beowulf

BASIC INFORMATION

- The most important surviving Old English poem


- 3,182 lines (10% of all Old English verse
preserved)
- Anonymous. Materials originating in oral
tradition
- Composed in the 8th-9th century
- Manuscript from approx. 1010, kept in the
British Library (Nowell Codex)
- Epic poem. It tells the story of the Scandinavian
hero Beowulf, leader of the Geats. Set in the
6th century
Literary aspects
• Alliterative verse: each verse is divided (by a caesura) into two halves
(hemistichs) which are not linked by rhyme but by the similar sound of
the first syllables.
• Kennings (metaphorical compounds) are very abundant. Some examples
are: ‘battle-sweat’ (blood), ‘whale-road’ (the sea), ‘battle-snake’
(arrow), ‘sun-board’ (sky).
• Paratactic syntax. Abundance of catalogues and synonyms.
• Important themes: loyalty and honour, fraternal love, the battle
between Good and Evil, Destiny, the fugacity of life, the dangers of
pride. These themes are illustrated by the story and also developed in
deveral digressions.
• Melancholic tone. According to JRR Tolkien, Beowulf is an elegy, rather
than an epic poem.
Beowulf’s plot summary
The story of Hrothgar’s
mead hall
Hrothgar, King of the Danes, has
built a mead hall, Heorot, for his
retainers.
The sounds of celebration cause the
ire of Grendel, a troll-like creature.
Grendel attacks the hall, killing and
devouring Hrothgar’s warriors for 12
years.
Beowulf, a Geat hero, hears of
Hrothgar’s plight and asks his king
permission to leave and fight the
monster
The fight
with
Grendel
The fight
with
Grendel’s
mother
King Beowulf
slays the Dragon

• It’s been fifty years since his battle with


Grendel and his mother. Beowulf is an old man
• Beowulf has become the king of the Geats, a
wise and benevolent ruler
• A thief has enraged the Dragon, who
devastates the land of the Geats
• Beowulf kills the Dragon but is mortally
wounded in the fight.
• Beowulf is burned in a great funeral pyre.

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