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Beowulf
Beowulf is the longest and the most famous anglo-saxon poem. It was
composed in Sweeden and Denmark. From there the invading vikings brought it
over Britain. The eipc of Beowulf was written down in old english in the 10-
th century.
The story is the following:
Beowulf with some valiant Goth comes to the help of Hrotgar, king of
the danes who's place at Heorot is wasted by the nightly attacks of
Geandel, a giant ogre. Every night Grendel emerges from his lair in the
marshes beneath the diffs in order to seize and devour one of the king's
companions. In a terible hand to hand struggle Beawulf tears off an arm of
the monster, who is mortally wounded and flees to his den, where upon all
is joy in victory and deliverance.
But Grendel's mother, avanges his son. She renews the attacks on
Heorot, and Beowulf resolves to go forth to fight her in her home. Diving
after her into the waters of a sinister lake, he meets her in combat in the
cave in which he duells beneath the water. When he is all but worster he
seizes a magic sword which hangs on the wall and plunges it in the body of
the fearful beast, and then, when the danes believe that he has already
fallen a victim to his daring he returns to Heorot in triumph, bearing
Grendel's gigantic head.
He becomes king of the Goth and reigns over them gloriously for 50
yaers. But some jewls are stolen from an ancient treasure guarded by a
dragon, who sets out in fury, devastate the king's realm, burning with his
flaming and pentilential breath all that lies in his path. Beowulf slays
the dragon and saves his people but he is himself mortally wounded during
the incounter by the monster venomous teeth and he dies nobly consoled by
the thought that he has sacrificed himself for his subject and that he is
giving back to them the incomparable treasure which has been in dragon's
keeping. He has however been forsaken during the fight by all his worriors
but one and great evils are prophesied for the Goth bereft of their king.
> Beowulf embodiess men's desire to fight evil, dragons, to overcome
monsters. He survives his struggle with Grendel, the monster who hates
mankind and kills people for pleasure, the symbol of physical evil. He also
overcomes moral evil, embodied by dragon's mother. Beowulf victory over
her, the source of physical evil, is more difficult.
The dragon is the most teriffing evil, the last one - death. He is
the ultimate evil man must face. Beowolf defeats the dragon but dies
himself, to show that metaphysical evil can be opposed but very rarely
overcome.
The poem is written in vers (about 3200 lines) but the sound patterns
are also very important. Alliteration, repeating and playing on the same
letter, is a very old device in english vers. In old english poetry,
alliteration was a continual and essential part |