{blogger.comtSummary(blogger.comtTextFromField(blogger.comg))} Beowulf (/ ˈ b eɪ ə w ʊ l f /; Old English: Bēowulf [ˈbeːowuɫf]) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3, alliterative blogger.com is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English blogger.com date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was Nov 13, · Beowulf Summary. B eowulf is an Old English poem about a Geatish hero who comes to Denmark to kill a monster.. Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, to fight the monster Grendel
Beowulf: Study Guide | SparkNotes
It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between and Beowulfa hero of the Geatscomes to the aid of Hrothgarthe king of the Daneswhose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel.
After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland Götaland in modern Sweden and essays on beowulf king of the Geats.
Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragonbut is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.
Scholars have debated whether Beowulf was transmitted orallyaffecting its interpretation: if it was composed early, in pagan times, then the essays on beowulf is central and the Christian elements were added later, whereas if it was composed later, in writing, by a Christian, essays on beowulf, then the pagan elements could be decorative archaising; some scholars also hold an intermediate position.
Beowulf is written mostly in the West Saxon dialect of Old English, but many other dialectal forms are present, suggesting that the poem may have had a long and complex transmission throughout the dialect areas of England. Anglo-Saxon poetry is constructed very differently from a modern poem.
There is little use of rhyme, and no fixed number of beats or syllables; the verse is alliterativemeaning that each line is in two halves, separated by a caesuraand linked by the presence of stressed syllables with similar sounds. The poet often used formulaic phrases for half-lines, including kenningsevocative poetic descriptions compressed into a single compound word.
No definite sources or analogues of the poem can be proven, but many suggestions have been made, including the Icelandic Grettis sagathe Norse story of Hrolf Kraki and his bear- shapeshifting servant Bodvar Bjarkithe international folktale the Bear's Son Taleand the Irish folktale of the Hand and the Child.
Persistent attempts have been made to link Beowulf to tales essays on beowulf Homer 's Odyssey or Virgil 's Aeneid, essays on beowulf. More definite are Biblical parallels, essays on beowulf, with clear allusions to the books of GenesisExodusand Daniel.
The poem survives in a single copy in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. It has no title in the original manuscript, but has become known by the name of the story's protagonist. It survived, but the margins were charred, and some readings were lost. The poem was first transcribed in ; some verses were first translated into modern English inand nine complete translations were made in the 19th century, including those by John Mitchell Kemble and William Morris, essays on beowulf.
Afterhundreds of translationswhether into prose, rhyming verse, or alliterative verse essays on beowulf made, some relatively faithful, some archaising, some attempting to domesticate the work. Among the best-known modern translations are those of Edwin MorganBurton Raffelessays on beowulf, Michael J. AlexanderRoy Liuzzaand Seamus Heaney. The difficulty of translating Beowulf has been explored by scholars including J.
Tolkien in his essay " On Translating Beowulf "who worked on a verse and a prose translation of his own. The events in the poem take place over most of essays on beowulf sixth century, and feature no English characters, essays on beowulf.
Some suggest that Beowulf was first composed in the 7th century at Rendlesham in East Angliaas the Sutton Hoo ship-burial shows close connections with Scandinavia, and the East Anglian royal dynasty, the Wuffingasmay have been descendants of the Geatish Wulfings. The poem blends fictional, legendary and historic elements. Although Beowulf himself is not mentioned in any other Anglo-Saxon manuscript, [8] many of the other figures named in Beowulf appear in Scandinavian sources, essays on beowulf.
The raid by King Hygelac into Frisia is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in his History of the Franks and can be dated to around The majority view appears to be that figures such as King Hroðgar and the Scyldings in Essays on beowulf are based on historical people from 6th-century Scandinavia.
Like the Finnesburg Fragment and several shorter surviving poems, Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian figures such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic figures such as Offaking of the continental Angles. Eadgils was buried at Uppsala Gamla UppsalaSweden according to Snorri Sturluson. When the western mound to the left in the photo was excavated inthe finds showed that a powerful man was buried in essays on beowulf large barrow, essays on beowulf, c.
The eastern mound was excavated inand contained the remains of a woman, essays on beowulf, or a woman and a young man.
The middle barrow has not been excavated, essays on beowulf. In Denmark, recent archaeological excavations at Lejrewhere Scandinavian tradition located the seat of the Scyldings, essays on beowulf, Heorothave revealed that a hall was built in the mid-6th century, essays on beowulf, essays on beowulf the period described in Beowulfsome centuries before the poem was composed.
The protagonist Beowulfa hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Daneswhose great hall, Heorotis plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands, then kills Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair. Later in his life, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragonessays on beowulf of whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound.
He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon to its lair at Earnanæsbut only his young Swedish relative Wiglafwhose name means "remnant of valour", [a] dares to join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded in the struggle. He is cremated and a burial mound by the sea is erected in his honour. Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts.
The poem begins in medias res or simply, "in the middle of things", essays on beowulf characteristic of the epics of antiquity. Although the poem begins with Beowulf's arrival, Grendel's attacks have been ongoing.
An elaborate history of characters and their lineages is spoken of, as well as their interactions with each other, debts owed and repaid, and deeds of valour, essays on beowulf. The warriors form a brotherhood linked by loyalty to their lord.
The poem begins and ends with funerals: at the beginning of the poem for Scyld Scefing [18] and at the end for Beowulf. The poem is tightly structured. Carrigan shows the symmetry of its design in a model of its major components, with for instance the account of the killing of Grendel matching that of the killing of the dragon, the glory of the Danes matching the accounts of the Danish and Geatish courts.
Beowulf begins with the story of Hrothgar, who constructed the great hall, Heorot, for himself and his warriors. In essays on beowulf, he, his wife Wealhtheowand his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating. Grendel, a troll -like monster said to be descended from the biblical Cainis pained by the sounds of joy. Hrothgar and his people, helpless against Grendel, abandon Heorot. Beowulf, a young warrior from Geatland, hears of Hrothgar's troubles and with his king's permission leaves his homeland to assist Hrothgar.
Beowulf and his men spend the night in Heorot. Beowulf refuses to use any weapon because he holds himself to be Grendel's equal. This display would fuel Grendel's mother's anger in revenge. The next night, after celebrating Grendel's defeat, Hrothgar and essays on beowulf men sleep in Heorot. Grendel's mother, angry that her son has been killed, sets out to get revenge. Earlier, after essays on beowulf award of treasure, The Geat had been given another lodging"; his assistance would be absent in this battle.
Hrothgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Unferða warrior essays on beowulf had earlier challenged him, presents Beowulf with his sword Hrunting. After stipulating a number of conditions to Hrothgar in case of his death including the taking in of his kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estateBeowulf jumps into the lake, and while harassed by water monsters gets to the bottom, essays on beowulf he finds a cavern.
Grendel's mother pulls him in, and she and Beowulf engage in fierce combat. At first, Grendel's mother prevails, and Hrunting proves incapable of hurting her; she throws Beowulf to the ground and, sitting essays on beowulf him, tries to kill him with a short sword, but Beowulf is saved by his armour. Beowulf spots another sword, hanging on the wall and apparently made for giants, and cuts her head off with it. Travelling further into Grendel's mother's lair, Beowulf discovers Grendel's corpse and severs his head with the sword.
Its blade melts because of the monster's essays on beowulf blood", leaving only the hilt. Beowulf swims back up to the edge of the lake where his men wait. Carrying the hilt of the sword and Grendel's head, he presents them to Hrothgar upon his return to Heorot.
Hrothgar gives Beowulf many gifts, including the sword Næglinghis family's heirloom. The events prompt a long reflection by the king, sometimes referred to as "Hrothgar's sermon", in which he essays on beowulf Beowulf to be wary of pride and to reward his thegns.
Beowulf returns home and eventually becomes king of his own people. One day, fifty years after Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother, a slave steals a golden cup from the lair of a dragon at Earnanæs. When the dragon sees that the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in a rage, burning everything in sight.
Beowulf and his warriors come essays on beowulf fight the dragon, but Beowulf tells his men that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait on the barrow. Beowulf descends to do battle with the dragon, but finds himself outmatched. His men, essays on beowulf, upon seeing this and fearing for their essays on beowulf, retreat into the woods. One of his men, Wiglaf, however, in great distress at Beowulf's plight, comes to his aid. The two slay the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded.
After Beowulf dies, Wiglaf remains by his side, grief-stricken. When the rest of the men finally return, Wiglaf bitterly admonishes them, blaming their cowardice for Beowulf's death. Afterward, Beowulf is ritually burned on a great pyre in Geatland while his people wail and mourn him, fearing that without him, the Geats are defenceless against attacks from surrounding tribes. Afterwards, a barrow, visible from the sea, is built in his memory.
The poem contains many apparent digressions from the main story. These were found troublesome by early Beowulf scholars such as Frederick Klaeberwho wrote that they "interrupt the story", [32] W. Lawrencewho stated that they "clog the action and distract attention from it", [32] and W, essays on beowulf.
Ker who found some "irrelevant The dating of Beowulf has attracted considerable scholarly attention; opinion differs as to whether it was first written in the 8th century, whether it was nearly contemporary with its 11th century manuscript, and whether a proto-version possibly a version of the Bear's Son Tale was orally transmitted before being transcribed in its present form.
Tolkien believed that the poem retains too genuine a memory of Anglo-Saxon paganism to have been composed more than a few generations after the completion of the Christianisation of England around AD[47] and Tolkien's conviction that the poem dates to the 8th century has been defended by scholars including Tom ShippeyLeonard NeidorfRafael J. Pascual, and Robert D. The claim to an early 11th-century date depends in part on scholars who argue that, rather than the transcription of a tale from the oral tradition by an earlier literate monk, Beowulf reflects an original interpretation of an essays on beowulf version of the story by the manuscript's two scribes.
On the other hand, some scholars argue that linguistic, palaeographical handwriting essays on beowulf, metrical poetic structureand onomastic naming considerations align to support a date of composition in the first half of the 8th century; [52] [53] [54] in particular, the poem's apparent observation of etymological vowel-length distinctions in unstressed syllables described by Kaluza's law has been thought to demonstrate a date of composition prior to the earlier ninth century.
Hutcheson, for instance, does not believe Kaluza's Law can be used to date the poem, while claiming that "the weight of all the evidence Fulk presents in his book [b] tells strongly in favour of an eighth-century date.
From an analysis of creative genealogy and ethnicity, Craig R. Davis suggests a composition date in the AD s, when King Alfred of England had secured the submission of Guthrumleader of a division of the Great Heathen Army of the Danes, and of Aethelredealdorman of Mercia. In this thesis, the trend of appropriating Gothic royal ancestry, established in Francia during Charlemagne's reign, influenced the Anglian kingdoms of Britain to attribute to themselves a Geatish descent.
Beowulf Essay
, time: 3:02Beowulf: Full Book Summary | SparkNotes
Nov 13, · Beowulf Summary. B eowulf is an Old English poem about a Geatish hero who comes to Denmark to kill a monster.. Beowulf comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, to fight the monster Grendel {blogger.comtSummary(blogger.comtTextFromField(blogger.comg))} Critical Essays Major Themes in Beowulf. Loyalty. A theme in a literary work is a recurring, unifying subject or idea, a motif that allows us to understand more deeply the character and their world. In Beowulf, the major themes reflect the values and the motivations of the characters
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