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.

Beowulf with some valiant Goth comes to the help of Hrotgar, king of the danes whos 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 kings 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 Grendels 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 Grendels 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 kings 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 dragons 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 mens 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 dragons 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 of the metrical scheme until the late Middle Ages.

Assonance, sometimes called vocalic rhyme is the repeatition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together.

The poem has a theme that is often ...