Wendys Elles Freythe

Poetry and Theater

Group: 15

BEOWULF

Beowulf is a heroic epic poem. It is considered the representative masterpiece of

the ancient period of English literature. It is a fictional story inspired and based on

an authentic geographic, political, historical and social context. Its author is

anonymous, but it is presumed that it was written in England, between the 7th or

8th centuries.

Beowulf is considered an anonymous work but there are three theories about its

origin.

The first is that the poem has its origin in pagan folklore, in a set of individual

legends about the figure of the hero Beowulf that were gathered and assembled by

a Christian copyist.

The second is that The Poem in its present form was written by a Christian copyist

who drew on existing songs, which means that there was already a poem about

Beowulf that has been lost.

The last one is that it was composed, based on previous songs and legends, by a

pagan author, and later "Christianized" by a copyist. All this around the 8th century.

The work is composed of 3182, representing almost 10% of Anglo-Saxon literature.

The work is divided into four parts that detail the most important parts of the work:
Wendys Elles Freythe
Poetry and Theater
Group: 15

Grendel: Here the work begins, with the attack of the horrendous Ogre Grendel,

who for 12 years attacks Herot, but that will change when the brave Gauta Beowulf

finds out and goes there to defeat, fighting hand-to-hand with him, and defeating

him taking his arm as a Trophy.

The mother of gréndel after defeating Grendel, Beowulf is rewarded, but after

spending the night in Herot he suffers a new attack, by the mother of Grendel who

kidnaps the best Danish soldier, and Beowulf goes off in search of him. Finding her

in an underwater cave and defeating her and returning with Grendel's head and

arm, which had been recovered by the mother.

Beowulf’s return: Beowulf returns to his native country, recounting his exploits he

did for three days in Denmark, and anticipates future trouble with the Frizios.

The dragon: 50 years pass, Beowulf made a king has one last challenge; fighting

the dragon that threatens to destroy his kingdom, he only has the only help of his

nephew Wiglaf.

in the boewulf poem the main ideas were: kill Grandel, Find and kill grendel's

mother, kill the dragon in one last effort, also in the poem we can find Secondary

ideas such as, Getting to the palace of Hrothga, Repairing Herot, Search for the

kidnapped soldier and finally Find the hideout of grendel's mother.

In Beowulf you feel courage and pride since he was seeking glory and did not feel

the fear of the people

Wendys Elles Freythe
Poetry and Theater
Group: 15

The poem describes various creatures from Norse mythology, such as Grendel, an

ogre just like his mother. They also name Dragons as these winged reptilian

beings.

Finally, Beowulf must face his ultimate fate, the dragon. The dragon represents at least

two major limitations of the heroic code. First, the question of whether Beowulf should fight

the dragon catches him between two conflicting rules: the rule that requires a warrior to

show unyielding courage and seek fame, and the rule that requires a king to remain alive

so he can protect his people. After Beowulf’s death, Wiglaf says that he chose wrongly:

“when one man follows his own will / many are hurt” . A more significant limitation arises

from the fact that even an exemplary warrior, like Beowulf, must eventually meet a foe he

cannot overcome (even if it’s just old age, as in Hrothgar’s case). Beowulf’s death is the

perfect warrior’s death: before he succumbs, he manages to slay a mighty opponent and

secure a huge hoard of treasure for his people. Nevertheless his death is a disaster. At his

funeral, his people foresee “enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles, / slavery and

abasement”. We are left with a sense that even if there is much to admire about the

warrior code, ultimately it is tragically misguided.