Republic of the Philippines Northwest

Samar State University Rueda St.,

Calbayog City 6710
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ENG10:
Survey of Philippine Literature in English

A Short Story Review of Beowulf

Submitted by:
Andrew Marvin B. Abad

Submitted to:
Mrs. Maria Lourdes Mae Vergara-Billate

ENG12: Survey of English and American Literature

 Republic of the Philippines Northwest
Samar State University Rueda St.,
Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
ISO 9001:2015 Certified Telefax: (055) 2093657

A Short Story Review of Beowulf

Beowulf is the epic adventure story of a heroic young prince who saves a neighboring
kingdom by destroying a troll-like monster and the monster’s avenging mother. The
story is actually a three thousand-line poem composed in Old English in the 8 th century.
It is considered the first poem in the Canon of Traditional English Literature. It was
composed by an unknown author often referred to as the Beowulf Poet. Ironically, the
only surviving manuscript does not have a title either and over centuries it has become
famous as Beowulf after his protagonist. The story is pretty interesting to me mainly
because I love reading stories in this genre. Another thing that got my eagerness to
continue reading the whole story is the main themes of Beowulf which include bravery,
vengeance, loyalty, and generosity. I am really interested with such stories having these
themes because it depicts the reality of life and I know that reading them completely
teaches me a lot of life lessons.

The story takes place in the early to mid-sixth century and consists of two parts. The
first begins with young Prince Beowulf of the Geats. "Geatland" is the same as the
modern-day island of Gotland, which lies in the Baltic Sea just east of Sweden. To the
south, in Denmark, King Hrothgar of the Danes is being terrorized by a ravaging, troll-
like monster called Grendel. Grendel hates the sounds of happiness and celebrating, so
every night he comes to King Hrothgar's magnificent feasting hall to kill and eat the
king's warriors. This has been going on for twelve years when Prince Beowulf arrives
unannounced with a small band of men. He says he has heard of the trouble and wants
to try his hand at destroying the monster.

King Hrothgar agrees to let Beowulf try, even though no sword can cut through
Grendel's skin. The king offers food and drink and then leaves the hall with Beowulf and
the men of Geatland closed up inside. That night, in order to lure Grendel, Beowulf and
his men celebrate loudly and boisterously. It works and Grendel comes to attack them.
He kills one of Beowulf's men but this time he has met his match, for Beowulf- making
no attempt to use a sword - battles Grendel hand to hand and succeeds in tearing off
the monster's arm at the shoulder. Grendel then flees the feasting hall and goes out into
the wilderness, where he dies. All of the warriors celebrate together, but the threat is by
no means over. The next night, Grendel's mother - who has no name in the poem and is
not clearly described as either human or monster comes to the feasting hall to take her
revenge. She kills one of Hrothgar's best fighters and leaves but Beowulf follows her to
her lair, which is in a cavern at the bottom of a lake. As before, with Grendel, a fierce
battle takes place that is largely hand-to-hand. Eventually, as the fight continues
Beowulf sees a great sword on the cavern wall and is able to use it to behead Grendel’s
mother. Also, in the cavern is the body of Grendel. Beowulf beheads it as well, though
the blood from the monster dissolves the great sword and leaves only the hilt. After
getting back to the feasting hall, Beowulf is richly rewarded by King Hrothgar with both
gifts and honors. Prince Beowulf then returns in triumph to his home and family on the
island of Geatland.

The second part of the story opens some fifty years later, where the aged Beowulf is
now the king of Geatland. It seems that a golden cup has been stolen from a dragon,
enraging the beast so that it burns the countryside looking for its treasure. Beowulf sets
out to fight the dragon and even though his warriors go with him, he says he will face
the creature alone. The battle is a terrible one and Beowulf is beginning to lose. His
men flee to the forest, feeling that they can do nothing against such an enemy. Yet one
man does find the courage to remain with King Beowulf and together they kill the
dragon. Beowulf, however, has sustained a mortal wound and dies soon after the battle.
The king is given a hero's funeral with his body burned on a pyre. His people then build
a great mound near the edge of the sea in Beowulf's memory.

ENG12: Survey of English and American Literature

 Republic of the Philippines Northwest
Samar State University Rueda St.,
Calbayog City 6710
The reason why I really
Website: like this story is that I can relate Beowulf’s main battles to my
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real-life experiences. In real life, Beowulf’s battle against Grendel describes my battle
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against a thousand words from the judgements I received from the people around me.
In order for me to stop being judged by others, I studied hard in high school to get good
remarks and earn reputation to disprove their wrong judgements about me. Beowulf’s
battle against Grendel’s mother reminds me of the tough times I thought I was fighting
alone and felt giving up but then, with the love and support I get from my family and
loved ones, I was able to surpass all of those. Finally, Beowulf’s last battle against the
dragon represents every decision I make in my life where I am tempted with greediness
which will lead me to self destruction, if only I will not be responsible enough to think
wisely. This event from the story reminds me of the two main results after making a
decision, it’s either a regress or progress.

There are a few other important things I learned and observed from reading Beowulf’s
story. Firstly, I think the author’s purpose for writing the story is to make us realize that
we shouldn’t be trusting people too much because not everyone is really on our side. In
the story, Beowulf gained fame and reputation after winning his first battle against
Grendel but when he fought with Grendel’s mother almost all of his companion thought
he would be dead and decided to leave him. But Beowulf- with his full courage and
dedication to kill the monster- proved his might by winning the battle alone. Also, in the
final battle, when Beowulf’s army witnessed that the dragon outmatches their king, they
flew and only one warrior remained standing by him to his death. This passage of the
story just proved how the author clearly depicts the cruel reality of life and I must agree
that he successfully achieved his purpose of writing this literary piece. The setting of the
story is perfectly appropriate to the genre and the twist and turns of the events make
every action suspenseful enough to read. The author uses literary devices such as
alliteration, assonance, caesura, and kenning which contribute to the passage and what
I interpret from reading these particular literary devices. Finally, I think the central idea
of the story is loyalty. I see Beowulf as a good example in manifesting his loyalty to the
Danish King- Hrothgar- that even though he was left alone fighting battles many times
he still didn’t turn against him or anyone and he made every promise to his people come
true. It’s the same admonition sought by Wiglaf- the only warrior who remained standing
by him to his death.

For the most part, Beowulf is a truthful and suspenseful story to read. It is absolutely
worthwhile and I will recommend it to others. Beowulf teaches us about heroes. Heroes
are fun to study in general, but Beowulf himself gives us the ultimate Anglo-Saxon.
Heroes are symbols of their culture. By analyzing Beowulf’s character, we can see what
the Anglo-Saxons prized in a human being.

ENG12: Survey of English and American Literature