ALL ABOUT BEOWULF

 Origins of the epic

Beowulf is the oldest surviving Anglo-Saxon epic poem. It is anonymous and unfinished, but
probably the author is one. It was probably written down in 8 th century. It has come to us
as a manuscript in the late 10 th century or in the early 11th century. Beowulf was probably
written down by a monk in a monastery. He added Christian elements and references to
the Old and New Testament, too.
 Plot
Beowulf is centred around the heroic deeds of the protagonist, who kills monsters and
fights enemies of all sorts. In particular, three monsters: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and a
Dragon.
Grendel: It is an evil monster who terrorised the Denmark’s king for twelve years.
Beowulf, prince of Geats, offered to fight its and in fact, he killed the monster by tearing
off its claw (strappandogli la zampa).
Grendel’s mother: After Grendel’s death, its mother killed one of the king’s men as
revenge. Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother, too.
Dragon: After fifty years, Beowulf became a king and defeated a dragon that has been
attacking his people. When he killed the dragon he also died.
The poem ends with Beowulf’s funeral.
 Settings
Denmark: Land of the Danes.
Heorot: Communal meeting place for feasting and drinking.
A misty lake: The place where the Grendel’s mother died.
Geatland: land of the Geats, in Sweden.
 Characters
Hero: Beowulf wanted to conquer glory and honour to be remembered after his death. He
was brave, strong and generous. He perhaps had supernatural powers, in fact he killed
monsters who fly, live under water and breathe fire.
Monsters: Grendel is a man-eating, he lives in the night e his physical aspect isn’t
explained. Grendel’s mother lives in a supernatural lake filled with sea-dragons; she and
her son with their power can dissolve swords. The dragon is the last monster that was
killed by Beowulf, at this point aged.
 Style and themes
Beowulf depicts a warrior society where fate and destiny are important for the people’s
life. It exalts the bravery of Beowulf and his loyalty to the king who ruled the kingdom.
The hero risked his life to kill the three monsters. In this poem there is the conflict
between the good and the evil and there are Christian values.
The style is elevated and poetic. The vocabulary is vivid and various, made richer by similes
and kennings. Simile is introduced by as or like and it is a figure that compared two
different things. Kenning is a periphrasis that is used to describe something. There isn’t
rhyme but every line is divided into two halves, with two stresses connected by an
alliteration, poetic device that consists in the use of the same initial consonantal sound of
some words.