Englad Oldest Epic Poem: Beowulf

In "Beowulf", England's oldest epic poem, we find many parallel terms for the things most commonly described.

The world that created Beowulf is a world of plain and direct morals and standards. Confidence underlies the trials of its characters and heroes are the ones who take that action with no hesitation or second thoughts. The way in which Beowulf and his kinsmen deal with difficulties is not less than an urgent call to action. It's very rare in "Beowulf" for a discussion on the dilemmas at hand not to end in some kind of action. Emotion and passion are there, and the words used are abundant, yet there is no way for these characters to find an intellectual solution to their difficulties. The correlation between these two types of interaction is expressed early by Hrothgar's horseman, scrutinizing the coastline. He says "A sharp shield warrior must be a judge of both things, words and deeds, if he would think well" (288-290). This statement is essential to bring into discussion the importance of the speech in war.

Broadly speaking, and apart from its disastrous consequences, the war embodies a variety of strategies and virtues like courage, faith, and sense of duty . For being an armed conflict between two or more parties in which only one wins, the connection and synchronization between warriors, comprehension of fight strategies, being one for all and all for one is fundamental. In order to achieve a common denominator, an army needs a leader who will best symbolize all these. The way the leader transmits his knowledge to the warriors is language. Thus, it's the "word-hoard" that will encourage, stimulate and give confidence to the warriors. Here we understand how important Beowulf's speeches are.

The discourses given by Beo...

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...evelops strong in the epic, and here Beowulf comments that revenge comes first over mourning for losing the loved ones. He also highlights the idea of continuing to exact his vengeance on Grendel's dead body, as the author justifies by "to pay back Grendel for the many battle-storms" (1577-1578). Beowulf continues his revenge by cutting off the head of Grendel, seeing the mutilation of his body as a trophy of his victory, his revengeful wish being more than necessary at this point.

The epic of "Beowulf" is of the adventures and the pursuit of a hero, determined to fight with no fear against powerful enemies, save people from dreadful monsters and bring glory to himself and his lord.

Such a speaker, with such a "nothing can stand in my way" attitude, cannot but be successful in leading his people and warriors, making the epic with the same name a read to remember.