Ryan Waldis
English III Honors
Block 3
February 27, 2014
An Epic That Still Holds Value
With the almost sudden advancement of technology over the previous several decades, it truly is difficult to analyze and interpret a text that was written hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. As a child, one is taught to select books that seem appealing. As a child becomes an adolescent, however, works of literature are no longer selected, but instead given out by the instructor. As an adolescent becomes older, the appeal of reading decreases, and when confronted with a common epic that was written before the 10th century, it reaches an astounding low. Beowulf is clearly far from a common epic though. Through the use of synecdoche, metonymy, kennings, alliteration, and so on, the aforementioned epic poem should not decrease the appeal of reading. No, it should accomplish the antithesis of the preceding statement. The diction found in the text is often a concern, even for the most insightful scholar. Still, hundreds of years later, Beowulf is not only the best epic of its time, but perhaps one of the best ever written.
To fully understand why an epic would still hold value to this day, one has to first acquire a clear understanding of the typical epic poet. Sure, people in the current century still enjoy going to a bar (or, in the case of the Anglo-Saxons, a mead hall), but there is a minor difference between the two scenarios. Before the year 1000, most people went to a mead hall simply to listen to a scop tell an intriguing tale. After a while, it became clear that the hero in an epic always died at the hands of a much stronger antagonist. So, it’s common for one to wonder why a person, after hearing essentially the same story so many ti...
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There will always be an argument as to why epics such as Beowulf still hold value today. Some will simply say that the poem is too old to be enjoyed in a society like the one found in the 21st century. Many others, however, will say that said epics hold immense value. The value can be found almost anywhere throughout one of the only remaining poems for the Anglo-Saxon time period: the everyday values, the philosophies, the historical value; epics such as Beowulf still hold so much value that it is ridiculous to simply overlook it. As previously mentioned, the diction found in epics such as Beowulf, even with translation, cause most people to shy away from reading them. Still, hundreds of years later, it is clear: Beowulf is not only the best epic of its time, but due to its immense value today, it is perhaps one of the best epics ever written.
In Beowulf, the essence left behind by a true hero is extremely important. In epics such as this one, leaders tend to have the determination and boldness of a hero. On the other hand, the main character, Beowulf, does not display these certain traits. In this heroic poem, respect and trust come naturally. Honor and integrity are present throughout the poem.
Beowulf as an epic poem itself contains a large amount of differing archetypes throughout the lines of poetry. Although there are many more archetypes than just the ones that were described in detail, they all play a role in effectively producing a spectacular piece of work. The great epic poem of Beowulf, originally written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet and translated by R.M Liuzza, can easily be viewed as an incredibly detailed land with a broad range of archetypes hidden with the poetic
There are numerous similitudes and contrasts between Beowulf the motion picture which was made in the year 2007, and the poem by an obscure Angelo Saxon poet. A large portion of the likenesses and contrasts are clear. The poem was changed into a motion picture and was more advanced and simpler to see then the epic poem itself. The movie happens to be more modern and gives the audience a better understanding of Beowulf and what happened during his life. It also helps the audience visualize it rather than having to picture the occurences while reading the poem.
Was the story of Beowulf’s battle between good and evil a reflection of Christ battling Satan? There are 3 major battles within Seamus Heaney's edition of the epic poem Beowulf all of which earn Beowulf some heroic status for saving the town from the evil antagonists that lurk, but is there a deeper meaning behind these battles than just an old tale? Is there some metaphor we are supposed to perceive? Throughout Beowulf there are a lot of different themes to pick and choose from, some interesting and more prevailing ones are that of pride vs. humility and sacrifice vs. selfishness. Beowulf for example is very proud but at the same time humbles himself and offers his credit to the Lord. The bible states in Jeremiah 29:11 ‘“I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”’ Seamus Heaney portrays Beowulf as a Christ-like figure to spread the ideals and values of Christianity and God’s Love to the audience.
Beowulf begins with a history of the Danish kings. Hrothgar is the present king of the Danes. He builds a hall, called Heorot, to house his army. The Danish soldiers gather under its roof to celebrate and have fellowship with each other. Grendel, who lives at the bottom of a nearby swamp, is awakened and disgusted by the singing of Hrothgar's men. He comes to the hall late one night and kills thirty of the warriors in their sleep. For the next twelve years Grendel stalks the mead hall known as Heorot.
In the lecture Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics by J. R. R. Tolkien, he discusses Beowulf through a different aspect. Tolkien argues that the epic poem is infact, overlooked and not seen by the true aspect of the poem. He argues that Beowulf is a piece of literature that should be viewed as a piece of art, an epic poem, rather than just a composition of history. Tolkien supports his argument by carefully analyzing the text, including literary elements and themes the creator includes in Beowulf.
The second thing that makes Beowulf an epic hero is his strength. Beowulf’s main weapon against any opponents, he face is his mighty strength, which makes him the true epic hero. Beowulf fights many battles throughout his life, he killed all the monsters he faced, which shows his mig...
The epic poem, Beowulf, a work of fiction, offers more insight into Ancient Anglo-Saxon English culture than the work of Bede, who wrote, A History of the English Church and People. The epic poem Beowulf gives an enhanced illustration and clearer understanding of the culture of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon’s. The epic poem gives the audience a picture of what the Ancient Anglo-Saxon English valued; seafaring, warriors, heroes, and paganism.
The epic poem, Beowulf, coming from the years of 600 to 700 AD has been translated in many different styles. In these excerpts by Burton Raffel and Lucien Dean Pearson, provides a clear understanding of this epic poem. Reading the two different translations, Raffel tends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the evil nature of Grendel and the heroic characteristics of Beowulf.
An epic hero according to Anglo-Saxon literature is a hero who is larger-than-life; someone with self-confidence, great strength, and the qualities of loyalty, bravery, and honor. Beowulf can be considered an epic hero for multiple reasons throughout “Beowulf.” Beowulf is a character constructed on all of the Anglo-Saxon epic hero qualifications. For starters, Beowulf is seen as a noble character, that is willing to provide security for the people by risking his own life. As a character, Beowulf conducts superhuman strength, and can complete impossible tasks. These are only some among many other reasons and characteristics Beowulf can be classified as an epic hero.
Beowulf is a very brave hero, he has fought and killed many creatures before, but this battle was different. He knew this battle was of great importance to everyone, and that made him that much more nervous. This creature was fierce and had been tormenting their village for as long as they could remember, so her death would be a huge victory for Beowulf and it would be an even bigger relief for the villagers. All of the people in the village were cheering for Beowulf as he walked away headed off to the greatest battle of his life.
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle,” Norman Schwarzkopf. In the epic poem, Beowulf, an epic hero from Geats travels far out of his way to help the Danes with their fight against the nasty Grendel. However, in the story Beowulf encounters three monsters that he takes into his own hands and defeats them all. In doing so, Beowulf is rewarded greatly and becomes king and is looked up to by all. In his last battle, Beowulf defeats the dragon but dies soon afterwards, he is given an honorable burial. This poem was told throughout the era of the Vikings and was later written down as the first actually hard copy of the story. It was Burton
In “Beowulf” translated by Burton Raffel, the character Beowulf is portrayed as a brave, courageous, and very pious man. In the pagan tale the underlying motif of Good vs. Evil heightens these characteristics even to the point where Beowulf comes across as a symbol for God and Christianity. He battles “the demon” Grendel (ln. 16), Grendel’s mother, and a fierce dragon, all in order to save those who need aid, primarily the people of Herot. This too is very Christlike because he is serving those lower than himself for the sole purpose of doing the right thing. Although Beowulf is very brave all throughout, he becomes boastful and greedy from the time he first battles Grendel to when he takes on the dragon.
Beowulf possesses several distinct traits that allow him to be defined as an ideal epic hero and Anglo-Saxon hero. He is courageous, loyal, wise, and physically powerful. Beowulf puts himself through difficult situations just to keep his people safe from evil. He battles Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon for his people, though he does it for honor as well. Beowulf shows honor in all of his acts, but he is constantly seeking fame and glory through all of his accomplishments. Beowulf has the perfect qualities and characteristics it takes to be an epic
Beowulf is the single greatest story of Old English literature and one of the greatest epics of all time. Ironically, no one can lay claim to being the author of this amazing example of literature. The creator of this poem was said to be alive around 600 A.D. and the story was, since then, been passed down orally from generation to generation. When the first English monks heard the story, they took it upon themselves to write it down and add a bit of their own thoughts. Thus, a great epic and the beginning to English literature was born.