Textuality » 3A Interacting
Now I'm going to analyze the first stanza of the extract on page 57.
The narrator introduces immediately from the first line the central character. He is described as Hygelac's thane ,that is a royal vassal of some importance. After that the narrator tells the reader Beowulf's home-town. In succeeding lines there is a positive connotation of Beowulf. In fact the expressions that are used are: "There was no one like him", " He was the mightiest man on earth, high-born and powerful". The adjective "mightiest" means a powerful ,but also omnipotent, so the narrator attributes a God-like nature to Beowulf.
After that the character announced his plan; so the reader can understand that Beowulf has a strategic way to thinking. The narrator adds pieces of information to the characterization, talking about Beowulf's reputation: " no elder denied him, dear as he was to them." And since old people respected him; he had good reputation. Moreover he was a leader and he is described as a leader.