Textuality » 3A Interacting
The second part of the epic poem Beowulf recounts the voyage of Beowulf and his crew to Denmark to help king Hrothgar. The narrator describes the preparation of the voyage:
They loaded a cargo of weapons, shining war-gear, on the ship. It is all speedy and noisy, but later on it is all calm and silent.
They would like to fight. Anglo-Saxons society was based on the figure of the noble-hearted warrior. The Anglo-Saxons culture was a military culture.
The voyage was easy, the narrator uses
"over the waves, behind her and foam at her neck"and a simile, "she flew like a bird" to create the idea of an easy voyage in the reader's mind . They arrived at the due hour and they thanked God for that easy crossing on a calm sea. We understand they were superstitious and they were good seamen. They sailed by A wooden ship. When they docked and they downloaded the equipment the narrator uses two onomatopeias, "clash of mail and tresh of gear".