Textuality » 3A Interacting
Beowulf: Extract pag 57
2nd part
Analysis
It was time for Beowulf to help king Hygelac. The ship was ready in a few days and the men were preparing all the equipment. In the first part, until line 23, the reader can understand that the voyage is not begun because of the verb to load, which in this case means to prepare all the necessary for the voyage and the weapons useful to face Grendel, the monster. In the next lines the voyage is described. The ship is very fast but they had to face some difficulties. Sentences like "over the waves", "foam at her neck" and "she flew like a bird" are useful to understand all the qualities of Beowulf's ship. "Sheer crags" are steep rocky cliffs which represent the difficulty of the voyage. But after a few days the voyage is getting to end. They moored their ship in Geatland. Finally they thanked God for the easy crossing across the sea. It was calm during the voyage. From the last sentence the reader can understand that they were religious people. This is another important aspect of the Anglo- Saxon culture that appears in this extract.