Textuality » 3PLSC TextualityBDelbianco-The Middle Ages and G. Chaucer. Studying Characterisation
by 2019-05-12)
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BEOWULF’S FUNERAL
Reading the title, I aspect the poem to be about Beowulf’s funeral and I already know that he is a hero. The text can be arranged into 6 parts, according to the content rather then the structure or the layout. The first part tells about how the Geat lay Beowulf’s body on a pyre and while it is burning they cry for their loss (l.l. 1-7). The second part describes a woman’s mourning: singing, she gives voice to her fears for her nation, now that her lord is dead. Indeed, the king’s death exposes the nation to the enemies’ invasion and to a future of slavery (l.l. 8-13). In the third part, the Geats build a barrow on the top of a cliff, so that it can be seen by all passing ships (l.l. 14-17). The fourth part tells about how Beowulf’s remains and jewels are put into the tomb on the headland (l.l. 18-21). The fifth part describes the tribute paid by twelve knights to the dead king. They ride around Beowulf’s tomb singing the praises of their heroic king (l.l. 22-30). In the sixth part everybody recounts the good qualities of the king, who was the greatest in the world according to their point of view. In the text there are the following devices: in line 1, there are two superlative forms (“height” and ”hugest”), the alliteration of the “R” sound in the onomathopoeic word “roared” and the use of the kenning of the “bone-house” (l.5) and of “bodily home” (l.30). Each of them aims at celebrating the grandeur of Beowulf, his being a hero and his heroic deeds. In line 2 there is an alliteration of the “F” sound that remainds of the sad and lamentous sound of the wind blowing while the fire is burning the funeral pyre. On one side there is the celebrating aim to sing about Beowulf’s grandeur but on the other there is the deep sense of loss and sadness of Geat people, who are desperate beacuse of their king’s death. In line 3 the alliteration of the beating sound “B”, reminds of the sound of the burning fire, which is the frame for the image of the fire going up in the sky. In line 4 there is another beating alliteration (“drowned”,”died” and ”down”) which is rhythmic enough to reproduce the sound of the dirges. At the same time the blowing wind suffocates them (“weeping”,”wind” l.4 with the onomathopoeic alliteration which reproduces the sound of the wind). In line 13 the alliteration of the “S” sound in “swallowed the smoke”. The “S” sound is generally associated to silence and particularly in this part and it seems to show how heaven itself pays its homage to the dead hero by swallowing the roaring of the flames and the blowing wind which feeds them. The anaphora of “A” in l.l. 15-16, highlights two alliterating words (“mound and marker”) that introduces the theme of immortality: the Gaet people build a tomb on the top of a headland so that it can be seen by the sailors from far away (alliteration of the “F” sound in l.16, which underlines the sense of distance). In the tomb his people bury the king’s jewels, necklaces and his remains. The alliteration of the “B” sound in “buried-barrow” (l. 21), seems to emphasize the noise of the working men, busy digging and building the barrow. The theme of immortality and of the persistence of the heroic status as opposed to the awareness of the fragility of the human body. This is evident again in the last part in l. 29 (“cherish his memory” and the alliteration of “memory-moment”), which, almost as a litany, introduces the verbal memory expressed in lines 33-34-35. Here again there is the predominance of the superlative forms to stress Beowulf’s positive qualities both as a man and a king (“He was the man most gracious and fair-minded”, with the alliteration of the “M” sound to underline the concept; “kindest to his people and keenest to win fame” with the sound “K”, which is the same as the one at the beginning of the word “king”). The lines from 22 to 25 are characterized by the presence of different recurrent or alliterating sounds that reinforce the images on the phonetic level. One one side, the strong presence of the “R” sound, seems to reproduce the sound the riding knights who are chanting their songs for their dead lord (“chieftains-champion.chanting”). these songs become mourning litanies (and the sound “M” in “mourning-man” acquires an onomathopoeic value). Everybody remembers that Beowulf was a kind king, just and eager to achieve famous goals. In this last part, the pyramidic structure of the Anglo-Saxon society is evident: the king on top, followed by the chieftains, the warriors and finally by the common people at the base of the pyramid. Their society is based on mutual bonds of trust and loyalty, as it is suggest by the use of the expression “hearth-companions”, l. 31. It is evident that the funeral scene is characterized by a deep sense of loss along with the awareness of the brevity of human life. Nevertheless the memories of Beowulf’s people will never die and his reputation both as a man and as king will pass on from generation to generation as a way to fight the sense of fragility connected to human life. |