Summary of pages 54-55 “It’s Literature”

Introduction:

The first great work of English literature, Beowulf, is an anonymous poem in old English. The only surviving manuscript dates from the end of the 10^th century or the early decades of the 11^th but the poem was composed 2 centuries before and handed down orally. Beowulf recounts the heroic legends of two Scandinavian tribes; the Danes and the Geats. These tribes were the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxon. The events narrated are set in the 6^th century. “Beowulf” is an epic heroic poem that recounts in informal language the exploits of heroic warriors. The protagonist of this stories is Beowulf who fights against supernatural creatures and whose actions determinate the fate of his people

Plot:

The poem opens in Denmark, here the king Hrothgar has built a great mead-hall called Heorot. The noisy banquets in this hall disturb Grender, a monster In a human shape, that a night goes at night kill some Hrothgar’ man. The Geats hear about that and its greatest warrior, Beowulf, decides to help Hrothgar with fourteen warriors. The arrive of the helpers is celebrated in Heorot, then Beowulf and his man waits the arrive of Grender. After a great battle Beowulf wins and Grender escapes. Beowulf is reward. Grender die and his mother attached Heorot and kills Hrothgar ‘adviser to revenge his son. Beowulf take a great battle with the mother of Grender and finally wins, he is rewarded another time by the Danes and he returns to Geats. When King Hygelac dies, Beowulf becomes king and fifty years later he die fighting a dragon, Geats become very afraid of old enemies because they lost their leader and defender.

Themes and style:

The poem celebrates the heroic ideal which was prominent in the Germanic world: the most important values were strength, bravery and loyalty in warriors and hospitality, generosity and political wisdom in kings. Beowulf is the perfect embodiment of the ideal, as a young man he makes fighting his missions according to the warriors honor code and he wins the reputation of battlefield. As a king he secures the peace in his country and defended his people. The geographical centre of the noble word of Beowulf is Heorot, this space represents home and security, that is set against the outside world which id dark, threatening, a world of dangerous and terrible creatures. They represent disorder and bring chaos into the community, so Beowulf must fight them. Another main theme is the importance of cultural heritage (patrimonio)and ancestry (Origine). In particular the pagan story and cultural background are combined with a Christian view of point, probably introduced when the poem was written down, at the time when the Anglo-Saxon becomes Christian.

Language and imagery:

Beowulf shows the typical features of Old English poetry. Each line is divided into two halves by the caesura or the pause with two stresses in each half line. The lines structure is strong and creates a strong rhythm, that helps the scop remember it and the listener fallow the story. Moreover, alliteration creates a pleasing musical effect. Another typical technique is the kenning, a short metaphorical description of a thing or a person through a compounded noun.