Analysis of the extract from Beowulf

Beowulf hears about Grendel and decides to travel from his home in Geatland (south Sweden) to Heorot (in northern Denmark) too see if he can help out.

The extract is taken from the epic poem Beowulf. It consists of a single section which deals about Beowulf’s voyage to help his neighbour Heorot. It is a narrative text organized into couplets and mainly focuses on the hero’s departure and communicates all the actions done and needed to go to see.

It goes without saying that it tells about Beowulf, the protagonist, providing his characterisations as well as the idea of the setting, so that the intelligent reader can make up a mental picture of what he is reading.

One cannot forget that the language of the extract is not the original version, but is rather a contemporary reediting of an epic poem written in Old English. Old English was a German dialect and could not be understood today. The text opens with immediate reference to Grendel, so that the reader understands who the monster is and who the protagonist Beowulf is going to fight against. The danger represented by the monster is suggested by the verb “heard” which comes right at the beginning of the line in an alliterative use of the language. This is done on purpose to convey its terrible reputation. Immediately after the reader is provided with information, details about the setting, so that he can better understand where events take place. “Geatland” is the focus of the setting. Immediately the intelligent reader understands the narrative strategy of the composer: the narrator wants to highlight the unique qualities of the hero that may become such just because he is ready to risk his life for a good cause: showing generosity and solidarity with them who are in danger. Beowulf is created as sort of a single personality, not as an ordinary man. “No one else” and “like him” make that clear right from the start. In addition expressions like “alive” and “on earth” underline his peculiar strength and courage, suggesting that people different from him could not remain alive. Besides reinforcing his highly-positive reputation, the narrator underlines his feasibility in doing any sort of duty. He was “the mightiest man”. Again the use of an alliteration of the sound “m” anticipates other features of this character protagonist who is from a prestigious family (“high-born”) and has got a power that nobody wants to put into discussion. He was a smart man, able to make the right choice at the right time. He managed to choose the most suitable boat for the voyage, one “that would ply the waves”.

In addition to this, by reading the first part of the extract, the intelligent reader can deduce other special features of the character. Beowulf "announced his plan"; he does not take his companions ignorant of his intentions but makes them aware of what they want to do underlining in this way his need for help, his sincerity and his loyalty to others. The will of the hero are highlighted by the narrator, as done previously to highlight other features of the character, through the use of alliteration; in this situation the repeated sound is the sound of "s" ("to sail the swan's road and search "). As the adventures of Beowulf are told in an epic poem, the person to help which the protagonist is going to leave his homeland must be a major character. feature of the epic genre will, in fact, that all the characters have some social value (heroes, kings, gods ...), this is because the epics, in past ages, were not only a form of entertainment, but they were also a presentation of a people to neighbouring civilizations. Previous observations of the intelligent reader about respectability and obstinacy of Beowulf are again marked by the fact that everyone accepts his decision, also the elderly who had the highest authority: "nobody tried to keep him from going – no elder denied him." Instead all supported his decision to leave. The narrator also has an interest in making the reader understand the position of prominence which the hero has compared to the rest of his people "like the leader he was." As a good leader, Beowulf chooses companions one by one; it means that he knows their individual skills that make them appropriate to tackle the enterprise.

The focal point of the events described in this part of the epic poem is the journey, the beginning of which is brought to the foreground through the only figure of speech present in the text. The repetition of the sound "boa" in the middle of the verse draws the reader's attention on the act of boarding. The dangers tackled then by Beowulf are anticipated by the characteristics of the environment that he has to face during the voyage to Heorot: "coasts" and "currents", connected by alliteration, and "cliffs." The society of which are part the characters of the poem is warlike, a characteristic underscored by the fact that on the ship are boarded many swords that could be used for offense and for defence. The bellicose character of the society recalls the origins of the Anglo-Saxon culture, also founded on clan, made ​​up of families, where strength, courage and loyalty were the basic values ​​(the same values ​​of the hero Beowulf).

In the latter part of the extract are marked again the main features of the hero and the hardships encountered during the trip; which might in order to fix the various values shown previously in the reader's mind, because constant throughout the narrative of the poem. New points highlighted by the narrator in this last part are the ease of travel and the true religion of the author: at the time in which it is set the poem was not yet spread Christianity and the companies involved had a polytheistic and pagan belief; the author, however, has created the poem in the 8^th century AD: "God" in the penultimate verse shows this his characteristic.