BEOWULF AND GRENDEL: THE FIGHT

1. Contextualization: the text deals with the fight between Beowulf and the monster Grendel; in this extract of the epic poem Beowulf, the main character, fights against the first of three terrible monsters, Grendel, who puts on danger the safety and the health of a neighbour. The battle takes place in a land out of the moors. Beowulf will win.

1. Lay-out analysis: the original version of the epic poem was written in Old English, a German dialects. The original poem consists in some lines, arranged into rhyming couplets. The text we are going to read is made up of some extracts from the modern translation by Seamus Heaney (lines 710-717; 738-753; 793-804; 814-827) to make the intelligent reader understand the archaic words of the poem, so we can’t find the original rhymes.

1. Denotation (what is the text about?):

• The first sequence (lines 710-717) is about Grendel’s arrival: in a land, out of the moors, in a foggy and cloudy day, a damned monster suddenly appears hunting for his preys moving towards a shining gold fortified fortress.

• The second sequence (lines 738-753) is about the begin of the struggle: Grendel grabs and mauls a man who was sitting on the bench; after that he tries to kill a man lying on the bed, Beowulf, whose reactivity allowed him to avoid his bite and to counterattack the monster, locking him in a powerful handgrip.

• The third sequence (lines 793-804) is about Grendel’s invulnerability: Beowulf’s warriors try to attack the demon with their ancestral blades to protect their lord, but unfortunately they have no effect on the captain of evil.

• The fourth sequence (lines 814-827) is about the end of the fight: there’s a description of Grendel’s body in pain. The winner Beowulf brings his corpse, fatally hurt, to the monster’s desolate lair.

1. WHAT THE TEXT SAYS:

Beowulf is a text of epic poetry, which is narrative poetry which relates hero’s deeds.

The story’s main character is Beowulf, a hero, who has to die for the values his society portrays to be considered like that.

The name Beowulf contains the word “wolf”, which means ‘a large wild animal of the dogs’ family whose life is based on hunting’.

The word “gold” doesn’t refer only to the fortress’ colour, but it also gives information about how much it is precious.

The text is characterized by some alliterations of the letters “g”, “r”, which highlights the power of Grendel. Alliterations helps to memorize and to hand down the whole story.