Reading the text the intelligent reader understands that it has the structure of a poem: it is arranged into 3 stanzas. The lines in each stanza are not regular: there are: 16 lines in the first stanza, 12 lines in the second stanza and 7 lines in the last stanza.

The text tell about the fight between Grendel and Beowulf.

Grendel is a monster: he is Beowulf’s antagonist. He is characterized by terrible negative aspects and the narrator focuses his brutal characterization with the cruel description of his action.

Beowulf is the protagonist of the epic poem. He is hero because he fought and died for his values. The intelligent reader understands, also, that he is a hero because Beowulf is described as the stronger man on the face of the earth (lines 751-752).

The text is not the original text, but is an translation into a modern English. The text has lots of repetition: when the poem was first composed it was transmitted only orally.

The composer uses a big number of alliteration and kennings. In this way the poem is easier to remember.

Alliteration and kennings have different function: the use of alliterations underlines Grendel’s features and Beowulf’s strength. For example, when the composer tells about Grendel, he underlines his negative aspect using strong sounds.