BEOWULF’S FUNERAL ANALYSIS

The extract is taken from the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, which narrates a hero’s deeds.

Reading the title, a reader may suppose that Beowulf’s funeral is a very intense moment, because it is the moment when the hero, who has defended his people for years, is worshipped and honoured. So the composer probably makes specific semantic and lexical choices to transmit the idea of a heart rending moment to the listener. The composer starts using the expression “The Geat people” to convey the idea of loyalty, the value who makes Beowulf a hero. In the same line the choice of the term “pyre” is an interesting lexical choice: the pyre symbolizes endurance and its light  symbolizes goodness; moreover, pyre reminds us to the Christian idea of that we are born of dust and ashes, and therefore we return to that state in death; in addition, Geats believed in life after death, so the pyre could distinguishes Beowulf from other people, who was usually buried, and burning his body the smoke cloud could easily led the hero to the afterlife. IN the successive three lines, there is an frequent use of alliteration which helps the listener to make a mind picture of the funeral. At line 2, the first two terms are connect by alliteration of sound “ck”, which underlines the action of stacking. Moreover, at lines 3 and 4 alliterations of “w”, “s” and “h” highlights Beowulf’s grave goods, made of armour and war equipment. They are the objects which the hero used to defend his land. Finally, the sequence is closed by the expression “just as he ordered”, which conveys the idea of Beowulf’s authority and of Geats’ obedience. At line 5 “his warriors” highlights the devotion of warriors to the hero and paradoxically the warriors laid him like he has led them during the battles. Line 6 starts with the term “mourning”, which must pronounced slowly, underlines warriors’ pain, because even men who has confronted evil, so men who must be strong and tough, are suffering for Beowulf’s death. In the extract Beowulf’s values are continuously repeated, highlighting the Geats’ serious loss: for example, at line 6 the terms “far-famed” and “beloved” are underlined by the alliteration and the full stop. The sequence between line 7 and line 12, where the composer narrates the pyre’s burning, is characterized by the use of enjambment and the constant use of alliteration of “h”, “f”, “b”, and “d” which create particular effects on the poem’s telling. The use  of alliteration helps also the poem’s memorizing. The attention on the construction of the pyre’s narration conveys the idea of the funeral’s majesty: for example at line 7 the alliteration of “h” in terms which belong at the same semantic area of enormity and the enjambment and the alliteration of “f” at line 8 that compare Beowulf’s funeral with all the others. At line 9 there is a personification of the pyre’s blaze: it could be the consolation of Beowulf’s soul which before leaving the body tried to encourage his people. The length of the lines growths up to line 11, in a climax of telling, which transmits the intensity to the listener. The sequence closes at line 12 with the expression “burning it to the core”, highlighted by the previous comma and the position in the line. The expression ratifies Beowulf’s physical end, and this idea is conveyed by the use of the archaic form for heart “core”.

In the successive to line the rhythm is slower than in the previous sequence, and recalls the idea of Beowulf’s end: the use of “they” is interesting because the composer doesn’t specifies the subject of weeding, maybe because all the world is suffering for Beowulf’s end and the short sequence is closed by the expression “lord’s decease”, underlined by the successive full stop. Between line 14 and line 19 is narrated the reaction of a Geat woman to Beowulf’s death: lexicon used transmit the idea of evil and the narration is characterized by grim and melancholy sounds. Again the most underlined expression concludes the sequence: “heaven swallowed the smoke”. The expression conveys the idea of Beowulf’s soul assumption, an is highlighted by his position at the end of the line 19.