Task : Read the extract from Beowulf and carry out a textual analysis according to request.

Epic poem celebrates the deeds of a hero and it is interested to understand how the characterization of the protagonist and the setting of the text are created. Let’s see how the composer, who has the idea to compose the poem, characterize Beowulf. In this extra he is introduced according to his status. He was a thane, so he was very closed with the king (Hygelac). He lived in Geatland (southern Sweden) and there was no one else like him. Unique implies that he was different to the rest of the word. The phrase (line 3) makes the character special. ‘Alive’ connotes him as a very brave and strong warrior. The narrator uses such devices (simile) because they make Beowulf unique, he also uses superlative (st) with an adjective that is generally associated to God (mighty). There is a coherence in the way the narrator characterize Beowulf: he resembles a God. The narrator uses definitive statements, the reader couldn’t but believe. So the narrator has no hesitation and the listener of the story was surely curios to know more about Beowulf. Although the narrator doesn’t call him by name. The mystery, the curiosity and the expectation about the character raises. The reader is not free to have a different idea, the narrator judges the character: the characterization is totally filtered by the narrator, who is a 3th person narrator. Beowulf already looks like a hero, even if you don’t know anything about him. The description is a hyperbolic one. You have a semantic field of greatness. All the characteristics are positive. In him there was nothing common or normal. This is the way the narrator keeps the attention of the reader alive. The protagonist is presented by his actions. The narrator uses figurative language in form of riddles and kennings like ‘ply the waves’ and ‘the swan’s road’ (a kenning is a circumlocution used instead of an ordinary noun in Old English). Probably Beowulf was born in a family where was a chief, according to the Anglo-Saxon culture. The way by Beowulf moves was the sea. His boat was very fast to help immediately the people, who were scared by the monster Grendel. Beowulf was of course, the embodiment of solidarity, willingness and eagerness: he was a great man and warrior at the same time. Through his action the reader understands that Beowulf was generous, not afraid to face difficulties and he is also instinctive. The people not react negative to his decision to leave his village, not even the old people, who are the people who matter, everyone embraced his idea. People liked the protagonist and they trusted him. He was able to lead and to organize. He brought with him his best warriors, he was openness and he was the leader of the crew. The warriors boarded with their weapons on the boat and they were eagerly to fight. Beowulf was able to face see when it is calm and even when it is angry. The alliterative choice of words helps linking the words like a song refrain. The voyage was easy going and with the wind in favor. When the warriors arrived in Heorot they thanked God. Consulting haruspices and thanking God is typical of the Anglo-Saxon culture. Nature regulates the cycle of life. The extract may provide to a contemporary reader that migration is not a present invention. People move to a place to another to find better life conditions. In this case Beowulf moves to help neighbors. It, therefore, underlines also the meaning of solidarity that nowadays has been lost. Indeed, in the past you could survive only living together.