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    Old English Literature Epic: Beowulf, Heroic Poem, The Highest Achievement of

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    Mariana Tangarife
    Beowulf is an Old English epic poem dating back to the 8th century. It is considered the oldest surviving epic poem in Old English and the earliest surviving piece of vernacular European literature. The poem focuses on the story of the Geatish hero Beowulf and his battles with the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, as well as his eventual fight with a dragon near the end of his life. While not a historical figure, Beowulf represents the ideal hero, and the poem explores themes of bravery, loyalty, and honor.

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    Old English Literature Epic: Beowulf, Heroic Poem, The Highest Achievement of

    Uploaded by

    Mariana Tangarife
    48 views2 pages
    Beowulf is an Old English epic poem dating back to the 8th century. It is considered the oldest surviving epic poem in Old English and the earliest surviving piece of vernacular European literature. The poem focuses on the story of the Geatish hero Beowulf and his battles with the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, as well as his eventual fight with a dragon near the end of his life. While not a historical figure, Beowulf represents the ideal hero, and the poem explores themes of bravery, loyalty, and honor.

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    Beowulf

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    Beowulf is an Old English epic poem dating back to the 8th century. It is considered the oldest surviving epic poem in Old English and the earliest surviving piece of vernacular European literature. The poem focuses on the story of the Geatish hero Beowulf and his battles with the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, as well as his eventual fight with a dragon near the end of his life. While not a historical figure, Beowulf represents the ideal hero, and the poem explores themes of bravery, loyalty, and honor.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    48 views2 pages

    Old English Literature Epic: Beowulf, Heroic Poem, The Highest Achievement of

    Uploaded by

    Mariana Tangarife
    Beowulf is an Old English epic poem dating back to the 8th century. It is considered the oldest surviving epic poem in Old English and the earliest surviving piece of vernacular European literature. The poem focuses on the story of the Geatish hero Beowulf and his battles with the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, as well as his eventual fight with a dragon near the end of his life. While not a historical figure, Beowulf represents the ideal hero, and the poem explores themes of bravery, loyalty, and honor.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Beowulf, heroic poem, the highest achievement of 

    Old English literature and


    the earliest European vernacular epic. The work deals with events of the early
    6th century, and, while the date of its composition is uncertain, some scholars
    believe that it was written in the 8th century. Although originally untitled, the
    poem was later named after the Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits
    and character provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a
    historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be
    historically verified. The poem did not appear in print until 1815. It is
    preserved in a single manuscript that dates to circa 1000 and is known as
    the Beowulf manuscript (Cotton MS Vitellius A XV).

    Plot
    Beowulf falls into two parts. It opens in Denmark, where King Hrothgar has a splendid
    mead hall known as Heorot, a place of celebration and much merriment. However, the
    joyous noise angers Grendel, an evil monster living in a nearby swamp. For 12 years the
    creature terrorizes Heorot with nightly visits in which he carries off Hrothgar’s warriors
    and devours them.

    After learning of the Danes’ trouble, young Beowulf, a prince of the Geats in what is now
    southern Sweden, arrives with a small band of retainers and offers to rid Heorot of its
    monster. Hrothgar is astonished at the little-known hero’s daring but welcomes him.
    After an evening of feasting, much courtesy, and some discourtesy—at one point, one of
    Hrothgar’s men insults Beowulf—the king retires, leaving Beowulf in charge. During the
    night, Grendel comes from the moors, rips open the heavy doors, and devours one of the
    sleeping Geats. He then grapples with Beowulf, who refuses to use a weapon. Beowulf
    grips one of Grendel’s hands with such force that the monster finally wrenches himself
    free only when his arm is torn off at the shoulder. Mortally wounded, Grendel returns to
    his swamp and dies. Beowulf then displays the monster’s arm in Heorot for all to see.

    The next day is one of rejoicing in Heorot, and a feast is thrown in Beowulf’s honour.
    However, as the warriors sleep that night, Grendel’s mother, another swamp monster,
    comes to avenge her son’s death, and she kills one of Hrothgar’s men. In the morning
    Beowulf dives into her mere (lake) to search for her, and she attacks him. They struggle
    in her dry cave at the mere’s bottom, and Beowulf finally kills her with a sword. In the
    cave, Beowulf discovers Grendel’s corpse, whose head he cuts off and takes back to
    Heorot. The Danes rejoice once more. Hrothgar makes a farewell speech about the
    character of the true hero, and Beowulf, enriched with honours and princely gifts,
    returns home to King Hygelac of the Geats.

    The second part passes rapidly over Hygelac’s subsequent death in a battle (of historical
    record), the death of his son, and Beowulf’s succession to the kingship and his peaceful
    rule of 50 years. However, the tranquility ends when a fire-breathing dragon becomes
    enraged after a man steals from its treasure-filled lair. The creature begins ravaging
    Geatland, and the brave but aging Beowulf decides to engage it, despite knowing that he
    will likely die. The fight is long and terrible—a painful contrast to the battles of his
    youth. Painful too is the desertion of all his retainers except for his young kinsman
    Wiglaf, who comes to his aid. They ultimately kill the venomous dragon, but Beowulf is
    mortally wounded from a bite in the neck. Before he dies, he names Wiglaf his
    successor. Beowulf is cremated on a funeral pyre, and his remains are buried in
    a barrow built by the sea. As his people mourn his death, they also express the fear that,
    without Beowulf, Geatland will be invaded by nearby tribes.

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