Concetti Chiave
- King Hrothgar's mead-hall is terrorized by Grendel, a monster that kills the Danes for twelve years until Beowulf arrives to defeat him.
- Beowulf mortally wounds Grendel in a hand-to-hand combat, and later kills Grendel's mother seeking revenge, using a giant's sword.
- After returning home, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules wisely for 50 years until he faces a deadly dragon in his final battle.
- Beowulf is an ancient epic poem in Old English, mixing historical and fictional elements, composed in a Christianized England but with Old Testament references only.
- The poem reflects epic style through its grand setting, brave deeds, and elevated language, emphasizing the struggle between light and dark forces.
Hrothgar's mead-hall and Grendel's terror
King Hrothgar of Denmark has built a great mead-hall, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the scops. But a terrible monster, Grendel, frightens the Danes every night, killing them. Grendel’s menace continues for twelve years, till Beowulf, a young Warrior, decides to sail to Denmark with a small company of men, determined to defeat Grendel.
What is Beowulf's heroic journey?
Beowulf sleeps in the Hall and he fights with the monster in a hand-to-hand combats and mortally injures him. Grendel escapes and dies soon after.
But another threat is approaching.
Grendel’s mother, who lives in a lake, comes to Heorot seeking revenge for her son.
Beowulf travels to the lake, where he dives into the water and succeeds in killing Grendel’s mother with a sword forged for a giant; then, finding Grendel’s corpse, decapitates it and brings the head to Hrothgar.
Beowulf's reign and final battle
Beowulf sails back to Geatland and later he ascends to the throne of the Geats. He rules wisely for 50 years.
When Beowulf is an old man, a thief disturbs a barrow where a great
dragon lies guarding its treasure. That dragon begins to kill the Geats. Beowulf fights the fire dragon and kills the monster, but he is mortally wounded. His warriors burn his body on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him in a barrow overlooking the sea.
The epic nature of Beowulf
Beowulf is written in Old English and is the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language.
Although historical elements run through the poem, both the hero and the story are fiction.
Beowulf was probably composed as an elegy for a King; it describes a Germanic Warrior society, in which the relationship between the King and his thanes is founded on provision and service; it’s a world ruled by fate and destiny.
The principal mystery is why a Poem whit a Scandinavian hero exists in Old English.
Also Beowulf was composed in a Christianised England, but the only biblical references are to the Old Testament and Christ is never mentioned.
Beowulf is an Epic because the setting of the story covers great lands and far off places and the action consists of brave deeds. The struggles the Poem describes are the strength of heart and spirit, the truth and the light against dark power.
Beowulf contains the typical elements of Epic Style. There is repetition: speeches are often followed by such phrases as “thus he spoke” to emphasize that the words are those of a character and not of the narrator. The language is elevated.
Domande da interrogazione
- What prompts Beowulf to travel to Denmark?
- What happens during Beowulf's final battle?
Beowulf decides to sail to Denmark with a small company of men to defeat Grendel, a terrible monster that has been terrorizing King Hrothgar's mead-hall and killing the Danes every night for twelve years.
In his old age, Beowulf fights a dragon that has begun to kill the Geats after a thief disturbs its treasure. Beowulf kills the dragon but is mortally wounded in the battle. His body is burned on a funeral pyre and buried in a barrow overlooking the sea.
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