Epic of Beowulf Essay - Alliteration in Beowulf

2. The poet used distinctive language to differentiate Grendel and Beowulf’s movements. During their battle these differences seem to set them apart in terms of glory. The poet describes Grendel’s movements in a grotesque and stark way. “Grendel came greedily loping,” (line 711) and “… he grabbed and mauled a man on his bench… and gorged on him in lumps,” (lines 740-2) are examples of how the poet uses specific language to describe Grendel’s movement. However the poet describes Beowulf’s movements in an almost glorified way. “… he had

The Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf, was originally told orally then later was written down anonymously in the Old English language. It is not known who or whom wrote this poem down. What we do know is that Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem of the English language; the original has suffered irreparable damage in a fire. “The poem dates back to 1000 AD”

Beowulf is a great piece of Anglo-Saxon literature that can be, and has been, translated in multiple ways. Of the many outstanding translations, two of which are by Burton Raffel and Seamus Heaney, different ways of writing are portrayed. Grendel’s description is written quite differently in both translations. Heaney’s translation is more similar to the Anglo-Saxon style of writing than Raffel’s translation.

Beowulf does not undergo much character development considering what he goes through. His personality and leadership traits remain static throughout the story unlike most other stories that involve a similar plotline. This both shows great strength as well as the inability to change which is often considered a weakness if this stillness is viewed without context. In the case of Beowulf this primarily brings out his strengths as a hero and allows the story to move at a quicker rate and not focus on character development, but on other aspects of the poem, this being the alliteration and beauty in the writing far beyond the plot itself. Beowulf is a consistently strong warrior that stays honorable through the poem, but just increases his levels of glory through each enemy defeated as well as each year of peace after he attains a full level of sovereignty.

“No better king had ever lived, no prince so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise.” This is an ultimate description of the heroic events of Beowulf, an old Anglo-Saxon poem about a warrior who battles and destroys three horrifying monsters. Although written long ago, the emotions expressed within this work, emotions of bravery, valor, and ethics still speak to us centuries later. The anonymous author of the poem convinces us through the masterful use of various literary elements that emphasize its meaning and message. Conflict, imagery and setting are three literary elements that contribute to the effectiveness of the poem.

“There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil.” – Ayn Rand. To fully understand the complex world and culture of the Anglo-Saxons, one must examine the only form of historical evidence available – texts. One particular great work from this time period is often underrated and overshadowed in modern society by many other ancient works such as Iliad or Oedipus Rex. The epic poem, Beowulf, was sung by multiple unknown Anglo-Saxon poets four centuries before the Norman Conquest. The theme of good versus evil was constantly reappearing throughout the storyline, the portrayal of evil and its downfall initially shaped the poem’s plot, and illustrates an alien presence; something that

       From 1805 until the present there have been introduced an abundance of paraphrases, translations, adaptations, summaries, versions and illustrations of Beowulf in modern English and in foreign languages due mostly to two reasons: the desire to make the poem accessible, and the desire to read the exotic (Osborn 341). It is the purpose of this essay to present a brief history of this development of the popularity of the poem and then compare some of the translations with respect to some more difficult passages in the poem Beowulf.

One example of where the author of Beowulf used alliteration was in the quote ”For the first time in his life that famous prince fought with fate against him, with glory denied him. He knew it but he raised his sword and struck at the dragon's scaly hide” (2573). This took place while Beowulf was fighting the dragon near the end of the story. The author uses alliteration with the letter “f” to emphasize that in this fight fate was against Beowulf but throughout it also says that because of Beowulf's courage not only did he still go for the fight but he continued fighting even after he recognized that there was a really good chance that he would lose. This quote specifically emphasizes that fact that even though you don't know what fate awaits you, you still can’t expect victory without putting an attempt into the fight. Another example of alliteration that the author uses is in the quote “It fell, their courage had killed it, two noble cousins had joined in the dragon’s death” (2706). This example makes a big emphasis because it showed that even though Beowulf had died in the battle and fate was against him, he still ended up killing the dragon because he had the courage. He did lose his life but because of his courage he ended up saving the land of the Geats. Even though fate was against him he still ended up gaining victory because he had the

Second, Webster does an amazing job at backing up her information. After she states a point or introduces a subject, she presents the information about that subject and backs it up with facts. For example, she introduces the topic of helmets. Once she does this, Webster starts to talk about how helmets came from the Germanic warrior. She does this throughout her whole article. This helps the readers to understand where exactly all the information they are reading about is coming from. This also brings a whole other aspect to Beowulf in that it shows the readers where everything came from. The poem Beowulf was written so long ago and by an unknown author; therefore, having all this information helps the reader to understand what is happening in the poem and really shows the reader where what they are reading about is coming from. Another example of her providing this information is when she is talking about the mail-coats and how they originated around the tenth century.

The Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, era of England lasted from about 450-1066 A.D. The tribes from Germany that conquered Britain in the fifth century carried with them both the Old English language and a detailed poetic tradition. The tradition included alliteration, stressed and unstressed syllables, but more importantly, the poetry was usually mournful, reflecting on suffering and loss.1These sorrowful poems from the Anglo Saxon time period are mimetic to the Anglo-Saxons themselves; they reflect the often burdened and miserable lives and times of the people who created them. The Anglo-Saxon poems, “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” and “The Wife’s Lament,”

Trilogies like the Lord of The Rings and the Hobbit have had great historical and linguistic significance in the literary world, capturing the attention of many. However, the aesthetic and craft-like qualities of these works are at times ignored and not appreciated enough to create more interest. For a literary giant like J.R.R. Tolkien, his speech of Beowulf being noteworthy the way it is because of its artistic characteristics are only accomplished by the use of specific rhetorical devices to achieve his point. Taken from his essay “Beowulf:The Monsters and the Critics.” presented at the 1936 British Academy Lecture, he first starts off by presenting the arguments that have been formed about Beowulf and continues to counter argue them in order to make a stronger and more elaborate point, which is enhanced with his use of authoritative language. Tolkien also dives deep into written technique that is embedded into Beowulf, which is accompanied with a artistic-like analysis. In the end, Tolkien is successful in painting a picture to the audience his opinion about Beowulf’s artful qualities, because his effective use of rhetorical strategies throughout creates the poem to be more than a historical epic and piece of fiction.

  There is not unanimity among Beowulf translators concerning all parts of the text, but there is little divergence from a single, uniform translation of the poem. Herein are discussed some passages which translators might show disagreement about because of the lack of clarity or missing fragments of text or abundance of synonyms or ambiguous referents.

      The characters in the Old English poem Beowulf certainly delighted in the seas. This essay seeks to compare their attitude toward the sea with that expressed in another Old English poem, The Seafarer.

 We must dismiss, of course, from mind the notion that Beowulf is a “narrative poem,” that it tells a tale or intends to tell a tale sequentially. The poem “lacks steady advance”: so Klaeber heads a critical section in his edition.

The Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf” takes the reader back into a time long past; one of family, fate, and fealty. Beowulf offers a glimpse of a society struggling between two different paths, one path being the assimilation into the new Christian traditions and the other is the fast fading past of glorified warriors and family ties. In the poem, the reader can see the attempts of the poet to convey the values and stories of Judeo-Christianity in a society of Anglo-Saxon paganism. The poet illustrates the infiltration of the Christian teachings and how they might have appeared within the lives of the people through the literary devices of symbolism, allegory, and allusion.