Beowulf Literary Devices

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is a story of horrendous monsters of legends Beowulf has to face. But, Beowulf is not your ordinary hero, and this story isn’t your ordinary hero legend of Good Vs. Evil. In Fact, the story shoes things aren’t so black and white. You will hear again and again, about light and darkness being in the same being, a kind of a yin and yang concept. That is one of many themes throughout this story, and the longer you read the more you see the deeper, overarching theme of the entire story.

1. An example of a literary device on the story so far is "...And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants....", found in line 27. This literary device is an alliteration, defined as a repetition of an initial sound in a neighboring poem, and in line 27, the sound "s" is repeated.

Imagine a slimy swamp like place where only the most horrid monsters with the most disgusting features live, this is the fen. Now imagine A wonderful bright beautiful hall that’s almost castle like, these are the two elements of the story Beowulf a New Telling.

As with almost all literature Beowulf is ripe with symbolism. The creatures that Beowulf fights represent “warrior values and behaviors”. Each of the creatures that Beowulf fights also mirror his own personal traits, and if fact, he uses the traits of the monster, to combat the monsters themselves. The first monster that Beowulf fights (aside from the sea monsters from his race with brecca) is Grendel Grendel is described as being a massive, powerful and physically imposing.

Another literary element that offer meaning to the poem is imagery, by simply allowing the readers to envision the events of the story. In the first part of the story (129-134), Beowulf is described as coming over “seas beating at the sand” while “the ship foamed through the sea like a bird.” This scene truly guides the readers to admire the vivid description of how proud and tough the ship looks. This ship in this case, becomes a metonymy for Beowulf himself, who is certainly proud and strong, resulting in the readers’ admiration. Additional imagery is used describing the mere, or lake, discussed above, with “storms [an] waves splash[ing] towards the sky, as dark as the air as black as the rain that the heavens weep” (440-442). This clearly illustrates how dreadful Grendel and his mothers’ home is. It intensely aids us to picture how grotesquely unpleasant the lake actually is. Near the end of the tale (lines 651-653], Beowulf “[strides] with his shield at his side and a mail shirt of his breast….. Toward the tower, under the rocky cliffs.” While Beowulf awaits the battle, the description of his armor and the details of each entry help us to respect how ready he is for his concluding battle. Even as an elderly man, Beowulf is a hero beyond compare. In closing, the use of imagery greatly enriches the readers’ experience of this heroic epic.

The concept of mixed messages is frustrating, as it can lead to inconsistencies, misunderstandings, and mistakes. However, they find their way into numerous cases anyway. In texting, Facebook status updates, meetings, and many other modern contexts, mixed messages are prevalent; however, we have the opportunity for clarification from others as to what is intended to be portrayed. We are not so lucky to have that luxury regarding classical literature. Many mixed messages are present in literature, forcing us to interpret the text to the best of our abilities, since we cannot ask the author or poet directly. This problem occurs in Beowulf, as the source of Beowulf’s strength is unclear to the audience. Beowulf defeats monsters and saves the day, yet it is unclear whether he is victorious due to his own strength and skill, or because of the intervention of God. However, we can use this unclear distinction to focus on the culture of the people during this time, whether these mixed messages are intentional, and what they can reveal. When Grendel’s mother attacks the mead hall in the night, Beowulf miraculously defends himself and survives. “The monster wretched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, and His care and favour” (1269-1274). This contrast in strength or divine intervention reveals the importance of strength and skill in the society and the integration of

Beowulf: A New Telling is a book for people that need reassurance that light will overcome darkness and that we need to accept that we have some darkness inside of us, then our weaknesses can become our strengths. Beowulf has to face many faces of evil, including Grendel, the cruel slimy creature who murders Beowulf’s friends and She, the wife of Cain and malicious monster that lives at the bottom of a pool of blood. He becomes king of Geats and is famous all throughout the land.

In which Beowulf was loaded up with gifts and he achieved full rank hero by being sung in heroic songs by Hrothgar?s bards or scops. Later on, he was to become king of the Geats and has protected his people very well. As he grew older, a dragon is awakened by a theft of a cup from his horde and he began to terrorize Beowulf?s people. So as an old man, Beowulf put his arm one more time, and went on to fight one last battle. In the fight, all his faithful warriors deserted him and ran away except one whose name was Wiglaf who stayed and helped him fight to the end. After a terrific struggle, they killed the dragon, but during the battle Beowulf is mortally wounded and he lived just long enough to see some of the treasures that he had won for his people ran out of the cave before he died. The poem ends with the Geats building a huge burial mount for Beowulf, and with the gloomy predictions about what would

In the epic poem, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, it is said, "Behavior that's admired is the path to power among people" (Beowulf 5). That being stated, it is very apparent throughout the entirety of the story. The main character, Beowulf, quickly comes to a position of power once defeating multiple atrocities and executing numerous heroic deeds. The people in the city admire Beowulf and abide to his ways; but once offered kingship, he declines. Throughout the epic poem, it is obvious that Beowulf would rather be a hero than a king because of the individual representation that comes with it, the rewards, and the self-reliant aspect.

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.

The epic is a literary genre that typically begins its narratives in media res. The use of this poetic convention in classical literature is not arbitrary, to say the least. Its use is repeated due to its great efficacy as a technique, its presence emphasizing characters’ feats over what could be considered pedantic plot points in the context of the epic’s objective. If this literary convention is so effective, then, what does it mean when poets specifically choose not to use it? Though much isn’t known about Beowulf’s anonymous author, their specific decision to begin their story, not with their title character’s life, but with another character’s lifespan altogether, is a narrative choice that ultimately colors the audience’s perception of

Although the Middle Ages are set to start at around 500 AD, the first written evidence of Old English only dates to C7. It is a collection of religious hymns by Cædmon VERWEIS Hogg Vol. I S. 463, which was composed in 660/ 670. Other written testimony of the Old English language appears a century later. These texts are for instance tribal laws of the Jutes, glossaries or official documents.

Literary devices is utilized by authors to help show common themes as well as tone and symbolism. The epic poem Beowulf (translated by Seamus Heany) is a three-part epic of the Anglo-Saxon warrior Beowulf. First, he brought his warriors to Heorot and to the King Hrothgar to help him get rid of the monster Grendel. Grendel is a monster, and is very isolated. Beowulf is successful and ends up killing Grendel, and kills Grendel’s mother after she returns an attack. The final part is Beowulf’s final fight with a dragon, in which he dies. Various literary terms are used in Beowulf to help provide the themes of fear of outcasts, the struggle of good and evil, and the difference between isolation and being part of a tribe.

The land is full of monsters and there is only one person who can defeat them… his name is Beowulf! Beowulf: A new Telling is a novel that I would recommend for other people to read because it is about a young man that had a lot of good inside of him and he is always brave and he uses the light inside of him to overcome the darkness. In this novel there is a lot of action and life lessons. There is also a lot of good people and a lot of bad people and light and dark moments. This means that there is gonna be death and mystery. In my essay I will be explaining the relation between light and dark.

Rich Lawson quotes that, “Works often provide a great deal of insight about the time period during which they were written”(Christianity in Beowulf). At the time of 700 A.D., life was almost as simple as one could imagine. At this time, paganism slowly faded out and Christianity took its place as the dominant religion. While this was true, people and scribes alike kept their pagan ideologies. The time of 700 A.D. was also the time that one of the greatest and oldest known literary works was written. Beowulf is the story of the typical hero, fighting against all odds to defeat the villain. What some do not see, however, is the tension between two religions occurring throughout the epic poem. Famous critic Rich Lawson believes that “Beowulf contains many pagan themes and concepts, but yet it also contains many references to Christianity”(Christianity in Beowulf). Whether our hero falls under Christianity or paganism is difficult to say, but both sides are clearly represented throughout. In Beowulf, the unknown author emphasizes both Christian and pagan symbolism and how the two coexist.