Imagery in the Old English Poem Beowulf Essay

was … the greatest of sorrows.” Wiglaf, in censuring the ten who deserted their chief, said, “At the ale-bench he often gave you … helmets and armor.” In this classic poem, can there be anything more vital or essential to joyful living, or to conducting business, than the mead-hall? T. A. Shippey in “The World of the Poem” (45) says: Some objects in fact reach “mythic” status – most obviously halls. What the poet thinks about these can be derived most immediately from his run…

Christianity and paganism as a tool for his poem. “It is through such a blending that there was available to a poet who set out to write a poem,…. on a scale and plan unlike a minstrel’s lay, both new faith and new learning (or education), and also a body of native tradition (itself requiring to be learned) for the changed mind to contemplate together. The native ‘learning’ cannot be denied in the case of Beowulf.” (Tolkien 26). The character Beowulf embodied the Pagan heroic code (comitatus)…

Tolkien argue against the unity of Beowulf. Though this paper agrees more with Tolkien and Raffel, it does not assume the self-evident unity of Beowulf; rather it will briefly review and assess the main issues relevant to the question of the poem's unity, of which there are three: (1) Beowulf's structure, (2) the significance of its subject matter, and (3) its thematic unity. One possible caveat here is that modern ideas about artistic unity do not apply to Beowulf. H. L. Rogers makes this claim…

Beowulf’s virtues of courage and strength appear throughout the poem during his life as a warrior and as a king. He begins the story with courage and “the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand” (380-381), which are vital to his accomplishments as a warrior. His courage and strength are apparent when he fights Grendel without the use of weapons. Both virtues are crucial to his success in that battle and lead him to become a leader of wisdom and stature. As king of Heorot he uses his courage…

Caedmon, who is mentioned in Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (215-18). Caedmon’s Hymn has but few lines extant: . . . the power of the Creator, the profound mind of the glorious Father, who fashioned the beginning of every wonder, the eternal Lord. For the children of men he made first heaven as a roof, the holy Creator. . . .(Alexander 6) The Christian references in Beowulf include four allusions to Genesis, including the Creation, Cain and…

communicating the same idea would be, "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight"; again, the basic idea is that no one would speak ill of Beowulf because he kept the fight honorable. Another important way that weapons are connected to a display of honor in Beowulf is the idea of disarming oneself upon entering another's home. Near the beginning of the poem in "The Coming of Beowulf to Heorot," a guard tells Beowulf's troops, "You may come in your wardress . . . to see Hrothgar. Let your war shields, your…

Both the Benty Grange and Sutton Hoo helmets have boar ornaments on the helmet, on the eyebrows of the latter. In Beowulf the poet describes the helmets of the Geat warriors in the poem: Boar-figures gleamed over plated cheek-guards, inlaid with gold (303-4) (Cramp 117) Representations of helmets in sculpture or in manuscripts indicate that crested helmets, the Anglo-Saxon type of helmet…

society, and before long, news of Hrothgar's troubles reach far and wide, including Geatland. Beowulf feels compelled to come to Hrothgar's aid, not only for fame and glory, but also to settle an old feud between their kin. Before long, Beowulf, "the Geat captain had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes: he had healed and relieved a huge distress, unremitting humiliations." (L. 827-830) Before Beowulf killed Grendel, one of his Geats had to die by the hands of Grendel. According to the honour…

George Clark in Beowulf says: “As far as one can tell from the evidence of archaeology and the poem’s sometimes ambiguous details, the material culture of the poem’s actors and audience can hardly be distinguished” (Clark 49). This culture manifested strong ties of loyalty between members of one’s family. The family formed a circle of protection and loyalty, and was duty-bound to avenge a member’s death. Feuds between families, clans, tribes and nations were passed down from generation to generation…

Beowulf chooses to fight Grendel by himself and without shield or weapons; previously the hero slew nine sea monsters with his sword. And he is fully willing to sacrifice his very life for this: “… I alone will fulfill the wish of your people … or die in the foe’s grasp.” Beowulf consciously chooses to act in a superhuman manner: “I shall perform the deeds of a hero or I have passed my last day in this mead-hall.” Even Grendel, who is pessimism personified, the antithesis of Heorot’s joy, recognizes…