Literary Devices In Beowulf

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.

more than use art to rid of unwelcome spirits. Shields, churches, even the handles of swords have been known to have pictures, or art, on them by this time. Much like Egyptians, important members of society would generally be buried with artifacts to keep them protected in the afterlife. Which is a peculiar sight to see since the Anglo-Saxons did not believe the afterlife as pagans, but as stated, they were converted into Christians when the St. Augustine came to the pagans.

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye, is the story of a hero that overcomes the evil of Cain by admitting to the evil in himself. This epic novel tells of light and dark or good and evil. They also have many moments of horror, disgust, and hero´s. The author shows the evil in men using monsters and truly evil things. Characters in this book include Skyld Sceffling, Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wealhtheow and Unferth. With all of these people, you see the good and bad within them. I think the moral of the story in this book is, we all have light and dark inside us; but it is the

“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

Symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or ideas. Symbolism is one of the most common practices of writing, and has been used for centuries. Symbols can often tell a story better than a human can because of there deeper meaning. When epic poems became popular during the Anglo-Saxon period they were filled with harrowing tales of bravery, and courage. Epic poems are long narrative poems that often have characters facing impossible tasks and still finding courage to defeat them. While many marvel at the original Anglo-Saxon dialect of Beowulf, Seamus Heany's modern English translation allows all readers to enjoy this tale.

Although the author of Beowulf is unknown, his ability to reveal an eternal truth is undeniable. The author uses literary elements such as theme, points-of-view, and symbolism to portray his purpose. Countries and world leaders still struggle with the concepts in Beowulf. Analyzing the deeper meaning of Beowulf will reveal the truth behind the reason for war and conflict.

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.

Beowulf: A New Telling is a tale set in medieval times that tells about the heroic deeds of a unique kind of hero, named Beowulf, who does not seem like a usual hero, for he uses no sword against evil. The novel is set in medieval times and is an adventure story about a heroine, who of course is this Beowulf. Almost anyone might enjoy this book and find it interesting. The novel is also easy to understand, for the author uses good examples of figurative language much throughout the book, and also uses good examples of dialogue to help describe each character, helping differ elements of lightness and darkness.

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.

Condemning Beowulf as an egotistical gold-digger imposes unwarranted restrictions on the poem. Reducing the work to a caution against material goods is careless because doing so induces unnecessary fear and undermines the countless benefits that wealth provides. Apprehension over possessions is a concern in Beowulf, but obsessing over blatant themes is distracting and results in a failure to engage a deeper and more thorough analysis of the text. Joseph E. Marshall’s “Goldgyfan or Goldwlance: A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure” responds to numerous critics who allege that Beowulf is greedy. I agree with Marshall on most points, but I think he neglects to identify two indispensable arguments: a valid admonition and a blunt Christian

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, for example. However, Aristotle presented sophisticated ideas about poetic unity long before Beowulf, and hence there is no reason to believe that Old English authors had "primitive" notions of artistic unity. Moreover, those who argue against the single authorship of Beowulf already apply "modern" standards of unity to support their case, as Rogers indeed does. Thus there should be no great objection to applying these standards in support of the opposing view.