Beowulf

Beowulf, is a creatively written story about a warrior. The use of description and imagery enlivens the story, making it possible for readers to identify with the characters and events. Exaggeration and alliteration are two devices that together allow the reader to experience the poem. Examples of alliteration such as, “The Hall of the Heart”, “His pledge
and promise”, “Dragging the dead men home to his den”, “Fitted and furnished”, and “Showed sea-cliffs shining” in which, adds creativity and rhythm to the poem. It makes it more entertaining to read, speak, or listen to considering its great length. One of the strongest examples is found where it reads, “The demon delayed not, but quickly clutched / A sleeping thane in his swift assault, / Tore him in pieces, bit through the bones, / Gulped the blood, and gobbled the flesh, / Greedily gorged on the lifeless corpse,” (558-563). This is the image of Grendel killing one of the soldiers before his fatal fight with Beowulf. Great descriptive passages are found about Grendel’s swamp-home, describing it as, “A dismal covert / of trees that hung over hoary stone, / Over churning water and bloodstained wave.” (926-928), “The water boiled in a bloody swirling” (933), “The swimming forms of sea-dragons, / Dim serpent shapes in the watery depths”. As readers, these are the mental images that nightmares are made of. In comparison to our modern fiction, Beowulf might seem wordy and lengthy but when we take time to savor the graphic descriptions, vivid imagery, clever alliteration, and fantastic exaggerations we can understand how this thirteen hundred-year-old epic poem has lasted through the years. It is creatively written and has therefore stood the test of time!

I apologize that my lines don’t match up with our class text, I am in the midst of moving and I somehow lost my book. I had to buy another book so that I was able to finish the reading and post my response in time. But I wanted to at least cite the best I could! Sorry!