Beowulf: The Final Battle
Beowulf, lines 2824-2835, depicts the aftermath of the grand battle between Beowulf, also known as the Geatish hero, and The dragon, a gruesome and vengeful creature. To briefly summarize the occurrence; a slave enters a sleeping dragon’s barrow and steals one of his treasures, a golden cup. The dragon awakes to find his treasure cup missing. Engulfed with rage, the creature flies into the kingdom in order to seek revenge. The dragon spews flames burning down homesteads and ultimately causing distress among the men. Beowulf, despite his old age, takes it upon his mission to fight the monster. He gathers eleven warriors and together they set out to find the dragon’s lair; however, upon their arrival, Beowulf insists
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Throughout the poem, the author chooses to alliterate certain word in order to grab the reader’s attention and enhance their reading experience. When the poet notes, “Hard-edged blades, hammered out and keenly filed had finished him,”(lines 2828-2829). There is a lot emphasis being placed in the “h” sound and in the reader’s minds, they are taken to a place where they can imagine the wolverine about to slice and dice one of his enemies in a swift move. The author seemed to understand the necessity for appealing to the audience, as he makes the reader imagine the scene of the dragon striking Beowulf in his/her mind. Another example of alliteration in the passage is when the poet states, “Never again would he glitter and glide and show himself off in midnight air.” (lines 2832-2833). This time, there’s emphasis being placed on “g” thus creating a sort of chilling effect. In addition, despite the dragon being evil, the words, “glitter” and “glide” portray the dragon as beautiful and alluring. Nevertheless, the death of the dragon represents the actions that Beowulf took to save his people. Although one may not question his actions as heroic, his motives are questionable. Beowulf put his pride before his people portraying himself more of a hero but less of a