“…The sounds of roaring, clanging and swishing radiates off the barrows walls. Beowulf , wields his shield to protect himself from the grotesque talons of the dragon, as well as the raging fires that singe his facial hair. The dragon writhes around in anger, trying to burn him to a crisp. Beowulf swings his sword with all his strength, but only gives the dragon a simple scratch. This makes the dragon seethe with rage, and it begins to become more aggressive towards Beowulf.
Then, King Beowulf commanded everyone to stay back because this was his fight. One by one, warriors ran away in fear, except Rune. He ran in to help the king after Rune saw he was weary. After the king’s sword broke, the dragon found an exposed spot on Beowulf’s neck and clamped its poisonous fangs on it. They managed to kill the beast by driving their sword and dagger into the dragon’s weak spot, and the happiness was short-lived because the king was about to succumb to his wounds.
A hero and a monster show the constant battle between good vs. evil through Biblical allusions. Beowulf is a mighty warrior who fights a disruptive monster, Grendel. Beowulf is represented as God, the good, and Grendel is represented as Cain, the evil. Through the analysis of Beowulf`s ability to do well and Grendel`s vengeance, the reader understand that the battle of Christianity and staying loyal is shown by a dispute. In the translation Beowulf, by Burton Raffel, allusions to the Bible reveal a conflict between good vs. evil.
Beowulf is described as having hands “like a dragons claws” and fingers “like fangs with poison” and “out of his shoulders come fiery wings”(168-169). The imagery relates Beowulf with that of the dragon, emphasizing the iconoclastic conflict of both. Beowulf; however, is destroying Grendel’s existential perspective of reality and truth, while the dragon was destroying Grendel’s growing curiosity towards the shapers reason. When Beowulf and Grendel fight, their is a stronger appearance of a philosophical battle than that of a physical one as Beowulf whispers and “flames slip out at the corners of his mouth,” again showing the iconoclast relation and the web of connections with the serpent
1. Find an example of a literary device and write the example. Be sure to label what device it is and explain how your example fits the description. Alliteration was the literary device used in Beowulf's Last Battle in the sentence "Then Beowulf rose, still brave, still strong and with his shields at his side, and a mail shirt on his breast, strode calmly, confidently, toward the tower". The repeated letter was "s" in the words still, strong, shields, side, shirt, and strode.
Beowulf is injured in the fight, and he dies along side his defeated
Beowulf shows immense courage and bravery which anglo-saxons believed to be his fate. Grendel has never found a harder opponent in battle than Beowulf “.... Had he met a man whose hands were harder.... ”(167) At this moment
The fight went back and forth. They were punching, kicking, and yelling as they went. The monster said “you are never going to win. I am going to win!” This made Beowulf angry.
An extraordinary mead-corridor has been manufactured named Heorot, where Hrothgar rules the Danes. The lobby is assaulted by the beast Grendel, a plunge of the race of Cain. Beowulf of the Geats goes to Heorot and slaughters the beast with his uncovered hands. The following night the creature 's mom looks for retaliation; Beowulf seeks after her to her sanctuary, and kills her as well. Beowulf returns home, and in time gets to be King of the Geats.
Beowulf manifests the features of a literary epic by reflecting the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture from which it came from, and containing great, descriptive language and plots that include great battles and conflicts. The warrior culture is evident from the explanation of the story in Journeys where Beowulf, along with his group of warriors, sails to Denmark, ready to defeat Grendel to the very end of the excerpt where defeating Grendel brings Beowulf honor, pride, and glory. “He was happy with his / nightwork / and the courage he had shown” (826-828). Great battle and conflict, as well as descriptive detail, can be seen in this line from Beowulf and Grendel’s battle, “Every bone in his body [Grendel’s] / quailed and recoiled, but he could not
Near the end of his life as a king, Beowulf found that his citizens were being terrorized by a dragon. Although he was old and grizzled, the king took it on in battle. He showed tremendous courage even when knowing the odds were not in his favor. Previously, during his time in Denmark, Beowulf killed Grendel’s mother with the sword made for a giant. This showed his superhuman strength because as an ordinary human being Beowulf was able to handle and control the giant’s sword.
This attests to his aging and the stronger forces that he is facing. Beowulf uses different and progressively stronger weapons that carry a cultural attachment of his people, enabling the hero to to defeat his enemies even though he is getting older and his enemies are getting stronger.
Alliteration, Imagery, and Kenning in Beowulf In the Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf”, the author’s used multiple different literary devices, three in particularly stuck out throughout the entire story, being alliteration, kenning, and imagery; the literary devices were used to connect the story, and help the reader understand the life of Beowulf, and emphasize the parts that were not clear throughout the story. The author uses literary devices throughout the story of “Beowulf” to emphasize on Beowulf’s heroism, and to connect Beowulf to the epic poem. The use of alliteration is used to create a voice that only the readers will understand from reading throughout the story, an example following the idea of alliteration would be “Whichever one death fells must deem it a just judgement by God” (lines 400-441). Alliteration is to be described as a repetition of similar consonant sounds.
5 Literary Devices in Beowulf: “the way it all melted as ice melts” (p.52) Beowulf just finished slaying Grendel and his mother; the ancient sword he used to kill them melts. The poet uses a simile comparing the sword to ice cubes as they melt to emphasize. Giving the image/effect of the sword slowly dissolving in a stunning way; emphasizing the incredibility of it. “the shining blade refused to bite” (p.50) Beowulf dives underwater to fight Grendel’s Mother.
The literary device that seems ubiquitous in this poem is alliteration. The first one found in lines 633-634, “ still brave, still strong/ And with his shield at his side, and a mail shirt on his breast.” The “S” sound is repeated. Another example of alliteration shown is on lines 717-718.
