Examples Of Foils In Beowulf

How can devices and techniques used by an author or poet give us clues to help find the greater meaning of the work as a whole? There are many ways an author can embed pieces of the puzzle in their work itself. “Beowulf,” an alliterative primary epic written in Old English by an unknown poet, in which a Geatish hero named Beowulf travels to Denmark, fights, and defeats a monster named Grendel and his mother, includes some examples of this idea. After returning to his homeland of Geatland and ruling for fifty years, Beowulf fights an avaricious dragon that terrorizes the community, only to sustain fatal wounds, leaving his people on the verge of their demise. The Irish poet Seamus Heaney later translated the original “Beowulf” poem from Old

A foil is a character who contrasts with another character. An example of a foil in “Beowulf” is described when Heaney writes,“He is driven to hunt out hoards under ground, to guard heathen gold through age-long vigils, though to little avail. For three centuries, this scourge of the people had stood guard on that stoutly protected underground treasury”(Heaney 2276-2280). In this example, the poem describes how the dragon guarded an “underground treasury” for many centuries. The dragon protects the treasure because of greed and a desire to maintain wealth and material riches as long as he can. Heaney also writes “Then Halfdane’s son presented Beowulf with a gold standard as a victory gift, an embroidered banner; also breast-mail and a helmet; and a sword carried high, that was both precious object and token of honour”(Heaney 1019-1023). This example includes the various gifts bestowed upon Beowulf by Hrothgar and exhibits how much the Danes value generosity. Based on this example, the reader can assume that in the Anglo-Saxon culture, it is important to share wealth and provide hospitality and food, which was seen as an act of integrity and a strengthening of character during the time of the Viking warriors. At one point in the poem, the peace-weaver and queen Wealhtheow offers a drink to Beowulf and the Geats and says “Enjoy this drink,

A symbol is an object or character that represents something else. The main example of symbolism in “Beowulf” is evidenced in the part where Heaney writes, “He had scant regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all of its courage or strength, for he had kept going often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every sort, after he had purged Hrothgar’s hall, triumphed in Heorot and beaten Grendel”(Heaney 2347-2353). In this example, Beowulf is not afraid of fighting the Dragon, and has no worries about his own safety. This is because he trusts fate to decide whether he will win or not, which was a common belief in Anglo-Saxon warrior culture, and he knows that fate has helped him out in his past experiences. Another monster in Beowulf who is meant to symbolize something else is Grendel. Heaney writes about Grendel’s feelings and says “he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts”(Heaney 104-107). In this example, Grendel is isolated and withdrawn from the Danes and the rest of humanity because he is a monster. Heaney also refers to Grendel as having descended from Cain, who was a Biblical figure who was shunned by “the Creator” for killing his brother. Figuratively referring to Grendel as being an ancestor of Cain also points to the divide between good and evil in