Supernatural In Beowulf Research Paper

The supernatural has been a major influence in literature from the very beginning. Our oldest stories are ones of monsters and the heroes that best them. In early medieval literature the supernatural often comes in the form of creatures with animalistic appearances, but surprisingly human motives. Through descriptive kenning titles and personified motives, the supernatural is made to feel familiar and important in early literature, specifically Beowulf. This paper will focus on how those literary devises give a sense of the sense of equality and importance toward the supernatural and the hero in the story. The supernatural in Beowulf comes in the form of three creatures (Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon) that act as adversaries

Before the fight Beowulf refuses to use a sword and shield against Grendel. “He has no idea the arts of war, of shield or sword-play…No weapons, therefore, for either this night” (55) Beowulf exclaims before his encounter. This is in stark contrast with earlier in the story where he claims to have “killed nine sea-monsters” (53) with no consideration towards their knowledge of warfare. This shows us that Grendel is held in higher records than the average monster that roams the lands. To emphasize this, Grendel is given titles in the form of descriptive kennings such as “God-cursed” (44) and “shadow-stalker” (56). These give us character descriptions but also give a sense of importance to the

This incarnation of fire is a mirror opposite of Beowulf in the text. Where Beowulf was a generous “treasure-giver” (91), the dragon is a greedy “hoard-guardian” (90). Even their temperaments are opposites; where Beowulf “kept his temper” (88) and “watched and controlled his God-sent strength” (88), the dragon is driven “into a rage” (89) and begins to “lash out in flames” (91) over a single item being taken from it. The dragon is more than happy to punish the entire country over the actions on a single person. “The first to suffer were the people on the land” (91), we are told, as the dragon reaps his revenge by burning homesteads and leaving “nothing alive in his wake” (91). All of these human characteristics work to portray the dragon as some tyrant ruler, an evil king to face our good king. Like Grendel, Beowulf refused to face the dragon on anything except equal footing, even saying “’I would rather not use a weapon if I knew another way” (95). Just as our hero believe he and the dragon are equals, the texts works to convince the reader that as well. This is a match-up many years in the