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The Most Surviving Epic Poem Beowulf

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The oldest surviving epic poem in the English language and the earliest piece of European literature, Beowulf. The story begins in the 8th and 11th century, by an anonymous writer. However, there are many stories about the supernaturals, actions, and the hero that are revealed in this epic him. Grendel Poem. This poem traces the skills, courage, and the greatest adventures of Beowulf, the hero.
First, we have the supernaturals of Beowulf. We have the villains that made Beowulf 's battles, which is Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and the dragon. He also fought the creatures in the lake, the sea monsters, and just about anything who picked a fight with Battles, Grendel being the first monster he story, which was known to be able to take out thirty men at once. Grendel 's mother however put up a fight for Beowulf, Grendel 's mother came for revenge against Beowulf killing her son. Beowulf cut her neck off with the giant sword that only he could lift, everyone else was too weak. Beowulf 's last battle was against the mighty dragon, …show more content…

Lastly, we have the Kennings which made a great part of the story.This is a story written in 1000 A.D. which also means old english, and some formal language that we do not use in the year 2000. Some examples from the text,’ Gold shinning hall” from Heorot, “shepard of evil’ for Grendel,’ those who are thrust into danger, clutched at by trouble, yet can carry no solace in their hearts, cannot hope to be better’. Definitely not the language we use today, but is something very interesting to learn. Its great to use tricky sentences like that to leave the reader thinking about what just happened and why it did.
The supernaturals, The speeches and styles, and the kennings are all very important views on the story, and puts it together perfectly. The oldest surviving literature in the 1000A.D. is still one of the greatest action stories, yet. heroes of life will soon come to an end, and Beowulf realized that during his last battle with the mighty

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The main characters in the story are Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, the dragon, and Hrothgar—king of the Danes

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Impending Doom The language and usage of various traditional Anglo-Saxon literary elements in “Beowulf,” translated by Charles W. Kennedy, help the reader to understand the purpose of the folk epic. When Beowulf arrives to kill Grendel’s mother in an underwater hall, he and his men see “on the rocky sea-cliff,/…slaughtered Æschere’s severed head./ The water boiled in a bloody swirling/ With seething gore as the spearmen gazed” (931-934).

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Grendel commits heinous acts against people who have done nothing wrong. Grendel shows how evil he is when he “snatched at the first Geat he came to, ripped him apart, cut his body to bits with powerful jaws” and he even “drank the blood from his veins” (Beers II. 262-265). Beowulf also fights two other evil creatures. He goes into battle against Grendel’s mother. She is also very evil, seeing as she raised Grendel.

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There he kills her and takes Grendel 's head as a gift for the king along with the giant 's sword. This proves his loyalty to the king and Drane-folk. During this fight, everyone waited for anxiously. When they saw the blood they knew Beowulf was dead but, he wasn 't. When he showed up to the mead-hall everybody was proud of him. Giving him more gifts and treasure.

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In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.

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Rachna Shah Critics have proposed that Beowulf’s “lofty...beauty” and dignified tone are inconsistent with its whimsical choice of incorporating monsters. Yet rather than being incompatible, the monsters actually contribute to the poem’s poise by capturing Beowulf’s grim theme. Critics who dissect Beowulf through “historical or scientific lens”, do not analyze the poem “as a whole”, where the true significance of Beowulf is found. The same critics decry the universal - myths and doom - and laud human tragedies and “heroic legend” in their place. The monsters of “folk-tale” belong to myth.

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Beowulf struggles against Grendel’s mom. In the end, Beowulf finds a giant sword and kills Grendel’s mom with it. This fight shows Beowulf’s weaknesses and

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He strangled Grendel with his bare hands. He fought Grendel’s mother by himself with no hesitation and fought the dragon to the death but in doing so Beowulf gave his life for those he vowed to protect. Beowulf’s life story is a true epic hero that will be spoken for

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John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the epic poem Beowulf from the point of view of the antagonist, Grendel. The main difference between the two literary works is represented by the values behind their writing. The ancient epic poem is the perfect example of the tales of a hero, Beowulf, the storyline is flat and characters are static because they are constructed around the heroic code to fulfil a specific role. Grendel, in the homonym novel, is a dynamic character with a post-modern, existentialist vision of the world in the constant search for his sense of life. Despite some similarities with humans that make him in some way relatable to us, Grendel present some significant differences with human beings.

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Though the author has remained nameless for over a thousand years, Beowulf remains a famously popular story to this day. Since the first tale, epics have often reflected the values of the society at that time. Beowulf was a strong warrior fighting evil (though sadly we don't know what his original story was, as its original was an oral story passed down by people) and in that time era, that's what the people wanted. Beowulf fits the traditional box of an epic for a multitude of reasons, most notably: The story includes a vast setting of real and unreal locations and the values of the society at the time of the story is reflected well in this Viking-age story.

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