The symbolic use of water differs between the two epics water through its representation styles. In The Odyssey, water can be personified as being “good” or “bad” whereas in Beowulf the water is usually simply present. In Beowulf, it is the medium for travel and communication and it suggests a fluidity of movement both for a literal sailor and for the narrative, which relies on the sea as both a means of travel and as an unknown by which to define the known. “In two other episodes that bracket a section of the tale’s narrative portion, Beowulf arrives at Hrothgar’s kingdom and return to his own land, by sea… the ocean travel required to connect these insular communities and to provide avenues for communication…” (Kosso, 409) Within that epic,