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Theme Of Tone In Beowulf

508 Words3 Pages

In the poem Beowulf, the narrator uses several types of tone for several different scenes. The tone is a manner of speaking or writing that shows a certain attitude on the part of the speaker’s scene. Throughout this story the narrator is super formal. Beowulf shifts between three or more specific tones. Although everything is spoken in a calm, stiff, and stern formality; the author still uses the various examples of the tone throughout this epic poem. Throughout the poem Beowulf, there are several types of tone being exploited. At the beginning of Beowulf, lines 15-17 states, “So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall till the monster stirred, that demon, that friend, Grendel, who haunted moors, the wild.” The tone in this section changes from happy to frighten. Hrothgar’s men are portrayed as happy and peaceful until they are disturbed by the beast Grendel. Hrothgar enters in the Great Hall of Herot where the men are having their celebration. As a result, he is very vicious and angry with the people of Denmark and begins to lash out. He grabs the men, rips their bodies apart, throws them everywhere, and is killing everyone in his sight. …show more content…

Lines 263-265 states “He came to; ripped him apart, cut his body to bits with powerful jaws. Drank the blood from his veins and bolted.” This scene is very dismaying because what seemed to be a joyous celebration turned into a beast brawl very quickly. Grendel takes his anger out on everyone because he does not want to see them happy. He is very evil and is the spawn of Cain. Whenever he hears a celebration, he becomes jealous and upset. Although Grendel is seen as a creature filled with bloodlust and hatred, he should not lash out on the act of jealousy. Most people think that he is this way because he lacks tender love and

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