Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that was composed somewhere between the 8th and 11th century. Beowulf follows a great hero who comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by a man-eating creature known as Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel and, too mortally wounded to survive, Beowulf goes on to kill Grendel’s mother as well before returning home.
Beowulf is one of the most important works in English literature. It has had a profound effect on the literary world, inspiring writers from William Shakespeare to J.R.R Tolkien with its powerful narrative of sacrifice and redemption during times of war, chaos, and loss. Beowulf was first translated into English by renowned poet Seamus Heaney in 1999 for the British Council after Burton Raffel’s translation won them over with its modern language that still kept true to Beowulf ‘s original prose. Now considered by many scholars as the definitive work on Beowulf, Beowulf is read by thousands of students every year.
Beowulf was composed in Old English sometime between the 8th and 11th century. Beowulf follows Beowulf, a great hero who comes to the aid of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel and goes on to kill his mother as well before returning home.
Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic in 3,182 lines of alliterative verse. Beowulf was composed in England in the early 650’s by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. It has three main characters: Beowulf, King Hrothgar, and Grendel. Beowulf comes to aid his fellow Danes when Beowulf was just a teen from Geatland, Beowulf slays Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother in order to return home to Beowulf’s
King Hrothgar’s halls in Heorot and Beowulf becomes King of the Geats. Beowulf becomes king of the Geats after his father dies at sea and Beowulf leads Geatish warriors into an epic battle with a dragon. The Beowulf poet did not provide many details of Beowulf’s life; however, he does mention that Beowulf had Swedish relatives through his mother (lines 536-539).
Hook sentence(s): Growing up in the heroic path, Beowulf was divided in such different ways of one’s point of view. Beowulf the hero fighting against Grendel and Grendel’s mother reaped Beowulf distinctively enough for Beowulf to gain the fame that would come in handy in Beowulf’s middle age. Beowulf was also known for his inclination towards greediness when he took the throne from King Hrothgar, usurping Beowulf’s own uncle in Beowulf’s homeland. However, Beowulf would come to his senses at the end of Beowulf’s life, when Beowulf offered Beowulf kingdom to Beowulf last remaining relative named Wiglaf when Beowulf was old and ridden with illness.
Beowulf is known for Beowulf heroic stature, but it did not mean that Beowulf was without flaws. Beowulf grew up in the heroic path, became king by usurping Beowulf’s own uncle even though he had kept growing power relatively low during Beowulf’s reign so far. Yet, this act was seen as Beowlver’s way of letting go of youthfulness. When confronted with Beowulf’s mortality Beowlver lets go of Beowulf’s greediness and allowed Beowulf’s own family to take Beowulf’s kingdom when Beowulf was old and ridden with illness.
Beowulf is one of those works that you will either love or hate and there’s not much in between. Some people would say it’s an epic poem. Some would call it a long story with special meaning behind it – indeed, Beowulf has been the subject of doctoral dissertations and books written about its inner meaning. The Beowulf poet remains anonymous to this day. Beowulf is one of the best-known works in Old English literature, Beowulf has an interesting opening sentence that sets up the mood for the entire story.
The script opens with Beowulf speaking directly to the audience/reader about a man who was so powerful he could speak with animals, and Beowulf promises to tell this story because it’s a part of his heritage.
The tale starts out in an ice age where everything ices over, Beowulf is born but he will grow up to become the strongest man among his people. Beowulf talks about growing up in a time where all the creatures of nightmares were real, Beowulf thanks God for protecting him from ever having to face anything like that. Beowulf is a hero and a warrior who will go on many great quests, Beowuful seems upset by something he can’t control instead of being glad that he wasn’t born into a time when it was dangerous everywhere. Beowulf says there were no heroes back then so Beowolf has to travel far away to find someone worthy of emulation.
Beowulf’s father dies. Beowulf returns home from an adventure met with the news that his father died from grief because he Beowulf so much. Beowulf is the only one strong enough to kill a monster named Grendel, Beowulf decides to hunt down Grendel because it’s his way of preventing future grief.
Beowulf travels to Denmark and arrives at Heorot. Beowulf hears that people have been unable to sleep peacefully in Heorot for twelve years due to a man-eating monster who raids Heorot every night. Beowulf fights with Grendel and kills him by ripping off his arm, Beowulf hangs up Grendel’s hand as a trophy outside of Heorot. Beowulf returns home after many adventures and everyone praises Beowolf but he insists he did little or nothing very worthwhile. Beowulf is Beowulf’s nephew’s guardian because Beowulf has no children. Beowulf invites Beowulf to stay with him in his kingdom but Beowolf declines the offer, Beowulf makes a good decision by not putting himself into an awkward position where he might have to fight Beowlph for leadership of his own tribe.
Beowulf returns home and saves Hygelac from a dragon that had come to take Beowulf’s land, Beowulf dies from being burned alive by the dragon. The story ends with BeoWulph being mourned as a great hero even though it seemed as though he was too busy playing hero elsewhere to be bothered by grief at home.
