AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Knowing by its tracks that some demon had torn The fate of his lost friends and companions, How well he had worked, and in that gray morningīroke their long feast with tears and lamentsįor the dead. To his lair, delighted with his night's slaughter.Īt daybreak, with the sun's first light, they saw Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies, He slipped through the door and there in the silence Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting Would do in that hall when their drinking was done. Went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors Those demons out, and their exile was bitter, He was spawned in that slime,ĬonceIved by a pair of those monsters born Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend, So Hrothgar's men lived happy In his hall ![]() The corners of the earth were made lovely with treesĪnd leaves, made quick with life, with each These beautiful plains marked off by oceans, Of the ancient beginnings of us all, recalling In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient Grendel, a murderous creature who poses a great danger Outside in the darkness, however, lurks the monster The selection opens during an evening of celebrationĪt Herot, the banquet hall of the Danish king Hrothgar. Despite its blood and horror, Beowulf is a deeply idealistic narrative. Against a backdrop of gloom that reflects the Anglo-Saxons' stoic acceptance of fate, the story applauds the highest virtues of human nature-courage, generosity, faithfulness. Throughout Beowulf there is a prevailing yet somewhat uneasy blend of Christian ethics and pagan morality. He represents good, while Grendel represents evil. Beowulf is one of the oldest European epics, Its hero, Beowulf, embodies the highest ideals of his time and place: loyalty, valor, unselfishness, and a sense of justice. The hero of an epic represents widespread national, cultural, or religious values. ![]() An epic is presented in a serious way, often through the use of elevated language. Typically, an epic, featuring a hero who is larger than life, concerns eternal human problems such as the struggle between good and evil. An epic is a long narrative poem, sometimes developed orally, that celebrates the deeds of a legendary or heroic figure, A few epics predate the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, Well-known epics from earlier times include the Greek Iliad and Odyssey by Homer and the Roman Aeneid by Virgil. Recited originally in Old English, Beowulf is based on legends and chronicles of the various Northern Europeans who migrated to England. Although the action takes place in sixth century Scandinavia, the poem is unmistakably English. The second struggle pits Beowulf against Grendel's "water- hag" mother, and the third, fifty years later, against a dragon. The first battle is the one described in this book. This monster, Grendel, is a terrifying swampland creature of enormous size whose eyes burn "with a gruesome light." The struggle between Beowulf, a young adventurer eager for fame, and Grendel, a fierce and bloodthirsty foe, is the first of three mortal battles in the long poem. Beowulf, a Geat from a region that is today southern Sweden, sets sail from his homeland to try to free Danish King Hrothgar's great banquet hall, Herot, of a monster that has been ravaging it for twelve years. Not only does it have lasting historical importance as a record of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in England, but it also tells a hair-raising tale that has electrified readers and listeners through the centuries. Minstrels called scops recited this poem to audiences in England for about three hundred years before it was first written down, Only one original manuscript of the complete 3128-line poem survives, but Beowulf is in no danger of becoming extinct. Beowulf No Biography BEOWULF was composed by an unknown poet who lived more than twelve hundred years ago, Beowulf marks the beginning of English literature.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |