The full poem survives in the manuscript known as the Nowell Codex, located in the British Library. In , the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through Ashburnham House in London that had a collection of medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. Additional information on Beowulf can be found here. Skip to main content. Module 3: Beowulf. To be considered and epic, a piece of literature must exhibit quite a few specific, literary techniques.
Some of the main criteria points include being a long, narrative poem, having an epic hero, and containing rhythm, alliteration, and imagery. Beowulf can be considered an epic because it contains all of this criteria. Beowulf, first and foremost, is a long narrative poem. It contains 3, lines and has been divided into forty-three sections. It has been written in a way that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience and arranged so that the language stimulates an emotional response, the basis of why a piece of writing would be considered a poem.
Beowulf also contains an epic hero. The title of the poem has been named after our epic hero, Beowulf. In definition, an epic hero is someone that does larger than life deeds and is stronger and smarter than any normal man; and Beowulf fits this description as if the mold were made for him.
He has the strength of thirty men and uses it as a major weapon against evil. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Get Access. Better Essays.
The Role of the Hero in Beowulf. Read More. Satisfactory Essays. Beowulfs Superiority Words 2 Pages. Beowulfs Superiority. Unaborted Socrates Essay Words 2 Pages. Unaborted Socrates Essay. Good Essays. Epic Hero: Beowulf Words 2 Pages. Epic Hero: Beowulf. The Fate of Beowulf Words 3 Pages. The events of the poem are set during the Germanic 'heroic age' - a period stretching from the fourth to the sixth century by modern reckoning but described by the poet simply as geardagas 'days of old'.
During the course of the poem, the young Beowulf travels across the sea from his homeland in order to help the Danish King Hrothgar, whose people have suffered for twelve years at the hands and teeth of a man-shaped and man-eating creature known as Grendel. Having been graciously received by Hrothgar and promised great rewards, Beowulf awaits Grendel's coming by night in the royal hall Heorot.
In a scene of great drama and suspense, the poet describes Grendel's approach out of the misty darkness, his sudden and violent entrance into the hall, and his ferocious hand-to-hand encounter with Beowulf. The hero is, of course, victorious, and the fight ends with Beowulf ripping off Grendel's arm at the socket and with Grendel fleeing back into the darkness, mortally wounded. The relief that this victory brings to the Danes is, however, short-lived, as the very next night Grendel's unnamed and previously unmentioned mother attacks the hall and kills one of Hrothgar's chief counsellors by way of revenge for her dead son.
Beowulf's exploits amongst the Danes take up most of the first two-thirds of the 3, lines of the poem. In the remainder of the poem, Beowulf returns home to the Geats, where his hard-won glory is celebrated and rewarded by his uncle King Hygelac. Fifty years pass, and Beowulf, now an old man, is king of the Geats when his people are menaced by a fire-breathing dragon.
The old king is, however, overmatched in his final battle. Seized by the neck in the dragon's mighty jaws, Beowulf is able to win victory only with the help of his young kinsman Wiglaf and at the cost of his own life. The poem ends in elegiac mood, as celebration of Beowulf's heroism mingles with lament for his death and with fearful predictions regarding the fate of his people.
Such a bare summary makes the plot and structure of the poem sound straightforward, but one of the distinctive characteristics of the artistry of Beowulf is the way in which the poet skilfully moves backwards and forwards along a linear narrative timeline, interweaving the main events of the poem with a plethora of inset and secondary narratives. Foreground and background merge in this consummate example of so-called 'interlace' structure, so that the exploits of Beowulf himself are inextricably immersed within a richer background of heroic legend.
The success of this narrative technique is one of the many astounding features of the poem. Although many of the events and characters mentioned in Beowulf including both Hrothgar and Hygelac are more or less familiar from other early medieval written sources, Beowulf himself is not mentioned elsewhere.
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