Beowulf
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Introducing the Epic
Literary Focus: The Epic Hero
The Poetry of Beowulf: Caesuras,
Alliteration, and Kennings
Beowulf
Beowulf
Introducing the Epic
Beowulf is
• the first great work of
English national literature.
• the epic story of the hero
Beowulf, who fights the
demonic monster
Grendel.
Beowulf
Introducing the Epic
People
Beowulf: nephew of Higlac,
king of the Geats.
Hrothgar: king of the
Danes.
Wiglaf: a Geat warrior,
one of Beowulf’s select
band and the only one to
help him in his final fight
with the dragon.
Beowulf
Introducing the Epic
Monsters
Grendel: man-eating
monster who lives at the
bottom of a foul mere, or
mountain lake.
Grendel’s mother: waterwitch who seeks revenge.
Dragon: giant fire-breathing
serpent whom Beowulf fights
in Part Two of the epic.
Beowulf
Introducing the Epic
Places
Beowulf takes place in
Scandinavia.
Scholars think Herot
might have been built
on the coast of
Zealand, in Denmark.
Scandinavia
Britain
Beowulf
Introducing the Epic
Places
Herot: the golden
guest hall built by
King Hrothgar where
warriors gathered to
celebrate.
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Beowulf
Literary Focus: The Epic Hero
The epic hero is the
central figure in a long
narrative that reflects the
values and heroic ideals of
a particular society.
An epic is a quest story on
a grand scale.
Beowulf
Literary Focus: The Epic Hero
Beowulf is one of ancient England’s heroes.
Other times and other
cultures have had other
heroes.
King Arthur
Joan of Arc
Beowulf
Literary Focus: The Epic Hero
In modern America, the hero may be a real person
or a fictional character.
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Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
Beowulf was composed in Old English, which
uses a caesura, or rhythmic pause, to create
unity.
Locate the caesura in these lines:
ða com of more
Grendel gongan,
mynte se manscaða
sumne besyrwan
under misthleoþum
godes yrre bær;
manna cynnes
in sele þam hean.
Line divided into two parts by a caesura.
Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
Here are the same lines in modern English from
Burton Raffel’s translation:
Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty
Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill
Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
Punctuation reproduces pause effect of the caesura.
Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
The Anglo-Saxon oral poet also used the poetic
device of alliteration.
Grendel gongan,
mynte se manscaða
godes yrre bær;
manna cynnes
Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
Find examples of alliteration in Burton Raffel’s
translation of lines 1-5:
Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty
Hills and bogs, bearing God’s hatred,
Grendel came, hoping to kill
Anyone he could trap on this trip to high Herot.
Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
The kenning is another poetic device that was
used by the oral poet.
Examples of kennings from Beowulf:
gold-shining hall= Herot
guardian of crime = Grendel
strong-hearted wakeful sleeper = Beowulf
cave-guard and sky-borne foe = dragon
Beowulf
The Poetry of Beowulf
Create modern-day kennings for things you see
around you.
giver of words
word-wand
?
?
?
?
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