BEOWULF NOTES Hall – ENG 2322/3

*The EPIC* Long, narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s deeds Examples: Beowulf, Homer’s Iliad, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars

Characteristics of an Epic Hero The hero is of noble birth or high position and is often of great historical or legendary importance The hero’s character traits reflect important ideals of his society The hero performs courageous— sometimes even superhuman– deeds that reflect the values of the era The actions of the hero often determine the fate of a nation or group of people

Literary Devices in Beowulf Alliteration: repetition of consonant sound at the beginning of words Ex. “The ancient blade broke, bit into The monster’s skin, drew blood…” Caesura: poetic line divided in to two parts by a pause, usually indicated by extra spaces Ex. “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” Kennings: poetic synonyms found in Germanic poems; descriptive phrase or compound word that substitutes for a noun Ex. Kennings for Grendel “the Almighty’s enemy” and “sin stained demon” Rhythm: Be thinking about what the rhythm of the language implies about the author’s intent and meaning of the poem

Think about the following while reading: Motifs: Fate, Journey, Exile Allusions to religion: pagan v. Christian Clear distinctions between good and evil