1. BEOWULF NOTES
Hall – ENG 2322/3

2. *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

3. 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

4. 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

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