Beowulf - HEL

[alert-success] HEL - William J. Long [/alert-success]

[alert-warn] UNIT II : ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD[/alert-warn]

[alert-primary] Beowulf[/alert-primary]

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            Beowulf is the first poem ever written in English. It is the most important piece of Anglo-Saxon writing and the oldest epic still written in English. It has 3,182 lines in it. It is in the damaged Nowell Codex.  Before it was written down in the 10th century or at the end of the 9th century, it was told from person to person for hundreds of years. The main stories in the poem are based on the folk tales of the primitive northern tribes.

            The poem is about Beowulf, the legendary hero of the Geats, who is also the name of the main character. The story takes place in Sweden and Denmark, both in Scandinavia. The story itself comes from Scandinavia. It is now a national epic, just like the Iliad.

        Here is the story of Beowulf, the first and best epic, or poem about a hero, ever written.

        A prologue comes first. We talk about the poetic ideas that led to Scyld, King of the Spear Danes. When the Spear Danes didn't have a king, a ship arrived in their harbour. It was full of treasures and weapons of war, and a baby was sleeping in the middle of all these warlike things. No one was on board the ship. The child, whose name was Scyld, was born on its own.

        Scyld grew up and became a strong warrior. He led the Spear Danes as their king for many years. When his son Beowulf was strong and smart enough to rule, Wyrd (Fate), who only talks to a person once, came and stood at his side. It was time for Scyld to leave. This is how he was laid to rest:

        Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, was one of Scyld's descendants. Our story of Beowulf starts with him. In his old age, Hrothgar built a mead hall called Heorot near the sea. It was the most beautiful hall in the world, and every night, the king and his thanes gathered there to eat and listen to his gleemen sing.

        One night, while everyone was sleeping, a scary monster named Grendel broke into the hall, killed thirty of the warriors who were sleeping, and took their bodies to his lair under the sea to eat them.

        At first, the warriors fought, but they ran away when they saw that none of their weapons could hurt the monster. The town of Heorot was left empty and quiet.

        Beowulf was moved to go fight the monster and set his father's friends, the Danes, free.

        Grendel crossed the sea with fourteen other people. The monster's heart is filled with sudden fear. He roars, struggles, and tries to pull his arm free, but Beowulf jumps up and grabs his enemy with his bare hands. Grendel jumps into the water and drowns. At dawn, the Danes came, and they were happy all day because Beowulf had won.

        When night comes, there is a big feast in Heorot, and the Danes sleep in the great hall once more. At midnight, another monster, the half-human mother of Grendel, comes on a rampage to get revenge for her son. In the morning, the old sad scenes are brought up again, and Grendel's mother attacks Beowulf and drags him into a cave full of sea monsters. The merewif would die if she had a magic sword. In the last part of the poem, there is another big fight.

        Beowulf is now an old man. He has been king for fifty years. Only one, a fire dragon, was watching over a huge treasure that was hidden in the mountains. One day, a wanderer finds the magical cave and goes inside to take a jewelled cup while the firedrake sleeps deeply. That same night, the dragon was very angry and belched fire.

        Beowulf finally killed the dragon, too.

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