What type of literary work is beowulf

Still, a familiarity with the rudiments of Anglo-Saxon poetry enables a deeper understanding of the Beowulf text. Beowulf is the embodiment of the Anglo-Saxon epic hero. Beowulf can be considered an epic because it contains all of this criteria. Beowulf, first and foremost, is a long narrative poem.

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. In the novel Beowulf; literary devices are used. These literary devices are alliteration, assonance, caesura, and kenning.

Each literary device contributes to the passage and what the readers interpret from reading these particular literary devices. Grendel symbolizes evil and jealousy. He is a descendant of Cain, the biblical character who jealously murdered his brother Abel—a crime for which his descendants including Grendel were banished. Beowulf is described as an epic due to its depiction of a central character who travels far to defeat supernatural forces.

Like many epic works of antiquity, it also follows a structure known as medias res, in which the text begins at the midpoint of action. In this case, the hero arrives at the scene with Grendel's reign of terror fully in progress.

The events of this poem are set sometime between the late 5th and 6th centuries, after England's influx of Angles and Saxons, but while those migrants still maintained close ties to their German and Scandinavian relatives. Theories abound as to the poem's exact origins, with some attributing its authorship to the courts of Alfred the Great or Cnut the Great , and others associating it with the earlier Kingdom of East Anglia.

Various other people and clans who appear in the poem, such as the Scylfings and Wulfings, are also mainstays of other surviving literary works from the period.

Therefore, Beowulf is often used as a source of historical information about ancient Scandinavia. Modern-day manuscripts of Beowulf are based on the transcription work of two ancient, unidentified scribes who had access to an original. One scribe handled the first 1, lines, while the second transcribed the remainder of the poem.

The two scribes had noticeably different styles, with the work of the second being more archaic. Beowulf survives in a manuscript known as the Nowell Codex , which is housed at the British Library in London.

The poem's manuscript actually contains no title, and has therefore been named after its protagonist out of convenience.

The manuscript was earlier kept at the Cotton Library inside the Ashburnham House, where it was damaged in a fire that destroyed most of the library's interior. Module 3: Beowulf. Search for:. Licenses and Attributions. Put simply, kennings are compound expressions that use characteristics to name a person or thing. One of the most popular examples is hronrade.

Literally, the word means "whale-road"; the kenning, then, is for the sea or ocean, a thoroughfare for the whale. One of the strengths of the Chickering facing-page translation is that it often repeats the kennings literally. Sometimes even a beginning student can find the word in Anglo-Saxon, on the opposing page, for comparison. Following are some other examples of kennings:.

Another device that modern readers might notice is the use of litotes , which are figures of speech in which a positive statement is made by the negative of its opposite. It is a form of understatement that is none too subtle. We might say, for example, "Abraham Lincoln was not too bad a President" when we mean to convey that he was a great President. When describing Grendel's mere or pool , King Hrothgar says it is "Not a pleasant place!

Although modern works often contain poetic devices such as the simile, there are only a few similes in Beowulf. Simile often is described as a comparison between two objects, people, or ideas through the use of a comparative such as "like" or "as. As poetry, Beowulf is rich in meaning. Some see it as an early celebration of Christianity. Others think it extols or condemns heroic values. English novelist and scholar J.

While the poem is of value historically, it is more interesting as a powerful work of art. Previous Poem Summary. Next Character List. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List.

Beowulf Anonymous. About Beowulf Introduction Beowulf probably was composed in England sometime in the eighth century ad and written down circa ad by a literate scop bard or perhaps a Christian scribe who was possibly educated in a monastery.