BEOWULF BY THE BEOWULF POET - SUMMARY, THEME, CHARACTERS & SETTING

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The story takes place in the early to mid sixth century and consists of two parts. 
 The first begins with young Prince Beowulf of the Geats. “Geatland” is the same as the modern-day island of Gotland, which lies in the Baltic Sea just east of Sweden. 
 To the south, in Denmark, King Hrothgar of the Danes is being terrorized by a ravaging, troll-like monster called Grendel. Grendel hates the sounds of happiness and celebrating, so every night he comes to King Hrothgar’s magnificent feasting hall to kill and eat the king’s warriors.
 This has been going on for twelve years when Prince Beowulf arrives unannounced with a small band of men. He says he has heard of the trouble and wants to try his hand at destroying the monster. 
 King Hrothgar agrees to let Beowulf try, even though no sword can cut through Grendel’s skin. The king offers food and drink and then leaves the hall with Beowulf and the men of Geatland closed up inside.
 That night, in order to lure Grendel, Beowulf and his men celebrate loudly and boisterously. It works and Grendel comes to attack them. He kills one of Beowulf’s men but this time he has met his match, for Beowulf – making no attempt to use a sword – battles Grendel hand to hand and succeeds in tearing off the monster’s arm at the shoulder. Grendel then flees the feasting hall and goes out into the wilderness, where he dies.
 All of the warriors celebrate together, but the threat is by no means over. The next night, Grendel’s mother – who has no name in the poem and is not clearly described as either human or monster – comes to the feasting hall to take her revenge. She kills one of Hrothgar’s best fighters and leaves; but Beowulf follows her to her lair, which is in a cavern at the bottom of a lake.
 As before, with Grendel, a fierce battle takes place that is largely hand-to-hand. Eventually, as the fight continues, Beowulf sees a greatsword on the cavern wall and is able to use it to behead Grendel’s mother. 
 Also in the cavern is the body of Grendel. Beowulf beheads it as well, though the blood from the monster dissolves the greatsword and leaves only the hilt.
 After getting back to the feasting hall, Beowulf is richly rewarded by King Hrothgar with both gifts and honors. Prince Beowulf then returns in triumph to his home and family on the island of Geatland.
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 The second part of the story opens some fifty years later, where the aged Beowulf is now the king of Geatland. It seems that a golden cup has been stolen from a dragon, enraging the beast so that it burns the countryside looking for its treasure.
 Beowulf sets out to fight the dragon and even though his warriors go with him, he says he will face the creature alone. The battle is a terrible one and Beowulf is beginning to lose. His men flee to the forest, feeling that they can do nothing against such an enemy.
 Yet one man does find the courage to remain with King Beowulf and together they kill the dragon. Beowulf, however, has sustained a mortal wound and dies soon after the battle.
 The king is given a hero’s funeral with his body burned on a pyre. His people then build a great mound near the edge of the sea in Beowulf’s memory.
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 The first part of the poem is that of a young prince on the way up, so to speak. Beowulf wants to prove himself worthy of being a king by undertaking a heroic task, and he finds it in the plight of King Hrothgar and his endless battle against a monster and his mother. 
 This section ends happily and triumphantly with the monsters destroyed. Beowulf goes home with everyone knowing he deserves to be a king.
 By contrast, the second part of the poem is that of an old king nearing the end of his life. Beowulf knows that he will soon meet the fate that comes to all men, but he is at peace because he has done his duty well as a hero and a king.
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 In the modern era, the epic poem Beowulf first appeared in print in 1815. One of its most popular translations, completed in 1926 and published in 2014, was done by the renowned author and linguist J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings fame.
 Even though it contains many scenes of violence – and Tolkien compared it more to a sad song for a king than to an action story – some scholars consider Beowulf to be a more uplifting work than some of the typical heroic stories from the same time period. 
 This is because, as these scholars have noted, Beowulf does not prove himself by fighting other warriors – other men. His battles are against the evil and monstrous creatures that threaten not only his own kingdom, but those around him. For this reason, the poem is sometimes considered to be a Christian allegory.

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YouTube url:	https://youtu.be/g0MJ1IcuPJI
Created:	1. 2. 2021 08:31:36

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BEOWULF BY THE BEOWULF POET - SUMMARY, THEME, CHARACTERS & SETTING