Literary Elements In Beowulf

Beowulf: Analyzing Key Literary Elements When scholars or students are interested in the Anglo-Saxon way of life, there is only one poem that can be used as the perfect representation of the culture. Written by an anonymous christian monk around the year 700 A.D., Beowulf is no ordinary poem. Beowulf is an epic poem that involves the incredible tale of an epic hero named Beowulf and his bravery, unsurpassable strength, honor, confidence, and willingness to face all odds. Often called the “mother poem” of England, Beowulf represents the Anglo-Saxon way of life through beautiful and concise literary elements such as imagery, tone, and style. Throughout Beowulf, there are many accounts of imagery that involves water. In the beginning, Beowulf and his fourteen men sail across the mighty ocean relying solely on good omens and the ocean itself. Not long after the tired warriors arrive on the Danish shore, Unferth brings up the story of Beowulf’s swimming match against Brecca. When Beowulf confesses to the true story, he tells of the fierce and savage
Beowulf is full of alliteration, kennings, and caesura. Alliteration is very heavy in the poem from the beginning to end. A key example of alliteration can be found in Beowulf in lines 727-728 “The ancient blade broke, bit into the monsters skin, drew blood, but cracked.” Along with alliteration, kennings can be seen very frequently in the poem. Kennings are mostly found in Anglo-Saxon works, but they are especially rich in Beowulf, for example in lines 432 there are two uses of kennings in the same line “That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime.” Furthermore, there is also a strong use of caesura’s in Beowulf which is a characteristic of only Anglo-Saxon poetry. Caesura’s in the poem are often times combined with alliteration to help the flow of the sentence and the sentence