Literary Elements

The literary elements of alliteration can be found in the lines of Caedmon’s Hymn and Beowulf. Despite being Anglo-Saxon literature if different genre, they both contains this literary component. The alliteration in the two allows the reader easily remember the text and be able to recite it easily. Some examples are “work of the world-warden” in Caedmon’s Hymn and “he knew the sea would point the prow straight to the distant Danish shore” in Beowulf. Also, the usage of kenning cans be found within the two poems to give them a more exciting and deep impression. Also, in both poems there are numerous names for God that is used instead of simply referring God to God. For example, in Beowulf God is referred to as “Lord of All.” However, in Caedmon’s Hymn, God is referred to as “Lord of Glory.” These components make the poems easier to read. Like typical Anglo-Saxon text the usage of alliteration is used and the sense of loyalty to God can be seen. Even though Beowulf is more of an epic poem where the protagonist deals with heroic deeds, Caedmon’s Hymn also gives off that effect in a different sense. In Caedmon’s Hymn, the message of accepting the wryd after a life journey can be seem like how Beowulf accepted the fact that he will died in defeat after winning so many in his life. Even though there are different aspects, it can clearly be seen that these two texts were similar in terms of when they were composed. They possess significant aspects of Anglo-Saxon literature.

Anglo-Saxon ideal of loyalty and the tragedy of separation or exile

The Anglo-Saxon epic poetry we see today usually embodies the attitudes and ideals of an entire culture. There are many important aspects of life that are valued and weighed highly in different cultures. However, the Anglo-Saxon society places strong emphasis on ethics. They were more concerned with ethics than mysticism such as earthly virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship. An important aspect of life in Anglo-Saxon society is the loyalty between a lord and his retainer. This idea is stresses within “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament.” The seafarer lost loyalty at a previous time. However, he turned himself to God, who is his new leader that he follows wholeheartedly. Life born in the love of God and the hope of Heaven. Praise the Holy Grace of Him who honored us” (Raffel, 91). “In “The Wife’s Lament,” the wife remains loyal to her husband despite all she went through and the betrayal she received from her husband family. She was mistreated by his family, but yet she remains loyal only to him and wish to be within in exile. “A friendless exile in my sorry plight, my husband’s kinsmen plotted secretly how they might separate us from each other that we might live in wretchness apart most widely in the world; and my heart longed” (Hamer 92). The two poems reveal that even though the Anglo-Saxons may experience betrayal, they still maintain a belief that loyalty is most important. Whether it is loyalty to one’s leader or spouse, it should be kept. Regardless of any betrayal, loyalty should not be forgotten because a legion on a specific person is highly valued in Anglo-Saxon society.

Comparing the elegies: “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament"

“The Seafarer” is composed of elegiac and moralizing views. The poem can be read as a dramatic monologue or simply a dialogue between two people. The audience can see that the poem can be divided into two sections. The first section is a personal description of the suffering and attractions of life at sea. In the second section, the narrator takes a turn and talks about moral speculation about the momentary nature of fame, fortune, and life itself. It ends with a Christian view of God as wrathful and powerful. The narrator urges the reader to forget earthly accomplishments and anticipate God’s judgment in the afterlife. The poem contain both Christian and pagan ideas about overcoming the sense of suffering and loneliness. The narrator talks about the fearing of God’s judgment in the afterlife expressing Christian views, but also states about buried treasure and winning glory battles to express pagan views. “The Seafarer” is considered an allegory discussing life as a journey and the human condition as that exile in the sea. “The Wife’s Lament” is an elegiac poem expressing a wife’s feelings pertaining to exile. It is unclear to why the wife was exiled and separated from her husband. The poem conflates the theme of mourning over a departed leader with the theme of mourning of a departed lover. The poem has the motif of loneliness from exile and the longing for companionship is present. The loneliness she feels can be seen in numerous Anglos-Saxon texts and poems that talks about exile. This motif is constantly depicted through text as if to express the desire Anglo-Saxon people have for companionship in times of heartaches.

Both of the poems contain sentiments of longing for something. Both of the protagonists in the poems are experiencing loneliness from exile. Their exiles are different but the same. One is exiled from life with companionship, while one is separated from her beloved. They both longed to have some sort of companionship that would get them through the days. However, their exiles are for different reasons. The sailor is away from civilization to self reflect, while the wife is forces to leave her place in society. The usual motifs of exile and the sense of fate from it are present in the two poems. Overall, the sadness within the two poems can be seen. However, “The Seafarer is less depressing since the second half of the poem takes life in a more positive note. The message from the two poems is that loneliness can lead to despair, but we must learn to appreciate life upon the wyrd that God has in place for us. Both poems describe places in which life is uncomfortable, and the misery they feel in exile. The seafarer mourns the lack of a leader, while the wife mourns the lack of her husband companionship. However, the seafarer find solace in God to get by day by day.

Grendel's Mother

Beowulf is first epic recorded since ancient history of an iconic hero. He is a hero from the misty reaches of the British past, a hero who faces violence, horror, and even death to save a people in mortal danger. Beowulf is a loyal, brave, and determined individual with superhuman qualities that make him the archetype of the dragon slayer, the hero who faces death in order to save a threatened community. He engaged in a battle and defeated the terrifying monster, Grendel’s mother, during his heroic life. Grendel mother is one of the three antagonists in the epic Beowulf. She is never given a name, and there are ambiguous descriptions of her within the translations of her over the year. Grendel’s mother and Grendel are described as descendants of Cain. After Beowulf killed Grendel, his mother started to attack Herot in revenge and rage. Unable to just ignore this, Beowulf traveled into her under-water home call Grendel’s Mere with his superhuman characteristics for this place is said to be equivalent to Hell. When Beowulf intrusion was established my Grendel’s mother, she immediately attacks him. They engaged in fierce combat both equivalently a match for each other, but at times Beowulf was almost defeated by her. However, obtaining a magical sword found in her lair he slay her and defeated the family that brought terror to Herot. He celebrated his victory by disfiguring their corpse mainly Grendel and returned to the surface to celebrate the victory.

Grendel’s mother possesses similar characteristics like her son. She is evil, gruesome, and terrifying. She is a monster with unique features that makes her horrible to look at. She possesses some characteristics of humans by being able to walk up-right with a pair of legs and arm. However, her walk is less delicate and soft, but swift and rough. She has bulging eyes, a pair of horns sprouting from fuzzy long black hair, and sharp yellow fangs. Her ears are big and pointy sticking out from her big head filed with slimy substances. Her body is covered with greenish yellow scales that give her the resemblance of an amphibian-like creature. Her scales are hard and smooth as diamonds, but tough enough to withstand hundreds of men’s swords swinging at her. Grendel’s mother had claws with sharp nails that can pierce through the thickest wall. One grab of a man with her claws can squeeze the life out of him instantly. Her voice is rough and deep displaying intensity with every word. She smells of wet sea-water that stench the smell of burning coal and fire. Her odor can be smelled many yards away making people fled in terror with its first detection. She is strong and tough displaying the characteristics of an unbeatable monster. From head to toe she can be classified as part of an ogre family. Grendel’s mother is a force to be reckoned with. She is terrifying and disgusting. A look at her and people are sent running away from ugliness and terror. Similar to her son, she is evil, and her actions depict her intentions from the very start. She may be a monster, but she is no ordinary monster. She is a hundred times more ugly and terrifying that other monster seen before to men. The other descendents of Cain can not compare to her. The definition of ugliness, she possesses the characteristics of a human-like amphibious ogre-like monster. People do not sympathize with her misfortune looks for her evil makes her deserving of such horrible characteristics. A fierce gruesome monster, she comes running at lighting speed to attack her victim by grabbing them without notice and piercing through their raw flesh with her sharp nails. Disfiguring her victims until they no longer can be recognizable with their blood trenching her hands. The indication of danger, men knows it’s their death day when they cross with her.

Grendel The Monster

Beowulf is first epic recorded since ancient history about the iconic hero Beowulf. He is a hero from the misty reaches of the British past, a hero who faces violence, horror, and even death to save a people in mortal danger. Beowulf is a loyal, brave, and determined individual with superhuman qualities that make him the archetype of the dragon slayer, the hero who faces death in order to save a threatened community. He engaged in a battle and defeated the terrifying monster Grendel during his heroic life. Grendel is one of three antagonists, along with his mother and the dragon that Beowulf fought. In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.

Grendel is a man-eating monster who lives at the bottom of a foul mere, or mountain lake. He is the offspring of the descendants of Cain, a son of Adam and Eve. Cain is viewed as the first murderer since he killed his brother, Abel. Condemned for his actions, he was cursed by God and according to legends, fathered all evil beings that plaque humankinds: monsters, demons, and evil spirits. Grendel was spawned in the slime and conceived in the deep darkness of Hell, the land of Cain. Grendel is a symbol of terror, destruction, and death. As present in the poem, Grendel is feared by everyone. Grendel kills without remorse in the most gruesome and gory ways. He splits his victims in pieces with their blood gushing out in every direction, and consumed their disfigured corpses. He is considered to be dangerous, evil, and cold-blooded because he killed daily with no mercy for his poor victims. In the poem, Grendel begins to attack Herot plaguing terror across the land. People grew terrified of Grendel and even moved away from Herot in fear of being the next victim. The once lively city was overshadowed by despair and mourning through Grendel’s actions.

There is no clear motive to why Grendel produced the destructions that he did. However, it can be concluded that it was his nature to promote evil. He is one of the descendants of Cain; therefore, being a murderer is not far from the imagination, since wickedness is his core value. He kills people and consumed their meat ensuring a tragic death to people that crosses his path. It is stated that he killed for food, but I believe that food was not the primary purpose. Grendel is the representation for evil ensuring the fact that any destruction he can create to terrorize people will be carried out. Grendel symbolizes the evilness we find in society that will never disappear. Despite being killed by Beowulf, he constantly comes back to life in other forms. Residing in the darkness, he is always lurking in the depth of visibility coming out when wanting to do harm. Though Grendel is a monster that no longer existed, we can still see traces of him in the present day. Grendel symbolizes the evil in society that constantly cost the lives of human. For example, disease is the modern day Grendel. Similar to Grendel, diseases causes terror and destructions to human. The fear of being the next victim of a disease is as clearly visible as the fear of being killed next by Grendel in the epic. Disease is constantly there, but always lurking in the darkness attacking when we least expected and begin havoc. Despite being eliminated, diseases always come back in another form. These characteristics are all associated with Grendel.

In Beowulf, Grendel may be a monster but he represents more than that. He is the quintessential of evil that can not be eliminated. He is apart of society regardless of society wanting him to be there are not. The purpose of Grendel in the epic is to remind the audience that society can not escape the evil. Evil brings death and Grendel acts as a mean of carrying out this message with his horrible actions.

Themes and Ideals

Epic poetry usually embodies the attitudes and ideals of an entire culture. There are many important aspects of life that are valued and weighed differently from culture to culture. The Anglo-Saxon society places strong emphasis on ethics. They were more concerned with ethics than mysticism such as earthly virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship. The ideology of bravery is highly regarded in the Anglo-Saxon society. Beowulf, a significant icon in the Anglo-Saxon society, was viewed as an individual that possess all of the values each Anglo-Saxon should possessed. He displayed courage by going to Herot and volunteered to eliminate Grendel, the monster who was terrorizing the city. Beowulf was not a citizen of this nation, but he set sail across the sea to come with help. This is applauded within the Anglo-Saxon society. It is because he was generous enough to show true friendship and helped another nation amidst a dilemma. In spite of all the dangers he and his men faced, they remained loyal to their promise of helping Herot. When Grendel attacked the mead hall, with some of their men killed by Grendel, they did not run away, but stayed and continued to fight. The dedication displayed by the men, propelled by the values they lived by, caused them to become iconic in the eyes of the Anglo-Saxon society.

The universal themes of these views are the tension between good and evil and identifying life through a cultural heroic code or value system. The idea of good versus evil is constantly depicted within the epic. It ranges from the battle between Beowulf and Grendel to Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. The Grendel’s evilness represents temptations in life that lead a person to perform bad deeds, while Beowulf bravery represents the courage a person has in time of difficulties. The idea of life through a heroic code or value system is not to be left unnoticed within the epic. Beowulf and his men are the solid symbols of true Anglo-Saxons. They possessed all of the qualities of a true Anglo-Saxon who dedicated his life to helping others and defending goodness. All of the character’s moral judgments are based upon the view of society. Their actions tend to be a depiction or violation of the typical norms of the society they reside. If society does not support the action as being brave, generous, or loyal; then the person is not living under the values of the society. In order to assimilate to the culture, one must display the values that the society revolves around.

Beowulf Closing

The epic Beowulf closes on a somber, elegiac note. The images of twelve warriors rode around Beowulf’s tomb mourning the death of their king brings to the audience a gloomy and sad image. The imagery can be compared to the sad image of Jesus’ twelve apostles who mourns their teacher’s death. Beowulf was regarded as a superior brave individual, and his lost was similar to the lost of Jesus, the savior. Beowulf was a savior in a sense that he acted as an ancient Superman or Middle-Age Jesus. He was an archetype that defended the weak and prevented evil from uprising in society similar to heroes before and after his time. His death brought many tears to the people because they not only lost a leader but a savior whom they adored with praises. The tone of the epic grew from lively and energetic to solemn and calm. As they laid Beowulf to rest, the Anglo-Saxons no longer were boastful as they were in the beginning of the epic. They mourn the lost their fallen leader despite the fact that he died for a great cause; as if they rather have him still alive than him trading his life for the defeat of evil. The epic closes in a somber note to pay respect for the hero that has fallen, mourning the fact that he can not be replaced.