Beowulf

Tara Tropea

Myers/English 12

Essay for Beowulf

17 September 2013

Beowulf Analysis

In the Epic Beowulf the author has a certain way of depicting a true hero. Today heroes are shown to have some sort of super power such as flying, super vision, or some other super power but is that truly what a hero is composed of. Most people would just focus on that certain characteristic of a hero. People today do not focus on how a true hero must believe in God and himself to be titled a hero. During the time period Beowulf is written heroes did not really have any type of special power. The author of Beowulf uses certain literary devices such as kennings, imagery, and caesuras to show what a true hero is. In this epic, the hero of Beowulf is a special kind of hero which is a true hero. True heroes are hard to come by, but Beowulf is one of the few that shows the real characteristics to being a true hero, without having a super power to awe the civilians in this epic.

Beowulf has strength, faith in him and God, and is willing to risk his life for others to be safe from harm. The author uses a certain play on the way the words are positioned in Beowulf to make Beowulf shine compared to the rest of the characters in this epic. The author shows that Beowulf fits the title of a true hero in his battle with Grendel. In his battle with Grendel, Beowulf shows that he believes in himself and God to defeat Grendel without any help. The author adds different names for Beowulf to make him sound heroic, by using kennings. By using these kennings such as in line 325”That Sheppard of evil, guardian of crime.” The Sheppard of evil is obviously Grendel and the guardian of crime is Beowulf. Another example of the way the author uses kennings is in line 404 by stating “the prince of the Geats,” which is showing that Beowulf isn’t just an ordinary man. The reader will pick up on these kennings and the true hero, Beowulf will stand out. The author gives Beowulf this title because using other...