Beowulf

BEOWULF STUDY GUIDE:

1. Rhythm:
-made musical alliteration
-four accented beats
-Figurative language such as kennings give insight or meaning
Meter:
-no rhyme scheme
-accented verse

1) General characterisitcs   2) rhyme, alliteration, kennings
Instead there are many kennings referring to him, such as: "Prince of
the Weders", "The Son of Ecgtheow", "The Geatish hero", and "The Lord of
the Seamen". These kennings describe Beowulf to us in a more interesting
way than just stating the hard facts. Without these kennings Beowulf
would be less interesting and we would learn less about him. Anybody
would say that describing or referring to a person by his or her name
over and over again is boring. So the use of kennings and metaphors is
very important in this long epic poem.
Alliteration, which is repeating the same sound, usually a
consonant, at the beginning of words or in accented syllables, gives
this story a more poetic sound. Alliteration also helped the scops or
storytellers in memorizing the tales. Examples of alliteration can be
found throughout the poem such as, "The Hall of the Heart", "His pledge
and promise", "Dragging the dead men home to his den", "Fitted and
furnished", and "Showed sea-cliffs shining".

Main Characters
Beowulf: Illustrious warrior from the land of the Geats in Sweden. When a monster terrorizes a Danish kingdom, Beowulf sails across the sea to come to the aid of the beleaguered Danes. Beowulf possesses enormous strength and courageously confronts the monster in hand-to-claw combat. A Geat, son of Edgetho and nephew of Higlac, king of the Geats. Higlac is Beowulf’s feudal lord, as well as his uncle.
Hrothgar: King of a Danish realm terrorized by a monster. He presides at Herot, a great mead hall. King of the Danes; he had once befriended Beowulf’s father
Welthow: Hrothgar's wife and queen.
Grendel: Monster that terrorizes Herot.   A man-eating monster who lives at the bottom of a foul mere, or...