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Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. The poem begins in medias res or simply, "in the middle of things", a characteristic of the epics of antiquity.
The commentary, occupying over 200 pages, provides a detailed picture of how he saw Beowulf, sometimes taking several pages for a short passage of the poem, and giving his interpretation of difficult words or allusions by the poet. The commentary formed the basis of Tolkien's acclaimed 1936 lecture "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics". [1] [2]
Beowulf is an epic poem in Old English, telling the story of its eponymous pagan hero.He becomes King of the Geats after ridding Heorot, the hall of the Danish king Hrothgar, of the monster Grendel, [a] who was ravaging the land; he dies saving his people from a dragon.
Map of the Beowulf region, showing the protagonist's voyage to Heorot. The anonymous author of Beowulf praises Heorot as large enough to allow Hrothgar to present Beowulf with a gift of eight horses, each with gold-plate headgear. [5] It functions both as a seat of government and as a residence for the king's thanes (warriors).
Michael Joseph Alexander (21 May 1941 – 5 November 2023) was a British translator, poet, academic and broadcaster. He held the Berry Chair of English Literature at the University of St Andrews until his retirement in 2003. He is best known for his translations of Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon poems into modern English verse. [1]
Ælfhere – a kinsman of Wiglaf and Beowulf. Æschere – Hroðgar's closest counselor and comrade, killed by Grendel's mother. Banstan – the father of Breca. Beow or Beowulf – an early Danish king and the son of Scyld, but not the same character as the hero of the poem; Beowulf – son of Ecgtheow, and the eponymous hero of the Anglo ...
The difficulty of translating Beowulf from its compact, metrical, alliterative form in a single surviving but damaged Old English manuscript into any modern language is considerable, [1] matched by the large number of attempts to make the poem approachable, [2] and the scholarly attention given to the problem.
It is in the Beowulf manuscript (also known as the Nowell Codex, London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A. xv). [5] It is written in Late West Saxon [6] in a Mercian dialect. [7] Other than Beowulf and The Wonders of the East, the other works in this codex include: The Passion of St. Christopher, Alexander's Letter to Aristotle, and Judith.