Good Vs. Evil In Beowulf

Rough Draft

Beowulf is littered with a myriad of literary devices that are intended to enhance the story, whether it’s something that ties into Old English such as kenning or even as simple as imagery. All of these elements come together to make a riveting story filled with gracious heroes and chilling villains.

The harrowing tale begins with a quaint story that is well packed with details to prelude the readers to the upcoming adventure.

In many aspects the literary device known as symbolism plays an important role in the overall essence of the story. Furthermore, symbolism creates an underlying tone and atmosphere for the whole story. The use of symbolism can change the meaning of one item to an entirely different entity with a closer evil is reflected in both aspects. In lines 1358 to 1365 its says “They live in secret places, windy cliffs, wolf-dens where water pours from the rocks, then runs underground, where mist steams like black clouds, and the grooves of trees growing out over their lake are all covered with frozen spray, and wind down snakelike roots that reach far as the water and help keep it dark.” And in lines 1373 to 1376 “When the wind stirs and storms, waves splash towards the sky, as dark as the air, as black as the rain that heavens weep.” Both of these excerpts illustrate the evil that Grendel and his mother exhibit. The gloomy and decayed descriptors solidify the dangerous and hellish environment that they’ve found themselves in. The faint light and windy terrain make it and immensely uncontrollable

Sometimes the kennings can expressions used in modern English. For instance, the term “hilt” refers to the handle of a sword and is used throughout the poem and in modern day Pagan community gatherings where swords or sword like objects are used. Adversely, kennings can also be terms that we no longer use even on occasion. For example, a “light-of-battle” refers to a sword. The light is for the sun shining against the sturdy metal and in that time swords were always used for battle, hence the light-of-battle.

Correspondingly, alliteration becomes a centerpiece for writing within Beowulf to heighten the experience of the poem for a listener. The repetition of letters grabs the reader’s attention and focuses it on the sentence for intensification. For example, as Grendel approaches the warriors that he plans on slaughtering the text states “He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing, their dreams undisturbed.”, the repetition of the letter “s” intrigues the reader and draws them in to carefully fabricate suspense within the