The Characteristics Of God In The Epic Of Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem that centers on a hero named Beowulf who defeats monsters with the inhuman strength given to him by God. Lines 371- 455 are about Beowulf presenting himself to Hrothgar in order to slay Grendel. These lines focus on the characteristics of the epic poem, show that Beowulf is an epic hero and empathizes the difference between Beowulf and Grendel and how God relates to them. In an epic there are six important characteristics: it has to have a hero, involve a demonstration of superhuman abilities, have a large setting, include supernatural beings that guide or hinder the hero, have an elevated style of writing, and is told by an omniscient narrator. Beowulf has all of these characteristics but only a few are shown in this passage. The hero of the poem is a man

Since Beowulf is the hero of the epic, the words used to describe him are positive and strong, for example, “marvelous tales” (379), “hero” (399) “fine-forged mesh” “gleaming” (400). In contrast, when Grendel is being discussed he gets negative words such as, “gruesome day” (442), “glut himself.”(443) “gorged and bloodied” (447) “gloating with my raw corpse … in a cruel frenzy, fouling his moor-nest” (447-450). This difference in language is done to show that Beowulf and Grendel are opposites of each other and to emphasize that Beowulf is a valiant hero while Grendel is a malicious monster. Another difference in language is that Beowulf is depicted as God’s champion, while Grendel is like a demon who opposes God’s will. Beowulf shows his affiliation with God by using speech like, “Heaven’s dome” (414) and “just judgement by God” (441). His connection with God is shown in the fact that Hrothgar says was sent by God to Heorot to defeat Grendel. Grendel is portrayed as some demonic presence because Beowulf has to “purify” (431) Heorot from