Role Of Uncertainty In Beowulf

Valerie Allison

Mrs. Henry

English IV Honors, Period 2

25 February 2015

Beowulf Uncertain fate Beowulf is one of the oldest works of literature left from the Anglo-Saxon period which makes the piece of literature all the more important not only as an epic, but as a piece of literary history from that era. With no author, Beowulf has been translated from old English into modern English by multiple people each time resulting in different translations. One of the more recent translations has been done by Burton Raffel and is widely used throughout the world. The translation of the epic poem Beowulf done by Burton Raffel demonstrates the function of uncertainty as a recurring theme that ties in with fate throughout the novel as well as

The first form demonstrated is the characters uncertainty in Beowulf. When he arrives to the Danes as a unknown warrior dressed in fine armor claiming to be able to defeat their beast it is doubted he actually could do as he states by the guard of the Danish land, Unfer. His fine appearance of being covered in metal armor reward his the benefit of the doubt and he is welcomed in on the hope that he can deliver on his promise to defeat the beast attacking Heorot who would later be revealed as Grendel. He overcomes their uncertainty in him and prospers to the point where he is rewarded by the Danes for his actions. This is only the first time characters demonstrate uncertainty in Beowulf. A pivotal moment in the plot of Beowulf is the fight between Beowulf and the third beast that he encounters. One of Beowulf’s soldiers, Wiglaf displays uncertainty in Beowulf's ability to defeat the fire breathing beast alone. This uncertainty while does not save the great Beowulf’s life but it does save the lives of the citizens of Geat-Land who would have died because of the fire breathing beast never being defeated. However, since Wiglaf is uncertain Beowulf has the ability to handle the beast he is the only one left to help Beowulf when the battle between the beast is no longer working in his

When it comes time for Beowulf to battle Grendel’s mother uncertainty is used to keep the reader interested. Even though Beowulf is uncertain about going into going into the fire covered muck where Grendel’s mother resides he still does it and the battle that continues there is the motivation for the reader to keep reading because even with the second battle done the epic is not over. Their are more lines after the second battle which technically concludes part 1 of Beowulf so it intrigues the reader to figure out what the second part of Beowulf is. In the epic uncertainty is not always demonstrated to the reader as a question about what is going to happen to the plot but commonly demonstrated as a question of what does that character truly represent. This is seen with the beasts that Beowulf battles against throughout the epic. Each beast has a symbolic meaning which is unclear to the reader as they first encounter the beast so as they continue to read the epic it builds up that symbolism the beast represents making the read more uncertain about the surface meaning of the