Symbols In Beowulf

Safa Akhter

Beowulf’s Buried Treasure

Poetry has an enormous influence on Anglo-Saxon literature. The art of poetry is an important part of Anglo-Saxon culture. The scop, or Anglo-Saxon oral poet, tells stories of behaviors for the tribe to strive for and bring them together. It was also used as a means of keeping the stories of the brave and noble warriors alive for generations to come. Symbols that the scops inserts into poems make them more participatory, because they would help liven up the language. The use of literary devices in poetry telling is an art form, and if a warrior had a poem written about them, then they have officially made it because now they are engraved into history. The use of symbols throughout the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf

However, throughout the poem, water is associated with dangerous things. The three main bodies of water in the novel are the swimming contest Beowulf recalls, the blood-stained lake where Grendel’s mother lives, and the sea-side cliffs where Beowulf kills the dragon and dies. The swimming contest is told during the feast before Beowulf goes head to head with Grendel, “But Breca could never/move out farther or faster from me/than I could manage…we struggled on/for five nights, until the long flow/and the pitch of the waves, the perishing cold/night falling…The deep broiled up and its wallowing sent the sea-brutes wild” (541-549). Sea monsters terrorize the waters at every second, symbolizing how the waters are dangerous and full of horrors. The other body of water is the eerie lake where Grendel’s mother lives, “The bloodshot water wallowed and surged/there were loathsome upthrows and overturnings/of waves and gore and wound-slurry” (846-848). The home is far from cozy, and it sets up a scary and hated scene. This lake represents the uncertainly of the hidden dangers that could be, literally, residing right below the surface. Finally, when Beowulf dies, the warriors toss the dragon over the cliff into the water, “They pitched the dragon/over the clifftop, let tide’s flow/and backwash take the treasure-minder” (3131-3133). What better place to return the horrifyingly evil monster that killed the great Beowulf than the treacherous and impulsive