Epic Poem Scene Analysis: Beowulf and the Monster Descriptive Essay

Beowulf is an old English heroic poem taking place in Scandinavia in the early 6th Century (between 700 and 750). The poem’s author is unknown, possibly because it is a contribution of many poets preserved in one medieval manuscript (British Library, n.d.). However, it is considered a significant achievement in Old English literature. The poem has various scenes and multiple themes. This essay describes one of the scenes and its themes.

One of the scenes in the epic poem Beowulf is the encounter between Beowulf and the monster, Grendel. The scene creates several themes, stylistic devices, and character traits from the King, Grendel, warriors, and Beowulf. The scene is created in the hall of Harot, where the warriors had gathered one night and were attacked by Grendel, who felt that they were making noise. Thirty people were killed in the process (Epic poem, 2009). Beowulf hears about the tragedy that engulfed the King and reports to him that he can fight the monster. However, the King and those who survived do not believe in his ability to fight the monster. He relentlessly remains committed to fighting the monster to salvage his people from the cruelty. The monster comes again the following night, and Beowulf fights it single-handedly and defeats it (Epic Poem). The monster, feeling exhausted, leaves toward the swampy area where it resided with the mother, and that is where it dies.

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One of the themes found in the scene is cruelty from the monster. Grendel is cruel and bloodthirsty, which signifies a dark force that does not care about human life (Rooml, 2022). It managed to kill 30 warriors who were singing in the hall. Also, it comes the following day to cause more deaths before it meets its death. The other theme that the scene portrays is courage. Whereas Beowulf comes with the courage to help the King, the army shows little courage before the enemy. However, courage enables Beowulf to confront the inhuman creature causing its death on the swamp side. The third theme that the scene indicates is a heroic code. Beowulf receives a heroic code after repulsing an enemy who had overpowered the King and warriors. The army returns to the hall, singing praises in his name (Epic Poem, 2009). He is termed a hero due to his act of bravery that made him handle the monster with bare hands and cause its death.

Some of the character traits derived from the scene include bravery and courage. Beowulf confidently admits to his ability to kill Grendel amidst doubts from the King and his warriors. Notably, he proceeds to show his might and confidence when he handles the beast that ends up dying later (Epic Poems, 2009). Additionally, the King and warriors are fearful characters who show no capacity to battle the monster. After 30 of them were killed the previous night, fear engulfs them, and they remain disillusioned about what to do to save themselves from further attacks. The King transfers his fear to Beowulf because of the doubt about his intent to fight the monster (Epic Poem, 2009). Moreover, the warriors run away when the monster attacks, and they only resurface after Beowulf has killed Grendel. Their action depicts weakness and fear of the disadvantage of an army staged to protect the community.

The other trait of the King and his army is mistrust. They fail to believe in Beowulf’s ability despite lacking the capacity to fight the monster. Moreover, they run when the monster arrives later in the night, leaving Beowulf to handle it (Rooml, 2022). Furthermore, Beowulf is a selfless person who accepts risking his life to help others. Upon realizing the monster’s dangers to the community, he decides to lead in the frontline war against it. He moves to a space that everyone else fears. He risks handling the beast without any weapon until he wins the battle. Beowulf takes a further risk of killing Grendel’s mother, who was deemed another threat to the peace and security of the community (Rooml, 2022). His actions, buoyed by bravery, create a lasting solution for the King and the community, meaning that he selflessly took his people’s interests, security, and safety into his hands without caring what could have befallen him in the process.

Beowulf also portrays a glimpse of loyalty in his traits. He showed loyalty to the King and the nation by fighting for his people. On the other hand, Grendel showed an inhuman character by killing 30 people in a single night (Epic Poem, 2009). Coming back the following night with the same intention to cause more pain of death and injuries showed how uncaring, unconcerned, inhuman, and cruel it could be. The King is displayed as a weak and defeated individual in the poem. He fails to protect his people against the threat of invasion by the monster. His army also scampers for safety instead of remaining steadfast to prevent further attacks from the monster.

One of the most prominent styles of the poem that is drawn from the scene is irony. Ironically, the army should be protecting the people being attacked and killed. The army shows fear and weaknesses instead of the bravery and strength that is expected from them. Instead of fighting the enemy as expected, the army runs for safety. Moreover, it is ironic that Beowulf fights the monster without any weapon while the armed army fears confronting the monster. The army only comes back to sing songs of praise to Beowulf in another reverse role since it is the army that should be praised for shielding the King and community. The actions in the scene are opposite of what the reader and audience expected from the army and Beowulf.

References

British Library. British Library. Bl.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2022, from https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/beowulf.

Epic Poem. (2009). Beowulf – Other ancient civilizations – Classical literature. Ancient-Literature.com. https://www.ancient-literature.com/other_beowulf.html

Rooml, C. (2022, March 2). Beowulf vs. Grendel: The battle between darkness and light. Ancient Literature. https://www.ancient-literatur.com/beowulf-vs-grendel