Beowulf Commentary

Katie Kipp

Ms.Peifer

English 10 IB

19 December 2011

Beowulf Commentary

"No man can tell,/ no wise man in hall or weathered veteran/ knows for certain who salvaged that load./ Then it fell to Beow to keep the forts./ He was well regarded and ruled the Danes/ for a long time after his father took leave of his life on earth. And then his heir,/ the great Halfdane, held sway/ for ass long as he lived, their elder and warlord./ He was four times a father, this fighter prince:/ one by one they entered the world,/ Heorogar, Hrothgar, the good Halga/ and daughter, I have heard, who was Onela's queen,/ a balm in bed to the battle-scarred Swede./  The fortunes of war favoured Hrothgar./ Friends and kinsmen flocked to his ranks,/ young followers, a force that grew/ to be a mighty army. So his mind turned/ to hall-building: he handed down orders/ for men to work on a great mead-gall/ meant to be a wonder of the world forever;" (Beowulf, lines 50-70)

                 

                  In lines 50-70 of Beowulf, Hrothgar is introduced and brought into the story at this point. It talks a lot about how great he is and how great he is in battle. With him being so good during battle he is able to create an army to protect the people. In the section Beow's heir Halfdane was introduced. He was said to be a leader and great. "the great Halfdane, held sway for as long as he lived, their elder and warlord." (Beowulf, lines 57-58). Kennings, alliteration, and tone are used throughout this section to develop the scenes of battle and greatness.

                In this section, tone is a big part of the story because it sets the mood for the story. The tone has a little force and power to it, it is more formal and relaxed. The tone is also important because of the way that power was passed down, and it has to express how Hrothgar was great in battle. "one by one they entered the world, Heorogar, Hrothgar, and the good Halga and a daughter, I have heard, who was Onela's queen, a balm in bed to the battle-scarred Swede." (Beowulf, lines 60-63). This quote is formal and relaxed.

               In this section alliteration was used to express the great Halfdane. "He was four times a father, this fighter prince:" (Beowulf, line 59). This quote is important because it expresses that Halfdane was a father and a fighter. It shows us how powerful he was. This alliteration is important because it makes the line stand out more then the other lines. This is because the "four times a father, this fighter prince:" (Beowulf, line 59) catches attention because of "f". This make the line powerful and memorable.

             Kenning were also used in this section. Kennings are attention getting because it is a poetic phrase for a thing or a name of a person. In this section of Beowulf the kennings are used to describe the hall. "great mead-hall" (Beowulf, line 69). This is describing the hall that Hrothgar told the men to work on. Another kenning is "a balm in bed to the battle-scarred Swede." (Beowulf, line 63) This kenning is "a balm in bed" meaning relaxed and gives more of a description to the story.

             This section is important because it introduces many new people to the story. It describes how Hrothgar is strong in battle and how important his legacy was.