Ms.Peifer
10 IB Hour 5
5 December 2008
1. The values of Beowulf are strong community, military strength, and faith on a leader. This is described in the text, "...it would be his throne-room and there he would dispense/his God-given goods to young and old-..." (Heaney 71-72). This quote is telling about Hrothgar and how he rules as king. It is saying he would help out all of the community with his good talents in leading. The military strength is also mentioned. "He was four times a father, this fighter prince:/one by one they entered the world,/Heorogar, Hrothgar, the good Halga/ and a daughter, I have heard, who was Onela's queen,/a balm in bed to the battle-scarred Swede." (Heaney 59-64). This explains that military strength is valued and important if one wanted to be prominent in this society. These Anglo-Saxon people also wanted to follow a strong leader, mentally and physically.
2. Alliteration is a commonly used literary device in Beowulf. Alliteration added to the oral story telling, making it flow easier and dramatic. " There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of man tribes..." (Heaney 4 ). This quote was telling of a great warrior king, alliteration was used to make his story more exciting. " The ship rode the water,/broad-beamed, bound by its hawser/and anchored fast." (Heaney 301-303). This eases the diction of the text. " Their mail-shirts glinted,/hard and hand-linked; the high-gloss iron/of their amour rang." (Heaney 321-323 ). Alliteration was important in a time of stories being passed down through generations orally.
3. Kennings, which were poetic phrases, are used frequently in Beowulf to provide better imagery and creative words for the reader or listener. "...came sealing forth/under the cloud-murk" (Heaney 650-651), is an example of one, meaning an overcast sky with gray clouds. The kennings used in Beowulf give a normal noun more imagery. "...of waves and gore and wound-slurry" (Heaney 848). In this case, wound-slurry is used to describe Grendel's injury given by Beowulf and all that is oozing out of it. Kennings gave more to the story for the mind to imagine.
