Epic Of Beowulf

Beowulf existed to readers as an epic poem in various ways. First, Beowulf’s loyalty displays himself and other characters associated with Beowulf. Secondly, the Elevated Language that gives dignity to the hero, and lastly the history of Beowulf. For example, the fact that it is the oldest known poem. All of these examples of how Beowulf is an epic poem clearly fits the credentials of an epic poem. Beowulf demonstrates his loyalty by his three battles, the battle with Grendel, the battle with Grendel’s mother and the battle with the Dragon. As king, he would accept these battles to prove his loyalty to his people. If he declined, he would lose honor from his people. Therefore, Beowulf remained destined to fight all of the battles to
ensure that his people will still honor and respect him. Another example of loyalty in this poem is when Beowulf prepared to fight the Dragon, and all of his soldiers left him to fight the Dragon unaccompanied. But Wiglaf, a young kinsman and retainer of Beowulf, steps up and supports Beowulf in his fight with the Dragon, that alone shows Wiglaf’s loyalty to Beowulf. The loyalty Wiglaf showed to Beowulf made him decide to make Wiglaf king after the fight with the Dragon, because unfortunately Beowulf died. Beowulf as an epic poem present readers with Elevated Language to give dignity to a hero. For example, the description of the lake that Grendel and his mother live in on (lines 154-178), is to express the superiority of Grendel’s Mother at the time of the battle that was to occur between Beowulf and Grendel’s Mother. Therefore, that description gives dignity to Grendel’s Mother, that presents her as a horrifying, immense, wicked monster, that is incapable of being defeated. Additionally, another appearance of Elevated Language in Beowulf occurred on (lines 370-399), where Wiglaf gave the “half-time” pep talk, this is an example of Elevated Language because it gives dignity to Beowulf as a king. Wiglaf’s reasoning behind his talk with Beowulf’s people was to attempt to encourage them to fight with Beowulf to defeat the Dragon, which was unsuccessful. The final thing that makes Beowulf such an epic poem is the History. Beowulf is the oldest known poem in English Literature, so therefore Beowulf was the start of English Literature. Also another key factor from Beowulf’s History is that there is only one original manuscript, located in the British History Museum in London (Mr. Arnett’s notes English 4 honors). Furthermore, Beowulf was originally written in old English then translated to English as we know it today. More specifically, Beowulf basically founded the world we currently live in. Loyalty, Elevated Language and the History are the main points that conveyed Beowulf as an epic poem. The loyalty showed a connection between the characters in the poem, the Elevated Language gave off superiority within the heroes and the History convinced readers that this poem is irreplaceable. But these aren’t the only topics that make Beowulf an epic poem, there is an adequate amount of other reasons to classify Beowulf as epic, the previous examples are just the main specimens.