Robinson's Argumentative Essay
Fred Robinson starts, “Beowulf is generally held to be the first great narrative poem in the English language” (142). This oral composition was the model of all the following poems written in English afterwards, thus it relies on the importance of studying the structure and origin of such as a piece. By tracing back, the moments, events and figures that inspired Beowulf, it is possible to study the literary history of English poetry, more specifically the epic and dramatic. As Robinson states, “the style and metre of Beowulf is essentially that of other early Germanic poems like the Old High German Hilderbranslied….” (142). Therefore, German and English literature, namely, those produced in the early stage of the language should have been very similar; if that similitude between the German and English literature exist today? Perhaps both languages diverge with the past of time creating independent stylistic one from another or they still consolidate their old kinship.
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Relating to the existence of the actual hero of Beowulf, it appears to be no historical evidence, “there is no mention by historians of a hero like Beowulf, who seems to have been a fictional or legendary figure inserted into this historical setting by the poet” (146).
Though, Beowulf is not an actual person, later in the essay, Robinson talks about King Hygelac as a possible inspiration who is documented in history (148). Further, whoever was the model for the hero of this poem, should have been a powerful man: king or gladiator. Since this was an oral composition, the facts about the history figure may have been altered during the process of re-telling. Arguably, the transcription of it, may have led to an even more epic and deistic hero that intended by the author(s) of the
Beowulf.
The contextual extrapolation from a pagan to a Christian narrative is something I find intriguing. First, it shows the flexibility of a text, more than the oral tradition, where the emphasis is on repetition or re-telling rather than analyzing. Still, this epic-narrative poem entails a narrative dichotomy. On one hand, it wants to represent the best of the English- Christian world relying on in the old pagan traditional writing style, which confuses the readers about the intention of the poem. On the other hand, I would not connect an author or authors with this piece, because it apparently grew larger through its re-telling, thus, its reinvention and re-interpretation. With my little knowledge of oral tradition, I can speculate that some orally composed pieces grow larger as they are re-told by other people: the listeners may have added their own part to the story a disadvantage regarding to factual validity.
Relating to the existence of the actual hero of Beowulf, it appears to be no historical evidence, “there is no mention by historians of a hero like Beowulf, who seems to have been a fictional or legendary figure inserted into this historical setting by the poet” (146).
Though, Beowulf is not an actual person, later in the essay, Robinson talks about King Hygelac as a possible inspiration who is documented in history (148). Further, whoever was the model for the hero of this poem, should have been a powerful man: king or gladiator. Since this was an oral composition, the facts about the history figure may have been altered during the process of re-telling. Arguably, the transcription of it, may have led to an even more epic and deistic hero that intended by the author(s) of the
Beowulf.
The contextual extrapolation from a pagan to a Christian narrative is something I find intriguing. First, it shows the flexibility of a text, more than the oral tradition, where the emphasis is on repetition or re-telling rather than analyzing. Still, this epic-narrative poem entails a narrative dichotomy. On one hand, it wants to represent the best of the English- Christian world relying on in the old pagan traditional writing style, which confuses the readers about the intention of the poem. On the other hand, I would not connect an author or authors with this piece, because it apparently grew larger through its re-telling, thus, its reinvention and re-interpretation. With my little knowledge of oral tradition, I can speculate that some orally composed pieces grow larger as they are re-told by other people: the listeners may have added their own part to the story a disadvantage regarding to factual validity.