Beowulf
is an epic hero’s story that tells the grand adventures of this manly man, who
according to Hollywood looks like the guy below.
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| Beowulf the Manly Anglo-Saxon |
Personification:
“The hall towered / high and horn-gabled—it awaited hostile fires, / the surges
of war” (81-83). Obviously, the tower was not waiting for wars so that it could
prove that it could still stand, towers do not have feelings.
Allusion:
“the Creator had condemned him [Grendel] / among Cain’s race—when he killed
Abel / the eternal Lord avenged his death" (106-108). There are consistent
references throughout Beowulf to
either Christian or Pagan gods, which makes sense because of how heavily people
of this time relied on their religion to understand the world around them.
There is one poetic
device that is not as common as the devices printed above—kennings. When
reading, did you happened to notice how two words, that often had nothing to do
with each other, were combined together with a hyphen? Those hyphenated words
are called kennings. Now I must give credit where credit is due, I did not know
that these were called kennings. It was not until after I consulted Dr. MB,
that I found out that these hyphenated words are actually a poetic device that
is a trademark of Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry.
I noticed these kennings
throughout the book, but there was phrase that really stuck out to me and made
me wonder if these hyphenated phrases meant something more to the text. When
the coast-warden is asking Beowulf who is he and where he comes from, before
Beowulf speaks the narrator describes his preparation for speaking in a
peculiar way: “The eldest one [Beowulf] answered him, / leader of the troop,
unlocking his word-hoard;” (268-269).
The image of this great and strong warrior as he prepares to speak by unlocking
his “word-hoard” is an alarming but also a thrilling image.
There are two characteristics
of a Kenning according to literarydevices.net:
1. They describe an
object in detail
2. They create a relationship between the subject
and the object in an abstract but concise way
Metha,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting observation! I certainly noticed the use of kennings, but did not really think about how they worked in the poem. Your point really brings it home first. The kennings do create this richer, more intense element to the language. I personally like the description of Grendel as a “soul-slayer” (177). It really captures Grendel’s evilness.
The Boogieman is a monster that every child fears in their sleep like the fear an adult soldier feels during or before battle when they might sleep soundly and find death awaits them. To ancient soldiers the boogie man was often described as fair haired which included every Scandinavian as a monster who came to them in their dreams before battle and killed them in their sleep. This monster also gave them bad luck in battle where their heartbeats were ended and they passed. Their heartbeats were ended in battle, by the sword, or in their sleep. This was known as the Boogie Duey or phonetically Boogie Do which was an oral fair tradition and story in Ancient Scandinavian and Britain. The fair includes people with blonde hair and blue eyes, blonde hair and green eyes, and red hair because they were often blonde and had a lighter complexion. They wondered where dark hair came from and knew dark hair as a physical trait that did not come from their land. This story taught the fair to avoid battle. They became ancient families and were well taken care of for their genetic traits which they have for all eternity. I have really learned this. I learned this from my father and my family in Britain. I have also learned this from one specific family friend. It is always nice learning about blonde hair and people who are fare. I learned about my people and where I have come from.
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