Beowulf

Significance

The theme of the book is good Vs evil. The events in the book are important because the battles that were fought by Beowulf show how good overcomes evil and a man’s strength and his religion assist him. The reason I chose this piece of literature is because I had never read a poem that was about fighting and monsters. Also it was the first book that I had ever read that was written in a time when they had fighting with swords and fits. Readers should know this story because it is something that has been preserved from old times and tells about life in old England. It is also valuable because it is an epic about a way of life that has disappeared over time.

Perspective

Historians believe that this story was written in about the 8th century A.D. It has been a story that has been passed down for many generations. This copy of the book has been translated into new English by Burton Raffel. The historical time period that this poem takes place is A.D 495.- A.D. 533. The author of this epic was biased toward Beowulf and his success at all his battles. My feelings towards Beowulf made me want him win every battle that he fights and do it gracefully.

Evidence
The argument that the author is trying to make is that there is a difference between a good warrior and a good king. How I can back that up is being a good king he would have not fought the fire breathing dragon, which if he died there would be no man in power. A good warrior would have gone to face the dragon that was killing innocent people like he Beowulf did and risk his life to save others. In this book there are three major problems that all have to do with killing a two monsters and a fire breathing dragon.
Since this is an epic, a poem that has been handed for many centuries there is no concrete evidence that any of the storyline or evidence is true.

Connection
This epic can connect to the history of ancient Denmark and the countries that they fought. It showed a connection of Beowulf’s culture and traditions like strength, generosity and the code of honor. This work can apply to my daily life by my standing up for what I believe to be right. Beowulf and I connect to each other because sometimes I like to take charge and Beowulf was a leader who took charge of many people in battles.


Supposition
If Grendel, the monster, had one the battle with Beowulf the whole poem would have had a completely different storyline. If the events in the book would have happened now the methods of fighting would be very different because now we have guns and other weapons to kill the monsters quickly instead of a hard battle with fists and swords. If the tradition of story telling wasn’t practiced back then there would be no record of this poem written before the 8th century.