BEOWULF
LANGUAGE AND VERSE FORM
Beowulf is among the most important works of the period of Old English Literature,which was achieved national epic status in Britain.It is an epic poem of about 3000 lines.
Old English poetry is of two types,the heroic Germanic pre-Christian and the Christian.Beowulf’s type is the first one.(the heroic Germanic pre-Christian)It is quitely hard and violent.
An Old English poem such as Beowulf is very different from modern poetry.Anglo-Saxon poems typically used alliterative verse.Alliteration is a technique in which the first half of the line is linked to the second half through similarity in initial sound.For instance;in Beowulf the line “ weras on wil-sip wudu bundenne”,most words alliterate on the consonant”w”.
Also,the kennings are a significant technique commonly found in Beowulf.The kenning is an often formulaic phrase that describes one thing in terms of another.For instance;the poet of Beowulf calls the king “the ring giver”.Also,the sea is called as “the whale’s road”.
In addition, in Beowulf,lines are divided into two halves by a pause;this pause is called as “caesura”.In most cases,caesura is indicated by punctuation Marks which cause a pause in speech:a comma,a semi-colon,a full stop,a dash,etc.
e.g:fyrene fremman feond on hele
(“to perpetrate torment,fiend of hell” Beowulf,line 101)
(The first page of Beowulf manuscript)
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