Elegiac Perspective In Beowulf

When looking at life’s experiences, people often differ in their perspective of different topics. They may see a situation differently, by taking different sides in a dispute between friends. Or maybe, they have a different idea of how to solve a problem most efficiently. They may even see people’s character differently, one sees a good person, and another sees bad. However, perspective is a part of life, and it can impact one’s understanding of literature also. Though Beowulf could be read as an elegy of a failing society, the counterargument that title character whispers against his enemy’s nihilism while in John Gardner’s 1971 novel Grendel is actually an ideology originally implicit in the anonymous Anglo-Saxon epic poem, and this is important to …show more content…
Despite Beowulf’s flawed characteristics, his people remain loyal to him in the end. Their devotion is demonstrated in this passage, “And then twelve of the bravest Geats / Rode their horses around the tower, / Telling their sorrow, telling stories / Of their dead king and his greatness, his glory, / … So should all men / Raise up words for their lords, warm / With love, when their shield and protector leaves / His body behind, sends his soul / On high,” (lines 884-893). The idea of hope, is described as light within darkness, which Beowulf wishes to provide. He says so as he dies, “Have / The brave Geats build me a tomb, / … and build it / Here, at the water’s edge, high / On this spit of land, so sailors can see / This tower, and remember my name, and call it / Beowulf’s tower, and boats in the darkness / And mist, crossing the sea, will know it,” (lines 813-819). Beowulf wished to provide a beacon of hope, as sailors crossed the treacherous sea. The anonymous Anglo-Saxon poem is a test to one’s understanding of hope, as there are small indications of it within the seemingly elegiac