Beowulf An Epic Poem Analysis

Decent Essays
Epic poems have been going on for a very long time; so long people have traced these types of poems all the way to the B.C.E era according to Study.com. An epic poem is usually a long, narrative story about a certain someone or group of people who do heroic deeds. The epic heroes within this kind of poem usually stand out because they obtain a certain type of superhuman deed, a heroic adventure that includes saving lives, or just put in a high place throughout the poem according to Poets.org. In addition, these types of poems are used all around the world, and some of the most famous pieces of work are written this way. Beowulf is an example of an epic poem, as it uses all types of different epic conventions to make it an epic poem. Beowulf …show more content…
Beowulf is the epic hero of the poem, as he does what no other could do and saves the lives of many people in town. At the time, Beowulf is one the bravest and strongest man that is willing to face anything that came his way. He was the type of person that he would not turn down any type of fight or challenge. Beowulf is considered an epic poem because of its different epic conventions, for instance the epic hero that is represented by Beowulf himself, the hero’s quest, the names plus events used in the story, and the fate that is declared for others by the epic hero. Not only is the poem great as an epic story example, but it also has many different similarities to the values of Anglo-Saxon society. The Anglo-Saxon society was a group of people who lived in Great Britain in the 5th century, and extended living for almost six centuries. For the time being, this society was able to establish a lot, and created much of the English nation. Some of the things done for the nation include re-establish the connection with Christianity, setting up laws which some are still used today, and also introducing the language of Old …show more content…
Some of these characteristics can be identified in the poem of Beowulf. For the poem of Beowulf to stand as an epic, the writer included many different epic conventions to make this story stick out more as an epic. These conventions are elements that give the poem the feeling to make it an epic story. Every poem has to include an epic convention for it to stand as an epic. One of the many epic conventions this poem uses is that it includes an epic hero. The epic hero would be the one to do something courageous that others would not: this could include saving peoples lives, or even having supernatural powers that makes him different then others. In the poem of Beowulf, Beowulf himself stands as this epic hero. Beowulf in the poem does not having any supernatural powers, but he does things that no other could do. One have the most bravest and courageous people anyone has ever seen, as he would never turn down anyone in a fight and would never fear a journey. In the poem he saves many people lives, and he continues until his body does not let him no more. Also a reason he is know as an epic hero is because everyone talks about him highly, as show on in (II. Line 19) where it says,

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