Beowulf Commentary

"Then as dawn brightened and the day broke Grendel's powers of destruction were plain: their wassail was over, they wept to heaven and mourned under morning. Their mighty prince, the storied leader, sat stricken and helpless, humiliated by the loss of his guard, bewildered and stunned, staring aghast an the demon's trail, in deep distress. He was numb with grief, but got no respite for one night later merciless Grendel struck again with more gruesome murders. Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse. It was easy then to meet with a man shifting himself to a safer distance to bed in the bothies, for who could be blind to the evidence of his eyes, the obviousness of that hall-watcher's hate? Whoever escaped kept a weather-eye open and moved away"(Heaney 126-143)

These twenty lines of Beowulf are significant because it shows the reader a new side to the king Hrothgar. Until this point Hrothgar had been described as a "mighty prince"(Heaney 129), but now that Grendel has attacked his people he is bewildered and doesn't know what to do. This passage offers a new perspective on Hrothgar and how characters sometimes show their emotions.

In this passage there are several different literary devices used. Alliteration is used in line 129 "Mourned under Mourning", and in line 133,"the demon's trail, in deep distress." He uses alliteration to get a main idea or a important point across. Such as in line 129, the main idea is that he's mourning the loss of his guard. Also in line 133 the main idea is that he is stressed and troubled about the situation with Grendel and how he need to resolve it.

Another literary device is the authors choice of words or diction. He uses very uncommon and formal words in his writing. Words such as brothies, malignant, bewildered, and aghast. By using these words he can express his ideas even more and get them clearly across. In lines 132 and 133 ("bewildered and stunned, staring aghast an the demon's trail, in deep distress") you really envision Hrothgar's feelings because of the clear and specific language.

These lines give Hrothgar a new personality trait that change our outlook on Hrothgar. This is one of only two times in the story of Beowulf that Hrothgar or anyone is seen this vulnerable. It is also very rare to see a hero or main character act in such a way that shows weakness in older english stories. These lines were very unique and seemingly out of place for this story and the type of main character that they described.