The Significance of Villains in Beowulf Essay -- Epic Beowulf essays

The Significance of Villains in Beowulf Ancient, timeless, and very, very hard to read, Beowulf has plagued well-meaning college students for centuries with its cryptic passages and vague metaphors. Yet at the root it resonates with a sort of clear allegorical criticism aimed at Scandinavian warrior society. In the story of Beowulf, the unnatural fiends in the poem were each symbols for the policy-making strife in the system. They formed the basic constructs in an allegory against the flawed nature of the warrior society at the time. Grendel, the first monster, makes his appearance directly after the poet references the workforce in their mead- vestibule. Yet he is not simply referred to in a natural segue between themes he is actually introduced directly after oration of future strife among the family in that hall. Note in the following passage where the poet breaks off what began as a paragraph about the merry-making which went on in the hall known as Heorot. The hall stood tall, high and wide-gabled it would wait for the fierce flames of vengeful fire the time was not yet at hand for sword-hate between son-in-law and father-in-law to enkindle after murderous rage. Then the fierce spirit painfully endured hardship for a time, he who dwelt in the darkness.... The form it takes can essentially be expound as They celebrated, but all was not well in the future of the hall. Also, Grendel waited outside.... The close proximity of the description of familial betrayal and Grendels introduction leads to the conclusion that the twain are related. As I interpret it, the demon Grendel is a symbol for the terrible problem of succession that the Danes suffered time and again. The unstable nature of the court and th... ...m. upstart York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Shippey, Thomas A.. Structure and Unity. In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska Uiversity of Nebraska Press, 1997. Sisam, Kenneth. The Structure of Beowulf. In Beowulf The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. saucily York, W.W.Norton and Co. 1975. Tharaud, Barry. Anglo-Saxon Language and Traditions in Beowulf. In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego Greenhaven Press,1998. Tolkien, J.R.R.. Beowulf The Monsters and the Critics. In Beowulf Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. shield & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York G.P. Putnams Sons, 190721 New York Bartleby.com, 2000