Thesis: In the epic “Beowulf”, the Anglo-Saxon concepts of bravery and loyalty through heroics are characterized by the hyperbolic contrast of good and evil.
Beowulf is idolized as a beacon of virtue though the use of kenning and hyperbole. Kennings in the text are used to depict Beowulf as the ideal Anglo-Saxon force of good. For example, the cultural values of loyalty and bravery can be seen when Beowulf is named “Higlac’s brave follower”. Beowulf is then depicted as “That mighty protector of men”, which espouses the values of brotherhood and camaraderie prevalent in Anglo-saxon times. Finally, the use of the kenning “strong-minded” shows Beowulf to be unwavering and brave, once again values in anglo-saxon culture.
The hyperbole used to depict how the “sharpest and hardest iron” of Beowulf’s soldiers “could not scratch at his skin” due to Grendel’s association and use of evil is contrasted with how Beowulf, with his own hands, almost as if a hero so virtuous needs no weapon, is able to battle and emerge victorious against Grendel. Grendel is characterized as an almighty monster, a “tormentor of [men’s] days” (491) , a hyperbole that further strengthens the idea that Beowulf is a beacon of virtue, for he was able to defeat such a monster. Through hyperbole, the importance of Beowulf’s deed that day is depicted by how he “purged Herot clean”, which emphasize Beowulf’s great deed as well as symbolize Beowulf as the force of good that was able to slay the monster and thus “had driven Affliction off” (407).
Inhuman imagery and metaphor as well as Christian allusions characterize Grendel as a force of biblical evil. The agents preserving this tale avoided diction that would imply that Grendel was even remotely human: the imagery characterized him as several vicious maladies. Just as Hrothgar embellished his Herot hall with the antlers of formidable stags, Beowulf strings up Grendel’s limb like it’s from a prize beast from a precarious hunt, “claw and shoulder and all.” His men try to “hack at Grendel from every side” like they’re trying to remove an unrelenting weed. Grendel is an “affliction” that needs to be “purged” from Herot. This imagery and metaphor conveys that Grendel is a ghoul, a weed, a disease: all threats to mankind. He epitomizes every menace to humanity; he has no sympathies or ties with it.
Grendel’s hostility has supernatural potency: allusions that characterize him as a follower of Satan. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, the world’s original traitor according to the biblical book of Genesis. Cain kills his own brother, and God banishes him and all of his progeny from Christendom. Loyalty is a hallmark of Anglo-Saxon creed, therefore this association with betrayal immediately condemns Grendel’s character in that society.Also, in this particular section of the poem, a kenning defames him as a “sin-stained demon.” The diction “sin” is a direct reference to a God-defying error according to Christianity, and “demon” is a term specific to the Christian idea of a follower of Satan. The facts that Grendel captures Hrothgar and combats Beowulf is explicitly described as sins when the orators decry it as a “feud with Almighty God.” In their disdain and fear of God, Satan’s followers huddle in Hell, so it’s only fitting that upon his death, Grendel would descend to the depths of purgatory and join “still worse fiends.” The faithful Beowulf sends the demonic Grendel back to the abyss where he belongs, back to wallowing in the hub of Christian sin.
Parallel structures and caesura draw the virtues of Beowulf and the wickedness of Grendel into direct contrast. Beowulf jeopardizes his safety in order to pay Hrothgar back for the “wergild”, or “man price”, he provided for his father. He’s irrevocably loyal to his father, and therefore at the service of a man who granted him a favor. This inflated sense of courageous allegiance is exalted in the cold, isolated environment of the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is quite admirable as a “protector of men”, a title the storytellers grant him in the very first line of this section. After detailing his ferocious lashes at Beowulf’s soldiers, the authors characterize Grendel as being on the complete opposite side of Beowulf, the “afflictor of men.” The parallelism between these phrases links them together; a reader will get caught on their variation. These phrases cast the characters of Beowulf and Grendel as black and white, one is mankind’s savior, or “good”, the other is mankind’s villain, or “evil.”
The triumph of good over evil is stressed by the caesura or pauses throughout this poem. They allow the reader to ruminate over Beowulf’s merit and Grendel’s despicability, particularly in the run-on sentence in which Beowulf is exalted as “a prince of the Geats” and Grendel’s evildoings are listed out: “the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people.” The caesuras, or commas in this particular sentence, divide Beowulf’s regality from Grendel’s wickedness, and they provide pauses that allow the reader to swallow each of his despicable deeds. Beowulf’s honorability is referenced, and glimmers in comparison to the drawn-out litany of Grendel’s sins.
The epic“Beowulf” illustrates that good wins over evil in “The Battle with Grendel” to symbolize the power of loyalty and bravery in Anglo- Saxon culture.
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