Old English Period
Beowulf as an epic
T
he story of Beowulf does not deal with common people
of Germania, but its main concern is about a person of
heroic nature surrounded by some lesser heroic figures. The story revolves round the courts of Geates and the courts of Danes. Here even
the enemies of the hero are of monstrous stature. For these and for
many other reasons some crics call it an epic. And J.A. Cuddon even
classified it as primary epic as it was at first recited orally and was written down much later. Of course there are some crics who has opposed
this view. And it is no denying the fact that it certainly does lack some of
the qualies of an epic. What merits and demerits does it have should
be judged at the light of reputed epics of world literature and their
characteriscs. So, we should at first consider the definion of an epic.
J.A. Cuddon in his Diconary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory defines epic as “a long narrave poem, on a grand scale, about the deeds
of warriors and heroes. It is a polygonal, ‘heroic’ story incorporang
myth, legend, folk tale and history. Epics are oen of naonal significance in the sense that they embody the history and aspiraons of a
naon in a loy or grandiose manner.” Basically, there are two kinds
of epic: (a) primary——also known as oral or primive; (b) secondary————also known as literary. The first belongs to the oral tradion and is thus composed orally and recited; only much later, in some
cases, is it wrien down. The second is wrien at the start. Now we
will apply this definion to the Beowulf and see whether it fits or not.
O
Introduction
nother great quality of the epic is what Dr. Tillyard terms
‘choric’. This means that an epic should serve as the
mouthpiece of an age, or of a naon or a religion, and not merely
of its author. In other words, an epic should give deathless expression to the spirit of a parcular age or a tribe. Beowulf amply shows
Choric quality
this quality. It reflects the ideals of that state of society which goes
by the name of Heroic age. And in this respect it bears a striking resemblance to the Odyssey. The tradion of the courtly gestures very
much in vogue in those days, the hierarchical posion of persons in
the society, the trend of showing courage and endurance, sense of
pride in noble heredity, etc are very aptly reflected in this work of art.
B
Definition of
epic
Primary & Secondary epic
ne of the great qualies of the epic is the unity of design.
Beowulf has this rare kind of unity of plot, though in a bit
different manner than some of the recognised epics. There is a perfect
unity in the first part which deals with Beowulf’s expedion in Denland.
W.P. Ker says that in this part of the poem, taken by itself, there is no defect
of unity. But, here we come across in this part innumerable episodes and
digressions, but they are quite consistent and relevant, filling up the epic unity and diplan and opening out the perspecve of the story. Moreover, we should gression
remember that a digression is another very characterisc of epic. These
digressions are duly proporoned and subordinated to the main story.
This unity is, however, breached by the addion of the sequel dealing
with Beowulf’s adventure with the fire-spi"ng dragon. But this sequel
does not hang loosely and it is an indispensable part of the main story.
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A
eowulf is full of all sorts of references and allusions
to great events, to the fortunes of kings and naons
which seem to come naturally, as if the poet had in his mind the
whole history of all the people who were in any way connected with historical alluBeowulf. W.P. Ker says that it is these historical allusions which make sions
Beowulf a true epic poem. They give the impression of reality and
weight; the story is not in the air, or in a fabulous country like that
of Spenser’s Faerie Queene; it is a part of the solid world. These allusions also lend dome amount of seriousness to the narrave.
B
eowulf is characterized by comprehensiveness. Comprehensiveness is another quality of an ideal epic. In fact
the beauty of Beowulf lies upon its comprehensive power, its inclusion of various aspects, its faculty of changing the mood of the story.
Beowulf’s fight with Grendel touches upon the springs of mortal ter- Comprehensiveness
ror, making us apprehensive of the real adversaries to be met in this
world, while the fight with Grendel’s mother which is far away from
the human habitaons. On the other hand, Beowulf’s fight with the
dragon and his subsequent death are changed with pathec intenon.
R
egarding the form also, Beowulf conforms some standard of epic convenon. For example, prologue is there
which is almost a must in epic. Here in the prologue, the descripon of a long and dangerous journey undertaken by the hero is introduced. It opens with a prologue in the true epic manner; it con- other conventions
tains the descripon of the fearful and dangerous journey Beowulf
undertakes to reach the dwelling place of Grendel’s mother. It also
contains the reference to the swimming compeon Beowulf had
with Breea, his rival. And all these strengthens its claim to be an epic.
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L
inguiscally also Beowulf aains the epic grandeur. In it concrete phrases are used and abstract expressions are avoided.
The poet uses such self-explaining compounds as ‘the sailer of the sea’
(ship), ‘sea-wolf’ or ‘sea-woman’(Grendel’s mother). Beowulf is charac- Linguistic
style
terized by the formality, dignity and vigorousness of speeches, the massing of detail and elaboraon of descripon. In fact, the use of language in
this work of art is quite unique and it places truly this in the genre of epic.
A
ccording to Sopford Brooke Beowulf has an epic quality in
this—that the purificaon of the hero—the development
of his character to perfecon. When Beowulf appears again a"er fi"y
years of silence, we find in him the same courage, heroism and moral
dignity as we have seen before. But he has grown wiser, and nobler with Purification of
the waning of his physical strength. He has become the father of his hero
people the image of a great and worthy king. And at last he dies for the
sake of his subjects, and wins an undying fame. The moral triumph is
aained and fate, not Beowulf, is really conquered in the contest. This is
the purificaon of the soul, and the ever-recurring theme of many epics.
A
ll these characteriscs show that Beowulf has a stronger
claim to be an epic. Though there are some lack of characteriscs, indeed those characteriscs are lesser in significance.
Conclusion
Therefore we can safely say that Beowulf is not only a mile stone in
the history of English literature but it is actually a true great epic and
it occupies an important posion in the realm of world literature.
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