Beowulf As A National Epic

Despite being a Swedish epic, Beowulf, a long-tailed and major Anglo-Saxon literary work, is oft-recognized as a national epic of England.

The Independent, November 10, 2007.

Beowulf is one of the earliest Old English epic poems in English literature and is repeatedly claimed as an English national epic despite belonging to a Swedish epic root. 

Although regarded as an epic poem, Beowulf’s extensive narrative poem about the heroic exploits of Beowulf conforms to the Aristotelian epic conception. 

Beowulf’s Testimony As An Epic

An epic should be universal, taking in all of life and representing it so that the general truth of the presentation is universally recognized. The scope should embrace man and god, war and peace, and life and death in a comprehensive and encyclopedic way. 

An epic presentation should be objective; its scenes, events, and characters should form an interconnected and solid reality presented from a consistent and impartial viewpoint. The action of an epic should have the logic of an intrinsic significance.

Furthermore, an epic also celebrates the rise of a nation and the exploits of its heroes, thus boosting up the national honor.

Suppose these are the qualities of an epic – inclusiveness of scope, the objectivity of treatment, the unity of ethos, and action of significance. In that case, Beowulf is not merely a poem about a hero but an epic.

Beowulf Depicts Ancient Dynasty And The World’s Divine Creation

The inclusiveness of scope is evident in Beowulf. The hero enters miraculously at the advent of the poem – Scyld and the founding of the Scylding dynasty of the Danish people. It ends with the death of the hero – Beowulf, and the imminent destruction of the Geatish people. 

The poem depicts the life at the Danes and the Geats. It shows us a human society of peace in Heorot and at war in Sweden and elsewhere. Hrothgar’s Hall – Heorot – is the sharing scene out of food, drink, and gold. 

Heorot is the symbol of the world; therefore, its dangers and destructions symbolize the trials and tribulations of human life. When the scop in the Heorot sings about the creation, the Heorot assumes epic significance; it becomes a human microcosm of the divinely created world.

The Supernatural Dimension in Beowulf

In an epic, the supernatural plays a significant past. Most of the epics are concerned with the cross purposes of men and gods. The Iliad, The Aeneid, and other classical epics have a divine dimension that transforms even the most ordinary human actions into actions of extra-human significance. 

In Beowulf, the monsters and the Dragon provide the supernatural dimension. The poet described Grendel and his mother as the forces of primeval evil connected with Satan and his brood.

The Objectivity And Elaboration in Beowulf’s Narration

If objectivity is one mark of an epic poem, Beowulf stands the best admirably. This objectivity comes from the faithful presentation of life in the heroic world. The old Germanic world is crystallized into generic scenes through which an objective picture of life and culture, beliefs, and customs, rites, and rituals are presented to us in vivid colors. 

From The Iliad, we know a lot about the Greek and the Trojan ways of life. In the same manner, Beowulf is the mirror to the ancient Scandinavian world. The scene of the sea-voyage, welcome feast, fight, and reward has a genuine stamp on them. 

The elaborate and time-honored usages of hospitality that Beowulf gets at Hrothgar’s palace are worth studying from this point of view. There is, in fact, an element of idealization and standardization. However, the reader agrees that the description has the consistency, a sterling quality of an epic narrative.

The Simple And Regular Narrative Style in Beowulf

The simplicity of form and regularity of style are present in Beowulf. Perhaps the most important stabilizing factor in preserving the epic synthesis is how nature shows up consistently. We are aware that these people are surrounded by water and have to fight against the waves.

Beowulf’s journey through the ocean like Odyssey takes on a symbolic epic significance. The poem thus does not end as a mere folk tale of adventures; it becomes the image of human life on this perilous earth.

A Critical Review on Beowulf being Epic

Some critics think that Beowulf is too anecdotal to have the unity of an epic. There are too many digressions in the form of subsidiary stories concerning blood feuds of the past. Moreover, there is a definite break towards the middle of the poem. 

There is a gap of fifty years between the two adventures of Beowulf – the killing of Grendel’s mother and the slaying of the Dragon. 

This gap militates against the epic unity of narrative. However, if we look at the story’s obvious significance, these digressions cease to be a weakness; instead, they contribute to the unity of the theme. It is the story of a heroic man’s fight. 

Bottom Line

The primary subject matter of Beowulf is the human challenge to death and the glorious and tragic potentialities of that challenge. It is this unity of the theme that binds the poem together and makes it epic.

Thus, Beowulf remains one of the most cherished and memorable heroic epics among the Old English literary works. Its charm enchanted not only the Swedish and Scandinavian people but etched in the hearts of the English as well; hence called a national epic.

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