Types of Literature or Figurative
Speech to Which Beowulf Is Related or upon Which It Touches
- epic poetry—the genre
of the poem—originated in oral tradition and recounts battles and heroic
exploits of a national hero
- alliterative verse—half-lines
of the poem alliterate in OE—first 3 or 4 stressed words in a line alliterate
- kenning—a
compound, figurative metaphor, circumlocution—almost a riddle
- elegy—a
recurring elegiac tone throughout in reference to passing of worldly things,
the decline of heroes, the loss of great men
- lament (dirge)—songs sung
at sad moments, especially mentioned at funerals of Hnaef (line
931ff.) and Beowulf (line 2757ff.)
- linked to folktale—battles
and monsters give it a mythic quality
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Syllabus | 373
Assignments | 373
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