"Beowulf"

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that epic poems are generally based on some place that is so huge and overpowering that it becomes the major center of action in the poem. The paper discusses how in "Beowulf" this place is undeniably the hall. The paper conveys how the hall is the arch-image without which the poem would not have existed or would certainly have lost its structural and narrative richness, vibrancy and beauty.

From the Paper:

"Heorot forms the center of all emotional and sentimental exchange. It is where rewards are given and received, gratitude and affection are exchanges, and where people can engage in truly heroic actions over an extended period of time. The name given to the hall 'Heorot' is an adequate name for the place since it symbolizes a promise. This hall was built as a reward that had been promised by Hrothgar. He had promised his warriors that in order to reward their loyalty and service, a hall would be built. After its construction, it continued to expand 'far over this middle-earth' (75) and its expansion becomes a threat to its enemies. The hall becomes the locus of action since all activities either take place within the hall or are focused on it somehow. The expansion of the place makes enemies take notice of Hrothgar's power."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alvin A. Lee, "Heorot and the Guest-Hall of Eden: Symbolic Metaphor and the Design of Beowulf," in The Guest-Hall of Eden: Four Essays on the Design of Old English Poetry, Yale University Press, 1972, pp. 171-223.
• Jennifer Neville, Representations of the Natural World in Old English Poetry (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1999)
• Thomas Greene. The Norms of Epic," Comparative Literature 13 (1961), 193-207
• Halverson, John."The World of Beowulf."ELH 36:4 (1969): 593-608.Rpt. in Readings on Beowulf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998
• Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. Trans. Seamus Heaney. 1st ed.New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

More papers on "Beowulf":

• Analytical Essay # 134779 : "Loyalty in "Beowulf"
• Poem Review # 116965 : "The Monsters of "Beowulf "
• Comparison Essay # 32818 : "Restoration Vs. Translation of "Beowulf"
• Book Review # 69025 : "Heroic and Elegiac Elements in "Beowulf"

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