English heroic epic is the first important work in English literature. Written in old English, it is the earliest epic in Europe written in its own language after Greek and Roman epics.
Only 30,000 lines of all old English poems have been preserved, including heroic poems, religious poems, lyric elegies, aphorisms, riddles and incantations, among which Beowulf is the longest (3, 182 lines) and the most complete.
Beowulf, a historical figure in the content epic, lived in the 5th and 6th centuries according to records. This epic story takes place in what is now Denmark and southern Sweden-where the Anglo-Saxons lived at that time. These people have been emigrating to Britain since the middle of the 5th century. About the first half of the 8th century, the legend about Beowulf was written in England where they settled. The only surviving manuscript was written at the end of 10. The manuscript of 173 1 was burned several lines in a fire, but it was basically intact. It was first printed and published in 18 15.
In addition to the preface, the whole poem is divided into 43 sections and consists of two stories. The first story can be divided into two parts. The first part includes the preface, which describes the funeral of Hulda, the ancestor of the Danish dynasty, and then writes that Wang He Rosga, a descendant of Hulda in Denmark, built a temple called Deer Hall, but it was often attacked by grendel, a semi-human and semi-animal monster in the nearby swamp, and 30 guards were killed overnight. It harassed 12 years. The news reached the ears of Beowulf, nephew of King Huyelak of Ye Zhi (now southern Sweden). He led 14 warriors to help. Mr. Roska hosted a banquet for them in the Deer Hall. After the banquet, Beowulf and the warriors stayed in the hall and waited for them. Glendale broke in at night, touched a samurai and ate him; When he tried to touch it again, he was caught by Beowulf. After some struggle, the monster broke an arm and fled back to the swamp. The next day, Herr Roska gave a banquet to celebrate, the Queen presented gifts, and the singer sang Finn's story. The second part describes that grendel's mother came to avenge her son at night and stole a minister. The next day, Beowulf tracked down the swamp, dived into the bottom of the lake alone to kill the banshee, cut off grendel's head and returned to the deer hall. Mr. Roska held another banquet to celebrate and addressed Beowulf. Beowulf returned to Xu Yelak's palace with a lot of gifts and presented them to Xu Yelak at the banquet. Xu Yelak also gave him many rewards.
The second story is about Xu Yelak's son Hector Adler's succession to the throne after his death. After Hector Adler's death, Beowulf succeeded to the throne and ruled for 50 years. At this time, a fugitive slave stole some hoarded treasure, and the fire dragon who was guarding the treasure found that in order to retaliate, he harassed and harmed everywhere. Beowulf, an old man, decided to do harm for the people and set out with 1 1 warriors including Vieira. Before getting cold feet, he told the soldiers who followed him about the history of Ye Zhi killing each other, and then went to fight the fire dragon by himself. His sword was broken and he was burned by the dragon's flame. All the warriors fled, leaving only Vierav to help Beowulf kill the dragon, and Beowulf died of his injuries. Vieira denounced the escaped warrior and sent someone back to report the news. Finally, Yates and his wife cremated Beowulf at the seaside and buried his ashes with the treasure of the dragon. Beowulf's mausoleum became a lighthouse for navigators.
The content of this epic is partly historical and partly legendary. The characters mentioned in it, such as Roska and Hu Yelak, are all historical figures, and some episodes in the poem also mention some historical figures. The protagonist Beowulf, his deeds are basically legendary. The combination of historical factors and legendary factors reflects the life when the clan society disintegrated. This poem reflects the blood feud and frequent wars between tribes, as well as the intensification of contradictions among kings, relatives and subjects within the clan. Beowulf is impeccable as a relative and vassal. As king, he was the guardian of the clan until he gave his life. For neighboring countries, we don't oppose each other's hostile attitude, but help them eliminate pests and diseases. For neighboring kings, we can also do our best to serve the spirit of loyalty. From all aspects, he is an ideal figure.
This epic is basically the product of clan society, but it was circulated orally for nearly 300 years from the 5th century to the 6th century, and was not written in England until the 8th century. At this time, Britain has been Christianized, and most of the authors are monks, so the epic is also Christian. For example, the clan society thinks that fate is sometimes equal to God, and grendel, who represents natural forces or evil, is said to be a descendant of Cain. This poem also reflects the view and fatalism that everything in this world will die. But on the whole, the epic still retains the characteristics of Christianity in the past, and the noble virtues such as kindness, honor, generosity and courage have been fully affirmed.
Epic has a rigorous structure and concentrated selection of materials. It begins with a funeral and ends with a funeral, in which two important events in Beowulf's life are written. There are a lot of interludes in the poem, which play the role of comparison, analogy or suggestion. For example, at the banquet, someone told an impromptu story about Sigmund's dragon-cutting, echoing Beowulf's dragon-cutting 50 years later. The singer sang the story of Finn's wife's failure to mediate the blood feud, in order to set off the failure of Hector Roska in trying to solve the blood feud with his neighbor. These episodes seem abrupt to read today, but the audience at that time were familiar with them.
Epic rhythm is leisurely and solemn, dialogue and narration alternate, sometimes mixed with poet's comments. For example, when grendel entered the Deer Hall and saw the Warriors, he was overjoyed and prepared for a hearty meal. The poet commented on the side: "But after tonight, he will never meet the luck of eating people again." The poet used this cadence rhetoric to express his satire on fate.
Beowulf, like other old English poems, uses alliteration instead of ending rhyme, that is, the consonants or vowels at the beginning of each word are the same or similar. Each line of poetry is divided into two and a half lines, each line has two stressed words, and stressed words generally have alliteration, so each line can have at most four alliterations, generally two in the first half, and more poems with one alliteration in the second half. Another feature is the use of "substitute words", such as the poem calling the sea "the whale road", the king "the man who gives the bounty ring" and the samurai "the man who holds the shield", which enhances the image of the language. The form of epic also shows the influence of Virgil's epic.
I don't understand it in English! ! !