Hello Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a very long time! I've been crazy busy with...well...LIFE! So anyway, here is a book review on Beowulf, a long poem that I had to read for school. :)
First off I'll give you a brief (at least I'm going to TRY to keep it brief) synopsis of the story. Beowulf is the main character, he is the nephew of the Geat King, Hygelac. And he is extremely strong. In fact, it says several times in the poem that his strength is equal to the strength of 30 average men! Anyhooo...When Beowulf hears about a terror in the country of the Danes, he feels as though he must help King Hrothgar rid himself of the "beast sent by the devil". So he sets out with a crew of men to go and save King Hrothgar. When he arrives he is welcomed by the King, for when Beowulf was but a child he lived with the Danes for some time. The King readily agrees to allow Beowulf to attempt to kill "Grendel". (That is the name of the beast) Every night Grendel comes to the King's throne room, and eats anyone inside. (Some details do get pretty gruesome....but if you handled The Hunger Games...then you could handle this) Beowulf and his crew prepare for the inevitable battle in the throne room. And sure enough that night Grendel sought out the throne room yet again. When he arrived there, he ate one of Beowulf's crew members before anyone had time to react. But then Beowulf was upon him, and with Beowulf's strength he clutched Grendel arm. There was a mighty struggle, in which Beowulf's crew tried to help, by swinging their mighty swords at Grendel, but Grendel's skin was too tough for swords to cut through. After what seemed like ages Grendel finally broke free and ran away...but not without Beowulf rendering him a fatal wound. When Grendel broke free....he literally broke free. So strong was Beowulf's grip that when Grendel broke free, he left his arm Beowulf's hands! Grendel ran back to his cave under the sea, and there he died from his wound. Beowulf was praised and adorned with gifts. But that night the Throne hall was yet again haunted by a beast....no, not Grendal...Grendal's mother. When she attacked that night she only took one prisoner, but it just so happened that her one prisoner was King Hrothgar's best friend. Once again Beowulf offered his services, once again the King agreed. So, Beowulf and his crew set out to find Grendal's mother. When they arrived at the sea wherein the beast's cave was hidden, they discovered that it was inhabited by all sorts of evil, snake-like creatures. In spite of this, Beowulf plunged down into the murky depths. When he reached the bottom, Grendal's Mother grabs a hold of Beowulf and pulls him through the water to her sinister dwellings. There, Beowulf breaks loose from her hold, and the real fight begins. Once again there is a long, difficult battle between the two of them. After a while, Beowulf spots a giant sword...like this thing was huge! It is said that only Beowulf, with his incredible strength, would have been able to hold such a mighty sword as that. Beowulf took the sword in his hands and with one, smooth, indomitable motion, he sliced off the monster's head. A little ways off, Beowulf spotted Grendal's body. Beowulf chopped off his head as well, and up he swam through the now clear waters. He was received with uproarious praise upon his return! He was presented more gifts as well. And then after resting for a day, he returned to the land of his King with is faithful crew. As time went by things changed, King Hygelac of the Geats died, and Beowulf was asked to replace him. But because Hygelac had left a son, Beowulf refused to take the throne when legally it should go to Hygelac's son. So Hygelac's son became king, but when he died Beowulf agreed to be king. Beowulf reigned as king for 50 years! And it was a very peaceful reign until a servant running from his master, stumbled across a cave hidden in a cliff. In which he found a sleeping dragon protecting a hoard of treasure. And being in need to pay his master a large sum of money, the foolish man stole a golden cup from the dragon's stash. The dragon awoke that night to find that someone had stolen his cup, and was enraged that anyone would dare do such a thing to him! And so, he (the dragon) decided that only thing to do was search for this man, and while he was searching he would burn every town he came across to show how furious a dragon could be. And the dragon did this for many days, weeks even. Then one night the dragon destroyed King Beowulf's palace. Now Beowulf had to involved. So the next day he went with some men to go kill the dragon that had been turning all the villages into ashes. He wanted to fight the dragon alone, not because he thought he was "all that jazz", but because he didn't want anyone else to be harmed in the battle. During th battle Beowulf is fatally wounded and one of his men comes to his rescue. Together the two of them finish off the dragon. Although the dragon is dead, however, Beowulf had also fought his last battle. There, in the grass of a scorched field, in the arms of an adoring comrade, Beowulf conquer of Grendal, Defeater of Grendal's Mother, Friend to King Hrothgar, Nephew to King Hygelac, King of the Geats, Defender of all, and slayer of the Dragon, drew his last breath. The story then continues on to say that before Beowulf died he had told his comrade, Wiglaf, that he would be the next king of the Geats. And that Wiglaf, ordered the construction of a huge monument built in memory of Beowulf.
Okay, so I'm REALLY bad at telling a brief story......sorry about that...but because that was a really in depth "synopsis" of the story, I'll just quickly tell you what I think the Conflict, etc. are, and not really go further into it. And then at then end of that I'll give you some of my personal thoughts, on it, tell you some things that I learned from it, and what-not. :) So bear with me! :)
First off I'll give you a brief (at least I'm going to TRY to keep it brief) synopsis of the story. Beowulf is the main character, he is the nephew of the Geat King, Hygelac. And he is extremely strong. In fact, it says several times in the poem that his strength is equal to the strength of 30 average men! Anyhooo...When Beowulf hears about a terror in the country of the Danes, he feels as though he must help King Hrothgar rid himself of the "beast sent by the devil". So he sets out with a crew of men to go and save King Hrothgar. When he arrives he is welcomed by the King, for when Beowulf was but a child he lived with the Danes for some time. The King readily agrees to allow Beowulf to attempt to kill "Grendel". (That is the name of the beast) Every night Grendel comes to the King's throne room, and eats anyone inside. (Some details do get pretty gruesome....but if you handled The Hunger Games...then you could handle this) Beowulf and his crew prepare for the inevitable battle in the throne room. And sure enough that night Grendel sought out the throne room yet again. When he arrived there, he ate one of Beowulf's crew members before anyone had time to react. But then Beowulf was upon him, and with Beowulf's strength he clutched Grendel arm. There was a mighty struggle, in which Beowulf's crew tried to help, by swinging their mighty swords at Grendel, but Grendel's skin was too tough for swords to cut through. After what seemed like ages Grendel finally broke free and ran away...but not without Beowulf rendering him a fatal wound. When Grendel broke free....he literally broke free. So strong was Beowulf's grip that when Grendel broke free, he left his arm Beowulf's hands! Grendel ran back to his cave under the sea, and there he died from his wound. Beowulf was praised and adorned with gifts. But that night the Throne hall was yet again haunted by a beast....no, not Grendal...Grendal's mother. When she attacked that night she only took one prisoner, but it just so happened that her one prisoner was King Hrothgar's best friend. Once again Beowulf offered his services, once again the King agreed. So, Beowulf and his crew set out to find Grendal's mother. When they arrived at the sea wherein the beast's cave was hidden, they discovered that it was inhabited by all sorts of evil, snake-like creatures. In spite of this, Beowulf plunged down into the murky depths. When he reached the bottom, Grendal's Mother grabs a hold of Beowulf and pulls him through the water to her sinister dwellings. There, Beowulf breaks loose from her hold, and the real fight begins. Once again there is a long, difficult battle between the two of them. After a while, Beowulf spots a giant sword...like this thing was huge! It is said that only Beowulf, with his incredible strength, would have been able to hold such a mighty sword as that. Beowulf took the sword in his hands and with one, smooth, indomitable motion, he sliced off the monster's head. A little ways off, Beowulf spotted Grendal's body. Beowulf chopped off his head as well, and up he swam through the now clear waters. He was received with uproarious praise upon his return! He was presented more gifts as well. And then after resting for a day, he returned to the land of his King with is faithful crew. As time went by things changed, King Hygelac of the Geats died, and Beowulf was asked to replace him. But because Hygelac had left a son, Beowulf refused to take the throne when legally it should go to Hygelac's son. So Hygelac's son became king, but when he died Beowulf agreed to be king. Beowulf reigned as king for 50 years! And it was a very peaceful reign until a servant running from his master, stumbled across a cave hidden in a cliff. In which he found a sleeping dragon protecting a hoard of treasure. And being in need to pay his master a large sum of money, the foolish man stole a golden cup from the dragon's stash. The dragon awoke that night to find that someone had stolen his cup, and was enraged that anyone would dare do such a thing to him! And so, he (the dragon) decided that only thing to do was search for this man, and while he was searching he would burn every town he came across to show how furious a dragon could be. And the dragon did this for many days, weeks even. Then one night the dragon destroyed King Beowulf's palace. Now Beowulf had to involved. So the next day he went with some men to go kill the dragon that had been turning all the villages into ashes. He wanted to fight the dragon alone, not because he thought he was "all that jazz", but because he didn't want anyone else to be harmed in the battle. During th battle Beowulf is fatally wounded and one of his men comes to his rescue. Together the two of them finish off the dragon. Although the dragon is dead, however, Beowulf had also fought his last battle. There, in the grass of a scorched field, in the arms of an adoring comrade, Beowulf conquer of Grendal, Defeater of Grendal's Mother, Friend to King Hrothgar, Nephew to King Hygelac, King of the Geats, Defender of all, and slayer of the Dragon, drew his last breath. The story then continues on to say that before Beowulf died he had told his comrade, Wiglaf, that he would be the next king of the Geats. And that Wiglaf, ordered the construction of a huge monument built in memory of Beowulf.
Okay, so I'm REALLY bad at telling a brief story......sorry about that...but because that was a really in depth "synopsis" of the story, I'll just quickly tell you what I think the Conflict, etc. are, and not really go further into it. And then at then end of that I'll give you some of my personal thoughts, on it, tell you some things that I learned from it, and what-not. :) So bear with me! :)
Alright! For the conflict of this book, I'm going to add a new conflict to my original list of five conflicts. The new conflict will be:
- Man vs. Animal - The main character against animals, or beasts.
Technically this could fall under "Man vs. Nature", but I think I'll just make a new one so that it is more clear for everyone in the future. Going back to the point....The question that I think would represent this conflict well is: "Will Beowulf survive the battle between himself and the dragon?" I believe that this is the main conflict in the story, but other people may have different opinions.
Moving on to the Exposition. Because Beowulf is written in verse, it is slightly harder to read, and understand. But the Exposition is still in the same place as any other story; the beginning. Right off the bat you learn that Beowulf is the main character, and that he is very strong and courageous. 'Nuff said.
Next part is the Rising Action. I think that I'm going to say that the battles with Grendel and his mother were both part of the rising action, although one could argue that each battle was in itself a new story, and therefore would each have there own Conflict, Exposition, Rising Action, etc. However, because I chose the conflict question of "Will Beowulf survive the battle between himself and the dragon?" I am going to put both of the early battles in the Rising action. You could also put the fact that he was made the king here in rising action as well.
CLIMAX! :) The brawl with the dragon is most certainly the climax. And although you're not sure how it will turn out, you know that this will be Beowulf's last fight. If he lives, he's too old to fight anymore. If he dies, well....then....he's dead.
Denouement.....in this part of the story, Beowulf dies, Wiglaf becomes king, and they build a monument in remembrance of Beowulf. That's pretty much it. After Beowulf dies, there's not much else to tell. I mean, he was pretty much a super hero way back when....what happens when the super hero dies....people mourn for a while....and the bad guys stop being bad. Right? Right.
And then there's the Conclusion. Well the conclusion is basically that because Beowulf was such a humble, kind, man, he was easily thought of as a hero. He cared not about himself, but about other people. The last words in the book are:
"They [the Geat people] said that of all the kings upon the earth
he [Beowulf] was the man most gracious and fair-minded,
kindest to his people and keenest to win fame."
I think I did pretty well at keep that part of it nice and concise.....if I do say so myself. :-P Now I'll move on to what I thought about the book.
I personally thought that it was a great adventure story! I loved the action scenes, and history of it all! The only thing that could have made it a little better was that is needed some romance! Haha, I know, I like a good romance story. And although Beowulf had all of the beautiful scene descriptions, and all of the adventure and thrill, it could have used some romance, and some humor. Not much mind you! Just a little of both. To lighten the mood just a little. But, that's just my opinion. :)
What I learned from this story was that sure being strong and courageous helps when you want to be a hero, but that's not all that is takes....it takes a good heart too, that uses his strength to help others in need.
So there you have it! My second official book review! :-D I hope you enjoy reading about Beowulf! And I would definitely recommend reading it even if you don't like adventure, because reading a long poem like that is a great learning experience....there are a TON of words that I never knew before, that I know now. :)
As always feel free to comment!
~Ellen
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