Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Beowulf: un poema epico anglosassone
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love legends, fantasy and the roots of English storytelling, with monster battles, heroic boasts and questions of fame, loyalty and kingship.
Che cos’è questo libro
A hall of gold rings with song, and something in the dark hates every note. Beowulf is the oldest long poem in English, composed by an unknown poet in Old English and kept in one manuscript from around the year 1000. It looks back to a Scandinavian world of kings, halls and sea voyages. Its hero, Beowulf of the Geats, crosses the sea to face a creature that devours a king's men, then a second enemy, and later a third. Between the fights come feasts, boasts and old feuds that show how fragile safety is.
In questo riassunto
- 1A glorious hall draws a hungry monsterFree
- 2A young hero crosses the sea to help
- 3Boasts and insults before the night watch
- 4Beowulf fights Grendel with his bare hands
- 5A second attacker comes for revenge
- 6Beowulf dives into the haunted mere
- 7Home, a long reign and what it all means
Punto chiave 1 di 7
A glorious hall draws a hungry monster
Hrothgar, king of the Spear-Danes, builds the greatest hall anyone has heard of. He names it Heorot, and its gold-shining roofs shelter feasting, song and the sharing of treasure among his warriors.
The joy carries into the dark, and Grendel listens. He is an outcast of the fens, a descendant of Cain, who hates laughter because he belongs nowhere. One night he seizes thirty sleeping warriors and carries them off to eat.
This goes on for twelve years. Heorot stands empty after dark, and the old king is helpless. The poem shows how one enemy that nobody can match may break a kingdom.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Beowulf
- A powerful young Geatish warrior, he is Hygelac's nephew and travels overseas to help Hrothgar.
- Hrothgar
- The aging king of the Danes, he welcomes Beowulf to his monster-haunted hall, Heorot.
- Grendel
- A monstrous outcast from the fens, he attacks Hrothgar's warriors and hates their celebrations in Heorot.
- Grendel's mother
- Grendel's mother is a fearsome creature living beneath the mere who seeks revenge for her son.
- Unferth
- A speaker at Hrothgar's court, he challenges Beowulf's reputation by questioning his account of a swimming contest.
- Wealhtheow
- Hrothgar's queen welcomes guests to Heorot and watches over the interests of her sons.
- Hygelac
- The king of the Geats, he is Beowulf's uncle and the lord whom the young warrior serves.
- The dragon
- An ancient guardian of buried treasure, this creature becomes enraged when someone steals a cup.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 42,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 50 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Beowulf: un poema epico anglosassone
What is Beowulf about?
He sails to Denmark to fight the monster Grendel, then faces Grendel's mother, and later, as an old king, he faces a dragon that threatens his own people.
Who wrote Beowulf and when?
No one knows. The poet is anonymous. Scholars date the poem anywhere between the eighth and early eleventh centuries, and its only surviving manuscript was copied around the year 1000.
Is Beowulf a true story?
The monsters are legend, but some people and events in the poem, such as King Hygelac's raid, match historical records. It mixes real Scandinavian history with myth and folk tale.
Who is Grendel in Beowulf?
Grendel is a monster who lives in the fens and attacks the Danish hall Heorot for twelve years. The poem calls him a descendant of Cain and shows him as an outcast who hates the sound of joy.
Is Beowulf hard to read?
No. The story is easy to start because it has a clear plan: a hero crosses the sea, then fights three enemies, one after another. The story moves from the feast to the fight, so you always know who is who and what is happening.