The action of the poem takes place around 500 A. D. Even if it seems to be a pagan story, Beowulf is told by a christian poet.
In this poem we can find the themes of religious tension, which was quite common in the Anglo- Saxon stories.
The story of Beowulf is the following: Beowulf was a 6-th century wrrior. He challenged Grendel and defeated him. Grendel had been ravaging the palace, and killed the men of Hrothgar, king of Danes.
To revenge her son's death, Grendel's mother wanted to kill Beowulf but finally she gets killed by Bepwulf, although she carried off one of the Danish nobleman.
At his return, Beowulf was triumphantly received, welcomed by his people. After his uncle's death, Beowulf became the king.
After a reign of 50 years, a scary dragon invaded his country. With the aid of Wiglaf, a young nobleman, he defeated the dragon, though his men were gone, letting him alone in front of the enemy, who hided a treasure.
He died in the fight and put Wiglaf as his successor.
Beowulf was very honored on the funeral pyre by his people, 12 of his men brought celebrations of his power and greatness. They buried him along with the dragon’s treasure.
Fighting with the dragons, finding treasures are themes of this poem, and like in most of all, the main theme is fighting the evil forces and defeating them.
CIOBOTARU ANA
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