10 IB Prep 5th Hour
Ms. Peifer
05 Nov. 2008
One value presented in Beowulf is the ritual for a proper funeral. "They stretched their beloved lord in his boat,/laid out by the mast, amidships,/the great ring-giver. Far-fetched treasures were piled upon him, and precious gear (Heaney 34-37). Instead of giving Shield a burial, his people laid his body on a ship along with many treasures and some of Shield's closest belongings. They let the ship drift into the sea without knowing who salvaged the ship and his body afterward. A proper funeral viewed to their society is not seen as a burial, but as a journey to the other world through the sea.
A literacy tools used by Heaney in the story of Beowulf is alliteration. "Then out of the night/came the shadow-stalker, stealthy and swift;/the hall-guards were slack" (Heaney 703-704). The alliteration describes the movement of Grendel entering the hall. It gives the reader a better image of a large, dark shadow walking swiftly at a steady pace, approaching the men sleeping in the hall.
Kennings are used numerous times in the story of Beowulf. An example of a kenning is "the Lord of Life" (Heaney 16). "Lord of the Life" refers to God. The significance of this kenning is that it is proclaiming God as an important worship to the people, because of his creation of life. Another kenning found in Beowulf is "mail-shirts glinted,/hard and hand-linked; the high-gloss iron of their armour rang" (Heaney 321-322). "Mail-shirts" refer to chain mails. The kenning signifies that chain mails have been made into shirts and armor for protection during battle.
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