riassunto di Beowulf, Sintesi del corso di Inglese

Scarica riassunto di Beowulf e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! BEOWULF CAPITOLO 1 The spear Danes and their king were a great people. Scyld was an orphan boy who became their king. He had a son, whose name was Beow. After his death, Beow became king and he had a son named Halfdane, who had three sons and a daughter. One of them, Hrothgar was a great warrior and he decided to build an enormous head-hall called Heorot. He put there his throne and he became king. But outside the hall there was destruction caused by a monster called Grendel. He lived in the swamp with the monsters of Cain’s family. One night Grendel entered the hall and killed 30 men. The next day the people and the king were desperate, but Grendel came back again killing people every time. All the world knew about these attacks, but no one could stop them. Hrtothgar’s men asked the devil for help because they didn’t remember the real God. Over the sea, in Geatland, a brave warrior heard the story about Grendel, and he decided to sail with his best warriors in order to help Hrothgar. When they arrived Hrothgar’s, guards asked him why he had come there and why they were dressed for combat. The leader said that he wanted to help the king and bring peace to the land. The guard believed him, and they went together to the wooden hall. CAPITOLO 2 They walked up to the hall and sat down. The Geat Leader told to one of Hrothgar’s Warrior that they were from the kingdom of Hygelac, that his name was Beowulf and that he wanted to speak with the king. The king had known that man when he was young, and he had heard many stories about his strength. Beowulf entered Heorot and he offered his bravery and abilities to protect Hrothgar and his kingdom. Since Grendel had no weapons, he declared to use only his hands to fight him. Then he asked the king to be sent back with his armour to Hygelac in case of his death. Hrothgar had already helped Beowulf’s father when his country was near to war. He also told Beowulf that many fighters had thought that they could kill Grendel but no one to that day had managed to. Hrothgar invited Beowulf and his men to drink together. Next to the king there was Unferth, that was jealous of Beowulf and he didn’t believe in his skills. He asked him if he had lost the fight against Breca. Beowulf told the truth about the fight and that no one would be afraid of Grendel ever again with his help. Then everyone had a cup of mead and thanked God for sending Beowulf to help the Danes. Before going to bed Hrothgar wished Beowulf good luck and he gave him control of the mead hall. CAPITOLO 3 At the night of the fight Grendel came to the castle where Beowulf’s army was and killed a man who was sleeping. Beowulf was watching him from the shadows waiting for him. They fought bare handed and Beowulf managed to rip out his arm. Beowulf’s men tried to wound the monster with their swords, but his skin couldn’t be penetrated. Grendel, who was injured and defeated, came back to his lair to die. Beowulf was satisfied and he kept the arm of the monster as a trophy. Everyone was convinced that Grendel was dead, and Beowulf’s men went back home and told everyone about his bravery. Even the king went to Heorot to see what Beowulf had done. The king was thankful, and he organised a feast in Beowulf’s honour. To show his gratitude, the king gave a lot of precious presents to Beowulf and his men. CAPITOLO 4 The celebrations continued with singing and music and the king’s poet sang a story about the king of Friesland. After the feast everybody left the hall and went back home except the guards who were protecting Heorot. During the night Grendel’s mother attacked the hall, she killed one of Hrothgar’s friend and she ran back to the swamps. Beowulf wasn’t there during the attack. Hrothgar told him everything and they decided to ride after Grendel’s mother. They arrived nearby a lake full of blood where they could see the head of Hrothgar’s fiend in the water. There were also strange monsters similar to snakes and one of Beowulf’s men killed one of them in order to understand what kind of creature they were. Beowulf prepared himself to fight, he had a peculiar weapon that was a rare sword given him by Unferth. CAPITOLO 5 Beowulf fought Grendel’s mother for a day under the water. He used his sword, Hrunting, but it wasn’t strong enough. Luckily his armour protected him. He found Eoten’s sword, that was made by giants and it was too heavy for ordinary people; with this weapon he managed to kill the monster. Before going away he cut off Grendel’s head and it took it with him. Beowulf’s men waited for him on the shore and then they went back to Heorot. Here he told the king and the people that were there about his fight. As a gift he gave the king the golden top of Eoten’s sword, the rest of it had been melted by the blood of the sea monsters. Hrothgar thanked Beowulf and they celebrated together the victory. The next morning Beowulf and his men were ready to go back home. CAPITOLO 6 Once on shore, they carried the treasure to Hygelac’s home, where the king lived with his queen. When Beowulf and his men entered the hall, the king greeted them warmly and asked about the journey. Beowulf told his king about his encounter with Hrothgar and the cruel fight against Grendel and his mother, a story that was already famous all around the world. Beowulf then offered his king and uncle every treasure and weapon that Hrothgar had given him to celebrate his strength and glory. He proved himself once again to be a generous man.