Beowulf Dialect Journal: #46-50

46. "All were endangered; young and old were hunted down by that dark death-shadow who lurked and swooped in the long nights on the misty moors; nobody knows where these reavers from hell roam on their errands." (159-163)

Grendel's rampages seem more sinister than regular murders because of his uncanny ability to come and go unseen in the night.

47. "Shield was still thriving when his time came and he crossed over into the Lord's keeping.
His warrior band did what he bade them when he laid down the law among the Danes: they shouldered him out to the sea's flood, the chief they revered who had long ruled them A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour, ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince. 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." (26-37)

Beowulf begins with death – with the description of the lavish burial-at-sea of the Danish king, Shield Sheafson. This is the first funeral scene in the epic, but it certainly won't be the last. It lets us know right away that how a man dies and how he is buried reflects on who he was when he was alive.

48. "This formal boast by Beowulf the Geat pleased the lady well and she went to sit by Hrothgar, regal and arrayed with gold." (639-641)

You might get irritated when people around you make boasts, but for Beowulf and the warriors around him, doing so is an important traditional part of their culture.

49. "Meanwhile, a thane of the king's household, a carrier of tales, a traditional singer deeply schooled in the lore of the past, linked a new theme to a strict metre. The man started to recite with skill, rehearsing Beowulf's triumphs and feats in well-fashioned lines, entwining his words." (866-873)
Immediately after Beowulf's fight with Grendel, the Danish minstrel begins composing a song, using established poetic clichés, about his great deeds. The composition of new ballads celebrating local heroes was traditional in medieval Scandinavian culture.

50. "Nor have I seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken, he is truly noble. This is no mere  hanger-on in a hero's armour." (244-251)

Beowulf's identity as a hero is obvious to the Danish coast-guard just from looking at him. He's not just an impostor; he's the real thing, and he seems to have "realness" radiating off of him.