During the celebration following Grendel's death, something seemed fishy to me, and that just may be because I've read the book and seen the movie before. Everything about it just appeared way too forced for me, especially when the queen was involved. She made a big show in saying that there were to be no whispers in Herot that night and that she has complete trust in Hrothgar and Beowulf both. While all of this may look like a queen just consoling her exasperated country, it felt an awful lot like the epic's way of foreshadowing the next big attack. Things always get worse before they can get better, and although Grendel took a heavy toll out of Hrothgar's kingdom, Beowulf killing him was just a little too easy for all the mess the monster created prior to his arrival. The queen's heavily enforced relief only further proves my point.
Even the poetry sang at the feast was suspicious and could be interpreted as foreshadowing. Not only was it honoring Siegmund, it was also about Finn, a Frisian king murdered by someone of Danish blood. The story behind Finn is a dark one and sticks out like a sore thumb during the celebration. After all, in the story about Finn, there was a period in between battles between the Danes and the Frisians where he thought the fighting was over. He and Hengest, head of the Danes, made peace, and the Danes and the Frisians occupied the same land for awhile until Finn was finally killed. It is a wonder why they chose to intercorporate something so tragic during a happy time, unless of course it is a hidden warning of what is still to come.
I commented on posts by Hailey Morgan and Leanne White.
Wow, I never noticed that. That is crazy how the foreshadowing happened over a big event like a celebration. This tells how important the author was trying to point out that the plot was repeating itself (since that is the whole point of Beowulf).
ReplyDeleteI love foreshadowing, but I always seem to miss it like I’m this instant. Thank you for pointing it out. It is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteMadalyn Dillard
I am a fan of foreshadowing. It is fun to speculate what happens in the future of the story and you become more engrossed in it. What a brilliant way to discuss how the plot repeats itself.
ReplyDeleteThe epic almost foreshadows too much. Everything is foreshadowing. The little tales told are of treachery and misfortune which is what is to come. The queen and everyone else are far too relieved by the killing of Grendel and celebrate too greatly for something else to not go wrong. I think if this much foreshadowing happened within modern writing, we would find it overdone and cliche.
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