Following fragment and selected summaries from Beowulf, taken of the book “Adventures in English Literature: The Anglo-Saxon Period through The Seventeenth Century” (PRIESTLEY, 1963), in which translations of Beowulf, done by J. Duncan Spaeth for the book Old English Poetry, were presented.

At the coast, Beowulf and his men are met by a guard, who, after being convinced of their good intentions, conducts them toward the palace. They enter the hall, and Beowulf introduces himself to Hrothgar and his thanes. His last words voice a characteristic German attitude.

“Hail, King Hrothgar: Hygelac’s thane
And kinsman am I. Known is the record
Of deeds of renown I have done in my youth.
Far in my home, I heard of this Grendel;
Seafarers tell the tale of the hall:
How bare of warriors, this best of buildings
Deserted stands, when the sun goes down
And twilight deepens to dark in the sky.
By comrades encouraged, I come on this journey.
The best of them bade me, the bravest and wisest,
To go to thy succor, O good King Hrothgar;
For well they approved my prowess in battle,
They saw me themselves come safe from the conflict
When five of my foes I defeated and bound,
Beating in battle the brood of the monsters.
At night on the sea with nickers I wrestled,
Avenging the Weders, survived the sea peril,
And crushed in my grip the grim sea monsters
That harried my neighbors. Now I am come
To cope with Grendel in combat single,
And match my might against the monster alone.
I pray thee therefore, prince of the Scyldings,
No to refuse the favor I ask,
Having come so far, O friend of the Shield-Danes,
That I alone with my loyal comrades,
My hardy companions, may Heorot purge.
Moreover they say that the slaughterous fiend
In wanton mood all weapons despises.
Hence_as I hope that Hygelac may,
My lord and king, be kind to me_
Sword and buckler I scorn to bear,
Gold-adorned shield, as I go to the conflict.
With my grip will I grapple the gruesome fiend,
Foe against foe, to fight for our life.
And he that shall fall his faith must put
In the judgment of God. If Grendel wins,
He is minded to make his meal in the hall
Untroubled by fear, on the folk of the Jutes,
As often before he fed on the Danes.
No need for thee then to think of my burial.
If I lose my life, the lonely prowler
My blood-stained body will bear to his den,
Swallow me greedily, and splash with my gore
His lair in the marsh; no longer wilt then
Have need to find me food and sustenance.
To Hygelac send, if I sink in the battle,
This best of corselets that covers my breast,
Heirloom of Hrethel, rarest of byrnies,
The work of Weland. So Wyrd will be done.”

Hrothgar replies with complimentary reference to Beowulf’s father, and then once more recounts the horrors of Grendel’s visits to Heorot. A banquet is prepared, with the usual eating and drinking and minstrel’s song. Unferth, a jealous Danish courtier, belittles Beowulf by sarcastic comment on his defeat in a swimming match with Breca, a young prince of another tribe. Beowulf replies by giving his version of this adventure, in which he had killed nine sea demons. Then Beowulf goes on to accuse Unferth of murdering his own brothers, a kenning (or metaphor) meaning that he fled from a battlefield where they were killed. (PRIESTLEY, 1963)

      For better understanding of the work, through comparison between the writing material and the cinematographic version recently thrown at the movies, “Beowulf” directed by Robert Zemeckis, we shared trailer-teasers of the film, which correspond to the supplied fragments.When analyzing the passages above, we can notice a first shine of the characteristic that will be present in the future Medieval Period (1066-1485) of the English Literature, the chivalry, given the main character's noble aspect, that in spite of being a “barbarian”, it is a prince and he has the whole pomp and education that the authors of medieval romances would insert in their heroes. In spite of being a rustic hero that guts sea monsters with his sword, he has a conduct of well-mannered and sensitive when he treats with noblemen and women (aspect that was relegated in the recent film, in which we don't almost see any chivalry in the noblemen, which they are almost portrayed totally barbarians and without manners.

      Maybe that educated behavior of Beowulf is a stylistic line added by the monks that translated and copied the work during the following periods in that the work already writhed went to collectors' libraries that conserved it. Obviously many of the stylistic and cultural lines of the Anglo-Saxons were altered and even removed in the course of time and every time that the manuscript was translated and recopied, acquiring the translators' aspects, when edited it in way to be more “appropriate” to the literary aspects of the period in that they lived, in face of that, we noticed the already mentioned medieval chivalry and the several aspects of the Christianity.

      Nevertheless, we can notice the Anglo-Saxon ideal of conduct of the love of personal freedom for the method like Beowulf, Hrothgar and their comrades welcome a good festivity, as Beowulf has freedom to do his long heroic trips and to dispute matches with other noble (it Breca) just to feed their egos, constantly demonstrating the love for their own glories, a great vanity when speaking of himself and of their nobleman life (only life motivation).

      The way as Beowulf reverences Hrothgar demonstrates his allegiance to his lord, asking for authorization to kill the monster and trying to convince and to prove that is capable to please his master in the way that intends to.

      The verses show us as the hero acts almost like a lackey to the king, all the moment using apposed to eulogize the monarch, his thanes, his mead hall (Heorot). In the fragment, that it is an entire speech of Beowulf, he constantly innumerate his great deeds, almost telling his curriculum, that turns him capable for the difficult mission of killing Grendel, monster that was already known even in the area where Beowulf lived, therefore the sailors had already taken for there such story. The great hero Anglo-Saxon it’s similar to the Greek mythical heroes, for instance, he also accomplished journeys in search for adventures and saving people from monsters, just like did the Greeks Hercules, Teseus or Orpheus, he also had superhuman force like Hercules, was a nobleman and possibly kindred of the gods or protected by God and in title to defend the good men and damsels (to remind of the influences of the copying monks Christian).

      We can see the fear that the men of that time had of the dangers of the unknown oceans, through the fights of Beowulf against sea monsters, which at that time were believed to exist, but they were probably just whales.

      Beowulf also believes that if he struggles alone and unarmed against the monster he will prevail, for being worthy and fair, meaning that victory would be always beside the good (Christianity). “And he shall fall his faith must put in the judgment of God...” , with this sentence he shows total faith that God shall decide who will win the clash, believing that if he dies, will deserve to be devoured by the beast, his destiny will be accomplished. He just asks that his corselet, aristocracy symbol, be sent for Hygelac (his home).