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   luannw Teacher
   High School - 11th Grade

   eNotes Editor

   Briefly, the characteristics of an epic are that it have a hero who performs heroic deeds, it should have an exhaulted, dignified style of narrative, it should have a complex narrative, and it should have historic references and ties in it.  Beowulf fits all those characteristics.  Beowulf himself is the hero and his slaying of Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon are very heroic deed.  Since what we read is a translation, we have to rely on the quality of the translation to give us the style of the narrative.  Generally though, we are shown many literary devices such as kennings, alliterative verse, etc. to give us the dignified style.  The complex narrative is seen in the many story lines that are introduced into the story such as the Finn episode or the retelling of the conflict between the Swedes and the Geats.  Finally, the story gives us insight into battles that took place in that era, and into life itself in that era thus making it have historic significance.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/beowulf/historical-context

   http://www.enotes.com/beowulf/style

   http://www.enotes.com/beowulf/summary

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   Posted by luannw on Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 4:25 AM