学文网Beowulf is one of the most important works in British literature. Written by an unknown author, it consists of 3,182 lines and dates back to the 8th century. The poem tells the brave deeds of Beowulf who kills monsters and rules as a king.
At the beginning of the poem, Hrothgar, king of the Danes(丹麦人) builds a hall where he and his warriors(勇士) spend many nights drinking and singing. ThEir happiness comes to an end when a monster called Grendel attacks the hall and kills many of the warriors. Beowulf, a young warrior, hears of Hrothgar’s troubles and comes to his rescue.
Beowulf and his men spend the night in the hall. After they fall asleep, Grendel enters the hall and kills one of Beowulf ‘s men. Beowulf pretends
to sleep at first. Then he jumps up and seizes Grendel’s hand. The two fight until it seems as though the hall might collapse. Finally, Beowulf tears Grendel’s arm from his body and Grendel runs to his home and dies.
The next night, after celebrating Grendel’s death, Hrothgar and his men sleep in the hall. While they are asleep, Grendel’s mother appears and kills Hrothgar’s most trusted warriors. Beowulf and his men go to the monster’s home under a lake. He dives into the lake, but is quickly seen and attacked by Grendel’s mother. She drags Beowulf to the bottom of the lake. In a cave containing Grendel’s body, Grendel’s mother and Beowulf fight a fierce battle. At first, Grendel’s mother appears to have an advantage over Beowulf because the hero’s sword can’t hurt the enemy. Then Beowulf discards his sword, grasps a sword of the giants and beheads Grendel’s mother. Traveling further into the cave, Beowulf discovers Grendel’s dead body and cuts off its head.
Beowulf returns home and becomes king of his own people. One day, late in Beowulf ‘s life, a slave steals a golden cup from the cave of a fire dragon. When the dragon finds the cup has been stolen, it leaves its cave in great anger, burning everything in sight. Beowulf and his soldiers come to fight the fire dragon. Beowulf tells his men that he will fight the dragon alone and that they should wait for him. Though showing great courage in the battle, Beowulf finds himself having difficulty killing the dragon single-handedly(单独地).His men, upon seeing the fierce battle and fearing for their lives, run and hide in the woods. However, one of his men, Wiglaf comes to help Beowulf, running the risk of losing his own life. Together, they kill the fire dragon and get a large amount of wealth from the dragon’s cave, but Beowulf is seriously wounded and dies soon afterwards. The poem ends with Beowulf’s funeral.
转载请注明出处学文网 » 英国民族史诗:《贝奥武甫》