Beowulf Argumentative Essay

Words: 676
Pages: 3

Beowulf, an epic written around 1,000 A.D., has created a wave of curiosity among professors and archeologists. John D. Niles, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, has devoted time and research to confirm the credibility of Beowulf. By creating comparisons from the original text to archeological discoveries, a reader can develop an understanding of the time period in which Beowulf took place. This piece of literature separates the fact from fiction from the Norse Saga Beowulf. The author, John D. Niles, gives a reader an understanding of the actual royal family that once ruled in Denmark. Early in the evaluation of the Great Hall Heorot Niles writes, “the hall stands high, a visible sign of wealth and stature of the Scylding Kings (Niles p.40).” He then compares the Scylding family to the Skjoldung line of Danish Kings that ruled during the middle ages. “Lejre was famed as the chief seat of the Skjoldung line of Danish Kings (the equivalent of the Scylding Kings of Beowulf) (Niles p.42).” Beowulf may seem very fictional to some readers, but Niles provides a location that still …show more content…
As a person reads Beowulf, he or she may feel as if a magical realm is being described. A modern audience may have a hard time visualizing the world in which this epic took place. However, by providing evidence of a third hall that is very closely related to that of Heorot, it is easier to picture that the events described in Beowulf have potential to be real. A modern reader or audience is able to compare the battles to more modern wars. Furthermore, Heorot, which may have seemed like a fortress in a magical realm, can be closely realated to buildings that house modern presidents, dictators, kings, and queens. The visual representation that Niles provides allows a modern audience to become more connected to the epic