Feuds_and_Digressions_in_Beowulf

The term feud refers to permanent hostility involving two social groups. They can be families, generations or any two groups in society. They differ in the way of thinking and do not have the same values nor principles. Throughout the poem Beowulf, I could see the vengeance and desire to destroy themselves using hostility, violence, murder and death. It was an event that historically was created since the origin of the social groups involved. Friendship was a term not included in their vocabulary. This hostility began with the feud between the Swedes and the Geats. While reading the poem it was clear that the parties involved had been in a bloodshed for a long time. The characters of the feud showed their courage and their commitment to their families and continued the feuding behavior. They followed rules and guidelines emphasizing when and how vengeance may be performed, who will be involved and who will be responsible of it. In Beowulf we can see the term feud as an ideological quality. In other words feud was seen as an issue between two parties or groups, defining their relationship and their interaction with one another. The whole plot of the poem revolves around feuds between Beowulf his enemies and the social feuds the different clans had. Digressions are found all throughout the poem. The term digression refers to a departure of the central theme in reading or writing. Sometimes while analyzing the poem I realize that when digressions occurred it was to explain events that happened and most were related to feuds. The author refers to historical events to give more emphasis on the reading. Digression also informed about the hero’s life. When at the beginning of the poem the author referred to the origin of the Danish kings and the story of Beowulf a Geatish hero. The author made biblical references through the poem and for me there is digression, because it isolates the theme of the epic poem, when referring to the bible stories. Digression helps the reader understand better the poem and why some events occurred in the history of Beowulf. In conclusion the history presented in Beowulf makes the most part of the digressions and these are extremely associated with feuds.