Close reading

Description: This passage is a description of the late, great king of the Danes, Shield Sheafson.

Imagery: This description of Shield Sheafson oozes a refined yet primal masculinity. From this simple description, I imagine him as a striking Norsemen with a great, bushy beard and piercing blue eyes. Oddly enough, the way that I perceive him is such that his ferocity juxtaposes his objective beauty in a fashion comparable to none other than Aragorn of Lord of the Rings. Although the text does not describe any of the specific details of Shield’s appearance, I imagine him as having these characteristics based solely on how the author illustrates the way in which he was revered and respected by others.  Words like “heroic”, “renowned” “courage” and “greatness” from the passage depict Shield Sheafson as a thoughtful yet powerful king.   When he speaks, I imagine a deep bellowing voice, but not overly loud, because the content of his sentences and the aura that surround them do not require volume as a supplement. Furthermore, I imagine him as a man of few words, quiet until he needs to be, but not afraid to go engage in a battle of tongues when necessary (similar to Beowulf).  From the same text, I perceive his breath as smelling like red wine, and perhaps there would be a little bit of a rouge stain on his beard as a result from a recent glorious celebration of a great battle won.                                       

Despite all of this celebratory and honorable imagery describing Shield in such a great light, I also notice a somber mood in this passage. Though it is a description of “a good king”, the being in which they are describing is no longer alive, and I believe the passage reflects the ominous and longing feelings that those who knew such a king felt towards him while he ruled. The passage also suggests that while such a king ruled, it was a golden age of glory, but in his stead, the dark ages have come. I gather this based off the authors use of eerie phrases like “long times and troubles they'd come through without a leader”. Later in the passage, Shield’s son Beow is introduced. In this section, the words used to describe the scene makes me think of a small baby in a cradle, completely innocent, but already burdened with the hope of all who loved his father, and long for times like the ones when he ruled.

Rhetoric: Though we have seen heavy amounts of rhyming and alliteration used at various times throughout Heaney’s translations of the poem, in this passage, neither devices are really used. However, there are examples of other devices. One rhetoric device that especially stuck out to me is the use of “foreshadowing”. This happens when the narrator states that since Shield has passed, there have been troubles and tribulations in the community, but the narrator states this fact directly before he introduces Shield’s son, Beow. The timing of these competing themes suggest that the son of Shield is destined to heroically put an end to these troubling times.Furthermore, I believe the introduction of Beow, is also a metaphor for the rebirth of the Danes. Beow is a symbol of his father’s glory reincarnated, and though the Danes have experienced hard times in the absence of Shield, his re-appearance through Beow suggests that there is still hope for the community.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The patterns in this passage are fairly consistent in terms of punctuation and how many syllables make up each line, however, lines 20-24 (labeled also as 81-85) have noticeably longer sentences than the others of this passage. In this section, the narrator states that “a good king MUST be prudent”. This is a clear declaration of a trait that makes a “good king”. His use of “must” is also a definite proclamation of the necessity for prudence. I gather this based on the wording used, and the absence of a passive statement like a “good king should be” or “a good king is often”. 

Context: This passage, being the first passage of the entire poem, really does not seamlessly fit, and I believe that is done purposefully by both the original author(s) of the poem and by Heaney. Though the whole poem is riddled with masculinity and high praise of glory, it seems like in this passage, the aura around Shield Sheafson is different than other heroes described in this story. In this passage, the act of the narrator recalling the heroism of Shield Sheafson is the equivalent of what we in modern day would call “reliving the glory days”. Though he speaks of Beowulf in a similar light as Shield, Beowulf is more highly regarded and featured as a warrior, but alternatively, the model for Kingship, as evident in this passage, is Shield Sheafson. This poem is anything but direct and predictable, and the fact that in the very first lines, the author comes out and says “that was a good king” without any hidden meaning or implication, shows the reader how significant Shield Sheafson ability to rule was.  Additionally, this passage sticks out for a more obvious reason. Though this is the first passage of a poem titled “Beowoulf, there is no mention of him in the introduction of the poem. Instead, the passage is focused solely on Shield and his son Beow, who though they are significant, are not the central focus of this poem. This supports my previous claim of the importance of Shield Sheafson as the model for Kingship.