Beowulf is a Heroic ElegyThere is considerable debate over whether the poem Beowulf is an epic narrative poem or a heroic elegy, a poem celebrating the fantastic achievements of his great hero, and also express his sorrow or lamentations for the unfortunate death of the hero. This essay aims to show that the poem is a heroic elegy. In "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics," Tolkien states: We must of course put out of mind the idea that Beowulf is a "narrative poem," one that tells a tale or intends to tell a story in sequential. The poem “lacks regular progress”: this is why Klaeber heads a critical section of his edition. But the poem was not meant to move forward, either stably or unsteadily. It is essentially a balance, an opposition of endings and beginnings. In its simplest terms, it is a contrasting description of two moments of a great life, rising and setting; an elaboration of the ancient and intensely moving contrast between youth and age, first realization and final death (Tolkien 34). Another literary scholar attacks the proposition that the poem is a narrative, an epic as many critics say: “For the structure of the poem the poem is not sequential, but complementary; At first, certain parts of a situation are displayed, and these are given coherence and meaning through the gradual addition of its other parts” (Blomfield 60). These attacks on the epic-narrative theory regarding the poem Beowulf leave only one choice: the poem is a heroic elegy, a poem celebrating the achievements of its hero Beowulf, and at the same time a poem of lament, sorrow and loss. sadness. mourning the death of this great hero. In the first part of Beowulf, the poet establishes Beowulf as an incomparable superma...... middle of paper ....... fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Greenfield, Stanley B. “The Finn Episode and Its Parallel.” In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, WWNorton and Co.: 1975. Rebsamen, Frederick R. in “Beowulf – A Personal Elegy”. Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, WWNorton and Co.: 1975Robinson, Fred C. “Appositive Word Meanings and Religious Perspectives.” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Tolkien, JRR. “Beowulf: Monsters and Critics.” » In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Wright, David. “Digressions to Beowulf.” In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.