above. Everything is used to bring this about, particularly magical symbolism, but as it is set within the period. For example, Beowulf is the story of the "Spear-Danes" and the

serve the king and save the Danes, who appear to be senselessly slaughtered. He may have been drafted into the contest, but he undertakes the task as his own.

to serve himself. Beowulf seeks fame, glory, treasure, and the immortality of a death in combat to secure his legacy. The Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf," which is believed to

text, a supernatural force, and the celebration of the hero. Structurally speaking, an epic is "a long narrative poem on a great and serious subject" (Lucas). A primary epic

offers a rather broader depiction of the society of his time: society has become more diverse, since Chaucers pilgrims represent numerous different lifestyles and degrees of social standing. The warrior

and heroism and "Beowulf" is such a story. Its narrative is actually two stories that are separate in origin, but considered as one in that they both picture Beowulf as

was the devil incarnate: "At the dawning, as day was breaking, / the might of Grendel to men was known; / then after wassail was wail uplifted, /