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Setting
Definition of Simile
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like" or "as," but can also... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often use the connecting words "like... read full definition
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two unlike things. To make the comparison, similes most often... read full definition
Celebration (Lines 837–1250)
Explanation and Analysis—Nails Like Steel:
The narrator uses both a simile and a metaphor that compare the nails on Grendel’s hands to steel. After Beowulf’s defeat of Grendel, the monster escapes from Heorot, mortally wounded, leaving his arm behind in Beowfulf’s tight grasp. The narrator states that:
For rescue, however,
he left behind him his hand in pledge,
arm and shoulder; nor aught of help
could the cursed one thus procure at all [...]
More silent seemed the son of Ecglaf
in boastful speech of his battle-deeds,
since athelings all, through the earl's great prowess,
beheld that hand, on the high roof gazing,
foeman's fingers,—the forepart of each
of the sturdy nails to steel was likest,—
heathen's "hand-spear," hostile warrior's
claw uncanny. 'Twas clear, they said,
that him no blade of the brave could touch,
how keen soever, or cut away
that battle-hand bloody from baneful foe.
The Danes and Beowulf’s men “beheld that hand” in awe, noting in a simile that “the sturdy nails to steel was likest,” and further characterizing the hand in a metaphor as a “hand-spear.” Their examination of Grendel’s severed arm reveals that the monster was far from human, with a distinctive and powerful body. The comparisons drawn between Grendel’s nails and various forms of metal emphasize his lethal capabilities. Additionally, these comparisons underscore Beowulf’s strength. Because Grendel does not fight with a weapon, Beowulf decides to fight the monster with his bare hands, making it an “even” fight. In this passage, however, the crowd observes that Grendel’s hands are already weapons in a sense, implying that Beowulf defeated the odds in his slaying of Grendel.
Related Themes:
A Second Fight (Lines 1408–1639)
Explanation and Analysis—Melted As Ice is Wont :
In the aftermath of Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s mother, the narrator uses a simile to describe a mysterious sword that Beowulf found in her lair:
Now that sword began,
from blood of the fight, in battle-droppings,
war-blade, to wane: 'twas a wondrous thing
that all of it melted as ice is wont
when frosty fetters the Father loosens,
unwinds the wave-bonds, wielding all
seasons and times: the true God he!
Nor took from that dwelling the duke of the
Geats precious things, though a plenty he saw,
save only the head and that hilt withal
blazoned with jewels: the blade had melted,
burned was the bright sword, her blood was so hot,
so poisoned the hell-sprite who perished within there.
When Beowulf attempted to attack Grendel’s mother with a sword that was gifted to him by Unferth, the blade had no effect. After some time fighting her by hand, he finds a large sword once used by giants, which he uses to decapitate her. Miraculously, the sword melts away at the end of the battle, leaving behind only its jeweled hilt. The narrator notes that “all of it melted as ice,” drawing a comparison between this “wondrous” event and a far more ordinary natural process. The melting away of the sword suggests that it is no ordinary, human-made object, but rather one of magical origins.
