Mark words and phrases in lines 318–331 that tell why Beowulf’s companion warriors could not defeat Grendel. Analyze, what characteristic of an epic poem does this typify?
The main reason is that:
that no blade on earth, no blacksmith’s art
could ever damage their demon opponent.
The men were powerless using their weapons.
Can you please quote the lines that you have listed? Thanks.
Beowulf’s warriors worked to defend
their lord’s life, laying about them
as best they could with their ancestral blades.
Stalwart in action, they kept striking out
on every side, seeking to cut
straight to the soul. When they joined the struggle
there was something they could not have known at the
time,
that no blade on earth, no blacksmith’s art
could ever damage their demon opponent.
He had conjured the harm from the cutting edge
of every weapon. But his going away
out of this world and the days of his life
would be agony to him, and his alien spirit
would travel far into fiends’ keeping.
