A Comparison of the Runes and Magic in Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki :: comparison compare contrast essays

study Runes and Magic in Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki There are runes and magic trick in the narratives of the poem Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, an Iceland saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300s when it was written. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon narrative poem whose oral traditions date back to the one-sixth century (Ward v1,ch3,s3,n11). Beowulf opens with a short account of the victorious Danish male monarch Scyld Scefing, whose pagan ship-burial is described. His body was carried on board a ship, piled up with ordnance and treasures the ship passed out to sea, whence Scyld had arrived to the Danes as an abandoned child a likely indication of a charmed, magical life. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we follow Yrsa (also found in Beowulf), who is an impoverished child of uncertain birth (Byock xi) she posterior becomes queen another charmed life. But re,markably she grows into one of the few women in the saga who do not employ magic. In Beowulf the reigns of Scylds son and grandson, Beowulf and Healfdene, are mentioned, and we then come across Hrothgar, the son of Healfdene. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we also meet a Hrothgar, but his name is abbreviated into Hroar. He and his brother Helgi byword their father, King Halfdan, killed by King Frodi, who would have killed the two sons except for the magic of the commoner Vifil with whom they were hiding. King Frodi, in his attempt to kill them, sought the help of seeresses and soothsayers, and when that failed, of sorcerers (2). But the magic of Vifil was so strong that it obscured the supernatural vision of the women (witches?) Vifil knew that stiff spirits have visited the island where he lived (3) and thus saved Helgi and Hroar. Later Hroar is a notable figure, just as in Beowulf, ruling over the blue English kingdom of Northumberland until forced into a disastrous conflict. Meanwhile, as kids, Hroar and Helgis sister, Signy, manifests an u ncanny poetic ability of speaking in beautiful verses when Jarl Saevil is escorting a group to King Frodis celebration to me this seems magical. At Frodis counterpane a seeres named Heid is placed high up on a tour platform and asked to reveal any information about Hroar and Helgi.