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Authors will often use symbols in their writing to get across feelings or values or themes, which have no actual face or shape, but make the reader think beyond just the actual words. In the story of Beowulf there were two strong symbols. If you read closely you will find that the two strongest symbols in most literature are symbo=ls of good and evil, in Beowulf these symbols are that of the mead-hall and Grendel. Mead-hall was a great hall that was built by Hrothgar, the king of Danes and Grendel was a fierce and pwereful monster that invades that great hall. There are many examples of these symbols throughout the story.

Here is an example of each of these symbols. A symbol of the mead-hall symbolizing what is good can be found in the very beginning of the story when all of the soldiers are singing happily. A passage that shows this is from lines 3-5 when it says, “…as day after day the music rang Loud in the hall, the harps rejoicing Call and the poet’s clear songs, sung…”. An example of a symbol the evil and hate of Grendel is shown when he goes to the mead hall at night and eats the sleeping soldiers and scares them enough to where they have to abandon their great hall. This is shown from lines 54-58 when it says, “To escape him, searched for rest in different beds, as far from Herot as they could find, Seeing how Grendel hunted when they slept. Distance was safety; the only survivors were those who fled him. Hate had triumphed.”

Those are some examples of symbols used in writing to make the reader think beyond the basic words that are written. Near the end of the story a great hero, Beowulf, comes into town and kills Grendel and saves the good, the Herot, from evil once more. Symbols are a good way to make the readers experience more enjoy full, if there were no symbolism, reading may be even worse