ener withBeowulf's bravery. His bravery is again exaggerated when he jumps in theswamp wearing heavy armor to fight and kill Grendel's mother. It'sunlikely even a strong warrior could win a battle with a she-monster inan underwater cave with a broken sword. But it adds to the excitement.In the line "The head of Grendel, with heavy toil; / Four of thestoutest, with all their strength, / Could hardly carry on swaying spear/ Grendel's head to the gold-decked hall." (1109-1112) exaggerations aremade concerning the size and weight of the monster's head. Again, itportrays a more gruesome and dramatic scene to the listener'simagination. Alliteration, which is repeating the same sound, usually aconsonant, at the beginning of words or in accented syllables, givesthis story a more poetic sound. Alliteration also helped the scops orstorytellers in memorizing the tales. Examples of alliteration can befound throughout the poem such as, "The Hall of the Heart", "His pledgeand promise", "Dragging the dead men home to his den", "Fitted andfurnished", and "Showed sea-cliffs shining". This device adds creativityand rhythm to the poem. It makes it more entertaining to read, speak, orlisten to such a long story. Metaphors in the kennings, exaggerations, and alliteration allhelp in developing vivid descriptions and imagery to entertain andbeautifully tell the story of Beowulf. Imagery, figures of speech thathelp the mind to form pictures, are throughout the poem. One of thestrongest examples was found where it reads, " The demon delayed not,but quickly clutched / A sleeping thane in his swift assault, / Tore himin pieces, bit through the bones, / Gulped the blood, and gobbled theflesh, / Greedily gorged on the lifeless corpse," (558-563). This is theimage of Grendel killing one of the soldiers before his fatal fight withBeowulf. Great descriptive passages are found about Grendel's swamp-homedescribing it as, " ^a dismal covert / Of trees tha...
