The Author/Poet of BeowulfLittle is known about the poet who wrote Beowulf; we only have the information that we can deduce through logical reasoning from the evidence that researchers find in the poem itself. First, the consistency of style suggests that the poem was written by a single person (Thompson 14). There is no appreciable variation from uniform linguistic and metrical characteristics. Antithesis is a strong characteristic of the style: “This tendency towards antithesis, often bordering on paradox, and the constant play of irony are only stylistic manifestations of those movements of the poet's thought which shape the essence even of the poem” (Blomfield 58). . There is the reference to the burning of Heorot woven into the description of his early glories, and the prediction of family strife as all goes well in Hrothgar's court. The writer's style includes depth and dynamism, as well as "a high degree of abstraction and formalism" (Blomfield 64). There are many digressions in the poem: “the poet's digressive and reevaluative style” (Tripp 64). The author is omniscient: “The poet reserves the right to say what people think” (Shippey 39). Second, the employment of several conventional poetic devices suggests that the author was an educated person. Beowulf is notable primarily for its extensive use of all literacy, or repetition of the initial sounds of words. The Old English poet “tied” the two half-lines together through their emphasized alliteration (Chickering 4). Each line of poetry ideally contains four main accents, two on either side of a strong medial caesura, or pause. "At least one of the two accented swords in the first half-line, and usually both, begin with the same sound as...... middle of paper ......raki, translated by Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Shippey, T.A. “The World of the Poem.” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. Saxons in Beowulf. In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Thompson, Stephen P. “The Beowulf Poet and His World.” In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. Press, 1998. Tripp, Raymond P. “Degressive Reappraisal(s).” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Ward & Trent, et al. Cambridge History of English and American Literature New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1907-1921 New York: Bartleby.com., 2000