Theme: love and fidelity in the folk ballad of england and scotland

Conclusion
To conclude, the epic world of the poem is a world of opposing good and evil, a world of heroic deeds, exaggerated feelings and possibilities, a world that reflects the real life of singers and listeners. This world opposes the ordinary world, but reflects all its contradictions. Good in the poem is expressed through the image of Beowulf , while evil is expressed through his enemies, monsters.
An epic work is universal in its functions. The fantastic is not separated from the real in it. The epic contains information about gods and other supernatural beings, fascinating stories and instructive examples, aphorisms of worldly wisdom and examples of heroic behavior; its edifying function is as inalienable as its cognitive one. It covers both the tragic and the comic. At the stage when the epic arises and develops, the Germanic peoples did not have knowledge about nature and history, philosophy, fiction or theater as separate spheres of intellectual activity - the epic gave a complete and comprehensive picture of the world, explained its origin and further destinies, including the most distant future, taught to distinguish good from evil, instructed how to live and how to die. The epic contained ancient wisdom, knowledge of it was considered necessary for every member of society.
The struggle for glory and jewels, loyalty to the leader, bloody revenge as an imperative of behavior, the dependence of a person and a courageous meeting with it, the tragic death of a hero - all these are the defining themes not only of Beowulf , but also of other monuments of the German epic. Contrast between two warring forces, the conflict divides the images of the poem into two camps, in one of which - the hero, the king and queen of the tribe, their squads, in the other - monsters, opponents of the hero. The world of the poem is divided into two parts: in the center of the first - the hero, in the center of the second - his opponents. All the elements of this world gravitate towards one of the poles; there are no "neutral" details not connected with this or that camp. Images of characters and their characteristics, temporal and influential features, objects - everything belongs to the world of heroes or their opponents. The opposition of individual elements is so consistent and comprehensive that the world of monsters appears as an inverted world of heroes. This is exactly what makes the reader interested and keep reading over and over . If the characters of a book were not opposed to one another, it would not considered as a literary work and could not grab reader`s attention for a long time, as well. As the “Beowulf” represents this main literary feature throughout its contexts, it still plays a prominent role in the history and literature of the world.