If you've read Homer's Odyssey, you have a head start on this motif.
That's because in Beowulf, just like in the Odyssey, there are stories everywhere.
Just when the story of Beowulf's battles is getting
some momentum ... someone has to go tell another story.
Aw, man!
But you know the saying, you snooze, you lose?
Yeah, you really do in this poem.
That's because the stories in Beowulf serve two purposes.
First, they enable the narrator to include material outside the scope of the poem.
You know, like stories about different ancestors that either help explain Beowulf's character,
or clarify the heroic code.
Think of them as the bonus material on a DVD.
And second, believe it or not, the stories actually keep the poem moving.
Let me repeat that.
The stories in this poem actually keep the poem moving.
Rather than really making you snooze by going chronologically through Beowulf's life, the
poem jumps from battle to battle.
The history that's important to the action is included only as needed—in stories that
increase our faith in Beowulf and perhaps even get us a little excited about his next
heroic deed.