In literature, the setting can be used to identify the time, place, and mood of the story. It can provide background and dimension when executed properly. The setting basically knocks out the when and where of the plot. In most cases the setting can give the reader an opportunity to visualize the scene in his or her head. The setting is a great opportunity for the writer or storyteller to enhance his or her work with an elaborate and fascinating time and place. In Beowulf, the setting is important because it provides background, dimension, and develops as the story continues. .
The very first line in Heaney's translation of Beowulf talks about the "Spear-Danes " (1). The story then begins to describe the great kings of Denmark and the great King Hrothgar. This is the first mention of a place and the first chance the reader can begin to develop a visualization of what is going on. Beowulf however is from Geatland; located across the sea from Denmark in present-day southern Sweden. As the story continues, Beowulf travels from his home in Geatland to aid his kinsman Hrothgar and the Danes in Denmark (Heaney 194-228). Heaney's description of the journey gives important insight to what it was like to travel in that day and age. The reader can imagine the cliffs and the moving sea as the soldiers travel on their vessels. Heaney translates the phrase "Over the waves, with the wind behind her " which add dimension to the journey (217). Heaney's descriptive wording allows the reader to visualize what is happening in the story.
Towards the middle of the poem Beowulf treks after Grendel's mother in the swamplands near Hrothgar's mead hall. Heaney describes the scene when he writes, "They dwell apart / among wolves on the hills, on windswept crags / and treacherous meshes, where cold streams / pour down the mountain and disappear / under mist and moorland " (1357-1361). These graphic phrases are what make up the scene and tell the reader that something bad is about to happen.
