Digressions in BeowulfA prominent stylistic feature in the poem Beowulf is the number and length of digressions. “Much of the controversy surrounding the poet's digression arose from the fact that we have not yet discovered or admitted why he digresses in the first place” (Tripp 63). In this essay we hope to help answer this question. The longest digression, nearly 100 lines, is Finn's story, which is explored here. In "The Finn Episode and Revenge in Beowulf" Martin Camargo states: The allusive manner of his narrative has long strained the abilities of philologists to determine the precise meaning of the verses, while its position within the narrative has challenged the ingenuity of a growing number of people. of critics who have sought to establish (or question) its relevance. . . .(112) Finn's episode begins with Hrothgar's scoop: the harp was plucked, good verses sung when Hrothgar's scoop in his place on the mead bench came to tell the famous parlor game [about] the sons of Finn when they attacked them: Hnaef of Scylding, hero of the Middle Danes, had to fall in the massacre of the Frisians (1065-70) We learn here that scop sings about a Danish hero, Hnaef, and his band of warriors who are attacked by the Frisians/Iutes, a tribe who lived on the European coast directly opposite the British Isle. In other words, the Finnsburh episode presents the sudden, abrupt interruption of the Danes' peaceful existence. This story is told by the scop on the right... center of the worksheet, Robert E. "Digressions and Episodes". In A Beowulf Handbook, edited by Robert Bjork and John D. Niles. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.Camargo, Martin. "The episode of Finn and the revenge in Beowulf." In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998.Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A bilingual edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977. Greenfield, Stanley B.. “The Finn Episode and Its Parallel.” In Beowulf: The Donaldson Translation, edited by Joseph F. Tuso. New York, W.W.Norton and Co.: 1975.Tripp, Raymond P. “Digressive Revaluation(s).” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Wright, David. "The Digressions in Beowulf." In Readings on Beowulf, edited by Stephen P. Thompson. San Diego: Greenhaven Press,1998.