The Author/Poet of BeowulfLittle is known about the poet who wrote Beowulf; we only have the information we can deduce by logical reasoning from whatever evidence scholars find in the poem itself. First of all, the consistency of style suggests that the poem was written by a single person (Thompson 14). There is no appreciable variation from the uniform linguistic and metric characteristics. Antithesis is a strong characteristic of style: "This tendency to antithesis, often bordering on paradox, and the constant play of irony are nothing more than stylistic manifestations of those movements of the poet's thought that give shape to the very substance of the poem" (Blomfield 58) . There is 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 liveliness and “a high degree of abstraction and formalism” (Blomfield 64). There are many digressions in the poem: “the digressive and reevaluative style of the poet” (Tripp 64). The author is omniscient: “The poet reserves the right to say what people think” (Shippey 39). Secondly, the employment of several conventional poetic devices suggests that the author was an educated person. Beowulf is notable primarily for its heavy use of all literature, or the repetition of the initial sounds of words. The Old English poet “tied” the two half-verses together through their accented alliteration (Chickering 4). Each line of poetry ideally contains four major accents, two on each side of a strong medial caesura, or pause. “At least one of the two accented swords in the first half of the verse, and usually both, begins with the same sound as...... middle of the sheet ...... raki, translated by Jesse L. Byock. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Shippey, T.A.. “The world of poetry”. In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Tharaud, Barry. "Anglo-Saxon Language and Traditions 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. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Tripp, Raymond P. “Digressive Revaluation(s).” In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge history of English and American literature. New York: Sons of G. P. Putnam, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000