A narrative technique in Beowulf and Homeric epic

In this essay I demonstrate the presence in Beowulf of a narrative technique that involves the manipulation of a specific form of syntax, a technique common in Homeric epic and which has recently received close study. I proceed to note that though both epic traditions, Homeric and Old English, apply the technique in a number of parallel contexts and type-scenes, the syntactic pattern is particularly used in one crucial context, the hero's encounter with a deadly opponent and life-threatening circumstances./