Scops, or poets, used many elements of oral poetic traditions, such as caesura, in order to remember the thousands of lines that were essential to the epic, Beowulf. In the short excerpt from Beowulf, the commas used in the beginning of the epic represent pauses, or caesura, which keep the rhythm for the poem. One of the many other elements used is alliteration. Alliteration is used constantly in Beowulf, the repetition of sound is shown in line 7, "A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on." The idea of greatness was very important in the Anglo-Saxon era and is continually represented in this passage. For Shield Sheafson's funeral, in lines 40-41, "massed treasure was loaded on top of him", which represents his glorious leadership. In the poem, years had passed after Sheafson had died when Hrothgar became king and massed "a force that grew to be a...