the anglo-saxon period had two types of poetry- heroic (achievements of warriors) and elegiac (the loss of loved ones). the poem of Beowulf has both of them. heroic because Beowulf is a warrior who achieves many things, such as winning all of his battles. and elegiac because they lament the loss of Beowulf at the end of the poem, such as the loss of all the people killed by Grendel