Final answer:
While Beowulf contains narrative elements and rhythmic qualities similar to a ballad, it does not conform to the strict structural definition of a ballad. It lacks the consistent stanza structure and rhyme scheme that characterize ballads.
Step-by-step explanation:
You asked for an example of a ballad in Beowulf. Beowulf, the Old English epic poem, contains elements that are reminiscent of a ballad, but it is not a ballad in the narrowest definition.
A ballad typically is a narrative poem written in a song-like stanza structure, often including a repeated refrain. The Old English language in which Beowulf is written showcases the rhythm and alliteration common to the oral tradition of the time, as presented in the example:
'Hwæt. We Gardena in geardagum, \u00feeodcyninga, \u00ferym gefrunon, hu \u00f0a \u00e6\u00f0elingas ellen fremedon. Oft Scyld Scefing sceapena \u00fereatum'
While the above is more of an epic verse rather than a ballad, it is important to note that the format was meant for recitation, with attention to the musicality of the lines akin to a ballad's rhythmic storytelling.
The constraints of a ballad's form, however, differ in their consistency and simplicity, typically using quatrains with an A B C B rhyme scheme, and alternating between lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, which is not the case in Beowulf.