What role do the digressions play in Beowulf? What light do they shed on the main action?

Digression or getting off track is a stylistic device that enables the author to include builds motifs into the themes and character development in the poem. The narrator in Beowulf uses digression to foreshadow and discuss events that are yet to come. Sometimes the narrator talks about the past that impacts what is happening in the story. We, for example, find out about Beowulf's father, which adds to the motif of honour.