Analysis Of Beowulf: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

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Actions Speak Louder than Words Monsters, warriors, and kingdoms are brought to life in the translation of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney. The poem revolves around the warrior hero Beowulf and his fellow comrades as Beowulf is called to fight the forces of evil three times. Through a series of events, Beowulf discovers that although loyalty is often spoken, it is rarely put into action. A key turning point for Beowulf is when he is an old king and fights a dragon. Being his usual prideful self, Beowulf chooses to fight the dragon alone and asks his men to remain outside during the battle. However, when Beowulf needs help to fight the dragon, his fellow men “broke ranks and ran for their lives” (2598). Beowulf’s “high-born comrades” and “hand-picked …show more content…

The young man Ingeld has an arranged marriage that is supposed to form peace between two feuding sides. Beowulf argues that the end of Ingeld’s wedding will happen as such: …the oath-bound lords will break the peace, a passionate hate will build up in Ingeld and love for his bride will falter in him as the feud rankles (2063-2066). Both of these examples demonstrate truces between feuding peoples that end, or are foreseen to end, in bloodshed. In the first example, the Danes speak loyalty to the Frisians, yet act differently. The Danes kill the Frisian king, directly violating their previous truce. Next, Beowulf foresees the consequences of an arranged marriage: despite both sides being bound by an oath, the feud will reawaken. Even in minstrel songs and foreseen tales, loyalty is thought to be spoken and rarely carried through. Beowulf’s heightened value of loyalty is contrasted to the lack of loyalty in other warriors, especially Unferth. After Unferth claims that Beowulf will only lose in the fight against the demon Grendel, Beowulf rebukes: The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen or courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away

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