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Describe the battle between beowulf and grendel's mother
Significance of the beowulf story
Significance of the beowulf story
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The mighty grizzly bear is the king of the forest, the overarching predator that no animal dare disturbs, if it wishes to keep its life. However, it can only rule the forest for so long, even the mighty grizzly bear succumbs to old age, and then a new grizzly bear will take its place. Beowulf was that grizzly bear, he came, he conquered, then when age finally caught up to him, he died. All throughout the story of Beowulf by Burton Raffel, Beowulf fought many monsters, but surprisingly each battle was considerably different then the next. The three most famous battles that Beowulf undertook, were fighting Grendel, fighting Grendel’s mother and finally fighting the dragon. Beowulf’s strength, seemed to diminish progressively at each battle he partook in, however, his willingness to sacrifice himself for others never wavered. Beowulf fought many battels and each one seemed to be more exciting than the next. The main reason …show more content…
She lived in a place so terrorizing any animal would rather die than seek refuge in that marshy lake (437-440). However, Beowulf was no animal, he was the mighty conqueror of Grendel, and the only human that even dare fight the beast. Without hesitation he leaped into the lake, and swam for hours before finally reaching her resting place (467-469). Unlike the battle with Grendel, Beowulf had no men to help him, and therefore he struggled to defeat her. It took much fighting, and on occasion it looked as if this would be Beowulf last battle; however, in the end he would defeat her with her own dagger. Beowulf had the foresight to kill Grendel’s Mother because he knew she would also terrorize Hrothgar’s people if he was not to On the other hand, he did not have the foresight to understand that as he got older, he would have a much tougher time defeating the monsters. This is a lesson he would learn in his final battle, when he fights the almighty
Beowulf was a true hero, in the eyes of many, through said traits. He fought a number of battles and was triumphant in all, except his last battle. Beowulf possessed the skills and power necessary to kill Grendel, the monster who had been terrorizing the Danes for over a decade, with his bare hands. While fighting, Beowulf detached Grendel’s arm from his shoulder, which was later hung up as a trophy. Beowulf eventually put an end to Grendel’s life, and naturally, Grendel’s mother had pursued Beowulf. Although Grendel’s mother was an even deadlier monster than her son, Beowulf once again proved his abilities by slaying her, as well. He slashed her neck with a sword that carried unbearable weight. Afterwards, he carried her head with only his own arms, while it took the a...
Towards the end of the story, Beowulf travels to fight a dragon who is protecting a large treasure. He wants to prove to his kingdom that he is still the brave and strong man he used to be, but his main motivation is the treasure he will get after his victory. "And Beowulf uttered his final boast: 'I've never known fear, as a youth I fought In endless battles. I am old, now, But I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares To face me'" (606-610). On the other side, the dragon has the same motivation. He is willing protect the treasure if it takes his life. This makes the fight one to the death. "When he comes to me I mean to stand, not to run from his shooting Flames, stand still till fate decides Which of us wins" (619-622). Beowulf feels that if he cannot have this victory, that this is the proper way to
Beowulf is one of the most bravest legends. He has no fear! This man will go and fight whoever needs to be fought, with or without help. As soon as Grendel's mother came to get her son’s arm back, Beowulf immediately set out to go find and kill her. He went to the place where she lives and after he plunged into the water, Beowulf swam all the way down to her lair. After he reached the lair, “Beowulf got ready, / donned his war-gear, indifferent to death; / his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail / would soon meet with the menace underwater” (1442-1445). This task also seems to be a death sentence written all over it, but Beowulf looks death in the face, and goes after his mother. He knows that they are immortal, but right next to Grendel’s mother, is the only sword that can kill them. Beowulf is brave enough to grab that powerful sword, and kill both Grendel and his mother. Men today would not do that. Beowulf does not just stop at Grendel and his mother: he continues to fight more monsters to defend what is his. He then took a break and now decides to come home to Sweden. The son of Ecgtheow bids Denmark farewell, and has a moment with Hrothgar. Hrothgar says, “You are strong in body and mature in mind, / impressive in speech. If it should come to pass / that Hrethel’s descendent dies beneath a spear, / … and you are still alive, then I firmly believe / the seafaring Geats won’t find a
Beowulf is “the strongest of the Geats -- greater / and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world” (ll.110-111). Even though he is famous for his massive strength, Beowulf has other attributes that are noticeable other than his strength. These attributes, arrogance, bravery, and a strong love for his people are what make Beowulf become such a powerful, epic hero. Beowulf is arrogant. He constantly brags about his supreme strength. The “strongest man alive” lets people know that he is the most powerful person around by saying, “no strength is a match for mine” (l.267). Beowulf does not think that he could ever be destroyed by anything. He obviously never questiones how his fighting ability would be when he was around seventy. Since Beowulf is convinced that God is watching over him, his ego makes him act as if he is invincible, because of the idea that he has a guardian angel. But, as Beowulf gets older, wiser, and fights in more battles he should realize that there was a possibility that he can die. Beowulf also boasts about his many battles, and is proud of himself for winning all of them. One of these triumphs is the battle in the water when he meets up with nine sea monsters which he killeds, and fights with a monster that is digging its jaws into Beowulf’s flesh. Beowulf proclaims that “ I fought that beast’s last battle, / left it floating in the sea” (ll.290-291). This epic tale reads that while Beowulf is in battle with Grendel’s mother, all he cares was about the fame he would get for defeating her. Unferth thinks that Beowulf was arrogant, by saying, “ You’re Beowulf, are you the same / Boastful fool who fought a swimming / Match with Brecca” (ll.239-241). Yes, Beowulf is a boastful fool that loves the attention that his strength gives him. A strong man and an arrogant one, Beowulf is also brave. Even after all of the horror stories that he hears about Grendel, he still fights the cursed beast without any hesitation. When he battles with Grendel, he does it without the things that everyone else would use--weapons. This shows that Beowulf is not scared of anything in the world. He also must be brave to fight a sea monster after swimming in the ocean for days. He went straight into battle exhausted, from the strenuous journey across the ocean.
She was enraged over the death of her son. Beowulf did not let the fear of dying hold him back he was ready to fight even after his battle with Grendel. Although, she was not as strong or as powerful as Grendel. She still possessed the same dark hatred towards Hrothgar’s people and the land of the Danes and the Geats and especially Beowulf for what he did to her son. Beowulf had to travel underwater to fight Grendel’s mother in her cave. This shows us that he possesses a characteristic that not many people can say they have. He has the capability to not only breath and survive underwater, but the capability to fight underwater as well. During his descent to the lair, he was struck by Grendel’s mother and dragged into her cave. At first he tried to fight back, but was unsuccessful. He tried to pierce her with his sword, but he was unsuccessful in piercing her skin. He did not give up there though showing us his determination and willingness to risk his life. Again proving to us that his drive makes him a truly heroic figure. With all of the rage and anger built up inside of Beowulf he decides to attack her with nothing but his bare hands. He then knocks her onto the ground. However, she managed to get up and fight back and ending up sitting upon Beowulf. Beowulf comes across a giant sword in which he uses to slice Grendel’s mother by the collarbone and splitting her into two.
“Staring at his grotesquely muscled shoulders--stooped, naked despite the cold, sleek as the belly of a shark and as rippled with power as the shoulders of a horse--I found my mind wandering...He was dangerous” (155). Even from the first day Beowulf showed up at Hrothgar’s kingdom, Grendel knew he was dealing with something worse than a hero. Once they finally start to battle, the monster in Beowulf is fully revealed to Grendel and Grendel sees again the stupidity and meaninglessness in the human’s definition of a hero.“Grendel, Grendel! You make the world by whispers, second by second. Are you blind to that? Whether you make it a grave or a garden of roses is not the point. Feel the wall: is it not hard?...Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of walls! Sing!” (171). Beowulf forces Grendel to make a fool of himself and unlike Unferth who longs for a heroic death, Beowulf knows he is going to win and has no desire to die. His mindset of victory, groups him with monsters who have one goal, to kill and never be killed. This shatters the Anglo-Saxon ideals of heroism and in Grendel’s death, when he is surrounded by oblivious creatures who don’t have a purpose, the meaninglessness of it all, including the meaninglessness of heroic deeds becomes evident to the
The mighty warrior Beowulf volunteered to help fight off the monster, Grendel. Beowulf showed great bravery because even though Grendel over sized Beowulf, he still accepted the challenge. He also showed strength, Grendel’s head was so massive that four men each had to carry it, but Beowulf could handle the head all by himself. Lastly, Beowulf revealed loyalty by coming to Hrothgar’s assistance, to help with defeating Grendel. Even after Beowulf became King he went to his last battle to defeat the dragon without any help from his
Beowulf outlines turmoil between three opponents: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. These separate discords each serve to fulfill different metaphoric purposes. Grendel’s character epitomizes the adverse persona of how an Anglo-Saxon warrior should not be. His mother represents everything that a woman during the time era should seldom be. Lastly, the Dragon embodies all the values that an Anglo-Saxon king should not dare retain. Without a doubt, the symbolic implications of the monsters in Beowulf bring the context to a new level of understanding.
This demonstrates his boldness since he was the set out man toward the Geats. By picking the most grounded and boldest individuals, Beowulf mirrors that he himself more likely than not been considerably more valiant with a specific end goal to have the capacity to lead his honorable individuals. Thusly in picking the overcome men he did, not just did he demonstrate the amount more overcome he was, Beowulf additionally demonstrated that he was by a wide margin and epic saint. Beowulf had three huge phases of his life. The real battles changed his life until the end of time. Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and the mythical beast was the hardest adversaries, he ever needed to battle. The New York Times states "Beowulf" was an early love, and a sort of Rosetta Stone for his imaginative work. His investigation of the ballad, which he called "this most noteworthy of the surviving works of old English lovely workmanship," educated his reasoning about myth and dialect. I trust that Beowulf will never be overlooked in light of the fact that regardless it demonstrates the distinction amongst immaturity and senior
While fighting the Dragon Beowulf shows feats of strength and courage that define him as a hero. The classical hero displays a special quality that separates him from the rest of
Although she isn’t known to be as strong as her son was, revenge motivated her to give it all she had. While in battle, Grendel’s mother managed to rip and claw at him, biting holes in his helmet; that too failed him. In all of his years of being a warrior and wearing that helmet had it neglected to warn him glory. Beowulf, however, longed only for fame among his people so he quickly jumped back in, tossing his weapon aside. After a long drawn out battle between the two of them, he managed to claim victory once again. Beowulf’s men quickly traveled back with him while happily rejoicing in his defeat of Grendel’s mother. Upon their return Hrothgar showed gratitude to him for such bravery and commitment to protecting the king and his people. He is granted the honor for such
The epic entitled “Beowulf” introduces its main character, Beowulf as a strong and mighty warrior who has proved his superhuman strength and endurance. As quoted in Beowulf 's introduction, “In his far off home Beowulf, Higlac 's follower and the strongest of the Geats- greater and stronger than anyone anywhere in this world-” (109-111) His power and strength is known by many and he continues to prove his might with every victory he achieves in the duration of this epic story. Although, many question why Beowulf fights the monsters voluntarily, seen as he is not obligated to do so. After analyzing this epic, one can come to the conclusion that Beowulf 's motivations for fighting
Inspired by the reward of glory, Beowulf travels to the land of the Geats, and murders their main enemy, Grendel. The fight is a glorious one; one that truly showcases Beowulf’s capacity as a warrior. During this fight, Beowulf disposes of Grendel with ease, grabbing him with “handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man”, causing him to become “desperate to flee ”(Heaney 9). The adamant diction used to describe Beowulf’s death hold on Grendel, juxtaposed with the weakness of Grendel’s reaction, resorting to mere desperation, emphasizes his physical prowess. Such a display of strength allows Beowulf to return home a hero. The Geats thank him with gold and other material possessions, although Beowulf’s most precious prize is the recognition he receives. Word of his legend spreads far, and Beowulf is subsequently rewarded with the role of king of the Danes. As a result of his previous experiences, “he ruled [his kingdom] well for fifty winters”(Heaney 3). By describing his rule with such favorable diction as “well”, the narrator maintains that Beowulf’s performance as king was generally positive. Thus, Beowulf’s accomplishments as king are directly correlated to his accomplishments in combat. Because he was able triumph in his personal battles, particularly with Grendel, Beowulf succeeds as the leader of his
Beowulf is called upon again to defeat this monster. Beowulf puts on his armour and takes the sword Hrunting and descends into the monster’s lair. Grendel’s mother quickly grabs Beowulf and takes him to the battle arena. Once there, Beowulf fights and finds his sword cannot pierce the monster’s hide. So once again, Beowulf throws his sword aside and fights hand-to-hand. Yet, he could not defeat her with his hands alone. Then Beowulf sees, “hanging on the wall, a heavy, Sword, hammered by giants, strong And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons.” Taking the sword and holding it high above his head he strikes the monster in the neck cutting deep into the skin, breaking bones and all. Thus ending his second heroic battle with a mythical beast and proving that he is indeed worthy of praise. Yet, this is not the greatest of his deeds.
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.