Beowulf is well-known as an oldest Anglo-Saxon poem. Beowulf is not a realistic image of historical Denmark, Geatland, or Sweden in the age about 500 A.D., yet it is on an ordinary view, a self-consistent image, a composition bearing demonstratively the marks of design and thought. The affections of the poem are different, while the significance of the brave beast is very like the truth. And the story of Beowulf is still correspond to today’s society and relates to all kinds of problems people faced in current everyday life.
The first part in the heroic poem, an old king name Hrothgar is being helped by a young hero - Beowulf. In the second part, Beowulf himself become an old king and was being helped by Wiglaf. While, the argument is whether Wiglaf is just a real Anglo-Saxon
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There are a lot of different soubriquets used about Beowulf. Most of those describe Beowulf’s physical abilities, personal characteristics and his social position in addition family and clan relations. There are lots of soubriquets depicting Beowulf as a paladin, such as “victorious warrior” (Beowulf 66), “brave warrior” (Beowulf 69), “good warrior” (Beowulf 41), “mighty one” (Beowulf 37), “angry warrior” (Beowulf 54), his strength (“mighty man” (Beowulf 42) and etc. Such soubriquets playing a very important part, because great heroes are mythic using their power to protect other people from dangerous. Essentially, since king Hrothgar was Dane, Beowulf helps not only the people of his own tribe, but also the people from different tribes. Very different from Beowulf, Wiglaf is illustrated with a relatively small amount of soubriquets. The poem talk about him as a paladin
The poet of Beowulf uses many literary devices to enhance respect and trust in the poem. The great heroic story of Beowulf gives many examples of the traits a great leader should have. At the end, those same traits were demonstrated by Wiglaf, who then became the king of the Geats. This proves that these traits were essential to the Anglo-Saxon culture; however, this also makes Beowulf contemporary. The poem has many themes that are still applicable today.
Beowulf is among the earliest surviving works of literature. It was written in Old English and dates back sometime before the tenth century A.D. The poem is set in Scandinavia, and tells the story of the heroic warrior, Beowulf. Beowulf was the perfect hero. He fought for his people and defeated evil with his ability to bring on justice. Three of Beowulf’s traits that serve as evidence of this were his remarkable physical strength, his ability to put the well-being of others before his own well-being, and his courage.
Which is to slay the dragon that continues to attack the villages and farms of Geatland.“ Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time:” I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.” (lines 2510-2515), being his final words to his people before he sets out to slay the dragon. While battling the dragon Beowulf gets burned and injured badly. All his men are frightened by this and run off besides Wiglaf. “ The nobel son of Weohstan saw the king in danger at his side and displayed his inborn bravery and strength(lines 2694-2626).... Once again the king gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife he carried on his belt, sharpened in battle , He stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank. Beowulf dealt it a deadly wound. They had killed the enemy, courage quelled his life; that pair of kinsmen, partners in nobility, had destroyed the foe. So every man should act, be at hand when needed;”( lines 2702-2710). Even though beowulf and wiglaf slay the dragon king Beowulf dies from his injuries. “ The dragon from underearth, his nightmarish destroyed as well.” (lines 2824-2826). After this tragic loss Wiglaf orders seven men to collect the dragon 's treasure. What remained after was placed in the barrow as a memorial
Wiglaf was the only person that had stayed to help his king and by doing this while all the other soldiers ran away it magnified his glory infinitely more than before. It was magnified so much that Beowulf made him king because of his bravery and loyalty to him.
Although the main character in Beowulf is Beowulf himself, I believe that the single section which most concisely illustrates the heroic values in this poem occurs on pages 61 through 64 of the text, and is illustrated not by Beowulf's actions, but by Wiglaf's. Although Wiglaf is by nationality Swedish, he identifies himself as Beowulf's kinsman when he says "I did begin to help my kinsman." (Chickering 64)
Today Beowulf can be relevant in society. A good leader can be further seen in a political process. Throughout the poem, similarities between personal relationships then and now are evident. Disloyalty within a family, murder caused by jealousy, and marriage for the wrong reasons are all themes in Beowulf. Today’s shows like soap operas reveal that little has changed. We live in a technology advanced world with sophisticated machinery but yet human nature has remained the same unchanged. Corruption, greed, and jealousy exist today as does courage, bravery, and
This recognition that Beowulf receives proves his place as the quintessential hero in Anglo-Saxon society. The unknown author recognizes Beowulf as a warrior who “behaved with honor and took no advantage” (149). This quality is important to Beowulf’s image as a hero. The author also days that Beowulf “bore himself with valor” and names Beowulf “Heroic Beowulf” when describing the hero (135, 149). The author’s recognition of Beowulf as having these qualities and as being heroic shows that Beowulf was regarded as a hero during the authors’ own time. This is also confirmed by the several times people in the epic recognize Beowulf’s heroic qualities. Wiglaf, who was with Beowulf during the final battle, is one of the people to recognize Beowulf’s glory-seeking heroics, saying that Beowulf is “a man unequalled in the quest for glory” (179). This statement speaks much of Beowulf’s willingness to search for and his success in finding glory. Beowulf is also recognized by a thane of Hrothgar’s court during his earlier days. This thane recognizes Beowulf’s heroics and begins “rehearsing Beowulf’s triumphs and feats” by comparing him to Sigmund, an old Anglo-Saxon hero (59). The recognition Beowulf receives from the characters in the epic shows that Beowulf was impressive and heroic to Anglo-Saxons who told his
At the beginning of the novel, Beowulf represents a savage warrior, displaying mostly his strength and bravery by defeating Grendel and his mother. However, as Beowulf ages, he begins to change into a different kind of hero. After becoming King of the Geats, Beowulf matured and took on more of a leadership role in the community, as opposed to a warrior. Even though Beowulf was still a hero, he began to lead an army of geats and acted for the good of the people. In both cases however, Beowulf was respected by others for his admirable
Throughout the course of history, there have been many heroes and stories about said heroes. Beowulf is one that is included among these heroes as he exhibits many qualities of a hero, such as honor, bravery, and strength. These qualities are all shown several times throughout the story of the hero Beowulf.
The epic poem, Beowulf, coming from the years of 600 to 700 AD has been translated in many different styles. In these excerpts by Burton Raffel and Lucien Dean Pearson, provides a clear understanding of this epic poem. Reading the two different translations, Raffel tends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the evil nature of Grendel and the heroic characteristics of Beowulf.
He inspired Beowulf to continue to fight like the strong king he is “[n]ow, be strong and brave, my noble / [k]ing, protecting life and fame / [t]ogether. My sword will fight at your side” (Beowulf 135). Not only did Wiglaf do everything Beowulf asked him to do, but he got up and fought for him because that is what his conscience told him to do. What this says about Wiglaf is that he was always noble to Beowulf, his feelings towards himself, and others. Both the textbook and the movie show Wiglaf as someone who takes responsibility for their actions. With the producer and writer doing this it shows characteristics of who he is. In the movie, Wiglaf was portrayed as a noble kinsman to Beowulf, but lets out a little sign of wanting to get to know Grendel's mother. Producers left the movie with the audience thinking that he may “betray” Beowulf. Keep in mind that this is after Beowulf passes away and Wiglaf finds him down by the shore. The movie could just be following the “Hollywood Guidelines” so that others would want them to create a second movie into the future of Wiglaf or just to get the viewers more attached to Wiglaf. Doing this scene shows that Grendel's mother is a beautiful creature unlike the reader hear about in the canots. Changing this scene changes people's view on Wiglaf and his trust put forward to Beowulf. The
Beowulf, written between the 8th and 10th centuries, is an epic poem set in southern Sweden. The poem illustrates the Anglo-Saxon’s strong belief in the heroic code. The loyalty between the warrior and his king bound the culture together. The warrior was the ultimate hero who represented strength and courage. Beowulf, the hero in the poem, illustrates the Germanic principles of the heroic code. Through the battles and character interactions, Beowulf converges loyalty, strength, courage and forgiveness into the hero archetype.
Beowulf is an epic poem that, above all, gives the reader an idea of a time long past; a time when the most important values were courage and integrity. The only factors that could bestow shower fame upon a person were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, as the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his desire to amass fame and fortune; the only way to do so was to avenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that is ever present throughout the poem seems to color the identities of its characters.
A hero is a man of courage and ability who is admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. A hero is a person who does not come along very often in any time period. He is a special person, who is a step above the average person in the way that he handles any situation that may arise.
Beowulf is an epic poem telling the story of Beowulf, a legendary Geatish hero who later becomes king in the aforementioned epic poem. While the story in and of itself is quite interesting, for the purpose of this paper it is important to look at the character more so then his deeds, or rather why he did what he did.