Beowulf is the oldest known work of literature in the English language. Told around the middle of the seventh century and recorded on paper hundreds of years later, the tale is of a hero, who saves a hopeless people in their time of greatest need. Beowulf, the hero, is a seemingly superhuman individual. He confronts various monsters and mythical creatures throughout his life, always performing his duty to protect his own people or another. While Beowulf is over one thousand years old, it is not the first of its kind. Throughout history, stories about heroes have been repeatedly told, encompassing many of the same themes and symbols found in Beowulf. Because of these symbols, Beowulf follows the archetypal hero quest. There are several archetypes …show more content…
In the battle with Grendel, one of Beowulf’s Geat warriors is killed while he is asleep. This is a sad moment, but the warrior’s death is avenged just a few minutes later when Beowulf rips the arm off of Grendel, sending him running to his death. The fight with Grendel’s mother has the most obstacles to confront of any of the battles in the story. Before this battle, Hrothgar’s highest ranking advisor, Aeschere, is killed by Grendel’s mother. While this is a setback, it is overcome. As Beowulf tells a mourning Hrothgar, “‘We sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning...Bear up and be the man I expect you to be’” (lns. 1384-1396). The next obstacle of the Battle with Grendel’s mother is searching for the hidden, haunted mere. The warriors do so, but take time to do so. Then, during the actual battle, Beowulf faces obstacles. After a day of swimming in the mere, Beowulf is caught by Grendel’s mother. As she drags him along, Beowulf is prodded by other monsters of the mere. In addition to this, the sword given to him by Unferth, Hrunting, breaks when he wields it against the monster. Beowulf eventually overcomes these obstacles, however, and defeats Grendel’s mother in a hard-fought battle. Before Beowulf’s final fight, with the dragon, much of his kingdom is destroyed by the rampaging dragon, searching for the thief …show more content…
With the symbolic return of a hero, the hero returns a changed person. For Beowulf, he has matured in mind and spirit during his time with the Shieldings. King Hrothgar even tells him he is very mature in his young age. Also, with Beowulf’s return, he gains much respect from his superiors in his own society. King Hygelac himself had doubts Beowulf would be successful. However, the young warrior’s success in Denmark and the treasure he brings back to his king helps him to earn more respect and honor. As a reward to Beowulf, Hygelac gives him large tracts of land and a special sword. In addition to this, after Hygelac and his son died, Beowulf was deemed the rightful person to lead the Geats. For 50 years Beowulf would lead his people, defending them to the very end of his
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.
There are many things to take into consideration when characterizing a person as a hero. Heros are typically seen as people who accomplish brave deeds and fulfill noble tasks for the greater good of things. In the epic poem Beowulf by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet a hero is revealed. What makes Beowulf a hero is his unbelievable strength and power. He does not get discouraged or let anything stear him away from what he feels needs to be done for the safety of others. In his battles with the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon Beowulf exhibits his strength and will to fight. Beowulf, is loyal to his people and his king. What I feel is the most important quality of Beowulf, though, is his willingness to risk his life for the good
Ordinarily, Beowulf’s first steps in his quest begin with his brawls with Grendel and Grendel’s Mother. Grendel is the first challenge for the mighty hero to encounter; he is a giant beast with incredible brute strength, and cunning. The many assaults he waged on the mead hall caused atrocious pain to the Danes. Heaney writes, “So Grendel waged his lonely war, inflicting constant cruelties on the people, atrocious hurt. He took over Heorot, haunted the glittering hall after dark” (Heaney 164-67). These acts of evil are enough to get Beowulf to sail to Denmark. Nevertheless, the good in him needs to erase this inherit evil from the face of the earth. Grendel is a spawn of something stronger and more evil, he is a child of hell. This is Beowulf’s first encounter with such a sinister power. He fights the monster in the mead hall and prevails, Heaney concludes, “Before morning he [Grendel] would rip life from limb and devour them, feed on their flesh; but his
The general definition of a hero is, “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Although, the interpretation of a hero is always dependant on the society in which the hero resides. The “hero”, Beowulf, is not depicted the same way as he is in the self-titled poem “Beowulf” as he is in Grendel. The poem “Beowulf” is said to emerge from the Anglo-Saxon period or the 5th-6th century. It was later translated by Burton Raffel. The “hero” of the poem, Beowulf, is a glorified Geatish warrior whose hunger for fame and wealth drives him to the land of the Danes to rid of the evil monster, Grendel. He is depicted as a strong, brave, and courageous man and admired by the Danes. On the other hand,
King Hrothgar once again looks toward Beowulf to take care of another monster. To get ready for this battle Beowulf wears armor and uses the Horting sword which has never lost in battle. Once again Beowulf shows his courage by deciding to go to the bottom of the monster filled swamp and fight alone. Fighting off monsters on his way down, Beowulf reached the bottom where he was met by Grendel 's mother. He tried to cut her head off with Horting, but she is too strong. Beowulf takes a sword made for giants off the wall, and uses his super strength to cut the mother 's head off. As a trophy of this battle Beowulf finds the body of Grendel in a corner and decides to take his head back to the mead hall. Hrothgar celebrates another victory by once again throwing a large celebration where they gave more gifts to Beowulf and the Geats. After two battles, Beowulf decides it is time for him and his men to head back to their homeland. Continuing to show courage, honor, and strength Beowulf states that if the Danes ever have anymore problems with monsters he will help protect
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
“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.” This was said by the main protagonist in the epic poem Beowulf. Beowulf himself becomes an epic hero throughout the story be demonstrating that he is on a quest, by becoming significant and glorified by his people, and by risking his own safety and possible death for the greater good of society.
Beowulf, one of the most loved epic poems of all time and the most recognizable story in classic British literature, is about a young hero who saves the lives of a whole kingdom. First told by an unknown Christian monk, the story of this epic hero has been retold countless times by harpists-bards in communal halls during the night. Then, in 700 A.D the first recorded manuscript of Beowulf was written down. Compared to other famous epics like the Iliad or the Odyssey that both have nearly 15,000 lines, Beowulf is relatively short, only having approximately 3,200 lines. The tale of Beowulf takes the readers on a roller coaster ride filled with monsters and god fashioned weapons, legends and fights with terrifying dragons, christian and pagan beliefs, and in the end our hero conquers it all. The unknown author of Beowulf succeeds in showing the opposite sides of Christian
Beowulf is honored after Grendel and his mother’s defeat for his morality and willingness to help the king with his problem. He put aside the life he had at home and gave up everything so they were protected. Upon his return, everyone was praising him and lifting up the wondrous works and all that’d he’d done to protect them. Because of his respectable actions, Beowulf was rewarded for his true heroism. He becomes king over his people and ruled for the next fifty years.
Beowulf is a warrior of Hygelac who was the strongest of men alive in that day. Beowulf was mighty and noble. He learns that a monster named Grendel is terrorizing King Hrothgar and his people, the Danes. He swears to kill the monster with his bare hands and travels to Herot to do so.
Beowulf is an epic poem that explores many themes and motifs within the Anglo-Saxon society. The Author, who remains anonymous, composed the epic around 1000 A.D. The literature focuses mainly on a Scandinavian warrior named Beowulf, who comes to the aid of Herot, a small town ran by King Hrothgar. Beowulf arises to rid the town of evil forces, such as the demon monster Grendel, and his savage mother who seeks revenge for the death of her son. As he ages, Beowulf presumes his title as king of Geatland, still eager to protect his loyal followers from danger.
... of continuing to fight battle after battle. He could have been back to his ordinary world sharing the elixir with others or heal a wounded land, but he decided to keep on battling and cause of his bad choices he cannot do this. In conclusion, the heroic poem of Beowulf is different to other heroic stories because they both went through the hero’s journey but the heroes learned a different ideas. Beowulf does not gain wisdom nor lose pride in himself, he decides to encounter everything that comes toward him. According to the hero’s journey Beowulf would always take the road back because he would not learn the lessons that the journeys were teaching him. He was not able to transform
The epic poem Beowulf centers around the hero. From the character of Beowulf, the reader can see the importance of community, orality, and heroism. Beowulf, as a result, is an icon of his ancient Germanic heritage. He is mimetic of the world around him. In addition, he reflects the past?s tradition of heroes; he follows in Shield and Sigemund?s footsteps, mirroring their characteristics and actions. Thus, when Beowulf passes on, both the ancient world and the new world collapse.
Beowulf is a poem based on heroism. It tells such a great story that it was able to live on for over five hundred years before it was ever written down. Till this day the author is still unknown. It comes from the Old English or the Anglo-Saxon literary and historical period of time. Beowulf holds many characteristics that classify him as an epic hero; inhuman strength, loyalty, and courage
Beowulf is the single greatest story of Old English literature and one of the greatest epics of all time. Ironically, no one can lay claim to being the author of this amazing example of literature. The creator of this poem was said to be alive around 600 A.D. and the story was, since then, been passed down orally from generation to generation. When the first English monks heard the story, they took it upon themselves to write it down and add a bit of their own thoughts. Thus, a great epic and the beginning to English literature was born.