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Beowulf
In Beowulf, the three great fights are an interesting representative of man’s trust in God. We can see Beowulf’s ability to succeed decline with his need for weapons, armor, and the help of friends in Beowulf’s first battle, we see the true Christian spirit. While it is true that Beowulf is upholding the image of the hero, he is doing it for a very noble cause in this fight. Grendel, who Beowulf fights in this battle, is said to be from the race of Cain and so is in a feud with God. The monster would hate anyone that God smiles on.
The fact that Grendel moves only at night also makes us see the evil side of him. He hates the light from the hall. He seems to be jealous of the love and warmth that it signifies. He attacks without any real provocation.
When Hrothgar finds out that Beowulf has come to help him in his fight against Grendel, he says “Holy God of His Grace has sent him to us West-Danes, as I hope, against the terror of Grendel.” This sets the idea of good against evil. Beowulf will represent God and Grendel represents the devil. Beowulf strengthens this view with his decision to fight Grendel with out any weapons. He is willing to let the Lord decide who will win this battle – “The one whom death takes can trust the Lord’s judgement.”
Beowulf is showing a lot of faith in this action. While his strength is often talked about, so is Grendel’s. We are told of Grendel’s war-strength. Beowulf would have known these stories and still choose to trust in God’s spiritual help instead of man’s physical help.
When we turn to the second battle, things are a little different. For one thing, Grendel’s mother is not just acting out of hatred. She is seeking justice for her son’s death. She only kills one man – similar to the idea of a blood feud that Beowulf and his contemporaries would understand.
When Beowulf decides to go after Grendel’s mother, he is offered the use of Hrothgar’s sword, Hrunting. He accepts the offer. Grendel’s mother’s strength is never emphasized as Grendel’s was, but Beowulf decides he needs a weapon against her. This seems strange unless you realize he has not talked about the backing of God in this fight.
Beowulf wants to fight Grendel, a monster wreaking havoc, and is boasting that he is more powerful and courageous.
We have a concrete hero character in Beowulf, and a concrete villain in Grendel. We see this as a theme throughout the epic poem. The dichotomy of good versus evil is the fundamental backbone of this piece of literature. It is so significant due to the fact that everything that happens in this book is someway related to good versus evil. If Beowulf wasn’t so good at heart, he would not even be enticed to leave his homeland and go help the danes. Without the drive in Beowulf 's heart to do what is right, all of his heroic moments of glory would not exist. Once this is pointed out to the reader, it becomes so clear that one could wonder why the book isn 't just named: “Beowulf, a Story of Good vs. Evil.”.
The glory is given to God at that very moment, “The monster wrenched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, on His care and favour. So, he overcame the foe, brought down the hell-brute” (1269-1274). The “wondrous gifts” and strength in Beowulf is credited to God, who is on Beowulf’s side always in battle. Also, the great feat of defeating the evil monster, Grendel, shows that Beowulf is blessed and highly favored. Not only did Beowulf defeat Grendel, but he did it without any weapons. Gods power was instilled in Beowulf, to defeat evil with his bare hands. Beowulf showed a great amount of faith in God no matter what problems or evil he faced, and God rewarded him with victory, great legacy, and
During the battle with Grendel, Beowulf knew that many men had tried to defeat him and many men had failed. That didn’t stop Beowulf though, he knew that if someone had any chance to defeat the beast it was him, even if that meant he might possibly die. He knew that if he didn’t take the chance that many more men would die. He sat out to fight Grendel and after a long battle Grendel was finally defeated, Beowulf risked his own life to save others. Although Beowulf thought that he was finished with Grendel’s threats he wasn’t. Grendel’s mother was enraged because of her son’s death and began to terrorize the king’s men, much like her Grendel had done. Everyone knew that Beowulf was the only one able to stop her, so once again he set out to risk his life to save others. Beowulf was almost defeated during this fight, but he finally killed Grendel’s mother, because of this he became king of the Geats and ruled without fighting for 50 years, until the Dragon attacked and burnt down his house, that is. Even Beowulf knew that his chances of winning this fight were small, but he knew what he had to do. At the end of the fight Beowulf was victorious, the Dragon was dead, but Beowulf suffered an injury from the dragon and also died. Because of Beowulf’s sacrifices the people were finally safe once
This passage, spoken by Beowulf himself, illustrates not only his confidence in himself, but also in God. He knows that he is strong, but he also knows that it is God who really grants victory. He must be in good graces with God in order to win his battle. He knows that he cannot survive without God’s approval.
Next, Beowulf decides to fight Grendel with his bare hands. He could have easily obtained some kind of weapon to fight with. Beowulf was the first warrior ever to have enough sheer bravery to go up against such a monster with neither help nor weapon or shield to aid him. he was a warrior that believed somewhat in fate and in God. Believing that God made the decisions and was in control, Beowulf trusted that his life was in good hands. Defeating Grendel with his bare hands, Beowulf not only proved his bravery but also his loyalty.
He is helped along in all of his battles by God. Beowulf states that this is the only supernatural aid that he needs. Therefore, God provides for him when Beowulf needs aid the most. An example of Beowulf's supernatural aid is when he is fighting Grendel's mother. He travels far away into the depths of a forbidden lake in search for her. When he finds her Beowulf attempts to cut at the flesh of the beast with Hrunting, but the blade is unable to pierce her skin. He then attempts to take on the beast just like he took on her son, with his bare hands. Unfortunately, this did not seem to work either as she matched him blow for blow. When all hope seemed lost Beowulf catches a glimpse of a mighty sword hanging on the cave wall. He takes the weapon and proceeds to decapitate the beast head. Beowulf makes claims that he would not be back in Hrothgar's presence if it had not been for God and his guidance. As he retails the legendary tale, he states “I’d have been dead at once,/ And the fight finished, the she-devil victorious, / If our Father in Heaven had not helped me.”(II. 1656-1658). Beowulf also states, “ Unferth's noble weapon, could do nothing, / Gives guidance to those who can find it from no one / Else. (II. 1659-1664). Beowulf seemingly is a indestructable human; he possess all of the qualities that a hero is made up
“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.
In “Beowulf” translated by Burton Raffel, the character Beowulf is portrayed as a brave, courageous, and very pious man. In the pagan tale the underlying motif of Good vs. Evil heightens these characteristics even to the point where Beowulf comes across as a symbol for God and Christianity. He battles “the demon” Grendel (ln. 16), Grendel’s mother, and a fierce dragon, all in order to save those who need aid, primarily the people of Herot. This too is very Christlike because he is serving those lower than himself for the sole purpose of doing the right thing. Although Beowulf is very brave all throughout, he becomes boastful and greedy from the time he first battles Grendel to when he takes on the dragon.
When Beowulf refers back to the battle with Grendel’s mother he states that “the fight would have ended straight away if god had not guarded me” (Orla Murphy, 2008). This shows that he feels more secure if god was to help him on and was by his side. God is playing a big role in this, its testing whether god is real or not and if he is able to depend on him in a time of need. Beowulf puts his faith in a a lot of people that he is unsure of if he should because of who he is
The first fight depicted in the poem is between Beowulf and Grendel, who is described as a “cruel spirit” and an “unhappy being” (102-4). Grendel is a monster descended from Cain (106-7), who murdered his brother and was condemned by God. Grendel attacks the Hrothgar’s kingdom because he is envious the joyfulness of Hrothgar’s mead hall (86-99), thus Grendel represents envy. Beowulf fights Grendel without neither weapon nor armour because he is fair and brave. He fights against Grendel to save other people, not because of any personal gain, which shows his generosity and. He believes in God and thus is worthy of his strength. Beowulf is considered the strongest man on earth, therefore he does not envy. As a result, Beowulf easily wins the fight and kills Grendel (808-814). This first fight shows that there are similarities between Christian heroism and pagan heroism. Even though Beowulf is a pagan, his courage, kindness and aversion towards envy are eviden...
Although Beowulf has themes of both Christianity and Paganism within the tale, Beowulf has a Christian faith that he often relies upon during his moments of combat. This juxtaposition of Christian faith within Beowulf and the ancestry and demonic characteristics between Grendel and his mother seem to be an intrinsic part of the fight that Beowulf has with each of them. Before the fight with Grendel it is said that Beowulf will win because "Almighty God rules over mankind and always has" suggesting that although Beowulf has the "strength of thirty" it is God rather than Beowulf's strength that will earn a victory over Grendel (46, 40). After Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother it is again attributed to divine strength. When Beowulf is knocked down and was about to be killed by the maternal avenger it is believed that "holy God decided the victory. It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance once Beowulf got back up on his feet" (66). The idea...
In the beginning of the novel, Beowulf takes interest in the plight of Hrothgar, King of Denmark, and wants to help him fight Grendel. Grendel is a large monster that has been harassing members in the mead-hall of the Heorot. Beowulf owes Hrothgar a favor, due to the fact that Hrothgar saved his father in years past. Hrothgar is honored to have Beowulf attempt to fight the swamp monster, and decides to hold a feast in his name. When Grendel shows up to the feast, Beowulf illustrates his bravery by fighting Grendel without any armor. When Beowulf wins the battle by ripping Grendel’s arm off, everyone in the mead-hall praises Beowulf for his acts of courage. In this scene, Beowulf proves that he is a hero by fighting off a monster that everyone else was afraid of. This made him look
He was looking for a way to become known, so he arrived with his fellow Geats to help the Danes. Beowulf had access to many weapons, armor, and warriors, but he still decided to take on the deadly challenge alone and without protection. He doesn’t think of the consequences, or abilities of the opponent. “‘When it comes to fighting, I count myself as dangerous any day as Grendel.’” (47: 677-678). Beowulf is overconfident in his abilities, and doesn’t take into consideration how many people Grendel has killed. He goes in with his own men not expecting to see him again. “None of them expected he would ever see his homeland again.” (47: 691-692). This is why the inner threat of Beowulf was more barbaric. Grendel was indeed a worthy opponent, and very dangerous, but Beowulf’s careless actions could have
Beowulf’s generosity leads him to the shores of Heorot after hearing the news of Grendel’s gruesome murders. Beowulf being the kind warrior that he is offers his help to king Hrothgar. Beowulf explains that “...news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home: sailors brought stories of the plight you suffer in this legendary hall, how it lies deserted, empty and useless once the evening light hides itself infer heaven’s dome. So every elder and experienced councilman among my people supported my resolve to come here to you King Hrothgar, because all knew of my awesome strength…” (pg. 29). Beowulf’s battle with Grendel not only symbolizing his strengths, courage, and bravery but also the youth of a warrior. Beowulf proved that he was young and strong enough to face Grendel with out any weapons. ...