The poem, Beowulf, centers around the epic battles between man and demon. The poem deals with a hero’s journey and the battles he faces. Each monster brings a different set of obstacles and tactics that Beowulf must use to defeat it. Beowulf fights Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon, each battle had its own set reasons, preparation, and outcome, however there are some similarities between them.
After, Hrothgar became king of the Danes, their kingdom enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity. Hrothgar had a mead-hall, Heorot, constructed as a monument to the kingdom’s success, there the men gather with their lord to drink. But one night, a demon, Grendel, descends upon the hall and slaughters the men inside because of their celebrations,
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The dragon goes on a rampage, trying to find the goblet. When the dragon threatens Beowulf’s kingdom, Beowulf prepares for a battle. As Beowulf prepares, he puts on a mail-shirt and helmet before setting off. Once Beowulf arrives at the dragon’s lair, he shouts a challenge to it and awaits the battle. The dragon’s scales protect the dragon from the attacks from Beowulf’s sword. Beowulf strikes the dragon on the head with his sword and the sword breaks. Meanwhile the dragon bites Beowulf on the neck. In turn, Beowulf stabs the dragon with a dagger, and the dragon dies. Beowulf wins the battle but pays the ultimate price for his heroic deeds, he dies from the poisonous bite of the …show more content…
In each battle Beowulf acts to avenge what has been done to other people. Beowulf fights Grendel because Grendel attacks the mead-hall and kills the people inside the hall. The only reason Beowulf goes after Grendel’s mother is because Hrothgar pleads with Beowulf to right the death of his friend by killing Grendel’s mother. Lastly, Beowulf goes after the dragon because it has attacked his kingdom and he must protect his people. Beowulf goes into battle to protect and avenge not because he likes it. Beowulf never denies a battle but instead accepts each challenge thrown his way. In every battle Beowulf is able to defeat the monster and become victorious. He manages to rid the people of the threat in every situation and bring peace back to the kingdom. While there are similarities between the battles, each battle has its own
After fighting and winning many battles, Beowulf's life enters a new stage when he finally becomes king of his homeland, Geatland. Even in his old age, his code of honor still obligates him to fight against an evil, fiery dragon. For fifty years he has governed his kingdom well. While Beowulf is governing, the dragon "...kept watch over a hoard, a steep stone-barrow" (Norton 55). Under it lays a path concealed from the sight of men. Over centuries no one had disturbed the dragon’s kingdom until one day when a thief broke into the treasure, laid hand on a cup fretted with gold, which infuriated the dragon. "The fiery dragon had destroyed the people's stronghold, the land along the sea, the heart of the country" (Norton 57).
The society that he terrorized was happy and always rejoicing. “As now warriors sang of their pleasure/ So Hrothgar’s men lived happily in this hall… (11)”
Grendel, the monster terrorizing Heorot, is introduced as being estranged from the rest of the world. He is described as an outsider, a descendant of “Cain’s clan” (107). Grendel’s outcast status leaves him living in darkness, his envy growing the more he hears the celebrations of the Danes. Envy and social status motivate Grendel’s cruelty, filling him with anger towards those who are human. When Beowulf and the Geats arrive, it is not solely out of honor that Beowulf vows to kill the beast. Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, had an unpaid debt at the time of his death. Beowulf’s pledge that he would kill Grendel was a repayment, as well as an honorable feat. However, as Beowulf is introduced, the boasts he makes of his heroic feats and his “awesome strength” (29), only prove his barbarity. He boasts that “they had seen me boltered in the blood of enemies when I battled and bound five beasts, raided a troll-nest and in the night-sea slaughtered sea brutes” (419-422). He goes on to blame the enemies for the vengeance that he wrought upon them. Beowulf dehumanizes his enemies, states that they were foul beasts who tainted the land, and he purified it. This is a sadistic view of life and battle, contrasting cruelty for the
A writers mind is very intellectual, they tend to have an unparalleled vision within their sense of understanding. The differences of this vision, compared to the levels of understanding, shows itself transversely throughout the novel Grendel and the epic poem Beowulf. Both forms of literature are distinct in the plot and setting, but Gardner’s perceptiveness of Beowulf in his novel differs from the view of the unknown author’s relay of Beowulf in the poem. In the poem, Beowulf is portrayed as an epic hero, brave honorable, and dignified, with vast generosity and munificent loyalty. While in the novel, he is portrayed as an unsettling stranger that connives his way into everyone’s life by his dangerous nature and entrancing stories.
Beowulf begins with Grendel attacking the Danes out of vengeance and hatred. Grendel is the relative of Cain which means that he is outcast to eternal darkness as punishment for the crime of Cain killing his brother Abel. Therefore, when Grendel hears laughter in the hall named Heorot, he is angry and a little envious, so he goes on a killing spree in order to put an end to the warriors’ happiness. Because of Grendel’s attack upon the Danes, Beowulf arrives in order to put an end to the killing spree: “And now alone I shall settle affairs with Grendel the monster, the demon” (Donaldson, p.8). The author offers no other solution to solving this issue with Grendel but battle, and after the battle is fought and Beowulf wins, Grendel’s hand is preserved as a trophy. Beowulf is rewarded with gifts for his courage, and now the Danes are at peace.
Beowulf, a mortal human, is described with “God-sent strength” (2184) and as being one of the strongest men alive. While the dragon is a monster and a representation of greed and wrath, he still manages to kill Beowulf. As Beowulf is dying, Wiglaf tries to keep him alive through splashing water on him, yet it is to no avail: “Much as he wanted to, there was no way / He could preserve his lord’s life on earth / Or alter in the least the Almighty’s will. / What God judged right would rule what happened / To every man, as it does to this day” (2855-2859). It was Beowulf’s fate to die fighting the dragon. Although some might minimize Beowulf’s achievements due to the fact that they were decided by God, there was no divine intervention or help from God, making Beowulf’s accomplishments completely of his own free will. The dragon too met its fate by dying at the hands of Beowulf. When Beowulf’s men come back to see Beowulf’s body, they see the dead dragon lying next to him: The serpent on the ground, gruesome and vile, / Lying facing him. The fire-dragon / Was scare some burnt, scorched all colors. / From head to tail, his entire length / Was fifty feet. He had shimmered forth / On the night air once, then winged back / Down to his den; but death owned him now, / He would never enter his earth-gallery again ” (3039-3027). The poet emphasizes the beauty of the dragon throughout the passage, describing how
Beowulf, one of the greatest heroic tales, opens with a historical account of the Danes, followed by the introduction of its first monster, Grendel. This section of verse, from lines 88-144, acquaint us with the demon and his first series of attacks on Heorot. The passage of Grendel’s introduction works within Beowulf by introducing complex themes and a complex antagonist. Other facets of this passage such as context, versification, point of view, figurative language, character, and theme are all important to consider when assessing the purpose of the passage within the poem as a whole. The content and context of this passage...
Beowulf’s life was truly epic struggle. The monsters he battled made it so. Grendel and the dragon, capable of crushing men physically, stood for evils that could just as easily crush men in spirit. These two beasts represented society’s greatest fears, as well as detriments, and Beowulf fearlessly took them on. Grendel taught the hero a valuable lesson about maintaining one’s humanity in a world dominated by the dogs of war. The dragon, showed Beowulf’s mortality, his imperfection, but the hero eradicates it nonetheless, saving his people from not only physical threat, but sin. Bringing in such spiritual and moral dimensions, these two beasts certainly give the story of Beowulf depth.
When the dragon awakes after three hundred years of sleep, he discovers that his cup has been stolen. The dragon, also known as the worm, fills with anger and rage. Even though he is so angry, he does like the idea of battle: “Yet he took joy in the thought of war, in the work of fighting” (Donaldson 40). The dragon cannot wait to ravage the land of the people where one man has stolen from him: “The hoard-guard waited restless until evening came; then the barrow-keeper was in rage: he would requite that precious drinking cup with vengeful fire” (Donaldson 40). The dragon destroys the land and kills everyone around. The dragon even destroys Beowulf’s home.
Somehow the story just takes a big fast forward jumping fifty years ahead to when Beowulf is now an elderly king of the Geats. Now a fierce dragon has settled in Beowulf’s kingdom and he declares that he will take it on.
As Beowulf slept soundly, you could see his breath slip from his lips like smoke from a fire that had just been put out. It was cold, bitterly cold, a cold that no matter how many blankets or coats you put on it would still slide into any nook and crevice it could find and glide up against your skin with its chilling kiss. Beowulf's slumber was so deep at a first glance you would think he was dead. While the king slept soundly something sinister was happening at the foot of his kingdom something unforeseen.
In the beginning, the king of the Danes, Hrothgar has a dream about a glorious hall built with gold and ivory. The hall is constructed but on the first night the monster Grendel strikes killing many men that lie sleeping in the hall. This happens repeatedly and word gets out of this terrible
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.
The epic poem, Beowulf, depicts the battles and victories of the Anglo-Saxon warrior Beowulf, over man-eating monsters. The noble defender, Beowulf, constantly fought monsters and beasts to rid the land of evil. The most significant of these monsters, Grendel, represents Beowulf's shadow, the Jungian archetype explored in the essay collection, Meeting the Shadow.
The battle with Grendel represents the youth of Beowulf's life. The typical youth is very brave and fights for fame. Beowulf shows how the battle with Grendel is a representation of the youth of Beowulf's life by going to Hrothgar and asking him if he can fight Grendel for him and his people. Beowulf shows this trait when he says,