Beowulf Comparison Essay

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,

This point of view automatically makes the narrator biased to how they perceive those around them, especially Beowulf. The narrator's opinions on the characters is dependant upon what they hear, rather than making a judgement based on the opinions of others or what they observe. This also has to do with the time period. The people during the 5th and 6th centuries were only able to make judgements on a person based on what they hear, mostly from the individual themself, making the people trust easily and be oblivious to an individual's true character. Beowulf makes himself appear to be strong and heroic to the people of the Danes, and the people believe him based off of the information he feeds them. “Lucky or not, nine was the number of sea-huge monsters I killed. What man,/Anywhere under Heaven’s high arch, has fought/In such darkness, endured more misery or been harder/Pressed? Yet I survived the sea, smashed/The monsters’ hot jaws, swam home from my journey” (Raffel 574-579). There is no real, hard evidence that Beowulf accomplished what he said he did, resulting in the narrator giving the reader or listener presumably false information. Although, the reader was able to see tests of Beowulf’s strength in his battles with Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon. These battles resulted in the readers renewed admirable notion toward Beowulf. His defeat of Grendel,

From this novel, the audience is able to get into the mind of this monster and feel his pain, loneliness, and misunderstanding as well as come to realize that Grendel is no monster at all, but rather he represents a reflection of man. Although you could argue that man is a monster himself in this story through the merciless and barbaric actions of the humans, especially Beowulf. Beowulf is represented minimally throughout the story, whereas in “Beowulf” he is shown with much more valor. However, In Gardner's Grendel, Beowulf is depicted as a cruel and narcissistic man. For example, Grendel describes Beowulf as a irrational and greedy man, “He’s crazy. I understand him all right, make no mistake. Understand his lunatic theory of matter and mind, the chilly intellect, the hot imagination, blocks and builder, reality as stress”(Gardner 172). Beowulf does not possess the same qualities in Grendel has he does in the epic poem, “Beowulf.” This is due to the contrasting perspectives of the same character in each book. Like the narrator in Beowulf, Grendel is biased because of his intuitive dislike for humans as well as Grendel’s knowledge that Beowulf is seeking to destroy him. Grendel is also an outcast and monitors the day-to-day lives of the Danish people. His opinions of the people are formed based off of what he observes, sees, and hears. This gives Grendel’s opinions of the