The Epic Of A Hero: Beowulf As An Epic Hero

Beowulf Essay
“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.
To start off, throughout the story Beowulf is set to complete a task or quest. His story starts off when Beowulf catches word that a fierce monster named Grendel has been terrorizing and killing King Hrothgar’s men in the town of Herot. Beowulf quickly sets boats to

His fame started out when he took the quest of defeating Grendel. The king’s men were being attacked and murdered by the beast, but no matter what they tried to do they couldn’t defeat him. When they heard that Beowulf was going to attempt to kill Grendel they were happy at the thought of the beast being dead, but they did not expect that Beowulf would be victorious. When Beowulf did manage to defeat him the king and his men were filled with gratitude towards Beowulf. This is how Beowulf’s name became popular and honored. He had the chance to gain more respect when the King and his men needed Grendel’s Mother dead. This quest seemed to be impossible because Beowulf had to go to Grendel’s Mother’s house at the bottom of a magical lake, but that was no problem for Beowulf. “He lept into the lake, would not wait for anyone’s answer; the heaving water covered him over. For hours he sank through the waves.” After waiting for hours the King’s men assumed Beowulf to be dead so they left in disappointment. Beowulf returned and surprised the men with his victory and became even more glorified than before, in fact he became their new king. After ruling for 50 years without any fighting, one final opponent threatened Beowulf and his people. This beast was the Dragon. No one thought that it would be possible to defeat the dragon because of how strong it was, but Beowulf

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