Beowulf is the story of a great king. Beowulf protects all of his warriors. However, the warrior with the most courage happened to be Wiglaf. Beowulf protects Wiglaf. Wiglaf is the only warrior with the courage to give his own life in effort to save a king he loves and respects. Wiglaf is the hero in Beowulf. Wiglaf’s courageous character confirms that his attempt to defeat Grendel was not for his own good, but to honor his king. Wiglaf’s heroic behavior was in hope to save his lord, Beowulf from the dangerous fumes given off by Grendel.
Wiglaf is the one and only warrior that began to become concerned for the king that he serves. (Line 763). Beowulf first begun to fight Grendel. However, Beowulf, once the proud warrior now the good king, could
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The hunt for treasure was considered the next battle. “In Grendel’s tower laid the precious gold, gems, cups, bracelets and rusted helmets (Line 780).” Wiglaf was holding all his arms could bare as he traveled back to his beloved king to return with what he asked for . Wiglaf took on this battle to prove to his king that it was meaningful for him to have the treasure he prayed to god to have before he died (816). Wiglaf is the hero of Beowulf because he traveled through the darkest tower of the fire-spitting Grendel to give his beloved king what he hope to obtain before he died.
Wiglaf went back to the land of burning flames in hope to return while his king were still alive. Wiglaf had the treasure his king hoped to have. When Wiglaf returned with the gold, Beowulf was choked. Wiglaf, “sprinkled water over his lord, until the words deep in his breast broke through and were heard (Line 812).” Wiglaf “sold his life” for the treasure and the protection of his beloved king. All Beowulf wanted was for someone so righteous like Wiglaf to carry on his legacy. Wiglaf is the hero in Beowulf because Beowulf could depend on Wiglaf to finish what he started
The poet of Beowulf uses many literary devices to enhance respect and trust in the poem. The great heroic story of Beowulf gives many examples of the traits a great leader should have. At the end, those same traits were demonstrated by Wiglaf, who then became the king of the Geats. This proves that these traits were essential to the Anglo-Saxon culture; however, this also makes Beowulf contemporary. The poem has many themes that are still applicable today.
Beowulf prepares to fight a dragon with his thane, Wiglaf. Beowulf has no fear of the dragon, because he has fought many enemies that were much more ferocious. One example of Beowulf's great battles is the fight with Grendel. No one other than Beowulf is brave enough or strong enough to volunteer to fight Grendel.
Which is to slay the dragon that continues to attack the villages and farms of Geatland.“ Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time:” I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.” (lines 2510-2515), being his final words to his people before he sets out to slay the dragon. While battling the dragon Beowulf gets burned and injured badly. All his men are frightened by this and run off besides Wiglaf. “ The nobel son of Weohstan saw the king in danger at his side and displayed his inborn bravery and strength(lines 2694-2626).... Once again the king gathered his strength and drew a stabbing knife he carried on his belt, sharpened in battle , He stuck it deep into the dragon’s flank. Beowulf dealt it a deadly wound. They had killed the enemy, courage quelled his life; that pair of kinsmen, partners in nobility, had destroyed the foe. So every man should act, be at hand when needed;”( lines 2702-2710). Even though beowulf and wiglaf slay the dragon king Beowulf dies from his injuries. “ The dragon from underearth, his nightmarish destroyed as well.” (lines 2824-2826). After this tragic loss Wiglaf orders seven men to collect the dragon 's treasure. What remained after was placed in the barrow as a memorial
Wiglaf was the only person that had stayed to help his king and by doing this while all the other soldiers ran away it magnified his glory infinitely more than before. It was magnified so much that Beowulf made him king because of his bravery and loyalty to him.
Wiglaf, in coming to Beowulf's aid in the fight against the dragon, typifies several important heroic virtues. The most obvious of these is the importance of the relationship between lord and thane. In trying to persuade the other thanes to assist Beowulf, Wiglaf says, "Now the day has come that our liege lord has need of the strength of good fighters. Let us go to him, help our war-chief while the grime terrible fire persists." (Chickering 61) In stating this, Wiglaf reminds the other thanes of the necessity of holding up their end of the bargain in the lord-thane relationship. Beowulf is a good lord, who protects his thanes and dispenses treasure to them, and it is their turn to support him in battle in his time of need.
With all his great achievements, he becomes king of his homeland (Geatland). Even in his old age, he still has an obligation to fight against the evils of nature. Beowulf hears about a dragon who has become extremely upset because a thief stole a cup from a treasure which he had been guarding for several years. When Beowulf asks for volunteers to fight against the dragon, all but one of Beowulf's followers run into the forest in fear. The one who stays with Beowulf, is a young warrior named Wiglaf.
Wiglaf, along with Beowulf’s other warriors, watches Beowulf initiation his battle against the dragon. When the fight seems to be turning against Beowulf, however, all of the warriors except Wiglaf -flee. Wiglaf’s purpose in the poem, however , is more than simply someone to help Beowulf. Wiglaf is the model of a good warrior, and as a good warrior, Wiglaf demonstrates the importance of heroism to society and the necessity of loyalty to one’s kinsman and lord. He is willing to saccrifice his life to reciprocate the gifts which he received from his lord, but even more important, he symbolizes the need for cooperation between warrior and lord in order to preserve society against overwhelming odds Wiglaf also demonstrates the responsibility of the good warrior, a contrast to the cowardly warriors, who represent all that sciet shoud not emulate.
While engaging the Dragon in combat, Beowulf runs into complications with it and realizes that his sword can do no damage. Beowulf finds himself in defeat for the first time. However, Wiglaf, one of Beowulf’s kinsmen, comes to his aid and together with the combination of courage and strength delivers a deathblow to the Dragon. Although Beowulf is mortally wounded and is about to die, he passes the throne to Wiglaf and gives thanks to God for the treasure they receive from the Dragon’s hoard. This ends Beowulf’s third and final heroic battle in this case with the
This recognition that Beowulf receives proves his place as the quintessential hero in Anglo-Saxon society. The unknown author recognizes Beowulf as a warrior who “behaved with honor and took no advantage” (149). This quality is important to Beowulf’s image as a hero. The author also days that Beowulf “bore himself with valor” and names Beowulf “Heroic Beowulf” when describing the hero (135, 149). The author’s recognition of Beowulf as having these qualities and as being heroic shows that Beowulf was regarded as a hero during the authors’ own time. This is also confirmed by the several times people in the epic recognize Beowulf’s heroic qualities. Wiglaf, who was with Beowulf during the final battle, is one of the people to recognize Beowulf’s glory-seeking heroics, saying that Beowulf is “a man unequalled in the quest for glory” (179). This statement speaks much of Beowulf’s willingness to search for and his success in finding glory. Beowulf is also recognized by a thane of Hrothgar’s court during his earlier days. This thane recognizes Beowulf’s heroics and begins “rehearsing Beowulf’s triumphs and feats” by comparing him to Sigmund, an old Anglo-Saxon hero (59). The recognition Beowulf receives from the characters in the epic shows that Beowulf was impressive and heroic to Anglo-Saxons who told his
...fight the dragon. Beowulf understood that the key to being a great leader was selflessness, which is also why he chose Wiglaf, son of Wexstan, to be his successor. In Beowulf’s time of greatest need Wiglaf was the only selfless warrior that came to Beowulf’s aid. Even in death, Beowulf understood all the qualities of a great leader and saw them in Wiglaf.
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 wants to fight Grendel, a monster wreaking havoc, and is boasting that he is more powerful and courageous.
In Beowulf’s younger years, he personified all of the best values of the heroic culture when saving another kingdom from their demons. Beowulf’s willingness to sacrifice his life in order to save strangers his father owed a debt to is quite selfless. His bravery comes into play when he remains unchanged in his resolve even after hearing of all the King’s men and subjects slain by the beast.
Wiglaf is the only person who stays with Beowulf to serve his lord and to fight the dragon. Everyone else becomes cowardly and runs into the forest to hide from the dragon. It turns out that Beowulf's sword can not even penetrate the dragon. The dragon gets the best of Beowulf, he "...seized all his neck with his sharp fangs: he was smeared with life-blood, gore welled out in waves" (Norton 62). Wiglaf, then, summons his wits and they killed the dragon: "The wound which the dragon had dealt him began to burn and swell; at once he felt dire evil boil in his breast within him"( Norton 62). Our hero is finally defeated. Even though he is seriously injured, he still had the strength to break the fifty foot dragon in half.
Beowulf is the strong fearless leader of the Geats whose bravery and strength saved the Danes from the terrible monsters of Grendel, his mother, and a fire breathing dragon. Even through the tough situations, Beowulf risked death to help the greater amount of people. I believe that Beowulf leaves us with hope for the world. When he dies, it is a sad moment, but knowing that Beowulf inspired WIglaf to step up to the plate and become a new strong fearless leader leaves us with hope that the Geats will be in good hands for many years to come.