Good Versus Evil In Beowulf: Good Vs. Evil

Soraya Garcia

Mrs. Capoldi

English IV

October 7, 2017

Good vs. Evil In many ways, Beowulf, as translated by Burton Raffel, the fight good versus evil is the poem's main and most significant focal point. This poem tells the conflict between a brave, loyal warrior and the monsters and demons from hell itself. The forces of good battle the forces of evil again and again, knowing that one day they’ll be defeated, but at least they will die fighting. The multiple battles fought between good and evil aren't very much about morals as it is about fate, or even reputation. Although his super-human capabilities are expressed, Beowulf embodies all that is good. The monsters fought, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, all embody evil, and in battling

The clashes between humans do not directly involve him. He at times argues with humans, but Beowulf’s main objective is to fight monsters. He is represented as a defender of humanity and truly a person on the side of good. The narrator of the story also has Christian views that are demonstrated through the first battle with Grendel. Beowulf is said to have received his strength that defeated Grendel by God. “So times were pleasant for the people there until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world.” Grendel is a personification of everything that is evil. He's truly a "fiend out of hell," or a descendant of Cain. According to the poem Cain's descendants became every sort of evil creature. In turn, one of these lines of descendants led to Grendel. Throughout Beowulf, Grendel, along with the other monsters, is described as mankind's enemy. Grendel’s attacks are driven by how jealous he his of how the humans are able to enjoy life in the light, while he is condemned to misery in the darkness. When Beowulf fights Grendel, he doesn't use any weapons; he fights him with his bare hands, honorably. Grendel did not expect such a fight and was quickly defeated by Beowulf. After his miserable defeat, he runs off to his lair, bleeding, rather than staying to finish the fight. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel happened quite differently than the battle that takes

In fact, Grendel’s mother would have probably defeated Beowulf several times during the battle if he had not had his armor protecting him. Beowulf defeats Grendel in a way that is different than the way he defeats the mother. Beowulf inflicts the fatal wound with his bare hands, tearing off the arm of Grendel. To defeat Grendel’s mother, however, Beowulf needs “a blade that boded well, a sword in her (Grendel’s mother) armory, an ancient heirloom from the days of the giants, an ideal weapon, one that any warrior would envy.” Beowulf later found that his weapon would not work, “Sang Beowulf’s strength. But her guest discovered that no sword could slice her evil skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless now when he needed it.” (495-498 Raffel) The narrator now no longer portrays Beowulf as the hero who places his trust firmly in his God, but rather shows him to be a warrior who depends on weapons. This change may indicate that the poem was written by two different narrators. The first an adherent of God, the second a proponent of valor in