Archetype In Beowulf

Beowulf is an epic about a hero who takes on great challenges and adventures. This story dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period. The character Beowulf, encounters the virtues of the Anglo-Saxon culture and beliefs. The traits the he encounters from the Anglo-Saxon society are strength, bravery, courage, and the desire to help the helpless. The character of Hrothgar establishes to Beowulf how to be a successful king.

The Anglo-Saxons’ cultures and traditions are rooted in their beliefs of the perfect hero. Their ideal hero has many key characteristics influenced by their culture including courage, strength, bravery, thick skin, loyalty, humbleness, and the ability to create strong trustworthy friendships. Beowulf is an epic poem that exhibits the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. The Anglo-Saxon traditions illustrated in Beowulf accurately represent the Anglo-Saxon traditions of the time period. This is accomplished through the distinct correlation of heroic characteristics between Beowulf and the culture’s traditional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon hero.

Beowulf ‘s confidence in his abilities and courage to carry out his mission exhibits how he could be considered an epic hero. When he first hears of the Danes’ plight with the monster Grendel, Beowulf wastes no time in “his plan to sail the swan’s road and seek out that king” who desperately needs assistance in his troubles (Heaney 201-202). He eagerly accepts his call to action, wasting no time in ensuring King Hrothgar of his “awesome strength” and exhibiting an unwavering self-assurance as he recalls how he “battled and bound five beasts” (Heaney 418-420). In these first encounters with the hero, it is evident that Beowulf’s defining characteristics include his courage and pride. There is no fear or reluctance in his attempt for glory,

Beowulf, the wonderful--yet very tragic--epic poem expresses the true importance of heroes and outcasts within any given myth. A hero is a character who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; while an outcast is a character who is separated from society due to a physical impairment or an emotional or physiological realization that makes him/her different. These characters are also known as archetypal characters. Some of these characters include Beowulf, Wiglaf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother--all of which are essential to the completion of Beowulf. For a myth to be successful, an outcast and hero must be present because each plays a significant role in the storyline.

Epic heroes are brave and noble characters who people admire for their great achievements. In John Gardner’s Grendel, Gardner portrays Beowulf as a stranger who defeats Grendel by ripping off his arm, whereas in Seamus Heaney’s translation of the epic poem Beowulf, he is characterized as hero because of his overall strength and courage. The first person point of view in Grendel emphasizes how Beowulf is superior, yet he shares some characteristics with Grendel. The third person point of view in Beowulf commends Beowulf for being a hero, but neglects to emphasize how his actions falsely represent his true selfishness. After considering the tone and point of view in Grendel by John Gardner and the Anglo-Saxon values showed in the translation of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, Beowulf is not an epic hero because he sacrifices other Danes lives in order to kill Grendel and results to use of revenge.

The epic poem Beowulf by Seamus Heaney uses character archetypes to explore the values embodied in Anglo-Saxon culture.

Beowulf: A Hero’s Tale Retold, a picture book by James Rumford tells the story of Beowulf a strong-willed and brave young man from the Land of Geats. The pattern of the hero’s journey can clearly be recognised in the text but with a few minor changes.

In an epic poem Beowulf, there are two characters presented, Beowulf who is considered a hero and Grendel who others see as a monster. Throughout the epic poem, Beowulf does many heroic actions which put him in a position of a hero. On the other hand, Grendel does everything he can to destroy the happiness of others. Beowulf was portrayed as a courageous person right from the beginning of the poem.

Beowulf was an epic poem that embodied many of the themes of the time period that it was written. Many ideas such as the obsession was wealth, power, and fame are well documented throughout history. While Beowulf was certainly fiction, there is no reason that the unknown creator of the epic would not have taken elements from the surrounding culture to enrich the story. This theory would justify the recurring elements of masculine male warriors and a lack of women as anything other than wives or bargaining chips. It is no secret that women have not always been treated as equals, especially in a time where most societies were patriarchal. All of the ancient societies also tend to have their legends and heroes. Beowulf was simply an exaggeration

The story of Beowulf is one of the oldest examples of what society views as a hero. Though the story was written in Anglo-Saxon times, the credentials one would need in order to be considered by society a hero remain the same. The Anglo-Saxons believed that a hero was strong and courageous, but humble and kind as well. They also believed that a hero was intelligent and dignified, in which he would fight until death in order to defend his people. In Beowulf and Grendel, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, Beowulf is depicted as caring, compassionate, noble, and understanding, which makes him seem as if he had every trait of a true hero. He seems quite the opposite, however, in the story Grendel by John Gardner. The book Grendel portrays Beowulf as sinister and ruthless, which makes him seem less of a hero. What society values in a hero today is portrayed more in the movie than the book, which suggests that one is considered a true hero only if he or she has certain heroic traits accepted by society.

Many of Campbell’s archetypes are easily spotted in the poem Beowulf. The story’s central character and hero is Beowulf. He is the first hero we have read about in this course that fits classic hero mold. He cements himself as the hero of the story with the action of slaying the act of slaying the monsters, in this story Grendel and Grendel’s mother. However, this slaying of the monster is not his only heroic attribute. Beowulf is an honorable man,and later Lord, who impresses everyone he comes in contact with. He is also shown to be a man of integrity throughout the poem. At the beginning, Beowulf is the one to address the watchman on the wall and offer up his “wholehearted help and counsel” to Hrothgar and that he can “calm the turmoil and terror in his mind”. At the end of the poem he dies fighting the dragon that is terrorizing his land.

The Anglo-Saxons culture and traditions are rooted in their beliefs of the perfect hero. Their ideal hero has many key characteristics influenced by their culture including courage, strength, bravery, thick skin, loyalty, humbleness, and the ability to create strong trustworthy friendships. Beowulf is an epic poem that exhibits the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. The Anglo-Saxon traditions illustrated in Beowulf accurately represent the Anglo-Saxon traditions of the time period. This is accomplished through the distinct correlation of heroic characteristics between Beowulf and the culture’s traditional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon hero.

Beowulf remains to be one of the most important works in English literature even though it was written centuries ago. The significance it still holds is because many of the themes that the epic touches on are still pertinent today. One of the most prevalent topics found in Beowulf is how important the heroic code is in the Scandinavian culture. Much of the epic poem is dedicated to highlighting the heroic code which values include: strength, courage, and honor. Over the course of the poem and through this code’s attributes, Beowulf can be seen maturing from a gallant warrior into a wise leader.

The use of archetypes largely contributed to the development of the story. It helped make connections between the events. It helps make sense of why these situations were included in the story. Through difficult situations Beowulf developed a never-ending faith in God, and a realization that material goods aren’t all that matter.

When first reading Beowulf, or even before that, many people often cringe at the idea of having to analyze, process, and understand Old English stories from the Anglo-Saxon period. Along with the frustrations of comprehending just a sentence, sometimes the deeper meanings and overall image of the story can get lost. In the case of “Beowulf”, this story is no exception. However, not only is this Anglo-Saxon story a heroic tale of a brave warrior who fights evil, but in reading the tales of Beowulf, it gives us a way to compare our own lifestyle and core values, to those of the warriors and people of that area.