Beowulf And The Epic Hero

Every epic hero acquires certain heroic characteristics. The poem, “Beowulf, is about the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is a warrior from Geatland that comes to help Hrothgar, the king of Danes, defeat the monster Grendel who has been killing men in their kingdom. Beowulf defeats the unstoppable beast, Grendel. Then Grendel’s mother comes to try to avenge Grendel’s death, and Beowulf slaughters her in her underwater lair. After 50 peaceful years of ruling the Geats, Beowulf in his old age fights his last battle with a dragon. He defeats the dragon, with help from Wiglaf, but dies as a result. The main character, Beowulf exemplifies many characteristics that an epic hero possesses. Beowulf’s characteristics include

To honor the Beowulf’s heroic life and battles, I’ve been assigned as one of his closest warriors to exclaim his appellation and share the stories of his battles. One of the citizen came up to me and asked, “I heard that Beowulf was an amazing guy, but I never fully knew him. Could you tell me more about him?” I was extremely excited as this man was the first person to ever ask me about Beowulf. “Beowulf was a strong leader and a great friend. Although he might not have been a very humble man, he was nowhere near being a bully. He’s the type of man that would belittle anyone who hurts the weak and innocent. Beowulf was mettlesome and was never intimidated by any menace.” The man’s eyes were already widen. “He sounds like a guy I would wanna be protected by,” the citizen said, “Can you tell me about one of his battles?” I prepared myself as I was about to begin a long lecture of how strong Beowulf was.

If you have ever found yourself captivated by a novel, or whisked away following a journey, you have most likely read an epic. An epic by definition is “a long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation”. Every epic has a main character that undergoes the same archetypal journey as all other heroes, an epic hero. There are specific qualities one must have to be considered an epic hero. Each epic hero possesses superhuman strength, displays a strong sense of leadership, and reflects their culture in a positive, admirable manner.

Another way in which Beowulf represents a characteristic of an epic hero is he travels and fights with a group of people. “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find,/ The bravest and best of the Geats, fourteen/ In all,” (ln. 119-122). Beowulf personally chose the warriors he journeys with himself; although Beowulf is generally the one to conquer the monsters, these soldiers are with him through all of his battles. In The Battle With Grendel, all of the men are sleeping in Herot; yet, when Grendel appears, Beowulf is the one to fight and execute him. The story is similar in The Battle With Grendel’s Mother; his men follow him to the edge of the lake, yet he is the one to explore the lake and fight and kill Grendel’s mother. Likewise, in The Last Battle when Beowulf fights the dragon, he begins fighting with all of his men, yet all but one abandon him. Beowulf obtains a strong group of people that he travels with, yet ultimately he solves problems himself.

The character of Beowulf demonstrates several characteristics that make a great epic hero. Throughout his lifetime he displayed several characteristics such as honor, bravery, physical superiority, leadership, and glory. These characteristics all formed how the Anglo-Saxons believed one should live their life. Along with the valorous deeds that Beowulf accomplished he is considered to be a prime example of an epic hero. Beowulf would have even been considered a model human to the Anglo-Saxons due to how he consistently demonstrated these qualities.

Every epic hero possesses certain heroic characteristics. The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. Beowulf is the hero. He shows that he is a great man by always putting other things before his own needs. He is important and needed by his people and is known by many as a strong, courageous and a helpful person. He shows all of the qualities and traits that a true hero possesses.

Beowulf son of the famous soldier Edegtho, comes to the rescue of Hrothgar. Hrothgar king of the Danes, which his land is being attacked by a treacherous monster named Grendel. Beowulf is described as a vigorous, fearless man of the Anglo Saxon times. Beowulf comes from a past generation of tenacious warriors. Like Beowulf’s dad, a famous soldier known far, and leader of many men. The Danes now see why Beowulf is such a fearless warrior. In Beowulf, the hero decides to fight without a weapon for three reasons he wants to be glorious, he is fearless, wanted to help the people of noble place and he wants to honor his people. Beowulf faces many conflicts fighting these dangerous monsters, but manages to defeat Grendel and his mother.

An Epic Hero is a brave, noble character in an epic poem, and they are admired for great achievements or affected by a grand event. In another point of view, A Epic Hero has to have strength, faith and Braveness in order to perform heroic deeds. In the story Beowulf , Beowulf is an epic hero because he kills Grendel the monster, Grendel’s Mother and a dragon that no one else could have defeated. All the things Beowulf did throughout this story showed evidence of an epic hero, also with his personality and dedication. Beowulf is an epic hero because of how he sacrificed his life to perform heroic deeds. Also for his extraordinary strength, Braveness, and Faith.

Beowulf was an immense poem about a courageous warrior - by the name of Beowulf. This warrior was brave and had a lot of confidence, which led him to act foolishly. Beowulf was respected by the people of Denmark and Sweden. Throughout the poem, Beowulf proved he was a hero by protecting the Geats and Danes, but also foolish with the beasts he defeated.

The story of Beowulf is one of a great hero. Beowulf is a very generous person who is always willing to help out when people are in need. Over the course of the story, Beowulf ends up in three major battles: the battle with Grendel, with Grendel’s mother, and with the dragon. All of these battles were different in their style and the way Beowulf approached them was different. Beowulf also had different reasons to participate in each of the battles.

“He would sleep in the fire, soon. His soul, left his flesh, flew to glory.” This very quote from the epic Beowulf, sets the tone and very intense qualities of older epics. This specific epic, focuses on the hero and Beowulf, who is the only warrior capable of defeating the vicious villainous creature Grendel, and his mother. Beowulf shares the qualities of many other epic heroes such as showing the nature of being almost superhuman, being the deciding factor in the wellbeing of his people, and showing uncontested bravery no matter the obstacle they must face. In more modern times, the United States Delta Force can be considered an epic heroes based on the sheer values and courage held by its members.

“The whole earth is the tomb of heroic men and their story is not given only on stone over their clay but abides everywhere without visible symbol woven into the stuff of other men’s lives,” said Perculus (PR). You’re born, you live a little, and then you die. There is no simpler way to sum up life. Often times this is done through oral tales, paintings, and various other ways. For those whose lives were truly something great, something memorable, their stories are transcripted into writings. Whether these are simple biographies or symbolic fictional works, stories are often based on someone greater than the writer. These “epic heros” are protagonists that fulfill their potential of greatness through using their bravery, strength and

Beowulf’s triumphs are short lived due to another attack on Herot. This time, Grendel’s mother comes to the great mead hall to avenge her son. The battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf differs greatly from the previous battle with the beast’s son. After another attack, Beowulf now must seek out his new enemy, and fight her on her own turf. As it stood, the scores were even between the monsters and the Danes, but Beowulf now looked for victory over the monsters, not revenge. Beowulf also had to regain his reputation. He had just won a trophy, when the bigger, badder bully came up to him and took it straight from his grasp. Now Beowulf traveled to the burning lake, which proved a test of its own. He then swam to the bottom of the lake where the monster resided. All of this just to get to the monster shows that this brave hero would do anything to set the scores right for his people and for the glory that came with it.

Beowulf is an epic poem written in Anglo-Saxon times, by an unknown poet. Beowulf is a Geatish man who rescues the Danish people from evil, and helps save his own country from destruction. Beowulf, renowned for his bravery, and known as the strongest man alive, acquires the help of fourteen thanes to sail with him to Denmark. There he is involved in two battles with two evil monsters. He then fights another battle in his homeland with a Fire dragon. Without violence in Beowulf, heroism would be impossible as evidenced by Beowulf’s battles with Grendel, his mother, and the Fire dragon. Beowulf first shows his heroic nature in the fight with Grendel. After all the men in the great hall of Heorot fall asleep, Beowulf

The foremost valued trait of a gallant is the champion hero. The one who takes on the belligerent task, the repercussions of fear enclosed by the tribulations. A typical epic usually contains challenges, journeys, adventures and crucially, a hero. An epic hero has several characteristics that make him idiosyncratic. The individual usually comes from a noble family, which means, a noble birth. They also tend to have superhuman strength and accomplish beyond the platitude human deeds. A requisite in all Epic stories is that this hero must go on a quest in search of something. This quest, also known as a journey, holds several challenges and unexpected turns that the hero must overcome those larger-than-life challenges.