Beowulf: Struggle Between Good And Evil

In Beowulf, the clash between good and evil is the poem's main and most significant focal point. Although the epic poem Beowulf utilizes many characteristics of Christian themes, the violence in the poem relates to paganism. By exploring the characteristics of “good vs. evil” such as Cain, Grendel and Beowulf, this paper will explore the elements of Beowulf in such a light.

In the story of Beowulf, there are many different themes found. Many people argue the main theme found in this story. This has been argued for a very long time and will go on for many more years to come. Although many themes in this story stick out and a main theme will never be accepted, one main theme is very noticeable in the story of Beowulf. The main theme found in Beowulf is good versus evil.

Good and Evil in Beowulf       In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the poem's main and most important aspect. The poet makes it clear that good and evil do not exist as only opposites, but that both qualities are present in everyone. Beowulf represents the ability to do good, or to perform acts selflessly and in help of others. Goodness is also showed throughout this epic as having the ability to cleanse evil.

In the epic poem Beowulf, the struggle between good and evil reveals its omnipresence in even the oldest of tales. The many allusions and symbols throughout the story relate to Christianity and other Pagan beliefs. By looking at them, it becomes apparent that the author of Beowulf believed that the constant war between good and evil is not only fought by the common man but also in the ranks of their highest esteemed rulers and warriors, and even in their dreaded nightmares where monsters lurk and wait for the death of man. Beowulf was written during the budding of Christianity in England, when it was newly forming. In the story there are obvious references to Christian rituals.

Mankind constantly struggles with the decision of right and wrong. In the Bible, the first thing to happen to the first people on earth, a battle between good and evil, took place when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit. The epic poem, Beowulf, tells the story of a brave hero who travels across land and sea to fight sinister creatures. Much like the Bible, Beowulf has many authors and took a long time to finish. However, the writing of the Bible took place almost a thousand years before the poem. Consequently, the stories of the Bible majorly influenced the poem. The theme of good and evil in Beowulf presents itself when Christianity clashes with paganism, in the battles Beowulf fought, and even when Beowulf dies. Many literary works of today, as well as a poem by Dante Alighieri, share this theme in common because people continue to battle good and evil.

Beowulf shows a battle between religions in the hero as he deals with the battling major conflicts and his last final battle. The unknown author does an extraordinary job characterizing Beowulf as brave and loyal,plus other values that heroes shown. This develops the epic describing the Christianity versus paganism comparisons that is shown by Good versus Evil. Beowulf foretold as a warrior one of the greatest of the Geats, we have Grendel, his Mother, and the dragon, that are symbols of evil. Grendel is described as a demon, a fiend, just pure evil, Grendel’s Mother is pictured as a “greedy she-wolf”, the dragon symbolizes evil itself. The epic begins with celebration stirring the monster known as Grendel. Grendel awoken by them and set out during night, snatched up thirty men leaving Hrothgar and the rest of his men to mourn. Beowulf hears this and starts the journey to assist Hrothgar and his men. In this literature piece, the author uses much symbolism and references towards Christianity and paganism, thus creates an spiritual battle between these two religions through the entire epic and intertwines the two religions and the conflicts through the hero Beowulf.

In this excerpt the evil makes its apparition as part of the overall theme “good vs evil”. This is shown in the first lines when Grendel is described as “A powerful monster, living down in the darkness” (lines 1-2) “Spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain” (lines 19-20).

Beowulf is one of the earliest and most famous works of English literature, and is still widely read today. However, over a thousand years has passed since it was written down in England, and even longer since it was originally spread by word of mouth in the old Norse lands, and our values and concepts of the world are radically different than the people of Beowulf’s age. Although the epic Beowulf shows their concept of simplistic duality, in which there is only black and white, good and evil, the modern movie adaptation shows a much more complex view of the world, which can be seen in its main characters Grendel, Hrothgar, and Beowulf himself.

I have read Beowulf over and over again and to me I could actually only think of one comparison between Beowulf and the modern world. I am going to be comparing the battle of good and evil in Beowulf to the battle of good and evil in the sense of Christianity; Cain and Abel to be more precise. Evil: In Beowulf the ‘evil’ character is Grendel, he is a demon-like creature, who terrorizes Hrothgar’s villagers and the mead hall. You can portray Grendel as the seed of Cain, who murdered Abel his brother. “In misery amongst the banished monsters, Cain clan whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as an outcast for killing Abel.” (Beowulf, lines 106-107). In a sense you can also say that Grendel is similar to the Devil which could be called

While the epic poem Beowulf has no specified author or exact translations, the legendary story echoes through time as the fame of this hero continues to expand. Beowulf, the King of the Geats, is the protagonist in this epic; many describe him as the greatest man to have ever lived. Beowulf fits the architype for hero extremely well, possessing all the essential traits; he creates an aura as the ultimate source of good in this entire story. Of course, Beowulf is not alone, there are several other characters in this story that radiate this sense of good, and some may help Beowulf along the way. Any good story finds the balance between good and evil to make conflict. In order to attain this conflict the author of Beowulf added countless acts

5. Beowulf lives up to the heroic paradox by dying while fighting the dragon. This was considered a battle, because he was fighting to protect his village. This explains Beowulf’s motivation to kill Grendel because he knew either way he would be remembered as a hero, whether he died or not.

To defeat the darkness and badness of the world you need to first find and acknowledge the darkness in yourself, in the book Beowulf, a New Telling readers will travel with the hero Beowulf as he fights away monsters while also ridding himself of his own, personal demons. Beowulf a new telling is a modernized remake of the original medieval epic, Beowulf. Throughout the book readers will find a theme of good versus evil, but as they look more closely will also see the theme of man versus self.

To defeat the dark and badness of the world you need to first find and adknowledge the darkness in yourself, in the book Beowulf, a New Telling readers will travel with the hero Beowulf as he fights away monsters while also ridding himself of his own, personal demons. Beowulf a new telling is modernized remake of the original medieval epic, Beowulf. Throughout the book readers will find a theme of good versus evil but as they look more closely will also see the theme of man versus self.

In stories heroes and heroines are brought face to face with their enemies, they are put in life threatening situations, and on average are given a task to complete. Without these basic elements of the plot writing a story based around heroism would be difficult, less entraining leading the reader to lose interest in the theme of the story. It’s a good thing authors know what draws a reader in, the average individual loves action and death defying tasks, people are naturally drawn to a morally driven character that fights for what’s right, and pushes through the hardship brought on by the task at hand. These elements of the story lead to similarities in theme which isn’t a bad thing it allows for expansion in the differing concepts based around the same idea. In literature whether it is Anglo Saxon or renaissance the theme of good versus evil is seemingly the most iconic amongst both the authors and the readers.

Throughout many forms of literature, a common theme that can be seen across books is that no matter how great and evil may be, good will always triumph in the end. This can be shown when a simple mistake on their part happens or when everything goes wrong for them. A similar case of this can be seen in the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf.