Beowulf: Who Is The Real Monster?

Despite the hero-villain representation usually seen in the fantasies of modern day culture, real heroes and monsters remain today. When defining the terms ‘hero’ and monster’ people often imagine made-up characters. Because of this, the view of a hero or monster in a real-world sense might seem absurd, however, looking at people who have risked their lives, or devastated the world proves their existence. Similarities between the heroes and monsters of today and those found in poetry centuries ago exemplifies how they still exist. In the epic poem Beowulf, characters Beowulf and Grendel represent the ideals of a hero and monster. Their qualities of courage and envy parallel with that of some of the most significant people today. De Vigny

Monsters play a big role in the poem of Beowulf. Without them, there would not be much of a story, and there is a purpose for each of them. They are there to represent the forces that go against the grain, trying to stop others from prevailing. Describing Grendel, “bearing God’s hatred, Grendel came hoping to kill” (Beowulf 33). They take pride in doing so and do not want to be associated with anyone. Later on, the author describes the dragon as “anxious to find the man who had robbed it of silver”(Beowulf 95). The monsters have many ways of heroic code by taking pride with what they do and going against what seems evil to them. It is what they believe in and are unique to themselves. They decide to be and act differently than everyone

Archetypal heroes are found in many literary works, and in varied forms. In literary terms, a hero (male) or heroine (female) is defined as a character that goes against adversity, has great strength, courage, bravery, and who makes unselfish sacrifices, usually for the greater good. The Collins English Dictionary defines “archetypal” as a perfect example of something. Archetypes in literature was first applied by Carl Jung (1875-1961), a Swiss psychiatrist. Jung recognized patterns in mythologies and stories regardless of the time period that was covered by the literary work. Archetypal heroes present in various forms including warriors,

A monster shows up to terrorize a town and the people are frightened and do not know what to do. The king finds out and calls for a courageous and daring hero to venture across the sea the help fight the disastrous monster. The hero swoops in to fight the monster; after a long battle he defeats the monster. He saves the day and the whole town celebrates the hero and the great challenge that he has completed. Most storylines that include the topic of heroes versus monsters go something like that. As long as heroes and monsters remain a common topic among authors stories like these will always be written.These stories are told from the heroes point of view because people want to see the

The Role of the Monsters in Beowulf In almost every movie, story, legend there is a monster, but what do they really stand for? Are they just made by the author to terrorize the city/village, or do they stand for something more? The monsters in Beowulf stand for characteristics of human life; Grendel stands for jealousy that gets out of hand, Grendel’s mother stands for motherly revenge, and the dragon stands for greed. They could also possibly stand for the evil-twin of the hero scenario.

The Geats were in mourning for three days and four nights because four is a holy number in paganism while three is a holy number in christianity. In our story we wanted to include both elements so we chose these numbers. We included the prophet Hildegard because in Beowulf it spoke of a woman who made a prophecy about the future. The book says, “A Geat woman too sang out in grief: With hair bound up, she unburdened herself of her worst fears, a wild litany of nightmare and lament: her nation invaded, Enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles, Slavery and abasement. Heaven swallowed the smoke” (Heaney 255).

Of the three monsters present in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, it could be argued that the dragon is the most important of all – he is the final fierce opponent that slays our protagonist. The characterization of the dragon is therefore a vital part of the narrative. The passage in the text describing the theft of a cup from the hoard and the dragon’s subsequent rage (32.2278-2311) is instrumental in this characterization. In this passage there are important parallels made between the dragon and both Grendel’s mother and Beowulf himself. The passage also builds the significance of the dragon as a villain, and effectively characterizes the dragon with several literary devices.

The monsters in Beowulf are very unique. Two out of the three of them are almost human. One was a dragon. However regardless of what they were they fell by one man. Beowulf. Let’s analyze their characteristics, weapons, and various other techniques at their disposal. The first on my list of creatures is Grendel.

This got me to thinking of how the monsters are truly portrayed in Beowulf, and, suddenly, it clicked. The first two monsters- Grendel and his Mother- represent a person who

Monsters lurk all around during the day, during the night. Monsters differ from demons to a bunny. As one walks through the streets of New York without knowing, could run into a murderer or fellon. A great white, who lurks near someone as they swim. A snake that slithers during the day as one walks through their garden on the way to school.

The mysterious tale of Beowulf has long been one of the greatest epics in Anglo-Saxon Culture, thus the subject of this document inquiry is to study not only the heroic qualities of Beowulf but also his monster like qualities in order for the reader to determine him a hero or a monster. In the words of Hyram Perbole, “The true monster in the poem Beowulf is Beowulf himself (5).” While Perbole’s statement alerts those who read the poem to the possibility of the main protagonist being an actual monster or a person with monstrous qualities, but the writer of this statement speaks not how, nor gives examples of how the character is villainous in this tale. The writer’s statement will benefit if he had written examples displaying Beowulf’s monster

The monsters that Beowulf faces can all be considered traditional monsters, as it includes troll like creatures and a dragon, which might as well be considered the basic fantasy novel monsters, as nearly every fantasy story has at least one of them, as they are very easy to use as plot devices. Due to this, the general abilities of the monsters are also very easy to understand. Generally enhanced senses, increased strength, territorialism, and near impenetrable hide for those who are troll like, while dragons have the same, plus flight, and a penchant for collecting gold, which very few have ever actually explained. The motives of Beowulf himself are to do a favor for a kingdom in order to gain fame and fortune, murdering a monster that killed

Having some knowledge of the Egyptian history, one would think that the possible monsters involved in the fight for Ahmanet’s thrown would be a bit more scarier. Even through the costume and makeup designers made every attempt to achieve that goal, all the monsters including the prince’s initial mummy, are a mere copy of “The Walking Dead” zombies. Many of the movie scenes, at times are pretty dark and require constant adjustment of brightness on the device you are going to be watching, thankfully the movie theaters take care of that for you. The movie composer attempts to add mystery, surprise and suspense to the movie scenes, unfortunately of which many are very unrealistic and at times, the viewer has a feeling that the movie is more since fiction that it should, being that it is being recorded in current times. I do have to give credit to the special effect guys, they did a solid job, making up for the movies lacks.

Evil comes in divergent regards! Each monster has different ways of life and they were showcased in Beowulf. In the epic, Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel each of the three monsters, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon, offer a different distinction in their physical characteristics and capabilities, the nature of their battles with Beowulf, and their motives.

Monsters in literature come in all forms, each representing a major theme in the poem. The Anglo-Saxon heritage is also demonstrated by the three monsters the audience encounters in Beowulf. Grendel establishes the standard of what a warrior should not be. He is driven by jealousy, sadism, and he is a coward. While Grendel is the first monster the audience meets, his mother introduces a feminine perspective into the poem. Grendel’s mother wants revenge for her son being murdered. She represents everything that an Anglo-Saxon woman should not be. Finally, the audience meets the Dragon which represents the opposing values of the Anglo-Saxon heritage such as malevolence, greed, and destruction. These three monsters all demonstrate the opposite of how people of the Anglo-Saxon heritage should behave.