Beowulf's Journey

Beowulf-A New Telling by Robert Nye has a theme that runs deep in the blood of fantasy works:The millenia old battle between light and darkness. Although not directly mentioned, in many books including this one, Darkness and Light are portrayed as physical, however rather explaining conflict within humans, or even conflict between humanity and the mysterious outside. Robert Nye does amazingly well portraying this through many events and physical objects.

Imagine a slimy swamp like place where only the most horrid monsters with the most disgusting features live, this is the fen. Now imagine A wonderful bright beautiful hall that’s almost castle like, these are the two elements of the story Beowulf a New Telling.

Joseph Campbell’s term monomyth can be described as a hero’s journey. Many heroic characters follow the monomyth, no matter the time period or culture the literature was created in. The poem Beowulf is known to follow the adventure of the hero described in Campbell’s monomyth . The hero’s journey consists of three rites of passages: separation, initiation, and return. Beowulf endures each of these stages throughout the epic poem, so his journey does follow Campbell’s monomyth.

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is about a character named Beowulf who has to fight evil by using strength, but by also using cleverness. Beowulf’s name means “bee hunter” and Beowulf loved bees. In the story a hall is built it is called Hall Heorot. “By day it towered above men’s heads like a second sun, so bright were it’s walls and roofs”(p. 5). Once the hall is made, a monster comes and eats people at night.

What action made your favorite hero become the hero he now is? Joseph Campbell, the author of The Hero With A Thousand Faces believes every hero is called to adventure by some act that opens his eyes to become a hero. In the story “Beowulf” translated by Barton Raffel, Beowulf is “woken up” by the news of Grendel’s destruction. The story of Beowulf follows along with campbell’s “call to adventure” claim. The epic poem “Beowulf” exemplifies the claims made by campbell regarding the hero’s call to adventure.

What are the challenges of the Anglo-Saxon life, that Beowulf faces? The strongest competitors Beowulf faced were Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon.

“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to preserve and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”( Christopher Reeve) In 1000 A.D. a group of people were formed, these people were called the Anglo-saxons. They were also known as what people now refer to as Vikings. The Vikings were explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe. While these Anglo-saxons were raiding and trading they also had some down time, where they would sit down around a fire and tell tales of Heroic adventures. These sorts of tales were things that the Anglo-saxons would look up to, it was almost like a handbook of how they should live their lives. During these stories was created one of the earliest examples of heroism and adventure. The epic poem of Beowulf was born. While the author is to be unknown, the

Beowulf and his legacy live beyond the story, bringing the moral out to all people.

Ever since the beginning of humanity, stories from all corners of the world all follow the hero’s journey, a system coined by Joseph Campbell. Elements of the hero’s journey can be found in every single story, from Harry Potter to Paradise Lost. The hero’s journey is in every story, and especially in the epic poem Beowulf. Beowulf has all the trappings of a memorable story. There are beasts, and a shining hero, as well as honor and loyalty. Beowulf also follows the Hero’s journey, if not distinctly. The epic poem Beowulf holds many similarities to Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, three of these similarities including the call to adventure, tests, and the resurrection.

In the epic poem, Beowulf, it is clear that Beowulf undergoes many changes throughout his quest. Although these changes may not be noticeable at first glance, they can be observed as an extension of Beowulf’s character and desires. As Beowulf’s quest unfolded he obtained a deeper understanding of himself and his values, which affected his view on human life.

Beowulf is one of the oldest epic poems from the 6th century from Scandinavia. Beowulf’s story was originally told in old English during the years of 500 to 1100. Beowulf’s legacy lives on by being retold and read about all his greatest battles. All of his battles where great and he fought all these with confidence and truth.

A summary of what the story of Beowulf taught the Anglo-Saxons to become a better people

One of the first epic poems, Beowulf, written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet features the most heroic man at the time. The hero, known as Beowulf possesses, all the extraordinary physical appearances and character traits qualifying him to be an Anglo Saxon hero. Allegedly, he seems to be an invincible being with super-human strength and abilities that he uses to protect his allies. Beowulf never fears death; he is always encountering beasts and horrible monsters such as the evil Grendel and the dragon. Although he is always risking his life for glory, he is an outstanding character, with great leadership qualities and achievements.

What are the challenges of the Anglo-Saxon life, that Beowulf faces? The strongest competitors Beowulf faced were Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon.

It was early morning and the sun was just rising. Beowulf had just arrived back home after a long night pain and battling. He had just battled water monsters and grinded them to bits. He was ready to take rest but suddenly he heard a knock at the door, it was one of his people, he said that Hrothgar has summoned him. Beowulf quickly went to Hrothgar. Beowulf finally found Hrothgar. There was silence before Beowulf broke it and said, “What is the reason I have been called so suddenly?”. Hrothgar started to speak,”We will speak about that but first tell me, how did the battle with the water monsters go?” Beowulf replied, “It went well, I grinded them to bits. Though it was quite challenging.” Hrothgar spoke, “Oh that’s good, but now another incident