Beowulf's Legacy

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is a story of horrendous monsters of legends Beowulf has to face. But, Beowulf is not your ordinary hero, and this story isn’t your ordinary hero legend of Good Vs. Evil. In Fact, the story shoes things aren’t so black and white. You will hear again and again, about light and darkness being in the same being, a kind of a yin and yang concept. That is one of many themes throughout this story, and the longer you read the more you see the deeper, overarching theme of the entire story.

Whether you are arguing with your siblings, with a stranger at a baseball game, during a debate, with your parents or children, you are fighting for what you believe is right. You perceive yourself as the “victim” in the situation by trying to justify your reasoning behind the argument. Some people may perceive you as the good or as the evil because they believe that you have done nothing wrong, you were being perverse or fighting for the wrong reason. The epic poem Beowulf, is a super-eminent literary example that represents the good and evil in the characters and what they are fighting for. In this fictional poem, in which the author is unknown, the protagonist Beowulf encounters three major battles with a monster named Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and a dragon. Each character is fighting for a certain reason and believe their reason is more dominant. The two audiences that view the characters as good or evil is the Danes and the narrator. Since the characters in the poem believe they're justified in their actions, they prove to not be all evil or all good. In fact, they should be judged based on the rationale behind their actions to fight.

Beowulf comes and killed the monster named Grendel. After Beowulf kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother comes and Beowulf follows her into the Fen, a place full of evil things that hate the light. Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother and then returns to his homeland. At his homeland, Beowulf gives the gifts he received from killing Grendel’s mother and Grendel to his uncle, king Hygelac. In return for the gifts, Beowulf is granted all the land that he can cover in a day’s worth on his horse. For a while there is peace and Beowulf lives on his large area of land and tends to bees, but then the Friesians, an invading group of people come and kill king Hygelac. Then Hygelac’s son, Hardred becomes king, but he is also killed later. After Hygelac is killed and Hardred is killed later, Beowulf becomes king. but then a slave runs away because he was threatened to be beaten, and he steals a jeweled cup from a cave. The cave that he stole from was where the Firedrake lived. The Firedrake couldn’t catch the slave, but later that night, it burned a valley including the fields of grain, houses, and churches. By now Beowulf is old, but he still has a plan to kill the Firedrake. After Beowulf kills the Firedrake by having his bees sting it to death, Beowulf dies. I think that the thesis is that everybody has good and evil in them, but how you deal with the evil is what will decide if you are a good person. I also think that the thesis is that it isn’t as simple as good and evil because a good person can do an evil thing and an evil person can do a good thing.

Good versus evil is very easy to recognize. “Some people just want to do good things or choose to be good, they are considered good. Others choose to do the opposite, and do evil things, they are considered evil. The evil found in Beowulf is Grendel; he is a complete monster. The good character found in the story is Beowulf, along with other characters that fight against Grendel. Beowulf is considered the main source of good because he is the bravest, strongest, and makes a long journey just to defeat Grendel, so he can be remembered,”( Beowulf: Good vs. evil, Putz). “Goodness is represented throughout the poem by other characters of Beowulf, such as King Hrothgar, Wiglaf, and their actions,” (Beowulf good vs evil analysis, Studymode). “Goodness is not only portrayed by selfless acts, but also by its ability to purge and cleanse evil,” (Good vs Evil). Beowulf takes it upon himself to announce several great deeds that he will perform to help countries in need. One of these deeds is his offer to King Hrothgar, in which he proposes to slay

Life was meaningless in the Anglo-Saxon era unless a hero was able to attain a memorable legacy because Pagan religious ideals were still relevant in society during this time. Stories of adventures and triumphs were meant to live through many generations by being retold several times through scops. These heroic tales eulogized the hero’s triumphs in order to achieve glory for generations to come which often meant heroes would take daring risks in their conquests as seen in the epic poem, Beowulf. In spite of, the violence in Beowulf during the various battles, it is through these violent endeavors that maturity is revealed in the hero, Beowulf. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf portrays the different stages of life: youth, middle age, and old age through the various battles he fought in his life in order to leave behind a memorable legacy.

In the epic poem Beowulf, there is an obvious distinction between good and evil. The hero and his foes play roles that are commonly associated with Anglo-Saxon literature. The lines are clearly drawn and expressed in the poem. As the story moves, the reader cannot mistake the roles being played, based on the characterizations in the epic, one recognizes each character for their purpose and place.

For those that have read “Beowulf”, the distinction between hero and villain is likely obvious. Beowulf is the hero that conquers not one, but three monsters in order to protect the clans. The monsters are the creatures that have committed some type of crime towards the people – in the cases I will look at, murder. I propose that the distinction between hero and villain is limited. They are seen as monsters because their crimes are made more obvious to the narratee, while a gloss is painted over the crimes committed by man; no matter that they are just a heinous and in some cases, more sadistic. Furthermore, it is the people in Beowulf that are the reason for the heinous acts committed by monsters. Both human and monster alike greet each other with violence, making one no better than the other, leading to the belief that the portrayal of the monsters is unfair in order to glorify and justify the violence of humankind. The citizens of the clans wronged all the monsters, Grendel, his unnamed mother, and the dragon, in one way or another, resulting in natural retaliation; natural retaliation being any act of defensive action or warning given to the offender attempting to stake claim on something on their own.

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.

In the Epic Beowulf, composed in the 8th century, the reader follows the protagonist, Beowulf, on a series of adventures to defeat three key monsters. This old English poem uses a series of motifs to help develop its themes, known as dichotomies. Dichotomies, defined as “opposites on the same spectrum,” range from good and evil to young and old, light and dark to Christianity and paganism. All these dichotomies are represented clearly in the text; however the concept of Heroes and Villains can be pulled in many different directions. Although Beowulf is always the hero, it is questionable as to if his three opponents are simply “villains.”

There is so much more at play in Beowulf than just heroism and monstrousness (for lack of a better term) and their interrelation; however, a great deal of the poem’s meaning derives from the parallels between them. It is clear from his depiction in the poem Beowulf that the titular hero is clearly drawn as a parallel to the very monsters he fights. To today’s reader, the poet’s attempt to create this similarity may be off-putting. After all, the meaning of ‘monster’ is likely different than that of ‘hero’ to a contemporary reader. In the context of reading Beowulf, and attempting to understand how a hero could be ‘monstrous,’ is difficult. This is because the term ‘monster’ is generally associated with an ‘evil’ disposition; while the term ‘hero,’ is generally appointed the moral ‘good.’ But in the culture Beowulf was written in, it was possible for a hero to possess monstrous qualities, yet separate himself from the monster’s evil purposes to pursue a social good for his community. One could compare Beowulf with a character like the Marvel comic books superhero The Thing from Fantastic Four. Both utilize supernatural capacities of monster into a mission for the greater good. From reviewing the many parallels drawn by the poet between the heroic and the monstrous, supernatural capacities are not necessarily evil. The intent behind the ability to terrorize, intimidate and destroy something determines whether or not an action is heroic or monstrous, good or evil. Beowulf, in

Throughout Beowulf, the concept of good vs. evil is not only expressed, but is capitalized on continuously. Beowulf is the protagonist in the adventure and has a clearly defined counterpart: Grendel; the “evil” entity. They are put against each other numerous times as a representation of how there will be a never ending quarrel between good and evil. This can be compared to a specifically recent event: the Las Vegas terror attack. Though this may only be one event, the threat of terror attacks has been a constant concern; the Las Vegas, only being more severe and recent. This constant tension between the “terrorists” and the people is just as that of Beowulf and Grendel: never ending.

In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the story’s most universal theme. The storyteller is very clear who is good and who is evil, Beowulf represents the good and the ability to act selflessly when help is needed from others. Good is also shown throughout the epic as having the ability to abolish villainy. Evil is presented by Grendel, his mother, and a dragon, whose purpose in life is to make the lives of humanity a little more miserable.

The story of Beowulf involves a man who accomplishes many unbelievable feats. These feats help to save the Danes from evil beasts. The idea of good and evil opposing one another has been a topic for discussion since man’s existence. This idea is seen all around us in movies (Superheroes vs Villains), the world (ISIS), and religion (God is good, Satan is evil). The story of Beowulf is has the theme of good versus evil imbedded into it also. Beowulf is an Old English epic that has many conflicts between its characters, these conflicts between the characters give the theme of good versus evil in the epic. The conflicts are more than just man versus self or man verves man. The conflicts are man versus evil, as Beowulf is a man who is defending humanity from the beasts of hell. Beowulf along with the rest of humanity is seen as the “good”, whereas the monsters are seen as the “evil”. Beowulf unlike other famous warriors did not fight for his country against others like Achilles, he instead fought against hellish monsters for the sake of man. There are symbols in the epic that represent good, Beowulf himself is a symbol for good. There are outside sources that influence the conflict as well, The Bible’s story of Cain influences the readers to determine his spawns to be evil, as he was. Throughout the novel one theme is extremely clear the theme of good versus evil, it is seen

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 doesn’t 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. Even though evil is presented by Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and the dragon, who are filled with a desire to act against people and ultimately destroy them, even pride, a human quality, is presented in Beowulf as a sign that evil exists. This story might even be considered a classic because it mainly talks about the old fashion

In Beowulf, being a hero or good is associated with being strong, generous, and proud while being evil is not really about morals, it is more about fate and reputation. In the story, the main hero was named Beowulf. When Beowulf sailed to Denmark one of the first questions he was asked was who his father was insinuating your parents are a reflection of you (Raffel 13). Not only did his father have a great reputation but be had a reputation of fighting miraculous monsters and being a great leader as well. He raced against his friend Breca in the sea, fought off nine sea monsters, and managed to stay shoulder to shoulder (Raffel 25). These tales of Beowulf's adventures influenced the way people thought about him. Grendel, the demon, did not have that luxury. Grendel was introduced to the readers as the epitome of evil and starts him off by saying all was good until Grendel suggesting he was the cause of all things bad that