perfect hero. Beowulf is the mythical son of Edgetho and later becomes the king of the Geats. In the poem, Beowulf's shows heroism in two different phases of his life, youth and old age. Throughout the poem, Beowulf faces three difficult conflicts with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon. Throughout the novel Beowulf is a noted and respected warrior from Geatland. During Beowulf's youth, he is considered to be a great warrior, portrayed by his strength, courage, and bravery. Beowulf begins
personal gain. He explains his encounter with Grendel’s mother when he returns to Geatland and King Hygelac, “it was hand-to hand between us, then the blood went curling along the currents and I beheaded Grendel’s mother...with a mighty sword” (145). Beowulf’s description is not embellished in any way; his portrayal of events is plainly spoken. The unembellished telling further illustrates how he is an extraordinary individual as this story could easily be exaggerated. Beowulf does not need to glorify
Ms. Hamscher AP Lit Pd. 2 11/12/12 Beowulf: The Man, the Legend, the Hero Beowulf is an epic poem whose earliest surviving copy was written in 1000 A.D. The story consists of three thousand one hundred and eighty two lines that follow the life of the title character. The original author of the epic poem is unknown mainly because it started as a verbal tale passed down orally through the ages. Finally someone wrote it down in a document now called the Nowell Codex. The epic tale is centered
Hygelac. Hrothgar accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and invites him and his men to enjoy a feast. During the feast, Beowulf and a Dane named Unferth get into a little argument and Beowulf belittles him in every aspect. As night time approaches, the Danes leave Bewulf and his men alone in the hall. Beowulf lays unarmed with his men waiting for Grendel to arrive. Grendel finally slams open the hall doors with a rage of fury and immediately kills one of Beowulf’s men. Then Grendel reaches out
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. The separation is the first stage a hero must go through in his or her journey
multiple different quests in hopes to overcome three obstacles. The most significant distinction in Beowulf’s Hero Quest and the typical Hero’s Quest is the different quests Beowulf experienced throughout the poem. Most hero’s go through one quest attempting to defeat one person or obstacle. In Beowulf, there are three main antagonists: Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the dragon. Beowulf underwent multiple quests while attempting to defeat all three antagonists in this epic poem. The first step
warrior hero of two monsters and a dragon. However, dragons and monsters are not part of the Christian religion, so if the story were Christian, there would be no Grendel, his mother, or the dragon at all. Yet the entire story is based around these three characters. We cannot dismiss the fact that these beings are present in the story, nor can we ignore the fact that these beings are in no way Christian. Finally, the allusion to poison helps prove that this epic is pagan as well. Beowulf is killed
this description is how God made light and dark, land and ocean, plant and animal, and finally the ultimate creation, man. God gave the gift of free will to all of His children. Beowulf relies on God’s will and his own strength in his three battles. Beowulf’s first battle is against the evil monster, Grendel. “Beowulf trusts in his own strength as much as in God’s grace in his battle” (Chickering 272). After his first battle, “A pang of mortality strikes Beowulf as he looks back at the splendid
narrative, more than three thousand lines long, concerning the deeds of the Scandinavian prince, also called Beowulf, and it stands as one of the foundation works of poetry in English. Beowulf is obviously a creation of the poet, through partial comparisons have been made between him and somewhat similar characters in folklore and Icelandic sagas. As related to other characters in the poem, he would probably have been shortly before 500 and died as a very old man. That Beowulf's origin is obscure
mother or son. (75)” Receiving fame through a great feat in war was a best way for a warrior to achieve honor in death. Each character was defined by a status, and that status was in a formation of their fame, their accomplishments. In this case, Beowulf’s fame was created by the many great deeds and battles he’s fought. “Of sea-huge monsters I killed. What man, anywhere under Heaven’s high arch, has fought in such darkness, endured more misery or been harder? (41)” In the Anglo-Saxon culture, it was