Bravery And Themes Vrence In Beowulf's Vengeance

It was a lot of hate and revenge going on between the characters in Beowulf. The poet of the epic poem Beowulf used revenge to drive to the poet. To illustrate the plot of Beowulf the author added many cases of vengeance starting with Beowulf vs. Grendel.

Beowulf shows his wisdom in two other ways in this same battle with Grendel. For instance, Beowulf fights with only his hands (Beowulf 48). Countless warriors have tried to defend themselves against Grendel with swords and shields. Beowulf knows this and knows that not once has Grendel been touched by a blade. So, Beowulf fights with only his hands in this great and terrible battle. Beowulf does not rely on any weapon or anyone besides himself and it works wonders for him. Beowulf also makes another strong strategic decision. He never releases Grendel’s arm (Beowulf 48). If Beowulf had released the monster’s arm there is no doubt he would have died. Beowulf would have been ripped apart by Grendel’s sharp claws. Instead, Beowulf proves his battle wisdom and never lets his grip slip off of that arm until it is severed from Grendel’s body. Beowulf shows that he has that trait of being able to use his wisdom in battle during his fight with Grendel.

Anglo-Saxon culture consisted of receiving fame, glory, and wealth through acts of vengeance and courage. “Beowulf” portrays these parts in great detail and shows how destabilizing it can be. Through acts of vengeance, a never ending war occurs.

A hero is one who is not only strong, but one who uses his strength to uphold others. A hero is humble, philanthropic, magnanimous and selfless, a humanitarian at best. In the unprecedented epic Beowulf, the tale’s namesake exemplifies every characteristic befitting an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is honest, loyal, and courageous. He portrays these characteristics in the battle against Grendel, the affray with Grendel’s mother, and the fight against the dragon that inevitably ended his life.

First, Beowulf shows his loyalty to human kind when he defeats Grendel, a monster who terrorizes King Hrothgar's men. Beowulf formulated an intricate plan to defeat the monster who continuously attacks Hrothgar's men, while they were sleeping at the mead-hall. When Beowulf encounters Grendel, when he attacks the mead hall, he is described as,“flooded with fear-but nothing could take his talons and himself from that tight hard grip”(Beowulf,435) This shows the negative emotions and pains that Grendel experiences as he confronts Beowulf, his most powerful adversary. The strong grip that Beowulf squeezes Grendel by can be interpreted as Beowulf’s loyalty to the people who have been constantly terrorized by Grendel, and also the amount of anger

In fact, vengeance plays such a pinnacle role in Beowulf that Beowulf himself states, “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (Beowulf, 1384-1385, 37). In an act of retaliation for the terrorization of Herot, Bowulf seeks out, and eventually murders, Grendel. Grendel’s mother then attacks Herot, in retaliation for the murder of her son. Beowulf then kills Grendel’s mother to avenge those she killed during her conquest of Herot. Hrothgar encourages Beowulf to seek out vengeance by saying, “My household guards / are on wane, fate sweeps them away / into Grendel’s clutches- but God can easily / halt these raids and harrowing attacks” (Beowulf,476-469, 14). In this verse Hrothgar suggest that, with God’s aide, Beowulf can easily overtake Grendel. After slaying Grendel, Beowulf’s victorious act of vengeance was celebrated with a massive feast at Herot and rewarded with an invaluable amount of

Vengeance is an important value that causes many misfortune in the story of Beowulf. It brings not only Beowulf, but many others, fame and glory, plus, wealth as well. It is not a sustainable value for it brings everyone in the story only destruction. The tribes that have been bonded together by this value get destroyed but it. The value of vengeance ties courage to it since it takes courage to follow through with someone’s desire for vengeance.

Beowulf does not fail his people, even at the last, when as an old man

Beowulf is the oldest piece of Anglo Saxon literature. Due to this fact, Beowulf must offer us a lot of information about how life was during these times. One theme that appears in every fight that Beowulf engages in is revenge ethic. Revenge ethic is an honor bound system used by the Anglo Saxons in which someone could avenge the death of a person close to them. Revenge ethic is shown in this book during Grendel’s fight, Grendel’s moms fight, and in Beowulf's justification to fight the monsters.

Beowulf shows his bravery many times throughout the epic poem. He arrives in Denmark to fight a monster that has killed dozens, and no one has been able to even damage. The king of the Danes says, “Many times men have come here, sat at my banquet table, drank my ale, and claimed that they would stop Grendel, and every time my hall has wound up covered in their blood.” (Beowulf chapter, 7) But this did not faze Beowulf and he still intended to fight Grendel.

Beowulf is the epic story of a young hero who battles the monster Grendel and his mother. Beowulf, a prince of the Geats, the son of Ecgtheow who voyages to Heorot, the hall of Hrothgar, king of the Danes and the great grandson of the hero Scyld Scefing. There at Heorot, Beowulf destroys the monster Grendel, who for twelve years has haunted the hall by night and slain all he found therein. When Grendel's mother, in revenge, makes an attack on the hall, Beowulf seeks her out and kills her in her home beneath the waters.

Looking back at early forms of literature we notice the classic idea of heroism in Beowulf. As time passes by the notion of a hero changes. Consciousness in early literature such as, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, does not enter the innermost thoughts. The notion of a hero and the notion of consciousness changes within literature through time. In the novel, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen the hero is portrayed differently compared to earlier texts as well as the characters being aware of one’s environment. The author Jane Austen, carefully shapes her characters’ actions, feelings and affiliations in a specific way. In Sense and Sensibility we have a clearer picture of the consciousness of characters than what we see in Beowulf or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

In society, dwelling upon material goods usually connotes shallowness, and the pursuit of riches is often prefigured as an inclination towards greediness. However, in Beowulf, the collective reverence for wealth plays a defining role in the acts of heroism and manifestation of power. In fact, the poem oftentimes professes the idea of wealth and glory, most cherished, as an embodiment of strength and obedience among cultural values.

The historical poem of Beowulf not only reveals to us the importance cultural values of the warrior society, but also the importance of literature. The warrior culture at this time reflects the values of the society of the 6th century. There are a couple of key features of Beowulf’s characterization that reflect what was important in Anglo-Saxon society. For example. Beowulf comes across as arrogant and bigheaded, but Anglo-Saxon society valued the daring and confident young man who was proud of his actions and could use his past experiences and journeys to motivate himself toward future success. Our modern world leans towards modesty rather than arrogance. Anglo-Saxon society also believed in a concept of revenge that resulted in a vicious cycle. If someone killed one of your men, you were obligated to avenge their death, but then that group could come back and avenge that death and so on. This is shown in Beowulf by the killing of Grendel and then Grendel’s mother seeking revenge. The only reason this cycle was broken is because there wasn’t anyone else to

The epic poem Beowulf, is an Angelo Saxon tale that represents heroism and strength. This poem was written be an unknown poet between around 1000 A.D and showcases the heroic character named Beowulf who comes to save the land of Danes from the beast Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel and then faces his mother the evil monster who is killed as well and is viewed by all the people of Dane as a hero who can never be beaten. An evil Dragon comes and Beowulf is able to kill the Dragon but sacrifices his own life as he is killed by the Dragon’s poison. Beowulf is about more than heroism this epic poem shows true English narration, represents Angelo-Saxon religion, and depicts women’s roles in Anglo-Saxon society