Character Archetypes In Beowulf

“A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway”-Joseph Campbell. Stories have so much power connect you to another world and teach you lessons that are needed throughout history. Archetypes give the story a focal point and shape the lesson the author is trying to get across. When ideals get embedded into stories, usually it’s when the hero does something noble and valiant so they want their readers to follow in his footsteps. The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Medieval Christian King Arthur display many archetypes and ideals to shape the story and make it exciting. The Beowulf and King Arthur storytellers use archetypes to create stories with suspense and have their heroes display values of loyalty to their respective listeners.

Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic in British literature. Written by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, Beowulf tells the riveting adventures of a Scandinavian warrior in the sixth century. Under the rule of Hrothgar, a powerful Danish king, the Danes suffer from the invasion of Grendel, an evil monster. Beowulf, a warrior from the Kingdom of Geats, crosses the ocean, with an army, to help defeat Grendel. Beowulf is a fairytale because it includes archetypes and motifs, has good versus evil characters, and features royalty within its fairy-tale like setting.

The Anglo-Saxons’ cultures and traditions are rooted in their beliefs of the perfect hero. Their ideal hero has many key characteristics influenced by their culture including courage, strength, bravery, thick skin, loyalty, humbleness, and the ability to create strong trustworthy friendships. Beowulf is an epic poem that exhibits the ideal Anglo-Saxon hero. The Anglo-Saxon traditions illustrated in Beowulf accurately represent the Anglo-Saxon traditions of the time period. This is accomplished through the distinct correlation of heroic characteristics between Beowulf and the culture’s traditional depiction of an Anglo-Saxon hero.

One of the first pieces of British literature recorded is the epic poem Beowulf. The poem concentrates on the life of the adventurous Geat warrior, Beowulf. Beowulf faces several challenges throughout the poem that depict him as a man who would go to extreme lengths to accumulate fame. While creating a legend for himself, Beowulf and other characters within the poem reveal several values of the Anglo-Saxons. These values include their belief in boasting, revenge, and loyalty.

Beowulf is a hero, and we all know a hero when we see one. There are many traits and characteristics that make someone a hero. These traits and characteristics are more expressed in ancient epics and poems. Beowulf is one of the most famous ancient Anglo-Saxon poems still taught to this day in schools and colleges all over the world. The story starts off of how a man by the name of Beowulf receives news that a neighboring land is being terrorized by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf shows several characteristics of here such as, bravery, loyalty, generosity, friendship, and showing a high level of intellect. Beowulf first shows his heroic character through his bravery while journeying on his epic quest. There are several cases where he is not afraid, and instead of being frightened, he shows great bravery. An example of from the poem is, “Instead, they inspected omens and spurred his ambitions to go, whilst he moved about like the leader he was, enlisting men, the best he could find; with fourteen others the warrior boarded the boast as captain” (Beowulf 205-210). This quote gives proof of his bravery because he was the head of the group leading his men. Beowulf proves that even he himself must be brave in order to lead the bravest of men into battle.

Lucy Deadman explores the existence of archetypes across all literary text types and how they revisit from our childhood by pressing replay in our lives.

In the Beowulf poem the battle scenes are described more vividly descriptive and including a lot of symbolism. The first fight is between Beowulf and Grendel, "a fiend out of hell, […] grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Clain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts." (p. 6) Beowulf sets out to kill this monster in order to achieve fame. He isn't forced to do so, especially as Grendel doesn't attack the Geats (his clan) but the Danes. Nevertheless Beowulf settles out to destroy the demon and declares that he will fight Grendel there is a feast: "Now I mean to be a match for Grendel, settle the outcome in single combat." (p. 15) Afterwards there is a feast in Hereot and at dusk Beowulf prepares for the fight and awaits Grendel's attack. "Then down the brave man lay with his bolster under his head and his whole company of sea rovers at rest beside him." Beowulf's companions stay at his side and this is a symbol for their closed circle of society. The Germanic culture is based on the

Beowulf, the wonderful--yet very tragic--epic poem expresses the true importance of heroes and outcasts within any given myth. A hero is a character who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; while an outcast is a character who is separated from society due to a physical impairment or an emotional or physiological realization that makes him/her different. These characters are also known as archetypal characters. Some of these characters include Beowulf, Wiglaf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother--all of which are essential to the completion of Beowulf. For a myth to be successful, an outcast and hero must be present because each plays a significant role in the storyline.

In the opening lines of the poem, the reader is introduced to Grendel and is immediately given the impression that Grendel is not the protagonist. “A powerful monster living down in the darkness, growled in pain, impatient as day after day the music rang loud in that hall” (Beowulf lines 1-4). When the author says “Living down in the darkness” he is making a reference to hell. The reader knows right away that it is Grendel whom the author condemns. Also the reader learns in the beginning that Grendel comes out of his layer at night. This is symbolic of being mischievous, and a criminal. “Then when the darkness had dropped, Grendel went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors would do in that hall when the drinking was done” (Beowulf lines 30-32). These characteristics of Grendel in the opening lines of the poem add to the condemning of Grendel. When the reader first see’s Beowulf preparing for battle, the poet gave no inclination of condemnation. In fact he speaks of Beowulf quite honorably: “Standing on that prince’s own hearth, Helmeted, the silvery metal of his mail shirt gleaming with a smith’s high art, he greeted The Dane’s great lord” (Beowulf lines 138-141). The poet uses many light images when describing Beowulf, much like he did here when describing Beowulf’s “silvery metal of his mail shirt”. If the poet condemned Beowulf, this type of positive

Beowulf showed his honor as he traveled from his homeland to battle the vicious monster Grendel, who was terrorizing the Danes. Grendel “Raided and ravaged” the mead hall, showing no honor by killing intoxicated men in their sleep. Beowulf knows that there is a chance that he may die in his great battle against Grendel when he says, “If death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac…”, yet he is still willing to attempt to defeat Grendel. A hero in the Anglo-Saxon time is always very confident, as well he should be. It would serve no purpose to face battle with doubt of ones ability to do so, and with fear of all that awaits him. Beowulf’s morality came also in the form of loyalty to people and his word. Promises by Beowulf were kept . Acceptance of death, and care for the welfare of his people were Beowulf’s greatest virtues. His

In the Anglo Saxon epic poem Beowulf, written down by two Christian monks, archetypes are highly prevalent and the hero archetype is filled by the main character Beowulf, this position being filled by Beowulf is very heavily throughout the book. One example of this position being filled is his close following to the hero’s quest. Throughout the book he closely follows many of the stages of the hero's quest such as his repeated cycle of fighting evil after defeating it already, we first see this with grendel, then grendel's mom and then the dragon, in the hero's quest the hero constantly has to fight off evil as he is the only one who is able to do it. The first quote in which we see this fighting of evil happen is “So times were pleasant for the people there/ until finally one, a fiend

Beowulf Archetypes Beowulf is the first surviving epic in English history. It is filled with Archetypes, mainly because it was what other stories were based on. There are situational, symbolic, and character archetypes throughout the entire story. The Quest archetype is the fundamental archetype of the poem.

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 on Beowulf and his actions in an adventure to repay a debt owed by his father to Hrothgar, a Danish king. A gargantuan monster that is terrorizing Hrothgar’s mead hall is Beowulf’s target and Beowulf sails across the sea to aid his father’s

"The incitement to violence depends on the total transvaluation of the ordinary values. By a single stroke, the most criminal acts must be converted to heroic and meritorious deeds" (Gardner 117). Red Horse, Hrothulf’s adviser, describes perfectly the black and white Anglo-Saxon culture that leaves Grendel confused and alone. John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, pushes the idea of a world of gray where neither hero nor villain exists, everyone a combination of damning and redeeming traits. Although Gardner includes some elements of Anglo-Saxon culture such as boasts and raids upon other nations, he satirizes them so they are viewed as meek attempts at comfort in a world where everything is meaningless.

In the epic poem Beowulf, there are characters that assume mythological and or archetypal roles. Some of these roles may include the hero, scapegoat, loner/outcast, temptress, goddess-like figure, and a possible spirit. The hero character is one who is larger than life, brave, courageous, and relatable to the audience. During the hero’s quest (journey), the hero will abandon the world they are comfortable and familiar with to go to a new one to help. The outcast character is one who is separated from society due to a real or imagined crime against society. The outcast may be shunned for actions or behaviors, leaving them even more lonely or angry. Both the hero and the outcast play an important role in the storyline of the epic poem, Beowulf.