Courage Quotes In Beowulf

In the epic Beowulf courage is an on going theme that is shown throughout the entire story. By definition courage is the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes on ones own will and determination. There are many things form the epic that could be used to prove this statement, but I chose to use the section entitled "The Final Battle." In this section there are two great speeches given by both Beowulf and Wiglaf. I believe that in both of these monologues courage is portrayed by the two warriors, and it is easy to see why.

Beowulf, now an old man, says in his final boast, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old, now, but I will fight again” (lines 607-609). Beowulf realizes the dangers of going into battle as an old man, and despite still knowing that his strength and fighting skills were not what they used to be still goes into battle against the ferocious dragon in order to protect his homeland from the villain. Unfortunately, as Beowulf was fighting saw that “for a time (the shield) held, protected Beowulf as he’d planned; then it began to melt, and for the first time in his life that famous prince fought with fate against him, with glory denied him. He knew it, but he raised his sword and struck at the dragon’s scaly hide/And the Geats’ ring-giver did not boast of glorious victories in other wars” (lines 666-671/678). As Beowulf fights the dragon, he comes to realize that he is not going to win and is going to meet his fate. All the battles he had previously fought had him fighting alongside fate, not against it, but now he realized that this is the battle he would not win. Still, Beowulf fights on knowing he would die. He, as stated in the quote, does not seek any pride nor has he in any of his battles and would valiantly fight until his death. These actions Beowulf has portrayed ultimately

He showed courage by risking his own life to help Hrothgar and the people of Herot by volunteering to fight Grendel. Beowulf states “That I alone, and with the help of my men, may purge all the evil from this hall” (pg.48). He also showed courage by fighting the dragon, even though he was getting too old, he still wanted to help and fight the dragon. He stated “I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, if the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me” (pg.56-57). Beowulf exemplified having courage by putting down his weapons and armor in the battle between him and Grendel, he wanted to fight him equally considering Grendel had no weapons. He made it a battle of strength and he displayed courage by believing in himself and taking a risk in fighting against Grendel. Beowulf was very full of courage, which he proved by fighting in his battles and risking his life for the sake of others.

Finally, after many years, Beowulf goes on to face his final opponent; the Dragon. After the Dragon has been set on a rampage against the Geats, Beowulf declares in his last boast that, selfishly, he will defeat the Dragon alone, “Beowulf spoke, made a formal boast for the last time: I risked my life often when I was young. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning” (2510-14). Beowulf’s emphasis in his formal boast is about “the glory of winning” instead of expressing concern for his people. Beowulf, this entire time, has not been fighting monsters for the Geats or to help others. In this formal boast he directly reveals his true intentions of gaining glory. He even states right afterwards that if he were stronger he would fight the dragon without a weapon, just as he did Grendel, “I would rather not use a weapon if I knew any other way” (2518-19), but alas he has grown old and realizes he needs the help of a blade to slay the Dragon. Then he speaks to his comrades about the battle, stating that he alone will fight the Dragon and must either win the fight with courage or

Not only is Beowulf honorable and well respected, he is brave as well. His courage is shown by not hesitating to risk his own life to pursue the Dane’s enemies. By being self-assured, Beowulf is able to successfully defeat the fiends, Grendel and his infamous mother. At the time Beowulf is planning to pursue the vindictive dragon, the epic poem states, “I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles. I am old now, but I will fight again, seek fame still, If the dragon hiding in his tower dares to face me.”(ll. 2511-2515). He feels no fear, is confident in fighting the dragon alone, and has no qualms in risking his life to save others. He declares his bravery by saying, “When he comes to me I mean to stand, not run from his shooting flames, stand till fate decides which of us wins... No one else could do what I mean to, here, no man but me could hope to defeat this monster.”(ll. 2525-2534). In his actions, Beowulf’s bravery is clearly shown throughout the poem.

This shows Beowulf’s strength, courage and fearlessness. Through this it is evident that he possess courageous traits.

unless the burning embrace of a fire engulf it in flame” (777-781). This shows his strength was outstanding when he fought with Grendel. Another example is when Beowulf’s duty is to fight in battles against people or creatures, he does not deny a challenge. In the poem, it states “Inspired again by the thought of glory, the war-king threw his whole strength behind a sword-stroke and connected with the skull” (2677-2680). This shows his strength and his values because Beowulf is keeping in mind that he has fame and glory to gain, so he fights every battle he is ordered.

Beowulf’s virtues of courage and strength appear throughout the poem during his life as a warrior and as a king. He begins the story with courage and “the strength of thirty / in the grip of each hand” (380-381), which are vital to his accomplishments as a warrior. His courage and strength are apparent when he fights Grendel without the use of weapons. Both virtues are crucial to his success in that battle and lead him to become a leader of wisdom and stature. As king of Heorot he uses his courage and strength in the battle against the dragon. Before the fight he has a feeling of uncertainty and it is stated “He was sad at heart / unsettled yet ready, sensing his death. / His fate hovered near, unknowing but certain: / It would soon claim his coffered soul.” (2419-2424). His sense of forthcoming death may illustrates a lack of confidence in his ability to slay the dragon; however, it also shows tremendous courage by involving himself in an unevenly matched fight. Although his physical strength may have abandoned him in his last fight against the dragon, his courage and wisdom intensified his glory beyond his death.

Michael Hyatt once stated that, “courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act in spite of the fear”. This quote can be simply connected to Beowulf. Beowulf was originally just a story that was told and passed down from generation to generation. The time period that the story was written in is unknown and so is the author. Even though the author is unknown many different translations have been written and are based on the original translation that was discovered . The story takes place during the Anglo Saxon period and is very brutal. The story is about a courageous warrior who gains alot of fame and honor by fighting different monsters. The story itself only describes three battles but it has many flashbacks to the hero’s

Beowulf has confidence when he battles. Beowulf announces that he will fight Grendel, the evil that has been lurking them for a long time. However; Beowulf says he will fight with his bare hands instead of using weapons (Lines 400-490). This shows how he is brave enough to challenge Grendel with a single combat with only hands and in the end, he wins. Another example is when Beowulf boasts, Unferth interrupts him and insults him. Then Beowulf replies, “The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen and courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity, attacks on your king, havoc in Heorot and horrors everywhere” (590-595). This is an example of where he shows courage because he corrects Unferth and makes him look as a fool for not stating the truth of what actually happened. Also, this explains while they were swimming he was fighting off sea creatures along their swim, which is why he lost. According to Heaney, Beowulf shows courage when he believes he can defeat the dragon. During when Beowulf fights the dragon, it states, “Yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague. He had scant regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all its courage and strength, for he had kept going often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every

In Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, courage is undoubtedly the most important trait a man could have. The Geats thrived for 50 years under the powerful and courageous reign of King Beowulf. However, the Danes suffered through twelve winters under Grendel because of King Hrothgar’s fear. The strength and bravery of a strong leader and warrior can lead many countries to peace and power. Throughout Beowulf, many characters exhibit courage, which increases their morale on the battlefield and leads to victory.

Beowulf in Beowulf and King Arthur in The Once and Future King both exhibit their courageousness. Arthur shows his courage when he fights the army of King Lot. “In the morning, almost before they were formed, Arthur was on them. In conformity with his own tactics, he sent only a small troop of forty spears to start the work.” The excerpt shows Arthur decides to still go to battle despite Lot’s army being vaster than his own. Beowulf shows his courageousness when he fights Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. “‘I’ve never known fear, as a youth I fought/In endless battles. I am old, now,/But I will fight again,seek fame still,” This extract shows Beowulf’s courage before he goes into battle. Beowulf tells

In the epic poem, Beowulf, the main character, Beowulf, can be seen as one of the most prime and pure examples of an epic hero due to his almighty courage.

Courage is certainly a trait which every hero must possess, particularly because no one wants a hero who is a coward. Thankfully, Beowulf is no coward. When Beowulf hears of Grendel’s exploits in Denmark, he travels to the “distant” land, without hesitation, to rid the Danes of that “demon…conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God”. Beowulf’s courage is displayed even more when he chooses not to fight with weapons, despite knowing

When Beowulf arrives to the land of the Danes, as soon as they dock and get off of their ship Beowulf shows his courage instantly by taking the lead and explaining to the guards that watched out for raiders and enemy ships approaching who they were and where they were from so that they may advance to the Heorot which he had heard much about. After they get inside Heorot Beowulf truly shows his courage when he tells Hrothgar about all of the triumphs he had when he was younger and how when he heard of their problem with Grendel and how he planned to be a match for him so that he could be the one to bring peace back to Heorot. He also explains how he isn't afraid of death because if he is going to die it will happen whether he wants it to or not and by doing this he gives king Hrothgar peace by knowing that he is courageous enough to take on this challenge and not be afraid by the terror that his people have been facing for the last 12 years.