Essay on Epic of Beowulf

Beowulf is an ancient English poem that tells the tale of a young, brave warrior and the victories he obtains throughout his lifetime, up until his death. He is widely regarded as a hero throughout the lands and honorably puts his life on the line multiple times. Throughout the poem, Beowulf’s reasoning for being a hero changes. He begins his journey wanting to be a protector of people, a savior of humankind, but as the poem progresses, there is a distinct change in motivation for Beowulf, becoming more about craving glory and victory over his opponent as opposed to out of pure kindness. Beowulf conveys through this change that while it is worthwhile risking his life and being a hero in order to save his people and carry out his family

Beowulf’s confidence is shown when he battles. Beowulf announces that he will fight Grendel, the evil that has been lurking them for a long time. Nevertheless, 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. Therefore, 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

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

Upon entering the Danes' hall, Herot, Grendel is confronted by Beowulf, who immediately seizes Grendel's arms and drives fear into the monster's heart, "... [Grendel] knew at once that nowhere on earth/ Had he met a man whose hands were harder..." (lines 751-752). Through his slaughter of Grendel, Grendel's mom, the dragon, and other monsters, Beowulf proves his amazing strength to the other characters and to the readers.

In Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, Beowulf’s courageous conquering of several vicious monsters throughout the poem inspires me to continue my journey of getting through difficult times in my own life. Beowulf, a great Geat warrior, has battles with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon, in which he defeated them all with prowess. Beowulf puts aside his ego and wins against these monsters by focusing on protecting the Spear-Danes from the evil forces by himself, not wanting others to get hurt in the process. He perseveres through these tough actions not out of selfish ambition, but in selflessness, saying, “'Tis no matter of yours, and man cannot do it/ But me and me only, to measure his strength with/

The epic poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, provides examples of bravery which were valued during the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is at that time known for his superhuman abilities. From defeating monsters such as those who are descended from Cain, first biblical murderer, and a revenge seeking dragon, Beowulf proves that he exhibits great bravery in everything he does. In this work, Beowulf’s battle against Grendel and the dragon portrays that an effective and noble leader expresses immense bravery by protecting their people while keeping thoughts of fame and glory in mind.

Beowulf demands he is “a match for Grendel, [and will] settle the outcome in single combat.” (425-426) “ ‘To heighten Hygelac’s fame and gladden his heart” Beowulf wants to fight Grendel “ ‘hand-to-hand” in “ ‘a life- and-death fight with the fiend” (433-441).

In this epic poem, Beowulf’s undefeatable courage, loyalty, and heroic strengths comes hand and hand with fate. The obstacles Beowulf encounters, has led him to many accomplishments. Despite all of his bravery, pride, and strength he does not determine the outcome of each struggle. Beowulf believes God influences the reasoning of all his victories. He may come off very confident when coming face to face with his enemies.

Anglo-Saxon heroes are always extremely courageous. Beowulf shows a tremendous amount of courage in this poem. He makes the promise to fight Grendel without using any armor. He declares this by saying “my hands alone shall fight for me”.

He defeats Grendel by holding him “in a handgrip harder than anything / he had ever encountered in any man / on the face of the earth” (750-752). The fact that Beowulf is able to defeat the demon with only his bare hands highlights his physical strength. However, his decision to fight Grendel without weapons speaks towards his confidence as well; the hero knew and believed that he could win this battle by only his pure might. He meets with success yet again while fighting Grendel’s mother. During the fight, he displays superhuman abilities.

Beowulf was a hero that influenced many people’s lives by showing his epic characteristics. He achieves that by undertaking a quest and achieving something of tremendous value. It is evident Beowulf shows the two themes of the living and the dead and the struggle between good and evil through his epic characteristics with his battle with Grendel.

By choosing to ambush his enemies in their moments of vulnerability, Grendel highlights his own lack of ethical standards, as well as his inner cowardice, both shameful traits for a warrior to possess. His tactics of constant war and ignorance with respect to war atonement also feature his savage essence, making him the embodiment of lawlessness. In reference to his opponent, Beowulf states that “‘He has no idea of the arts of war, of shield or sword-play, although he does possess a wild strength. No weapons, therefore, for either this night: unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares. And may the Divine Lord in His wisdom grant the glory of victory to whichever side He sees fit’” (681-687). His decision to battle Grendel without arms exemplifies both his sense of honor in warfare as well as his courage; on a different note, it is also indicative of his intelligence, as none of the other warriors were aware that Grendel’s hide was impervious to weapons. Additionally, Beowulf accepts that the fate of the brawl will ultimately be chosen by God, demonstrating his moral values. As a result, Grendel represents disorder through his cowardly war strategies and his unethical values; Beowulf, on the other hand, symbolizes organized society due to his courtesy in war as well as his valor.

     Some literary scholars maintain that Beowulf developed character flaws through the course of the long narrative poem, and that at the time of his death he was a victim of pride, avarice, selfishness and an inordinate craving for glory. The purpose of this essay is to show that he was a tremendous hero from beginning to end.

Epic heroism is epitomized by the remarkable Anglo-Saxon warrior Beowulf, the protagonist of a powerful poem named for this exemplar. True to a legendary hero, Beowulf embodies qualities of virtue and strength that are unparalleled in the common man. His youth is characterized by awesome displays of physical strength, unmatched by others. Beyond his brawny, unyielding exterior, there exists a compilation of equally mighty virtues that endure and motivate him throughout his life. Beowulf is compelled by loyalty, lineage and honor. He is also motivated by bravery, courage and confidence. Remarkably, it is his boastfulness and pride that may ultimately be a fatal, tragic flaw for this compelling warrior. Indeed, Beowulf’s greatness physically, spiritually and morally make him the ultimate epic hero.

. . .The treatment in the three great fights of the motives of weapons, treasure and society implies a moral idea in which the poet believed: that a man should not trust in the things of this world, for they will fail him. Another aspect of this idea comes out clearly in the account of the first fight: that a man should trust rather in God and in the natural powers God gives him, for these will not fail him(234-37).