Epic of Beowulf Essay

Hrothgar, the king of the Danes is faced with the issue of a horrible monster, Grendel tearing apart his soldiers and causing bloodshed. This is where Beowulf comes along, he is prepared with his men to defeat this monster and when the time comes Beowulf is more than ready to face him. Beowulf

Every character has dramatic battles with their antagonist that they win, until they don’t. Beowulf is a Northern European myth that sings the praises of our hardy hero, Beowulf. Beowulf starts as the young, brash prince of the the Geats who battles the grotesque monster Grendel with his bare hands. Fifty years later, he is the adept King of the Geats and battles a hideous dragon with a sword and iron shield. Throughout these battles, Beowulf makes mistakes and learns from them.

Beowulf discovers this and goes after the witch and battle. Beowulf is at the bottom of the lake and is fighting to death with Grendel’s mother. On page 60, “But her guest discovered that no sword could slice her evil skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless.” The quote explains once Beowulf knew his sword Hrunting had no effect on Grendel’s mother, Beowulf had to come up with another strategy to win the battle. Beowulf’s sword is destroyed while fighting Grendel’s mother, and tries to find a new weapon to fight with. On page 61, the quote says “Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy sword, hammered by the giants, strong and blessed with their magic.” The quote is saying Beowulf uses the Giants strong, heavy, sword to fight Grendel’s mother and savagely cut through the witch’s neck. Now have killed Grendel and his mother. After defeating Grendel’s mother Beowulf decides to claim an award one last time for revenge. Page 62 quotes “Had sent him from Herot, then struck off his head with a single swift blow. The body jerked for the last time, then lay still.” Beowulf has cut off Grendel’s head as an act of revenge and claims the head as his reward and leaves Grendel’s body bleeding. Beowulf has slaughtered two monsters, claimed another prize, and once again saved the

The battles scenes are similar in that they all add to the progression of Beowulf’s complex character. In the fight with Grendel it seems as if he has this godlike power when he goes after Grendel. “The captain of evil discovered himself in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth,” (lines 750-2). When battling Grendel’s mother however he seems weaker because he needed a weapon to kill her. He had said earlier that he “… placed complete trust in his strength of limb and the Lord’s favor,” (lines 669-670). It indicates that Beowulf isn’t as immortal as everyone thinks he is. In the last battle, against the dragon, Beowulf is dressed in full armor and brings a small army with him implying that his enemy is stronger than any others he has faced before. “… I shall be meeting molten venom in the fire he breathes, so I go forth in mail-shirt and shield,” (lines 2522-24). These battles provide Beowulf with huge responsibilities, each getting bigger. Each showing that his mortal being can’t win against the most immortal being. Heroes can have their moments, but in the end they can’t win all the

Another way in which Beowulf represents a characteristic of an epic hero is he travels and fights with a group of people. “So Beowulf chose the mightiest men he could find,/ The bravest and best of the Geats, fourteen/ In all,” (ln. 119-122). Beowulf personally chose the warriors he journeys with himself; although Beowulf is generally the one to conquer the monsters, these soldiers are with him through all of his battles. In The Battle With Grendel, all of the men are sleeping in Herot; yet, when Grendel appears, Beowulf is the one to fight and execute him. The story is similar in The Battle With Grendel’s Mother; his men follow him to the edge of the lake, yet he is the one to explore the lake and fight and kill Grendel’s mother. Likewise, in The Last Battle when Beowulf fights the dragon, he begins fighting with all of his men, yet all but one abandon him. Beowulf obtains a strong group of people that he travels with, yet ultimately he solves problems himself.

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.

Once his mother tries getting the revenge on him that he did on her son by getting him to the point where he can’t handle her strong grip, the “holy God decided the victory (1553-1554).” He returned back on his feet getting a good grip of the heavy sword swings it and results in him cutting through her neck. Accomplishing another big victory, Beowulf and the guards return to land with Grendel’s head and the melted sword surprising everybody by their return. Beowulf stated, “if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal (1657-1658),” allowing the people to know that he almost did not return. Proud of Beowulf, Hrothgar speaks highly of him after being presented with the remains of the sword informing him of the powers and responsibility he has. As he gets older, he begins to realize his responsibilities and that he can no longer fight and protect the people like he used to when the dragon arrives and he refused it, but then states that, “I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open (2513-2515).” Once again going through the tough time, “he could not hold back: one hand brandished the yellow-timbered shield, the other drew his sword (2609-2910),” and with the help of Wiglaf, they defeat

Beowulf is from a time where heros never die. They would live on through stories. There would be amazing tales, poems recited, and songs sung about what the hero had done. To be a hero you had to follow the Anglo-Saxon codes. Which meant showing respect to those who had raised you and in turn helping them when they are in need. It means proving yourself and doing what was expected of you, even when it is something like dieing for your people. To live on through stories, Beowulf fought because of his duty, for glory, and as a sacrifice.

The poem Beowulf includes three battles where Beowulf has to defeat the monsters known as Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon. Although he is successful in defeating the three monsters, his preparation for fighting them, his motivation for going into battle, and the conclusions of the battles demonstrate similarities and differences.

Beowulf would be king, and reign for fifty long years over Geatland. A dragon would soon begin to menace King Beowulf’s kingdom. As an old man, Beowulf would have to suit up once again to slay the monster. Beowulf would not fight alone as Wiglaf and his men would join the king in battle. Beowulf and Wiglaf would slay the mighty dragon, a dagger to its fiery heart would end its life. Even though the mighty dragon had been slain, the same fate to came for old Beowulf. As he lies there, in the last minutes of his life he asks Wiglaf to bring the dragon’s riches to him. As Beowulf passed he asked Wiglaf to build him a tower. A tower to remember his greatness, his courage, and his fame. The task would be completed. A mighty tower would be built, filled with the dragon’s riches along with his other possessions.

The story of Beowulf is one of a great hero. Beowulf is a very generous person who is always willing to help out when people are in need. Over the course of the story, Beowulf ends up in three major battles: the battle with Grendel, with Grendel’s mother, and with the dragon. All of these battles were different in their style and the way Beowulf approached them was different. Beowulf also had different reasons to participate in each of the battles.

However, their sleep did not last long. During the night, Grendel’s mother came to avenge her son’s death. She enters the hall and grabs Aeschere and her son’s arm. Beowulf goes to follow her and swims for an entire day in her pool before he sees the bottom of the mere. When Beowulf descends into Grendel’s mere, he loses ground as the fight progresses. It is then assumed that Beowulf is fighting desperately for his life. Then, the water closed over him. It was “the space of a day,” before he could see the bottom of the mere (Burlin 121). The hero’s physical powers grow far beyond human dimensions. Beowulf is about to attempt to use a weapon although they were useless against her; “then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy sword...but so massive that no ordinary man could life its carved and decorated length” (72). Once he is in Grendel’s mother’s mere, Beowulf remains underwater for more than a day (Burlin 120). Finally, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother, and her blood melts his sword (Bloom 16).

In his three major battles, Beowulf fights for many different reasons. His motivation varies, and as he grows older and wiser his attitude toward these battles also changes. Throughout the epic, Beowulf bradoshously beats Grendel, then more methodically murders Grendel’s mother, and with his last breathes humbly hollers for help to slay the dragon. This shows that Beowulf’s early focuses of glory and riches changes as he becomes a weathered warrior acknowledges that he cannot defeat his enemies alone and must utilize the resources provided to him such as armor, magical items, and companions.

The story starts off by presenting each man as beast who loves to fight . Sooner than ever Beowulf a young warrior who was left alone to grow with his father's inherits beside him such as his father's throne , and his name to up hold to the highest degree and in which he does. From the beginning of the tale Beowulf gets into an altercation with a guy name Grendel and in the midst of the fight Beowulf rips off Grendel's arm from his body. This in particular shows his man power , that not only is Beowulf a man but he is also part beast. Meaning he destroyed Grendel like a vicious animal. Beowulf is then applauded by others who shows him a little fun due to the killing of Grendel . Sooner than ever as the tale goes on Beowulf gets into another altercation with Grendel's mother who is highly upset with the death of her son . Beowulf later sees Grendel's mother in a cave. He tries to hit her with his sword, the sword fails to puncture her skin. So he throws the sword down and attacks Grendel’s mother with his bare hands. As he trusts his masculinity Beowulf manages to throw Grendel's mother down; however, she quickly retaliates and is sitting on top of Beowulf. Grendel mother then tries to kill Beowulf with a dagger, but Beowulf's armor protects him. As he throws Grendel’s mother off he sees a gigantic sword immediately grabs it . Low and behold The great masculine Beowulf

The many adventures take place in Denmark and Geatland. Beowulf first fights Grendel in Denmark unarmed and defeats him. While still in Denmark, Beowulf goes underwater to Grendel’s mother’s lair to defeat her. In Geatland, Beowulf encounters the dragon for a fight to the finish. Although he was victorious, he paid the ultimate price, that price being his life. Moments after being bitten on the neck by the dragon, he succumbed to death.