Examples Of Leadership In Beowulf

In the epic poem of Beowulf, many leadership skills and attributes are demonstrated. Beowulf, as the leader of his band of warriors, makes the evidence of excellent leadership skills clear. He sets an example for his band by being a protector of his people in which, he came to them in a time of need (McArthur). He also upholds the standards of truth and justice by taking the life of Grendel (McArthur). Beowulf also leads his band by having an inspirational vision through his behavior and actions (Loughman). His confidence in his abilities is another factor that plays into his role as a leader (Loughman).

Beowulf is a model of leadership for our own times because he is very courageous and his strength is super human like. His skills and traits would not be good in our times though because a leader of a nation in our time doesn’t need to be very courageous and very strong to fight off people or go to war.

Beowulf, the defender of Hrothgar and Heorot, exhibits far more complicated (and less sincere) shades of revenge than the Grendel’s mother. At the end of the day, Beowulf’s goal is to become the preeminent warrior in all the land. In his society, the only way to gain such widespread celebrity is through courageous and self-endangering acts. Beowulf masks these deeds with a façade of seeking revenge; he supposedly comes to Heorot to save the Danes from Grendel’s terror, but his true motives lie in becoming a hero. His reward is not the pride of doing a good deed; Beowulf is rewarded with lavish and expensive gifts.

“Where is the glory in doing something that others have done” (Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief). A quote befitting of the character Beowulf who slew the abomination known as Grendel to save the people of Heorot, then killing his vengeful mother using the sword Hrunting and finally as his last legendary exploit he brought down a mighty dragon to save his kingdom, the most prominent definition of an epic hero and the epitome of what the ideal Scandinavian hero is. On the surface, this may seem like Beowulf is a selfless hero willing to go to great lengths to save the people around him but after deeper analysis of the story, it may be that Beowulf’s pride and search for glory is what truly drives him.

After the first victory, Beowulf’s “comrades willingly go with him because of their confidence in his ability to lead them and to achieve their objectives” (Loughman). Beowulf becomes a role model not only for his thanes, but for the Danes of Heorot as well. Following defeat of Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar gives a sermon before the celebration honoring Beowulf begins. Hrothgar says “Beowulf, my friend, your fame has gone far and wide, you are known everywhere….forever you will be your people’s mainstay and your own warriors’ helping hand” (McArthur). King Hrothgar informs Beowulf of his significance to the Danes and how he serves as the backbone of his group of warriors.

Leadership is the ability of motivating an assembly of people to act towards a common goal and has the skill to make others want to follow in their direction (Ward). The epic Beowulf, contains various scenes of how the protagonist hero, Beowulf, shows great leadership. Beowulf portrays good leadership by his confidence, his physical strength, and his loyalty, which are important qualities of the Anglo-Saxon time.

Beowulf comes from Danish descent who value bravery, heroism, strength, loyalty and fame. Throughout the story, Beowulf embodies each of these traits well. Beowulf is the strongest and greatest warrior in his country before and after he defeats Grendel and Grendel's mother. While both of these victories were done under courage and bravery, it is known that Danish do things for fame and glory. Beowulf performed these acts for the fame and glory to be remembered and therefore requested a monument to be dedicated in remembrance of him and how great he was. The reason to include this monument in honor of Beowulf, was to remind generations after him that he embodied the qualities of strength,courage, and loyalty and for them to fight the forces of evil with the same qualities. Beowulf is the virtuous person who bravely and courageously fought for evil for the sake of his people and for fame. His loyalty to his followers and also his leaders shines through. Overtime, Beowulf’s morality involves a faith in God’s help to win battles against evil.

Leaders now and leaders way back in the day are they all corrupt. How are they viewed now and how are they viewed during the time of beowulf. People may view a leader different during the time of beowulf rather than a leader in today's time. Some people may think that all leaders are corrupt and some may think that only certain leaders are corrupt. The portrayal of Hrothgar during beowulf's time from the canots and how we today criticize leaders from the films and today. Hrothgar is a very respected leader in Beowulf he leads with confidence and takes care of his people. Hrothgar builds a mead-hall for his people to have a good time and drink ale. The people of Hrothgar's kingdom look at him as a respected leader because treats his people well.

In the 21st century a good leader is someone who is courageous, understanding, selfless, fights for other and not themselves and not a person who has a big ego. Throughout history the meaning or definition of a good leader has changed much. In the Anglo – Saxon time period, Beowulf, was considered to be a great leader and a hero according to his people, for risking his life and saving them from evil monsters. But in today’s world and lifestyle and how much things and times have changed, Beowulf would not be considered to be a good leader or a hero.

Beowulf is a great leader of men. This is shown when his men stay with him even when he wants to fight beasts. Even after watching Grendel slaughter everyone, his men stayed loyal to him and tried to help him in the battle. The loyalty of his followers show his skills in leadership. Later in the novel Beowulf becomes king, becoming a recognized leader.

One of the qualities that is expected from a leader is that they possess a firm commitment to succeed in their endeavors. An illustration of this is found in the epic poem, Beowulf. One notable example occurs when Beowulf declares: “I shall fulfill that purpose, / prove myself with a proud deed/ or meet my death here in the mead hall” (Heaney 632-638). In other words, Beowulf explicitly articulates that he will defeat Grendel or die trying.

Based on the readings, I believe that a good hero does not make a good leader. After reading through Beowulf and Hamlet I found that many of the characteristics that made certain characters’ hero’s, did not allow them to become successful leaders. Although many people might think that the words “hero” and “leader” are interchangeable, I found that not to be the case. In the first example, Beowulf suffered from an obsession with personal accomplishment and fame which prevented him from leading his people in a proper way. Hamlet, on the other hand, was a different kind of hero who possessed flaws that stopped him from becoming a good leader. Examples of good hero’s not being good leaders occur in real life as well, not just literature. Many examples of this happening occur in sports where certain players have loads of talent, but no leadership skills.

Beowulf is known as the strongest and bravest hero of the Geats in Sweden. Beowulf showed his loyalty to all as he followed and understood the King of the Danes, Hrothgar, worry. Hrothgar's mead hall was attacked by a powerful monster by the name of Grendel (Puchner 116). When Beowulf found out about this, he quickly left his homeland to slay Grendel and eventually Grendel’s mother, as well; afterwards, he then returned back to his home of Geatland (Puchner 130, 148). Beowulf showed loyalty in three main ways, as he always stays loyal to himself, doing the best possible things to help himself.

Beowulf was also a loyal and noble warrior. Even though he kills Grendel and is ready to go back to his kingdom, he stays when Grendel’s mom attacks. He gave his word to Hrothgar and followed what he said plus more. Beowulf also leads the Geat kingdom for fifty years in peace and prosperity. The book states Beowulf is a “noble protector of all seamen” since he would do whatever he could to get rid of the bad to insure good.

The epic poem of Beowulf, whose author remains unknown, was written around 700 A.D. in England and focused primarily on the Danes and Geats in 500 A.D. Beowulf is about the Geat warrior, Beowulf, who is known for his strength and rigor. With this strength, he led battles to rid his people and the Danes of evil and these key battles helped in establishing Beowulf as a worthy leader. This epic poem, along with placing a great focus on the self-titled Geat warrior, tells of other leaders of that time and how they shaped Beowulf into the leader he eventually becomes by the end of the story. The behavior and reactions of the various leaders in Beowulf relate to their corresponding action logics of leadership, which is found in the article, “The Seven Transformations of Leadership,” written by David Rooke and William R. Tobert, analyzes different groups of leaders. Action logics illustrated in this article are forms of leadership that come from everyday leaders, and also analyze how one uses their skills to achieve goals and lead subordinates. From this article one can relate these following action logics to the corresponding leaders in Beowulf: Heremod, Hrothgar, Siegmund, and Beowulf.