How Does Beowulf Fight With Grendel's Mother

Another obvious heroic characteristic that Beowulf portrays is the defeat of monsters and other malevolence. He does this throughout the story, not only using brute force, but also cunning tactics, such as the time when he attacks Grendel’s extremely sensitive ears. Beowulf also disposes of Grendel’s Mother, using a gigantic sword in her lair to decapitate her, and ends the reign of terror on the Danes. Years later, after Beowulf is crowned King, his land is assailed by the Dragon. This epic battle proves just how valiant Beowulf actually is, going after the beast single-handedly, instead of endangering any of his men. It is a long, hard-fought battle, in which Beowulf contests with all his might. Beowulf ultimately kills the Dragon –rips out its heart-, but not without a price; the battle costs the King his life.

Beowulf sees Grendel's mother in a cave. He tries to hit her with his sword, Unferth's Hrunting, but it fails to pierce her skin. So he throws the sword away and attacks the mother with his bare hands. He trusts "in his strength, his mighty hand-grip." Beowulf manages to throw Grendel's mother down; however, she quickly retaliates and is soon sitting on top of him. She tries to kill him with a dagger, but Beowulf's armor protects him this time. Beowulf managed to throw her off of himself and sees a sword of enormous size, which he immediately grabs.

Though the jaunt was difficult, Beowulf was relentless in his pursuit. When he reached Grendel’s mother, the battle was long and hard, but the hero refused to surrender. He fought until the disconcerted mother gave up and died. As a token of his feat, Beowulf took a jewel-studded sword from the cave. To further celebrate his heroic feat, he decapitated Grendel and kept his head as a souvenir of his triumph.

In Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, treasure and weaponry were of great importance to the people of that time. During the Anglo-Saxon period (410 to 1066 A.D.), gold treasures and swords were distributed to show loyalty and trust among a kingdom’s great warriors (“Beowulf Project - Archeology” 1). For biblical figures, such as Jesus and his disciples, treasure represented wealth and weaponry showed the ability to fight against Satan (“What Does the Bible Say about GOLD?” 1). In today’s society, treasure represents the success and riches one possesses while weaponry can be seen as strength or even arrogance. No matter what period in history, treasure and weaponry play a role and its importance is ever changing.

After fifty years of what seems to be peace, the dragon appears to reign terror on Beowulf’s kingdom that he has taken power of. A robber had taken the dragon’s treasure that it was peacefully protecting prior to its terror. By this time, Beowulf is around ninety years of age. He knows it will be a tough fight, and therefore brings warriors along with him. After he calls the fierce dragon out of its cave, all but one of the warriors flee the scene. It is only Beowulf and a man named Wiglaf “Watching Beowulf, he could see How his king was suffering, burning. Remembering Everything his lord and cousin had given him,Armor and gold and the great estates Wexstan’s family enjoyed, Wiglaf’s Mind was made up”(Beowulf 107). Together, they slay the dragon, but Beowulf dies at the end too, making Wiglaf the king. The dragon was protecting the treasure and the thief did not steal for his own desire, it was for his masters in which he was beaten by “But the thief had not come to steal; he stole, And roused the dragon, not from desire But need, He was someone’s slave, had

Beowulf relies on both God’s will and his own strength in his three battles which demonstrates a heavenly connection to what is considered to be good. Beowulf’s first battle is against the evil monster, Grendel and he claims to trust in his own strength as much as in God’s grace for his battle. Beowulf was showing humility because he knows that he is human and could have been easily killed. The Bible speaks about humility in 1 Peter 5:5 which states that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Beowulf’s actions can be seen as Christ-like just as Grendel and his mother provide a sense of Satan.

Beowulf the central character, by the completion of the tale also imbues the qualities of a leader. He is already revered Beowulf begins the journey as a well-known prince there are already tales of his exploits throughout the world such as his swimming match with Breca as the story grows as does Beowulf’s reputation and age. Beowulf’s seemingly omnipotent powers are questioned thrice in his lifetime, once during his match with Grendel; Beowulf tears his arm off in a bare-armed match. Also, during his match with Grendel’s mother under the water in the swamp a few miles from Heorot and fifty winters after his with Grendel when Beowulf fights the dragon. He sacrifices his life in order to protect his country from the mistake of an unknown thief. Beowulf is alone in each battle and legend, during his final battle the only

Beowulf is also shown to be a man of God when he states that whatever happens, its Gods will. After he battles Grendel's mother, he says to his companions, " ...if God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal." (line 1657-1658). Through all of his battles, he shows a respect for God, which proves that he knows that he is not invincible, and appreciates the gift that he was given.

To begin, one of the many ways that Beowulf was different than Grendel is that Beowulf was brave. Every night Grendel snuck into Herot Hall to destroy King Hrothgar’s men. He did this while hiding in the shadows, sneaking around in the dead of night, and attacking while the men we asleep and at there most vulnerable. These are not the characteristics the brave, these are the characteristics of a foul, loathsome, cowardly beast. Mean while, Beowulf liked to meet a problem head on, in this case the problem was Grendel himself. Determined Beowulf sailed to Denmark to defeat Grendel, telling Hrothgar that he will take Grendel’s life with his bare hands. As told in the story, “ That mighty protector of men/ Meant to hold the monster till it’s life/ leaped out” (Raffel, 1963, l. 366-368). And when Beowulf got the chance to do just that, Grendel took the cowards road, “Grendel’s one thought

The first battle was his hand to hand battle with Grendel at the Mead Hall after playing the music to lour grendel to where he would kill him. This is where intelligence and supernatural strength comes into play. Beowulf knew the only way to get Grendel to attack was to play loud music. He was a fair warrior and decided to not use a weapon when he became aware that gGrendel didn't have a weapon, so that the fight would be fair and even match. Beowulf was the only man on the island that had the will strength and will to fight grendel with his bare hands. When gGrendel arrived, Beowulf watched one of his men die. After seeing this Beowulf attacked gGrendel and with his super strength he managed to rip off grendel’s arm and use it as a trophy to be be honored for his bravery and success. A trophy was very important in the Anglo-Saxon period, it was something that was taken during war and kept as a momento. When gGrendel is killed, gGrendel’s mother comes for revenge for her son’s killing and killed more of the king’s people over night. Beowulf keeps his word about protecting the people as a true hero would and swims through the lake to gGrendel’s mother's underwater lair and evades her home with intentions of killing her with a sword. For in return of Beowulf’s sacrifice and bravery he is given the king’s position of the island and is honored for years by his people. Only a true Anglo-saxon hero would

In the poem Beowulf, the most evident theme is the importance of the Germanic heroic code. The heroic code was what made Beowulf so famous and god-like during his renowned life. The code is displayed in the opening lines of the poem and continued to show up throughout the duration of the poem. Heroism is often painted with a protagonist, which causes some acts of heroism to be overlooked when an antagonist follows the heroic code. Throughout the poem, there are many acts of heroism displayed, but many people overlook the way that Grendel’s mother followed the Germanic heroic code. Grendel’s mother follows the Germanic heroic code by showing courage, strength, and honor as Beowulf does throughout the poem, something that is frowned upon in the Anglo-Saxon culture.

In "Beowulf", Grendel's mother is perhaps one of the most confusing characters. While she is notably smaller and supposedly more frail than her son, it is clear that Grendel's mother is quite possibly the most vicious beast presented in this piece of literature. Grendel's mother could be best described as a "grief-racked and ravenous"(1278) creature when he finds out about her son's death, and her disposition is one that is "desperate for revenge" (1278). Grendel's mother may represent a number of things in the text, and the author chooses to depict her as a limitless being. Grendel's mother possesses many of the traits that the warriors do, and her hunger to avenge her son's death is one resonant of the heroic code. In the heroic code, families

Beowulf is a story of an epic hero from Geatland who defeats Grendel and his mother for Hrothgar and the Danes. Beowulf then becomes a king of Geatland of fifty years where he defeats a dragon at the cost of his life. Beowulf, the movie, is about the same hero who defeats Grendel; however, Beowulf fails to kill Grendel’s mom and becomes a king of the Danes. These major differences in plot, yet the same beginnings is what leads into this comparison between the book and the movie.

Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dares join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally

Beowulf exemplified great integrity throughout all the battles he won and honors he received. He endured noble acts of heroism established by his own moral beliefs and never expected praise or gifts in return. Nevertheless, the people decorated him with a "gold-chased heirloom of Hrethel's...and then rewarded him with land as well, seven thousand hides, and a hall and a throne" (Beowulf 149). When Beowulf decided to fight against the dragon for his people, he did not even think about the material rewards that he may receive, all he thought about was protecting the innocent lives of many people. In battle, Beowulf received his strength knowing that he was fighting for a good cause. Beowulf was "formidable in