How Does Beowulf Show Bravery

"I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend" (Beowulf 433-440). Beowulf makes his fight with Grendel more than a simple fight that he can slay him

An epic hero displays bravery, courage, and strength. An epic hero also wants to achieve immortality through heroic actions. Beowulf can be categorized as a legendary epic hero. There are many things that prove Beowulf is an epic hero in the poem. He proves that he is an epic hero through his heroic actions that occur throughout the poem.

The epic Beowulf portrays the life of a well-known hero during the Anglo-Saxon period. Beowulf is known by many as the strong warrior who volunteered to protect the Danes. The Danes needed a fearless hero to save them after the catastrophe of losing the infamous Herot to Grendel, a descendent of Cain. In the story, it is made obvious that Beowulf is the “good” and Grendel is the “bad”. I consider my mom to be a Beowulf in my life because she shares the same three characteristics as Beowulf: courage, bravery and faith in God. When I think of the word courage, the line that comes to mind is "Often, for undaunted courage, fate spares the man it has not already marked.". (Beowulf, 572 - 573) In this line, Beowulf explains that if your fate has not been decided, then you have the ability to choose your own fate by having courage.

Theme is the matter of a subject within a piece of writing. Throughout this essay examples of mesopotamian literature, old english poetry and ancient greek literature are brought up. The central theme throughout all these epics is bravery. I chose bravery because each one of these characters risks their lives to save others. The ability to take on life threatening battles is an extreme form of bravery.

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.

Gawain failed his test before he even began by choosing to behead the Green Knight rather than striking a nonlethal blow. In the first part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain “[b]rought [the axe] down deftly upon the bare neck” of the Green Knight (423). The choice to start the game with a lethal blow shows that he has little care for his chivalric code. Though the Green Knight never specifies that Gawain should not hit him fatally, the agreement states that they will meet in a year and Gawain will receive the same blow, which would not be possible if the Green Knight had died. His first instinct is to kill the Green Knight in order to avoid the outcome of the challenge, which is an act of cowardice that the chivalric code does not

Today, courage is not portrayed in fierce warriors slaying dragons or wrestling sea monsters, but is it still relevant. Immediately, one may think of soldiers, police officers, or firefighters as examples of courage. Rightly so, these men and women face unspeakable danger and heartbreak on a daily basis. Their deep sense of justice is admirable to all as they seek to protect those around them, many of which they have never even met. It is clear that these actions are noble and worthy of praise. However, there are many instances where courage is seen as foolishness. For example, many young pregnant women are advised to have an abortion. It is the “wisest” choice for her situation. If she refuses, many would see her decision as near-sighted and reckless. On the contrary, she is choosing the road less travelled on, bravely putting her child’s needs above her own. Courage comes in many different forms and often goes unnoticed to the untrained

Then at the confrontation with Grendel, Beowulf demonstrated his great strength. He had refused to wear armor or weapons to go against this ogre. Ironically though, the choice to not use any weapons ends up helping Beowulf in the end because Grendel is protected from anyone using them against him by a magic charm that he possesses.

The early anglo-saxon culture placed value many things; gifts, a long life, and loyalty. But one thing surpassed all of these in importance; courage. The demonic dragons terrorizing the population create an aura of fear that no character can deny, but Beowulf stands up to the demons and defeats them. He displays incredible courage in the face of danger and creates a legacy for himself that lives on with his people, even after his demise. Despite the numerous dragons he faced, Beowulf defeated evil when all hope seemed lost. Because of the unshakable courage he possessed; he did it not once, not twice, but three times.

Once Gawain reaches his destination he then enters the Green chapel where he is then greeted by the Green Knight. When standing face to face the two men wasted no time at all and instead proceeds with the challenge. As the Green Knight takes his first strike at Gawain’s neck with the ax, Gawain looks up at him. He then stops mid-swing to taunt him. “Strike once more; /I shall neither flinch nor flee; /But if my head falls to the floor/There is no mending me!” Gawain states. (249) In the beginning, Gawain showed no sign of fear towards the Green Knight in this first encounter

Bravery is like a very trusted friend. This statement is told to be true in the tale of Beowulf. In the story, we see Beowulf's heroism and bravery in two very different times, his youth and all through his many different fights with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon. Through these two phases of his life, we can see that he has pretty much had bravery and courage throughout his entire life. He never backed down from a fight, which eventually is what led him to get terribly injured towards the end of the book.

Gawain is the only knight who was bold enough to accept the Green Knight’s challenge. He understood the risk that he was taking, and knew the fate that might await him. Even though Gawain knew that the acceptance of this challenge might lead to his death, he recognized that it was his duty as a knight to accept a dangerous task on behalf of his king. He also saw the Green Knight’s challenge as an opportunity to express his nobility to his fellow knights and to prove

Sir Gawain was michivuous in his own ways, and also selfish. The green night challenges the group’s leaders to a game. The Green Knight states that he will allow whoever accepts the challenge to strike him with his own axe, on one condition that the challenger fined him in exactly one year to receive a blow in return, and of course Sir Gawain accepts the challenge. He takes hold of the axe and, cuts off the knight’s head. The court

Heroes come and go in everyone’s life. They can range anywhere from your parents, a famous sports star, actors, etc. We all need someone to look up to for guidance to show us how to live our life, what to do and how we should act; Beowulf demonstrates all three of those few characteristics of a hero. Everything that I look for in a leader is demonstrated by Beowulf throughout the book. He willingly leads his troops into unknown land without being asked or called upon and fights off a beast that had been torturing the people for years.

Sir Gawain, a knight by birth, suffers the misfortune of being tricked by a Green man and has the curse of a possible death by being beheaded. “So be brisk with the blow, bring on the blade. Deal me my destiny and do it out of hand, and I’ll stand the stroke without shiver or shudder and be wasted by your weapon. You have my word” Although Sir Gawain is about to die, and he has clearly come to terms with it, we see that he conducts himself with honor and accepts what life has given him. This response shows the reader that when bad things happen to those who are good, we need to learn to accept them with the honor we have and deal with them, never letting our character be broken by them. The story has a crazy twist at the end, and we see that Sir Gawain’s character was actually being tested by the Green Knight, very similar to what life does to people when bad things happen to them. “As a pearl is more prized than a pea which is white, in good faith, so is Gawain, amongst gallant knights. But a little thing more—it was loyalty that you lacked: not because you’re wicked, or a womanizer, or worse, but you loved your own life; so I blame you less” Sir Gawain knew how he needed to conduct himself when he was a guest in Bertilak’s home, he needed to be a respectful,