How Is Beulf An Epic Hero In Beowulf

Beowulf is soon pinned down by Grendel’s mother and she pulls out a broad, whetted knife and stabs him with it. If it were not for the chain mail he was wearing, he would have been killed. The chain mail saved his life by bending the tip of the blade; not letting it puncture Beowulf. Beowulf then pushes her off and sees an ancient sword hanging on the wall. He grabs the sword and beheads Grendel’s mother with it winning the fight. Beowulf seems to have some invincibility still, but it is slowly

Beowulf is an epic poem dated back to 700-800, composed by an unknown Anglo-Saxon poet. There is not an exact date on when it was composed because many of the stories were sung by a scop rather than written. Beowulf, the main character fits the mold of an epic hero by his supernatural or “larger than life” abilities and how he is charged with many difficult quests. There are eight characteristics by which someone is determined as an epic hero. Beowulf holds many of these characteristics and here are two examples.

Once the gruesome monster Grendel was defeated, Grendel’s Mother was the new threat to Herot. Within the passage “The Battle with Grendel’s Mother”, we see how extreme and “savage” Beowulf is in lines 536-542 while battling Grendel’s Mother. The quote reads, “And then, savage, now, angry/ And desperate, lifted [the sword] high over his head/ And struck with all the strength he had left,/ Caught her in the neck and cut it through,/ Broke bones and all. Her body fell/ To the floor, lifeless, the sword was wet/ With her blood, and Beowulf rejoiced at the sight” (536-542). This quote displays how Beowulf is becoming more and

Beowulf’s strength is beyond any of human comparison and has allowed him to accomplish tasks that would have obliterated lesser men and gain renown throughout the world. Beowulf’s boasts of his strength are not to be received as prideful or egotistical but rather as a true representation of his power as Beowulf always fulfils his boasts. When Beowulf pledges to vanquish Grendel, he does not take it lightly and tells Hrothgar and his wife, Wealhtheow, that “..I shall fulfil that purpose, prove myself with a proud victory or meet my death here in the mead-hall.”(636-638), showing that he is prepared to die, if needed, to defeat this hellish creature. Later that night, in his battle with Grendel, Beowulf showed his strength. “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… in all his days, he had never been clamped or cornered like this”(749-752,755-756). Beowulf’s strength surpassed that of even supernatural beings and allowed his to go on the offensive against a foe that had ravaged Heorot for years and thus allowed him to fulfill his boast. Beowulf power is brought out in his recitation of his deeds and again later actions against the mother of Grendel and a fire breathing dragon that threatens his home. In all of this fights, Beowulf is not seeking glory for himself, but

He then slashed at it with his sword. At that instant he dropped his sword because it was doing no damage to the monster. He raised the beast and threw her to the floor. But she rose and began slashing at him, he fell to the ground. She drew her dagger and was ready to avenge her son but Beowulf’s chain mail saved him. Beowulf got back on his feet and grabbed a sword that was hanging on the wall it looked like it was hammered by the gods. He lifted it over his head and stuck the beast with all the strength he had left in his body. He ripped through bone and all. Beowulf rose from the water and all the Geats stood there

During the time of anglo-saxon culture there is certain virtues that everybody must display to be considered an epic hero during that time period. Epic heroes are individuals that are good in society and they usually go out on journeys to defeat evil with god on their side. Beowulf is the main character in the story Beowulf and he's considered to be an epic hero because he displayed the virtues in anglo-saxon culture, this resulted in having his name passed down. Beowulf relied on the virtues to succeed in life because, if he failed to display them to be considered an epic hero his name and ruling in Geatland would cease to exist.

The main character in the epic poem “Beowulf” is Beowulf. An epic hero is one that has superhuman qualities and who beholds values of his society and is braver than life. “Epics are stories told on a grand scale, with armies, heroes, gods, and the brutal forces of nature depicted over long character arcs and sweeping landscapes.” (Rebecca Ray 1) Beowulf is a selfless warrior that puts the kingdom of Herot first and tries to rid evil for the people.

Beowulf displays the ideal image of “good” in the epic Beowulf by performing a wide array of brave deeds. To start, Beowulf portrays his bravery just by going to Denmark to fight with Grendel. The fact that the “prince of the Geats… kill[s] Grendel” (line 511) is a prime example of just how brave he is because Grendel was seen as such a “powerful monster” (line 1) that no other warrior could overcome. When Beowulf makes his return to fighting fifty years later, his bravery is once again noted when he

In this poem “Beowulf” was about a man who was the strongest man in the world who had very strong confidence in a lot of things. He was respectful to the king and listened to what the king had to say. He was the protector of all the men, He strongly didn’t like Grendel the most powerful monster that lived in darkness, he was set on getting rid of Grendel for the King to pay him back for what he did to save his father. He was a courageous young man who was very knowledgeable and extremely intelligent. But there’s a twist on the events between the Epic Beowulf and the new Modern Beowulf and how his character showed the difference and braveness.

/ Nor will I" (l 188-191).  His saying this makes it evident to Hrothgar that he refuses to use weapons against this unarmed monster.  Beowulf is also brave enough to battle a fire dragon which ultimately leads to his demise.  Yet, Beowulf never let his own accomplishments exceed the praise of his lord.  "But no one meant Beowulf's praise to belittle / Hrothgar, their fine and gracious king!" (l 514-515)  Just as Beowulf defends his king, Beowulf's followers defend him when he challenges Grendel and Grendel's mother.  In the battle with Grendel "All of Beowulf's / Band had jumped from their beds, ancestral / Swords raised and ready determined / To protect their prince if they could" (l 446-449).

She fought a tougher fight. She was driven by anger and revenge. The hideout was inside a lake Beowulf had to be Brave enough to go inside the Lair. the Battle was Long and we can see the motivation of Beowulf. He was superhuman to be able to last a long time in Battle Underwater. He had to face a Mother that was Ferocious because of her son's death. Any parent in the world could understand the feeling when a mother loses her child. The pain of losing a loved one is unbearable. Her skin was so strong that Beowulf's sword Hrunting.He had to use a Sword crafted by Giants to be able to slash her. The spirit of a warrior is determine by their actions and Beowulf's actions showed us that Grendel's mother put a hard fight against him.

In the epic poem Beowulf there were many heroic characteristics shown. The protagonist Beowulf is shown as a hero with extraordinary strength. Beowulf was a hero because of his generosity, power, strength, and courage. A hero is someone who puts their self at high risk with extraordinary strength to perform a task. His volition purpose in his lifetime is to help others, in which doing so he eventually sacrifices his own life.

Beowulf is depicted as the strongest of his people the Geats and a brave, honorable warrior of a lineage of great warriors who seeks fame and glory. Upon introducing himself to Hrothgar, Beowulf enters and greets the King with respect and politeness proclaiming, “Hail Hrothgar!”(CITE), Beowulf’s first words of introduction are words of praise to his host and loyalty to Hrothgar. He continues with an air of arrogance speaking of his former battles, “the days of my youth have been filled with glory…[They] have watched me rise from the darkness of war.”(CITE), Beowulf speaks of his experience in war and strength and displays his speaking abilities and boldness of character. Andy Moore discusses the passage, “Beowulf’s speech…teaches us a great deal. We see Beowulf’s impressive battle résumé. We see his confidence, in that he will fight this monster hand to hand with no weapons. He is also well spoken, no shy about detailing victories.” The Anglo-Saxons admired victory in war and exaggerated Beowulf’s strength to that of thirty men in each arm exemplifying their admiration of raw strength. This raw strength is displayed when Beowulf battles Grendel and is able to tear Grendel’s arm off with his bare hands. Then later he is portrayed as the chosen one who, similar to King Arthur, is the only one able to wield the sword Hrunting. His ability to

Beowulf was a hero. He had the courage to not only fight against Grendel, but also Grendel’s mother who is described as ‘dragon fierce’. With courage and integrity, he knew that he must fight them both because no one else would. However, Beowulf decided to fight Grendel without arms. Stating that “it is dishonorable to kill an unarmed man, no matter how dangerous or evil he might be” (Alles, Mellis. Beowulf Commentary). Death did not even frighten him in the least. Beowulf wanted to be crowned glorious for his courage and so he does. Beowulf rips Grendel’s arm off, leaving him to die, and proceeding to hang Grendel’s arm from the rafters in Herot. After Beowulf’s glorious defeat, Grendel’s mother seeks out for revenge. Instead of awaiting her arrival, he finds her in the cave. During this battle, Beowulf has a sword, Hrunting. He attempts the use of his sword, but it ultimately fails him. Being that of courage, he begins to fight with his bare hands. Grendel’s mother then proceeds to retaliate quick and tries to wound him with a dagger, but his armor shields him long enough for him to notice a large sword. He first notices that this is no average sword due to the handle and blade. Beowulf then uses the mighty sword to slay Grendel’s mother by slicing her in two. A fire then starts as he notices Grendel and lacerates his head to show Hrothgar. He also notices a lake being stained

Beowulf decides to fairly fight this demon using only his bare hands and pure strength. "I, therefore, to amuse Hygelac my lord, scorn to carry sword or shield, but I shall seize my enemy in my hand grip and fight, enemy against enemy, and let God decide who shall be taken by death." Further into the story, Beowulf must also defeat Grendel's mother whose lair is at the bottom of a lake. Doing this would require an impossible task and an even harder obstacle to