Introduction Of Existentialism In 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.

Because he does not acquire the ability to fight of Grendel, Unferth then tries to talk Beowulf out of the battle. Although Unferth does not support Beowulf going to fight Grendel in fear of the success, the rest of the town supports Beowulf. Unferth even goes to the extent of questioning the truth behind the swimming match between Brecca and Beowulf, in which of course Beowulf won. The outcome between Grendel and Beowulf then push the fate of all characters to come. Oren Falk, a professor at Cornell University, discusses the fate behind Beowulf’s ideas and potential plans.

Beowulf also confronts the Danes, explaining to them that Grendel was not just the hideous monster they believed him to be. Because of these actions, Beowulf seems more respectable. According to society, this would make him a hero. Though the movie shows a great example of how Beowulf represents society's hero, the novel, Grendel shows the other side of this hero. Near the end of the book when Grendel is about to face his inevitable death, he meets Beowulf. Instead of killing the beast, Beowulf decides to mock Grendel. He does this by making him beg for his life and sing before killing him. This is evident in the book when after smashing Grendel's head into a wall, Beowulf orders Grendel to sing, saying, “Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of the walls!” (171). Instead of killing Grendel in an honorable way, Beowulf mocks, as well as embarrasses him until he is finally dead. In the novel, honor seems to be nonexistent in Beowulf. The lack of honor in Beowulf makes him seem ruthless instead of honorable, therefore making Beowulf seem as if he were not a hero, according to society's standards.

Beowulf responds to Unferth by sharing the actual story about how he and Breca are child hood friends who often competed in challenges amongst each other, even if it risked lives at sea. The race at sea required them to wear their gear and carry swords for protection. Breca can’t keep up and the both struggle for five nights until waves tear them apart, while Beowulf’s armor and God helps keep him alive in the nine battles he endures with sea monsters. Beowulf is later lifted to shore by the ocean on the coast of Finland (530-581). Beowulf finishes up with his side of the story then challenges Unferth by trying to recall any fights or battles Unferth battled besides the killings of his kin, for who he will endure the depths of hell

In “The Battle with Grendel” we also see how Beowulf can be violent. For example, lines 385-397 demonstrates how powerful Beowulf is while fighting Grendel. The quote says, “Grendel/ Saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws/ Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at/ His hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher,/ But his power had gone. He twisted in pain,/ And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder/ Snapped, muscle and bone split/ And broke….Grendel escaped,/ But wounded as he was could flee to his den,/His miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh,/ Only to die, to wait for the end/ Of all his days” (385-397). This moment in the text shows how intense and extreme Beowulf’s actions were while fighting the monster. We, as readers, start to see how Beowulf slowly becomes who he is trying to defeat.

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

Beowulf then responds by saying that both he and Breca were neck in neck during the entirety of the contest but during the final stretch to the coast of Finland Beowulf was pulled into the water by a sea monster. In the book, it is said that he then killed that monster and nine other monsters but by the time he finished dealing with them Breca had already won. Whilst in the movie after Beowulf deals with the first few monsters he is confronted by a mermaid but then it turns out to be Grendel’s mother. Finishing off his story by rebuking Unferth saying that if he was as good a warrior as he says, Grendel wouldn’t still be alive creating chaos in Heorot of which Unferth had no answer. Beowulf’s pride really revealed itself when he defended his feats against Unferth’s claims, that even though he didn’t win the swimming match against Breca he defeated the monsters of the deep, how even though he didn’t win the match he had won in some other sense. His final insult to Unferth shows a taunting tone which heavily contrasts how Beowulf addresses Unferth with respect after defeating Grendel’s mother thanking Unferth’s ancient sword Hrunting when in reality the sword was completely useless in the

First, Beowulf shows his loyalty to human kind when he defeats Grendel, a monster who terrorizes King Hrothgar's men. Beowulf formulated an intricate plan to defeat the monster who continuously attacks Hrothgar's men, while they were sleeping at the mead-hall. When Beowulf encounters Grendel, when he attacks the mead hall, he is described as,“flooded with fear-but nothing could take his talons and himself from that tight hard grip”(Beowulf,435) This shows the negative emotions and pains that Grendel experiences as he confronts Beowulf, his most powerful adversary. The strong grip that Beowulf squeezes Grendel by can be interpreted as Beowulf’s loyalty to the people who have been constantly terrorized by Grendel, and also the amount of anger

“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.

Beowulf’s charismatic leadership style is adequate for him to achieve the role he deserves over the Danes, although it comes along with several drawbacks. Beowulf comes to power by being a courageous figure that comes to help the Danes in their time of need. He often brags about his courageous acts to show his greatness, we see this when he is confronted by Unferth, "The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen and courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity, attacks on your king, havoc in Heorot and horrors everywhere" (590-594). After defeating Grendel, the Danes look to him as their invincible hero

In the beginning, the Danes show provocation towards Grendel’s harsh acts. Healfdane’s son, calls for a courageous warrior to defeat hell’s captive. This warrior’s audacious behavior, sacrifices one of his men to watch Grendel’s behavior. As the poem continues, inflammation occurs between the Geats and dragon. King Beowulf, seventy, marched to protect his kingdom against the ferocious beast. During his final battle, Beowulf is fatally injured. He tells Wiglaf to build him a Tower with a tomb, so all sailors will remember his name. Without these tones, Beowulf would not be as great as it

Beowulf shows both wit and patience in his swift retort after Unferth challenges his skill. Later, after proving himself by dismembering Grendel, he accepts Unferth’s sword to face Grendel’s mother. This offering can be seen as an act of

Beowulf’s triumphs are short lived due to another attack on Herot. This time, Grendel’s mother comes to the great mead hall to avenge her son. The battle between Grendel’s mother and Beowulf differs greatly from the previous battle with the beast’s son. After another attack, Beowulf now must seek out his new enemy, and fight her on her own turf. As it stood, the scores were even between the monsters and the Danes, but Beowulf now looked for victory over the monsters, not revenge. Beowulf also had to regain his reputation. He had just won a trophy, when the bigger, badder bully came up to him and took it straight from his grasp. Now Beowulf traveled to the burning lake, which proved a test of its own. He then swam to the bottom of the lake where the monster resided. All of this just to get to the monster shows that this brave hero would do anything to set the scores right for his people and for the glory that came with it.

After defeating Grendel Beowulf enjoys the celebration and rewards that Hrothgar has treated him to. Beowulf earns the respect of the whole kingdom of Heorot. A few nights later Grendel’s mother learns that her son was killed by a human. She comes angrily back to the mead hall where she will take vengeance for her son. “But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (pg. 89). Grendel’s mother is another stage in Beowulf’s step toward an older warrior. Before the great battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf was a little bit more mature and was not as confident. “Beowulf got ready, donned his war-gear, indifferent to death; his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail would soon meet with the menace underwater.” (pg. 101) He needed armor because he feels that it wasn’t the kind of battle he would face without his necessity to survive. After a long fight Beowulf finds the strength in him to grab the weapon that would kill Grendel’s mother. Once again good has defeated evil. Beowulf comes through as a hero one more time before his departure from Heorot.

Not only is Beowulf extremely courageous but he is the mold that hero's model themselves after he is noble, true to his word and his unquestionable trust in his skills. When Beowulf gets to Heorot and they begin to feast, Unfearth goes up to Beowulf, and questions the race that he and Brecca had in the fierce open sea saying that no matter what he had done before that he would not be able to defeat Grendel because many great warriors had come before him and his fate would be no different; however, Beowulf has trust in his skills that God has graced him with just as he did when he raced Brecca in the open sea. By Beowulf saying this, he is letting Unfearth know that now as well as when he raced Brecca he is the best and will not be beaten. Beowulf then begins to challenge Unfearth's skills by saying if he was really as courageous as he has been saying he is, then Grendel wouldn't be