Medieval Myths Essay

“A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway”-Joseph Campbell. Stories have so much power connect you to another world and teach you lessons that are needed throughout history. Archetypes give the story a focal point and shape the lesson the author is trying to get across. When ideals get embedded into stories, usually it’s when the hero does something noble and valiant so they want their readers to follow in his footsteps. The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and Medieval Christian King Arthur display many archetypes and ideals to shape the story and make it exciting. The Beowulf and King Arthur storytellers use archetypes to create stories with suspense and have their heroes display values of loyalty to their respective listeners.

Although Beowulf had the strength of thirty men put together but he still took the men to battle with him. No armor or weapons could hurt him so he defeated Grendel with his two bare hands by ripping off his shoulder. Grendel hurt and dying then retreated to his lair to die. He then later takes on Grendel’s mother by chopping off her head with a great big sword hanging on the wall. It was made by giants and no man’s strength can carry it except the Great Beowulf. He willingly went against a creature that no man could ever defeat so the Danish people could live fearless from the undefeatable Grendel. He was praised for the great deeds he had accomplished. Beowulf later on became a great King after his uncle Hygelac died. Hygelac had a son but he was too young to rule the kingdom. Beowulf didn’t take the throne at first and said he would monitor the young boy and protect him.

     There are many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and the heroes of the two Icelandic sagas, The Saga of The Volsungs and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. The former saga is an Icelandic saga representing oral traditions dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun was fighting on the northern fringes of the Roman Empire; the latter is an Icelandic saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written.

They praise sir Beowulf, thanking him greatly. Yet little did this town or Beowulf know the agony yet to come. Grendel was indeed a monster, but a monster who was the spawn of a cruel creature. The slain monster’s mother, a she-wolf would be the hero’s next challenge. He would travel to the home of the monster’s mother, to yet again engage in the act of battle. They shall meet in the deep depths of the marshy hell. Beowulf would try to defeat the she-wolf with his sword but would not be enough. As he begins to become beaten, and weak, he sees a sword that may be to his advantage. “A heavy sword, hammered by giants, strong and blessed by their magic, the best of all weapons but so massive that no ordinary man could lift its carved and decorated length” (page 54 line 530-535) He raised thy mighty sword and struck the devil in the neck, cutting the entire head off. Hrothgar’s men watch the monster’s lake filled with blood. Thinking all hope and gone and mighty Beowulf had been killed. Yet as the old men begin to whisper the mighty hero rises from the lake, only holding the she-wolfs head and the giant’s sword. The Beowulf would return with the head and place the monsters head in front of the

A. The king is sad and depressed that his kingdom has fallen into such a state of disrepair. He is overjoyed to learn that Beowulf, whom he knows from stories and his father, Ecgtheow, has come to fight Grendel. Hrothgar promises Beowulf treasure if he can defeat the monster.

Beowulf appeared to fight the monsters purely to protect the Danes and Geats from further attacks. However upon closer inspection, Beowulf saw the fights against the monsters as an opportunity to gain a larger repertoire for himself. Grendel, the evil monster, had been savagely attacking the people under Hrothgar’s rule in Denmark because they built their banquet hall, Heorot, on top of Grendel’s underground home. The sounds from Heorot during feasts would be very loud and excruciatingly

Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in Old English in between the 8th and 11th century. King Hrothgar who rules the Danes, is being tormented by this beast called, Grendel. For some time now, Grendel has been attacking Heorot Hall, a mead-hall, and has been killing off many of the Danish soldiers and sometimes even devouring some. The king didn’t seem able to protect the people in his village from this great demon. Until, one day, Beowulf shows up and actually offers to help King Hrothgar by volunteering to find and kill this dreaded monster.

First, Grendel is an angry demon who has been attacking Hrothgar’s Kingdom and hurting the villagers for twelve years. Some people refer Grendel as, “Grim demon”. Beowulf is informed about Grendel destroying the kingdom and hurting innocent people. One night Grendel had struck Beowulf’s men with his brutal strength. After Grendel slaughtered all the men, Beowulf walked up to Grendel tried to grab, but Beowulf grabbed Grendel’s arm and held onto him with a firm grip. Grendel was trying his best to escape Beowulf because of his brute strength. For example, “you could hear Grendel’s claws cracking.” Beowulf through Grendel’s urge to rip Grendel’s whole arm and part of his chest off. Beowulf watched as Grendel died slowly from the amount of blood loss.

Upon entering the Danes' hall, Herot, Grendel is confronted by Beowulf, who immediately seizes Grendel's arms and drives fear into the monster's heart, "... [Grendel] knew at once that nowhere on earth/ Had he met a man whose hands were harder..." (lines 751-752). Through his slaughter of Grendel, Grendel's mom, the dragon, and other monsters, Beowulf proves his amazing strength to the other characters and to the readers.

The first battle in the poem occurs between Beowulf and Grendel who best embody the Anglo-Saxon value of courage. Beowulf is the perfect representation of this value due to his insistence on fighting Grendel without weapons; “No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me” (Heaney 683-84). Thus when Beowulf proclaims that he is not using weapons he displays both honor and courage since it takes guts to fight a monster without a pronounced advantage. Anglo-Saxons respected this quality and made their epic hero a perfect fit for this trait. Grendel however, is the complete opposite of Beowulf. He is an archetypal outcast; a, “grim demon/ haunting the marches, marauding round the heath… condemned as outcasts” (36-45). The purpose of using this archetype is to show the distinction between good and evil. The people in the mead hall are the supporters of good. They follow the Anglo-Saxon warrior codes and are on Beowulf’s side. Grendel is opposite of this ideal. He lives in solitude in a cave at the bottom of the lake and upon hearing of the partying in the mead hall feels enraged. To further emphasize the archetype, he raids Herot only during the nighttime. This shows the degree to which he is ostracised from society since appearing in daylight is off bounds to Grendel. When Beowulf rends his arm, Grendel runs away, showing his cowardice since he runs instead of finishing the fight on the spot. For the Anglo-Saxons, death in battle was the most glorious type of death, thus Grendel’s retreat reinforces the quality of courage and makes him a laughingstock in Anglo-Saxon society. When the battle itself begins, Beowulf’s comrades stay to help him fight. The author states that he is, “Beowulf’s warriors worked to defend/ their lord’s life” (794-95). This ties into the theme of loyalty to one’s kin because although the weapons do no damage, Beowulf’s brethren stay by his side to help. This emphasizes the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture as the battles serve to show the listener the deep cultural significance of the kinship of the warriors. They are one; not only because of their

The word myth is used most popularly in tales and stories. These tales and stories have been passed

   There are so many similarities between the hero of the poem Beowulf and The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, an Iceland saga representing 1000 years of oral traditions prior to the 1300’s when it was written, that these similarities cannot be attributed solely to coincidence.

But only when the fog shifts you can catch a glimpse of the King Hrothgar tower in the distance from where they were the man on the horse stop cause he couldn’t leave the sea unguarded he tells Beowulf he must return to the sea. The man on the horse smiles at Beowulf and points to the stoned path road telling him that the pth leads to the heorot hall where the king awaits for them. Beowulf thanks him for guiding them then The man on the horse begins to tell Beowulf about the monster how strong he is and how fast he is. Beowulf replies back to him telling the man he is fast and strong as well and the man tells beowulf that the monster killed all their man then he tells beowulf one the man was his brother and the kill the monster. Beowulf says we come to died for glory not gold. Beowulf says he will avenged the death of the horse man’s brother. Once beowulf and his warriors reached the path to the king’s hall the king was happy to see beowulf because he is the son of very brave and heroic man Beowulf’s father. The king then begins to show the warriors and beowulf where to put their weapons down at and the heorot hall where the

What would one think if he goes back in time to a period where myths were common? Would one believe it to be true or hold his own opinion? I would say it depends on the situation and on what type of myth it is. Classical period was full of myths. There were many aspects to mythology that were held important in the classical era. One of the most significant aspects of the Greek mythology was that it was the primary concept to put humans at the midpoint of the universe. Not like the animal deities of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the gods of the Greeks were human in form. Not only did they have human physical character, but they symbolized the touching flaws of humans as well. Unlike the gods of other ancient

The main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel's mother with a sword, which giants once used, that Beowulf found in Grendel's mother's lair.