Motivation Of Motivation In Beowulf

In the epic poem Beowulf, fighting for glory and honor shows noble qualities, but for the wrong reasons. Beowulf has an idealistic background which provides glory for him. “Beowulf, strong and courageous, is the prince of Geats. Once he makes a vow, he stands by his word, no matter what the cost, even if it takes his life. He is reluctant to back down from battle, just so he can be there for the people who are in great need to be saved from evil. He signifies the true heroic character because he is willing to risk his life for his ideals. Beowulf defeats three gruesome monsters, two of whom are descendants of Cain.” (Character) Beowulf vows to protect his kingdom even if he would have to risk his own life.

Throughout the story, Beowulf’s boasts resemble nothing less than a symbol of his arrogance. “…sailors have brought us stories of Herot, the best of all mead-halls, deserted and useless when the moon hangs in skies the sun had lit, light and life fleeing together. My people have said, the wisest, most knowing and best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king. They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth. I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come…I, alone and with the help of my men, may purge all evil from this hall. I have heard, too, that the monster’s scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I. My lord

Beowulf proclaims “In the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together” (liens 156-160). Beowulf claims that he must go to defeat Grendel, as it was his errand, or his duty, and his fate. This speech he makes to King Hrothgar reinforces his true reason to come to the King, not for any pride. Another vow Beowulf makes is when he says “That this is one favor you should not refuse me—That I, alone and with the help of my men, many purge all evil form this hall” (lines 163-166). In this line, Beowulf is pleading for the King to do one thing, which is to give him the permission for him and his men to go and fight Grendel, what Beowulf had arrived for. The fact that Beowulf asks the king for only one thing, which is to fight Grendel, shows Beowulf’s selflessness and concern for the safety of others. At no part does he ask for a reward, but even says that if fate is in favor of Grendel to give his armor back to his family. These words help paint the image of Beowulf being concerned for others, not for his

Another important factor of perseverance is motivation. How someone stays motivated is very important because motivation is what will lead the to keep going in their tasks and not give up. Beowulf completed all of his battles and tasks because he had a reason behind everything he did, that reason was his personal motivation. A factor that motivated him was to impress the Hrothgar the king. When the king asked him if he could kill Grendel’s mom, he immediately said yes. He wanted let the king see that he could defeat any monster. When he killed her, the king was very impressed because she was a very hard monster to defeat. Lastly, the most important motivation anyone can have is to beat your personal goals, to prove to your own self that you can do what you want to do. Another important motivational factor is the reward awarded after completing a task. When he killed Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, he received gold, horses, necklaces, and even

To begin, Beowulf has a complex motivation for fighting the monster Grendel. His first motivation is duty which is part of the Anglo-Saxon code he’s obligated to go and kill Grendel. His people told him so go and do it so he does duty comes first and personal choice comes second. On page 47 lines 244-246 Beowulf says, “My people have said, the wisest, most knowing And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king.”

This helps reassure Beowulf as an mighty, valiant hero rather than portraying him as a mediocre, ordinary mortal. The kingdom of Hrothgar is agitated and frightened by the attacks of the vile Grendel, who is unable to be defeated nonetheless harmed by a warrior's sword. “I have heard, too, that the monster’s scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none”(Beowulf Poet 38). Grendel shrieks at the sound of jubilant music as well as the sounds of joy coming from Hrothgar’s mead hall. To compensate for this agonizing pain, Grendel decides he is going to kill some of Hrothgar’s men. Grendal murdering Hrothgar’s men reassures Grendel’s evil nature and his constant intent to carry out malice. Hrothgar looks far and wide for a brave, noble warrior who will help rid them of this behemoth. Beowulf accepts the strenuous task of obliterating the malevolent Grendel in order to retain the kingdom of Hrothgar and his people. Beowulf accepts Hrothgar’s task not for the wages he will receive, but for the bravery and honor that come with killing such a magnificent beast. The acceptance of this challenge bolsters the fact that Beowulf is willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the people rather than a person of greed who is in it for their

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.

Whereas in Beowulf, written by an anonymous poet, is about a man who is very strong. He travels to a distant land to kill a couple monsters and earn glory for himself. The quest begins when Beowulf heads to the Danish castle. He is a Geat by the way. His king is Higlac and Beowulf asked him if he could travel the seas to earn glory for himself by helping out the Danish and their king, Hrothgar. When Beowulf finally got to Hrothgar, Hrothgar was glad to see him; he seemed to have a lot of faith in Beowulf. “Our Holy Father has sent him as a sign of His grace, a mark of His favor, to help us defeat Grendel and end that terror” (Beowulf, ln 381 – 384). The monster, Grendel, had

In the epic poem Beowulf there are many monsters , these monsters cause much trouble for Hrothgar's (the king's) men. These monsters hurt kill tempt and rage against the people, doing evil things without real purpose. Although in the story they are physically monsters they symbolize hardships. At the very beginning of the story you see that Grendel the primary monster couldn't be killed by Hrothgar's army, it was too difficult. Mean while many of his men were dying the king had his own secret, he knew he could not be killed because he was in a holy place, yet he did not kill him.he was irresponsible because he would not own up to his power.

In Beowulf the three motivations are the death of Grendel, the death of Grendel's mother and the death of the big bad dragon. These motivations are what have been there when Beowulf had to prove himself to the people. The first motivation from Beowulf is the death of Grendel and Grendel ends up coming to Beowulf. Grendel has been terrorizing the people of Denmark and Beowulf has come to stop him from hurting anymore people. The king of Denmark helped out Beowulf’s father so Beowulf owed him so he decided to help.

The universal theme of ambition brings the epic poem of Beowulf consequences when he is willing to die in battle. Beowulf learns about the monster, Grendel that has been threatening people in the Danes. Beowulf doesn't like to lose in a fight or anything for that matter and is what causes him to be ambitious, "I've never known fear, as a youth I fought in endless battles" (Beowulf, 607), was the reason why he was helping a tribe that wasn't even his. "I'd use no sword, no weapon, if this beast could be killed without it" (Beowulf, 614), because he believed he could prove to himself, he could defeat the monster that has devoured multiple men without one. Beowulf had succeeded and killed Grendel just by ripping his arm off with his bare hands. After he defeated Grendel, his mother came to get revenge for the death of her son. "I am old, now, but I will fight again, seek fame still" (Beowulf, 610), as he penetrates her lair and fights her with a sword, as he

In the modern world, one of the most taught and stressed lesson is that people make choices, and you earn what you desire with hard work. This has been a lesson taught from the beginning of time. The need to possess what we want most, to have value to our name, has been ingrained in us by our ancestors. In Beowulf, one of the most prominent themes is the use and meaning of glory and treasure, and how courage and strength are used to achieve heroism. How the life ideas of glory and treasure are established and developed in Beowulf.

Grendel first brought chaos to the society. Since Grendel was a larger than life villain, normal people were not able to defeat Grendel. Beowulf came into rescue and the honor was his. Honor is another heroic characteristics that Beowulf has. Beowulf demonstrates his honor by showing a sense of integrity in his actions. Beowulf’s decision of going to the land of the Danes and killing Grendel did not result from money, but because he wanted to help the Geats. Beowulf did this because he was successful in past deeds as mentioned in line 321-322. “They had in remembrance my courage and might. Many had seen me come safe from the conflict.” (lines 321-322) Beowulf’s generous action’s earned him a name of “the mighty protector of men.” (Line 366). We can see that as Beowulf continued his benevolence, people began to rely on him more. “Save us, once more, and again twisted gold, heaped-up ancient treasure, will reward you for the battle you win”. Since Beowulf was a larger than life hero, he was the only one who could save the townspeople. He was the one who ““ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering// forced on Hrothgar’s helpless people.” People told Beowulf that Beowulf would get reward for his actions, but Beowulf did not do these heroic actions because he wanted reward. Beowulf is a hero; (pattern 1.a) therefore he has a responsibility for the peace of the world, which connects with his nobility too. Through the character, Beowulf, represented as the iconic representation of a hero, the text explicitly states that the strive for justice and peace were primary qualities in Anglo Saxon culture. Moreover, with the addition of the most horrible element, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon, who are guilty of all kinds of heinous deeds, Beowulf becomes a true Anglo Saxon hero; (pattern 1) a hero who does not know fear death, who seeks to bring peace

The epic Beowulf has many motivations including the motivational theme of glory. Glory is the feeling of accomplishment of doing something great. Just like Beowulf

Throughout history, a myriad of problem-solvers have made themselves known. Those who have been gifted in recognizing problems and solving them have benefited the rest of humanity greatly. “Solving a problem means finding an appropriate way to cross a gap” (Hayes). One would think that identifying a problem and coming up with a solution to that problem would not be that difficult; These people are monumentally mistaken. Legendary heroes have become this way by being outstanding in their problem solving skills. They are known as saviors to the rest of their community and country; However, an interesting question to ponder is, what are the reasons behind these heroes’ actions? Are they doing it just to gain fame and glory? Do they genuinely care about the people around them and keeping them safe and living harmoniously? In the great epic, “Beowulf”, Beowulf’s actions are motivated by things such as prestige, duty, and honor.